Entries by Linda Palmer

Attacking the front and the rear – the elaborate control of reactive oxygen species production

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Kimura et al. reveal how phosphorylation of a key enzyme activates reactive oxygen species production. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.19.00525 Sachie Kimuraa,b, Michael Wrzaczeka aOrganismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Viikki Plant Science Centre, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FI-00014, Finland. bPresent address: Ritsumeikan Global Innovation Research Organization, Ritsumeikan University, 525-8577, Shiga, […]

When to Sleep? CHT7 is Critical for Nutrient-dependent Quiescence in Chlamydomonas

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To survive nutrient scarcity, unicellular organisms establish a reversible quiescent state in which cells cease growth and division and switch metabolism to an energy-conserving mode. When nutrients become available again, cells exit from quiescence and resume growth and division. The mechanistic details for the establishment of an effective quiescent state in response to nutrient shortage […]

Persulfidation-controlled guard cell ABA signaling

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Shen et al. explore the role of H2S signaling and the reversible modification persulfidation in guard cell signaling. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.19.00826 Yanjie Xie; Laboratory Center of Life Sciences, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, PR China. Background: In guard cells, several bio-active molecules involved in abscisic acid (ABA)-dependent signaling cascades have been identified, such […]

Paving the way for C4 evolution: study of C3-C4 intermediate species in grasses

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C4 photosynthesis originated as an adaptation to low atmospheric CO2 concentrations 30-35 million years ago (Sage, 2016). Although accounting for only 3% of the vascular plants on earth, C4 plants contribute 25% of terrestrial photosynthesis (Westhoff and Gowik, 2010), thus providing a highly desirable system to increase carbon fixation efficiency and enhance crop yield. The […]

IbBBX24 Enhances Fusarium Wilt Resistance in Sweet Potato

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Zhang et al. identify a target gene for enhancing pathogen resistance without yield penalty in sweet potato. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.19.00641  Background: Sweet potato is an economically important root and tuber crop that is widely used as an industrial and bioenergy resource worldwide and as an important source of food for both humans and domesticated animals. […]

Know Your Roots: A Transcriptomic Exploration of Key Life History Traits in the Model Lycophyte Selaginella moellendorffii

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Land plants (embryophytes) evolved from a freshwater charophycean algal predecessor over 450 million years ago and have since separated into the diversity of plant lineages observed today. A key factor in the expansion of plant life on land was the evolution of rooting structures and a vasculature that enhanced the acquisition of mineral nutrients and […]

Silencing Transposons is Important for Pollen Development in Capsella

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Wang et al. reveal that viable pollen formation in Capsella requires the function of a DNA-dependent RNA polymerase. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.19.00938   Background: Transposons, or “jumping genes”, are kept silent by a plant-specific pathway that starts with DNA-dependent RNA polymerase IV (in short Pol IV), which recognizes and transcribes transposons. These transcripts are converted into […]

Hormonal Solution for (Root) Hair Extension

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Root hairs are tubular outgrowths of a subset of root epidermal cells serving multiple roles, including plant anchorage in the soil, water and nutrient absorption, and symbiotic interactions with nitrogen fixing bacteria in legumes (Salazar-Henao et al., 2016). Root hairs form an interface between the plant and the environment, therefore their development is tightly regulated […]

Open Sesame! Uncovering a Hidden Key Used by Pathogenic Bacteria to Open the Doors Connecting Plant Cells

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It has been known for several decades, and suggested as early as the 1930s (Caldwell 1931), that viruses move their proteins and other molecules from one plant cell to the next by altering and regulating plasmodesmata (PD), the tiny doors connecting the cytoplasm between plant cells. And only in the past decade (Khang et al. […]