Entries by Mary Williams

Polyamines regulate strawberry fruit ripening by abscisic acid, auxin, and ethylene (Plant Physiol)

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Polyamines, which include putrescine [NH2(CH2)4NH2], spermidine [NH2(CH2)4NH(CH2)3NH2], and  spermine [NH2(CH2)3NH(CH2)4NH(CH2)3NH2], are widespread in nature. Although their mechanisms of action remain largely unresolved, they have demonstrated roles in plants ranging from abiotic stress tolerance to fruit ripening. Guo, Wang et al. examined the contributions of polyamines to strawberry fruit ripening. They showed that spermidine levels increase […]

Crosstalk between PTGS and TGS pathways in natural antiviral immunity and disease recovery (Nature Plants)

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Viruses are significant pathogens of plants, and we know that plants defend themselves in part through the production of small RNAs (sRNAs) that suppress the virus. The viral pathogens in turn can produce viral supressors of RNA silencing (VSR). Kørner et al. investigated the role of gene silencing (post-trancriptional PTGS and transcriptional TGS) in the […]

Receptor-like cytoplasmic kinase STRK1 mediates salt tolerance in rice via H2O2 homeostasis ($) (Plant Cell)

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Salinity is a widespread stressor. Zhou et al. investigated the role of receptor-like kinases (RLKs) in salinity tolerance by identifying RLKs that are transcriptionally upregulated by salt treatment. Candidates were introduced either as overexpression (full-length) or dominant negative (partial) clones, leading to the identification of STRK1 (salt tolerance receptor-like cytoplasmic kinase 1) as a conferring […]

Transcriptome landscape of a bacterial pathogen under plant immunity (PNAS)

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Many studies have examined how plants respond transcriptionally to pathogen attack. This study investigates how a bacterial pathogen [Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 (Pto)] alters its transcriptome very early in the infection process. To accomplish this, Nobori et al. developed two methods to enrich for rare bacterial transcripts against a much larger number of plant […]

The impacts of phosphorus deficiency on the photosynthetic electron transport chain (Plant Physiol)

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Phosphorus deficiency is widespread and can severely limit plant growth.  Carstensen et al. investigated how P deficiency affects photosynthesis in barley. They compared chlorophyll a fluorescence transients (OJIP transients) between P-deficient, sufficient and resupplied plants. They observed depletion in the I-step associated with P deficiency, which is consistent with an inhibition of electron transport to […]

What We’re Reading: March 30th

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Commentary. 10KP: A phylodiverse genome sequencing plan Nobody doubts the great insights we have gained about plant diversity and evolution from genome sequencing, but the patchy nature of available genomes within the plant phylogeny remains a problem. Cheng et al. describe the 10KP (10,000 Plants) Genome Sequencing Project, which aims to sequence genomes from every […]

Mechanistic basis for the activation of membrane receptor kinases by SERK-family coreceptors (PNAS)

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LRR-RKs (Leucine-Rich Repeat Receptor Kinases) are membrane-spanning receptor molecules that recognize a diverse array of signaling ligands. SERKs (SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS RECEPTOR KINASEs) are co-receptors that are required for signal processing. Like LRR-RKs, SERKs span the membrane, with an intracellular kinase domain and an external LRR ectodomain, but the SERK ectodomain is smaller than that of […]

Review: The molecular control of tendril development in angiosperms (New Phytol.)

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There are obvious advantages to being a climbing plant; for example, climbing is a low-cost way to avoid being shaded by your neighbors. Tendrils, which evolved independently several times, are one climbing strategy (others include twining stems and sticky adventitious roots). Sousa-Baena et al. review the development of tendrils in several plant families. Although tendrils […]