Entries by Mary Williams

Functional diversification of a wild potato immune receptor at its center of origin

In many biology textbook, plant pathology is introduced through the historical context of the 1840s great potato famine, caused by colonial ideologies and a virulent pathogen. This causal agent, Phytophthora infestans, is an oomycete that is still present in the environment and causing outbreaks of late blight in solanaceous plants. Here, new insights into the […]

Plant Science Research Weekly: Sept. 1, 2023

Perspective: How flower development genes were identified using forward genetic screens in Arabidopsis thaliana If you weren’t around in the ’80s, you missed some great times; the music, the fashion, the flower genetics! This historical perspective article by David Smythe nicely sums up those heady days with an account of how Arabidopsis thaliana blasted into […]

Review: Strigolactones integrate metabolic and nutritional signals

Strigolactones are a class of hormones first identified in the 1960s as components of root exudates that promote germination of parasitic Striga seeds, and later as a promoter of associations with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Strigolactones also have endogenous roles within plants, for example as regulators of shoot branching. More recently, they have been shown to […]

Membrane lipid phosphoinositides signature the final step of plant cytokinesis

Phosphoinositides (membrane lipids with cytosolic inositol headgroups carrying phosphate residues at various positions) serve as road markings for membrane and membrane/cytoskeleton dynamics. Here, Lebeco et al. add further detail to the map. Previously the authors showed that the plant-specific enzyme phosphoinositide phosphatase SAC9 participates in the restriction of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate [PI(4,5)P2] at the plasma membrane […]

Insights from a survey of mentorship experiences

What do mentees want and need from their mentors, and are they getting it? How do factors such as gender identity and internationalism affect the quality of mentor/mentee interactions? Results from a survey of more than 2000 mentees (mostly postdocs and graduate students) are reported, along with a thorough analysis and concrete recommendations. The typical […]

Plant Science Research Weekly: August 18, 2023

Review: Strigolactones integrate metabolic and nutritional signals Strigolactones are a class of hormones first identified in the 1960s as components of root exudates that promote germination of parasitic Striga seeds, and later as a promoter of associations with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Strigolactones also have endogenous roles within plants, for example as regulators of shoot branching. […]