In Arabidopsis, stomatal guard cells are specified following a set of conserved asymmetric cell divisions (ACDs), starting with a meristemoid mother cell. How do cells establish asymmetric divisions? Several proteins have been identified that are required for this, including BASL and POLAR, transcription factors including SPCH, as well as BIN2 and MAP kinases. BIN2 has […]
Much of our understanding of the molecular pathway for ABA response comes from studies on Arabidopsis. Thanks to genomic sequencing efforts, we know that this pathway is largely conserved amongst plants, including mosses. Jahan et al. extend this understanding to liverworts, drawing on the recently sequenced genome of Marchantia polymorpha. They identified five proteins as […]
Phosphate deficiency leads to arrest of primary root elongation. Previous work has shown that this arrest depends upon Fe, raising the possibility that Fe accumulation in the root apex is the cause of growth arrest. Several genes involved in low Pi response have been identified, including genes encoding the LPR1 ferroxidase, ALS3/STAR1 transporter complex and […]
Small RNAs are known to move between cells and even between organisms. Studies in mammals have shown that extracellular vesicles (EVs) can contribute to small RNA transport, and recently small-RNA containing EVs were identified in plants. Baldrich et al. extend this work with an analysis of the types of small RNAs contained in plant EVs. […]
Clubroot is a disease of brassicas (including oilseed crops and Arabidopsis) caused by the protist Plasmodiophora brassicae. The infection is characterized by the formation of swollen tissues called galls that are metabolic sinks in which the pathogen propagates. Walerowski et al. took advantage of Arabidopsis tools to dissect the molecular events initiated by the pathogen. […]
Editorial. Counting what counts: the importance of quantitative approaches to studying plant cell biology In the new Cell Biology issue of Current Opinion in Plant Biology, editors Haswell and Dixit have chosen to focus on quantitative cell biology, arguing that, “if seeing is believing, then measuring is knowing.” Topics of the issue’s reviews span parts […]
By Nicholas Smirnoff, University of Exeter. This article is part of the forthcoming Synthetic Biology focus issue. Plants provide a source of enzymes for metabolic engineering to produce valuable or useful products in micro-organisms or can themselves be engineered (Andre et al., 2016; Vickery et al., 2016; Moses et al., 2017). Production of high value […]
Jiyue Huang, first author of The Largest Subunit of DNA Polymerase Delta is Required for Normal Formation of Meiotic Type I Crossovers Current Position: Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Copenhaver Lab, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, NC Education: PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Department of Biochemistry. Fudan University, China; M.S. in Genetics, Department of Genetics. Fudan University, China; […]
Cong Wang, first author of The Largest Subunit of DNA Polymerase Delta is Required for Normal Formation of Meiotic Type I Crossovers Current Position: Ph.D. Candidate, Biochemistry and Molecule Biology, Fudan University, China. Education: B. S. Biological Science, Sep. 2009-Jul. 2013. Lanzhou University, China Non-scientific Interests: Travelling, reading and movies. Brief bio: During the last year of […]