Yuanyuan Zhang, first author of OsATX1 Interacts with Heavy Metal P1B-type ATPases and Affects Cu Transport and Distribution in Rice Current Position: PhD student in the National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, China. Education: PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University. BS in […]
Camelina sativa is a member of the Brassicaceae family that is grown as an oilseed crop. It has summer and winter flowering biotypes, the latter of which requires vernalization to induce flowering. These two biotypes allow for double-cropping, and the winter-flowering biotype can also be used as a cover crop. To investigate the genetic basis […]
Brachypodium distachyon is an annual C3 grass that has become an important model species. Scholthof et al. review the genetic tools and resources (sequences and mutants) as well as robust protocols for transformation that have been developed for it. The presence of wild and perennial species within the Brachypodium genus provides additional value. The authors […]
The Arabidopsis genome encodes nine Argonaute proteins and an AGO pseudogene. The nine functional proteins fall into three clades based on sequence. Ma and Zhang update what we know about these proteins. It turns out, the simple assumptions made early on have not entirely been borne out. For example, AGO1 helps miRNAs carry out their […]
Genetically-encoded biosensors are produced from genes, and provide a specific readout (usually fluorescence or luminescence) of the amount and distribution of a compund of interest (the analyte). We’ve all see data obtained from genetically encoded biosensors, such as the widely-used cameleon family of calcium sensor, but did you ever think about what it takes to […]
Review. Genetically encoded biosensors in plants: Pathways to discovery ($) Genetically-encoded biosensors are produced from genes, and provide a specific readout (usually fluorescence or luminescence) of the amount and distribution of a compund of interest (the analyte). We’ve all see data obtained from genetically encoded biosensors, such as the widely-used cameleon family of calcium sensor, […]
Christina Maria Franck, first author of The protein phosphatases ATUNIS1 and ATUNIS2 regulate cell wall integrity in tip-growing cells Current Position: Post-Doctoral position at the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of Zürich (Switzerland) Education: PhD in Botany, University of Cologne. MSc in Molecular Cell Biology, University of Zürich. Non-scientific Interests: Running, yoga, bouldering, […]
By Dario Leister Applications of synthetic biology to photosynthesis currently range from exchanging photosynthetic proteins to the utilization of photosynthesis as a source of electrons for entirely unrelated reactions. Oxygenic photosynthesis is imperfect and the evolutionarily conditioned patchwork nature of the light reactions in plants provides ample scope for their improvement (Leister, 2012; Blankenship and […]
Rachel Shahan, first author of Consensus co-expression networks provide insights into wild strawberry flower and fruit development Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher, Biology Department, Duke University Education: PhD in molecular genetics at the University of Maryland (2018), BS in Biology at Virginia Tech (2011) Non-scientific Interests: Traveling, reading, and trying to brew the perfect cup of coffee Bio: […]