Celiac disease is a debilitating autoimmune disease in which antigens in plant gliadins (one type of gluten protein) stimulate production of antibodies that inflame the lining of the small intestine. In wheat, α-gliadin (the main cause of the sensitivity) is encoded by more than 100 genes, thwarting their elimination through traditional breeding methods. Sánchez-León et […]
Aflatoxins are small molecules that are extremely damaging to human health that are produced by the fungal species Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. Peanut pods form underground and so are particularly vulnerable to infection by the fungus. Sharma et al. used a two-pronged approach to develop peanuts that accumulate little or no aflatoxin. On the […]
Update: Peroxisome function, biogenesis, and dynamics in plants Peroxisomes are endoplasmic reticulum-derived membrane-enclosed organelles in which many oxidative enzymatic reactions are compartmentalized. These reactions and their products contribute to energy production, detoxification, and signaling. Kao et al. review our understanding of the plant peroxisome, including the role of peroxisome enzymes (and how these nuclear-encoded proteins […]
Meet the newest member of the Teaching Tools in Plant Biology family, Phenomics of root system architecture: Measuring and analyzing root phenes -By Larry York and Guillaume Lobet. This teaching tool discusses the relatively young field of root system architecture quantification. It introduces the concepts of phenes (like genes, but referring to the phenotype), and […]
We’re delighted to welcome our newest class of Plantae Fellows, selected from an outstanding pool of applicants. This year’s Plantae Fellows span from Graduate Student to Professor, and come from many countries and states, from Western Australia and Vietman in the east to California in the west. They are eager to combine their interests in […]
Vera Gorelova is the featured first author of Dihydrofolate Reductase/Thymidylate Synthase Fine-tunes the Folate Status and Controls Redox Homeostasis. Current Position: PhD candidate at Ghent University looking for a new challenge Education: MSc. In Biology, Novosibirsk State University, Russia Non-scientific Interests: travelling, books, baking and eating cakes, skateboarding, playing guitar, being with Gosha. I started […]
Rene Schneider, featured first author of Two Complementary Mechanisms Underpin Cell Wall Patterning during Xylem Vessel Development Current Position: Postdoctoral Researcher and Lecturer at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Education: PhD (2013) Bio-Physics, Dresden University of Technology, Germany. Diploma (2008) Physics, Dresden University of Technology, Germany. Non-scientific Interests: Bushwalking, camping, community-building and just being active […]
Geraint Perry from GARNet (@GARNetweets) interviewed Emily Larson (@erlarson_phd), author of “Clathrin Heavy Chain subunits coordinate endo- and exocytic traffic and affect stomatal movement” published recently in Plant Physiology. Emily Larson from the University of Glasgow talks clathrin, balloons and the publication process as part in our discussion about her recent Plant Physiology paper entitled […]
July 2017 marked the debut of a new podcast that digs beneath the surface to understand how plant science publications are created. The Taproot Podcast was developed and is hosted by Elizabeth (Liz) Haswell (Professor at Washington University in St. Louis) and Ivan Baxter (Research Computational Biologist with the USDA-ARS Plant Genetics Research Unit at […]