Entries by Linda Palmer

Shooting for the STARRs: A Modified STARR-seq Assay for Rapid Identification and Evaluation of Plant Regulatory Sequences in Tobacco Leaves

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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 […]

Glutelin mRNAs are transported on endosomes

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Tian et al. identify the factors mediating localization of specific mRNAs in developing rice endosperm cells. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00111  by Li Tian and Thomas W. Okita  Background: Localization of mRNAs is a universal mechanism to efficiently drive protein targeting in eukaryotes and prokaryotes. The best-defined example of mRNA localization in plants involves the storage protein […]

Secret Talents: STARCH SYNTHASE 5—Not an Enzyme, but Very Active!

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Abt et al. found that Arabidopsis SS5, a protein homologous to typical starch-synthesizing enzymes, is itself enzymatically inactive, but rather has an important role in the starch granule initiation process. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.19.00946 By Melanie R. Abt and Samuel C. Zeeman, Institute of Molecular Plant Biology, ETH Zurich, Universitätstrasse 2, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland. Background: During […]

Remodeling Chromatin in an ARID Environment

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The control of gene expression is of fundamental importance for cellular life. In Eukaryotes, linear DNA is wrapped around nucleosomes that constitute a physical barrier to active transcription. Chromatin remodeling complexes modulate the composition, stability and positioning of nucleosomes therefore allowing regulatory factors to access DNA and ultimately regulate gene expression. Chromatin remodelers are defined […]

Hot on the trail of DREB2A protein stability

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Madeleine Seale Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3RB, United Kingdom [email protected] ORCID: 0000-0002-8924-3943   Responding to environmental stresses is crucial for plant survival. Research published this month in Plant Physiology (Wang et al., 2020) has established that a transcription factor, DREB2A (DEHYDRATION RESPONSIVE ELEMENT-BINDING PROTEIN 2A), is stabilized […]

Lipid kinases in signaling and metabolism

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Angkawijaya et al. investigate diacylglycerol kinase function in Arabidopsis phospholipid signaling and metabolism. The Plant Cell (2020) https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00251 By Artik Elisa Angkawijaya, Van C. Nguyen, Farrel Gunawan, and Yuki Nakamura, Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Background: Phospholipids are indispensable constituents of biological membranes. In addition, some phospholipids can also serve as […]

Gibberellin signaling in plants – Entry of a new microRNA player

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Raimund Nagel University of Leipzig [email protected] Gibberellins (GA) are essential hormones that control plant development as major regulators of stem elongation, germination, dormancy, flowering, leaf senescence and fruit development (Hedden and Thomas, 2012). Their biosynthesis and signaling pathways are well established; however, the regulatory networks that modulate signaling remain less explored (Hedden and Sponsel, 2015). […]

It’s a TRAPP! Arabidopsis Transport Protein Particle (TRAPP) Complexes Contain a Novel Plant-Specific Subunit

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Membrane vesicle trafficking is the process of moving and distributing signaling molecules from their place of synthesis or capture to target locations inside or outside the cell. Vesicles, mobile membrane compartments produced from the endoplasmic reticulum, carry proteins and other molecules to an acceptor compartment. This is a complex process, with many accessory proteins required […]

An optimized high-throughput assay for the identification of enhancers in plant genomes

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Jores et al. adapt STARR-seq for identifying enhancers in tobacco leaves. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00155 By Tobias Joresa, Jackson Tonniesa,b, Michael W Dorritya, Josh T Cuperusa, Stanley Fieldsa,c and Christine Queitscha a Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195. b Graduate Program in Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195. c Department of […]