Undergraduate life science curricula need to incorporate training in bioinformatics. Wilson Sayres et al. surveyed 1260 faculty from across the US to identify their thoughts on what such training should involve. Not surprisingly, 95% of those surveyed agreed with the statement “I think bioinformatics should be integrated into undergraduate life sciences education.” The article defines […]
Auxin Response Factors (ARFs) are transcription factors that bind to ARF binding sites (ARFbs) to mediate auxin responses. Stigliani et al. analzyed experimentally determined DNA interactions of two ARFs, the repressor ARF2 and the activator MP. They found that the binding site data are best interpreted using a position weight matrix (PWM). Using this method, […]
Auxin mediates many of its effects through transcriptional changes via the well-known interaction between its co-receptors and transcriptional regulators (TIR1/AFB – Aux/IAA), but some auxin responses happen too quickly to be explained by transcriptional changes. Fendrych et al. demonstrate that root growth rate slows within 30 seconds of auxin application, and accelerates within 2 minutes […]
Arabidopsis plants have epidermal pavement cells (the cells that make up the bulk of the epidermis, other than guard cells or trichomes) that are often described as “jigsaw puzzle” shaped, and, because Arabidopsis is such a useful model organism, we have nice models for how these distinctive shapes are formed. However, are they ubiquitous? Vofely […]
Guard cells are undoubtedly fascinating and frequently reviewed in terms of both their developmental programming and the intracellular signals that contribute to their function. This review, by Woolfenden, Baillie et al., covers a less familiar topic, that of the biophysical constraints to the mechanics of their action. The authors describe how the analysis of cell […]
Review: Plasmodesmata- form and function ($) Plasmodesmata are cell-cell junctions forming cytosolic bridges between neighbouring plant cells that provide an essential avenue for intercellular communication during a multitude of developmental and stress-related responses throughout the plant kingdom. In a recent ‘at a glance’ mini-review article, Sager and Lee discuss our current knowledge on both the […]
Adrien Burlacot, first author of Flavodiiron-mediated O2 photoreduction a relay between H2 production and CO2 fixation Current Position: PhD student, Plant Biology, Aix Marseille University. Education: Ecole Polytechnique and MSc in Plant science, Paris Saclay. Non-scientific Interests: Hiking, kayaking, restoring old objects. Brief bio: Despite an early fascination on how plants transform sun energy into […]
By Adam Phillips. Reprinted from It Ain’t Magic, The RIKEN Global Communications Team https://itaintmagic.riken.jp/hot-off-the-press/plants-beat-heat It seems like I’ve been writing a lot about plants recently. The truth is that I hardly have enough time to write about all the cool plant studies going on. The study I’m writing about today is cool because it deals […]
Article source: http://theworldseeds.cn/index.php?p=152804 (Translated by Google Translate) The centromere and its surroundings are the fastest-evolving and most complex areas of the plant genome. The centromere and near centromere regions not only undergo rapid sequence changes and structural remodeling, but also have transcriptionally active genes and are also hotspots for the origin of new genes. Chen […]