Xiao et al. used 1,033 rice accessions for GWAS to identify QTLs associated with cold tolerance. In general, japonica-type varieties showed greater cold tolerance than indica types. The authors identified many QTLs for cold tolerance at the seedling and booting (initiation of panicles) stages. They identified a locus correlated with cold tolerance, and a single-nucleotide […]
Review: A guide to sequence your favorite plant genomes Every year, genome assembly gets faster and cheaper. Li and Harkness provide a practical guide to today’s methods, with caveats and precautions that need to be considered at each step, even questions to ask before embarking on a sequencing project. Topics include how to estimate genome […]
Many pathogens produce virulence factors that improve their pathogenicity, including in some cases compounds produced by the host, such as the hormone cytokinin. Spallek et al. review the various plant pathogens — spanning from bacteria to parasitic plants — that use cytokinins as virulence factors; cytokinin biosynthetic and modification genes can be found in these […]
Khakhar et al. have developed a system by which genes can be made exquisitely responsive to specific hormones. They take advantage of the specificity of the guide DNA/Cas9 system, but use a deactivated (dCas9) enzyme that targets but does not cleave the target DNA. By fusing dCAS9 to a hormone-responsive degron (protein degradation domain) and […]
Sulfur is incorporated into the amino acid cysteine (Cys) and also the reactive-oxygen scavenger glutathione (GSH). Speiser et al. investigated the effect of restricting both Cys and glutathione production through a double-mutant analysis in Arabidopsis; sir1-1 is a slow-growing sulfite-reductase deficient mutant with limited production of Cys production, and cad2-1 is cadmium sensitive due to […]
In this excellent review, Lavarenne et al. provide an accessible introduction to the tools and objectives of gene regulatory network (GRN) analysis. They include a glossary, show diagrams displaying different stages of GRN analysis, and provide links to key papers in which different methods have been applied to plant science. This article is recommended reading […]
Plants make some amazing biologically active natural products, many with impressive applications such as vinblastine, a product of Catharantus roseus (Madagascar periwinkle). Caputi et al. identified key enzymes in vinblastine synthesis, opening the door for its production in alternative systems and the production of derivative compounds. It’s an interesting story of false-starts, unstable intermediates and […]
Review: Same tune, different song — cytokinins as virulence factors in plant–pathogen interactions? Many pathogens produce virulence factors that improve their pathogenicity, including in some cases compounds produced by the host, such as the hormone cytokinin. Spallek et al. review the various plant pathogens — spanning from bacteria to parasitic plants — that use cytokinins […]
Seeds are hugely important, providing the opportunity for reproductive dormancy in seed-bearing plants and as a nutrient-dense food source for animals. Seed development involves the formation of three genetically distinct tissues, the embryo, seed coat and endosperm. Although normally dependent on fertilization by pollen, through the process of apomixis sometimes seeds can form in the […]