Entries by Mary Williams

Recognzing Plant Physiology first authors: Jiakun Zheng

Jiakun Zheng, first author of INCREASING NODULE SIZE1 expression is required for normal rhizobial symbiosis and nodule development Current Position: Master candidate student, Root Biology Center, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China Education: Bachelor in College of Agriculture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China. Non-scientific Interests: Reading, hiking, music Brief bio: I received my B.S. degree from South […]

Recognizing Plant Physiology first authors: Xinxin Li

Xinxin Li, first author of INCREASING NODULE SIZE1 expression is required for normal rhizobial symbiosis and nodule development Current Position: Associate Professor in Root Biology Center, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China Education: PhD in Plant Nutrition at the State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-bioresources, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China. Non-scientific […]

Recognizing Plant Physiology first authors: Eiji Gotoh

Eiji Gotoh, first author of Chloroplast accumulation response enhances leaf photosynthesis and plant biomass production Current Position: Assistant Professor, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University Education: Eiji Gotoh obtained his Ph.D. at the Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyushu University. Non-scientific interests: Martial arts, American football, Japanese Sake Brief bio: In 2011, he jointed Dr. Ken’ichiro Shimazaki […]

What We’re Reading: September 28

Focused Review: A role for ecophysiology in the ’omics’ era Ecophysiology is the study of plant functioning as modulated by the environment (or, as described by one author, “outdoors physiology“). Flexas and Gago ask whether research (and training) in  ecophysiology has been left behind somewhat by successes in -omics approaches, and from a Web of […]

Focused Review: A role for ecophysiology in the ’omics’ era (Plant J.)

Ecophysiology is the study of plant functioning as modulated by the environment (or, as described by one author, “outdoors physiology“). Flexas and Gago ask whether research (and training) in  ecophysiology has been left behind somewhat by successes in -omics approaches, and from a Web of Science query they conclude that ecophysiology research has been negatively […]

ZmbZIP22 regulates 27-kD γ-zein transcription during maize endosperm development (Plant Cell)

Zeins are maize seed storage proteins, but are notoriously low in the amino acids lycine and tryptophan. Therefore, to improve maize’s nutritional properties, efforts have been made to decrease zein levels. However, such efforts often lead to abnormal (opague) kernels. Previous work has demonstrated that the 27-kD γ-zein gene is extremely highly expressed in the […]

Flowering time in the real world (Nature Plants)

There are pros and cons to growing plants in controlled conditions. On the one hand, controlling light, temperature, humidity and other environmental factors should aid reproducibility between experiments and labs. But what if the conditions used profoundly and unexpectedly affect the process you are studying? This is what Song et al. show in their new […]

Recognizing Plant Cell first authors: Junpeng Zhan

Junpeng Zhan, first author of Opaque-2 regulates a complex gene network associated with cell differentiation and storage function of maize endosperm Current Position: Postdoctoral Associate, Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri Education: Ph.D. in Plant Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona; B.E. in Bioengineering and M.S. in Microbiology, Northwest A&F University, China. Non-scientific Interests: […]

Recognizing Plant Physiology first authors: Chi Zhang

Chi Zhang, first author of The MAPK kinase kinase GmMEKK1 regulates cell death and defense responses Current Position: Postgraduate Student in the College of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China 321004 Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Biology, Shaanxi University of Technology, Hanzhong, China Non-scientific Interests: Badminton, music, reading and travelling Brief bio: I obtained […]