Entries by Mary Williams

Review: Senescence and nitrogen use efficiency in perennial grasses for forage and biofuel production ($)

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Much of our understanding of the molecular processes of senescence and nutrient remobilization comes from annual plants. Yang and Udvardi explore how these processes take place in perennial grasses including important biofuel grasses switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) and miscanthus (Miscanthus×giganteus). While in annual plants leaf senescence is usually accompanied by mobilization of nutrients from leaves to […]

Review: The Chlamydomonas CO2-concentrating mechanism and its potential for engineering photosynthesis in plants

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Many green algae have the ability to concentrate CO2 to enhance their photosynthetic performance. Mackinder reviews these algal CO2-concentrating mechanisms (CCMs) and what steps would be required to introduce them into higher plants. He also compares progress and pitfalls towards introducing algal CCMs into plants to that of other photosynthesis-engineering strategies including Rubisco engineering and […]

Review: Embracing the unknown: disentangling the complexities of the soil microbiome ($)

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The soils microbiome is of course hugely complex and immensely variable. Metagenomics tools allow us to describe the diversity of the soil microbiome, but what that diversity means is best grasped when the microbiome is considered in terms of its ecological functions, as described in this Tansley Insight by Fierer. These ecological functions include numerous […]

Opinion: Plant hormones: Key players in gut microbiota and human diseases?

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Chanclud and Lacombe have written an intriguing Opinion article asking to what extent plant hormones affect animal gut microbiota and human disease. In support of this question, they observe that many microbes and even some animals can perceive and respond to plant hormones, or produce plant-hormone mimics. Consider for example salicylic acid, a plant hormone […]

Three-dimensional analysis of chloroplast structures associated with virus infection

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It’s not uncommon for viruses to manipulate the host’s membrane system to create protected structures for viral replication. These viral replication complexes (VRCs) “are thought to shield viruses from host defense systems such as RNA silencing, and … provide a microenvironment for enriching viral replication proteins.” Previous studies have identified VRCs in many different membranes, […]

Phototropin perceives temperature based on the lifetime of its photoactivated state

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Although plants clearly perceive and respond to changes in temperature, it has not always been clear how they perceive temperature and its changes. Evidence for temperature sensing through membrane fluidity, protein stability and, more recently, the reversion of phytochrome to its inactive form has been shown. Fujii et al. investigated the basis for the temperature-sensitive […]

Architecture and dynamics of the jasmonic acid gene regulatory network

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Jasmonic acid (JA) and its derivatives including methyl jasmonate (MeJA) mediate diverse responses to wounding and herbivory and also help to control the growth-defense trade off. JA’s core signaling components have mainly been identified through genetics approaches in Arabidopsis, but gaps remain between JA synthesis / receptor interactions and downstream responses.  Hickman and Van Verk […]

MicroRNAs from the parasitic plant Cuscuta campestris target host messenger RNAs

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There’s only one thing worse than having a parasite suck the life juices out of you, and that’s having a parasite suck the life juices out of you while simultaneously injecting you with miRNAs to increase your vulnerability. Shahid et al. looked at microRNAs isolated from dodder (Cuscuta campestris), which parasistizes a wide range of […]