Vitamin B12 (B12) is produced only by prokaryotes (Fang et al., 2017), but is also widely required among eukaryotes as an enzymatic cofactor. In the green lineage, the only B12-dependent enzyme is methionine synthase. Several green algae can synthesize methionine only thanks to B12 provided by mutualistic prokaryotes (Croft et al., 2005, Grant et al., […]
Kimura et al. illuminate a molecular mechanism to allow germinating seedlings of Arabidopsis thaliana to adapt to dark and bright light conditions during hypocotyl phototropism. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.19.00926 By Taro Kimura and Tatsuya Sakai; Graduate School of Science and Technology, Niigata University, Niigata-shi, Niigata, 950-2181, Japan. Background: When we come out of a dark tunnel […]
Durian et al. searched for phosphorylation substrates of Arabidopsis CALCIUM DEPENDENT PROTEIN KINASE1 and found that it phosphorylates ORE1, a master regulator of senescence, demonstrating a link between calcium signaling and cell death. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.19.00810 By Guido Durian1 and Tina Romeis2 1University of Turku, Molecular Plant Biology, Department of Biochemistry, FI-20014 Turku, Finland 2Leibniz […]
Plants produce a plethora of specialized metabolites serving as a chemical arsenal against abiotic and biotic challenges during their lifetime. Core metabolites serve as building blocks for diverse decorating enzymes like oxidases, reductases or transferases that introduce new functionalities expanding the structural diversity and resulting in an astonishing metabolic palette dispersed in the plant kingdom. […]
The plant immune system is largely centered around immune receptors that monitor for pathogen-derived signatures. Extracellular immunity is afforded through cell-surface receptors recognizing common microbial motifs like bacterial flagellin or fungal chitin (Boutrot and Zipfel, 2017). By contrast, intracellular immunity relies on disease resistance (R) receptors that directly or indirectly perceive pathogen virulence effectors attempting […]
Elisa Dell’Aglio1 and Amna Mhamdi2 1 Institut National des Sciences Appliquées-Lyon, 69100 Villeurbanne, France 2 Ghent University, Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, and VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, 9052 Ghent, Belgium Address correspondence to [email protected] Ascorbate (vitamin C) is one of the main redox buffers required for metabolizing reactive oxygen species. Its […]
Han et al. uncover regulatory DNA landscapes in root, stem, and leaf tissues of multiple grasses. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.19.00716 By Kai Wang and Jinlei Han Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University Background: Low temperature is a major environmental stress that affects plant growth and development and can significantly reduce crop yields under extreme conditions. Plants […]
Sophia G. Zebell Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA Manipulation of ripening, the process that turns hard, flavorless green tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) into the juicy, aromatic red fruits enjoyed worldwide, is of particular commercial and biological importance. Significant transcriptional reprogramming is required for synchronized cell wall softening and […]
A single genome gives rise to different cell types and organs in response to precise temporal and spatial regulation of gene expression, driven by developmental and environmental cues. These expression patterns are orchestrated by cis-regulatory elements, distal enhancers and gene-proximal promoters. Active enhancer elements can be identified by Self-Transcribing Active Regulatory Region Sequencing (STARR-seq), a […]