Entries by Mary Williams

Transcriptome analysis illuminates the nature of the intracellular interaction in a vertebrate-algal symbiosis

May 12, 2017 /0 Comments/in , /by

Chloroplasts are of course the descendants of ancient endosymbiotic cyanobacteria. While there are examples of photosynthetic bacteria or algae living in animal tissues (e.g., anemones and corals), vertebrate endosymbiosis is rare. One exception is the interaction between a salamander Ambystoma maculatum and the green alga Oophila amblystomatis, which lives on and within the salamander’s eggs […]

Hybridizing transgenic Bt cotton with non-Bt cotton counters resistance in pink bollworm

May 12, 2017 /0 Comments/in , /by

Biotic interactions are complex; any effort by the prey/host to defend against the predator/pathogen provides selective pressure towards overcoming those defenses. As new herbivore control methods are developed they quickly lose effectiveness as the pests evolve resistance; this is true whether the control method is sprayed externally or produced internally as it is in transgenic […]

An animal-like cryptochrome controls the Chlamydomonas sexual cycle ($)

May 12, 2017 /0 Comments/in , /by

Light controls many aspects of the lifecycle of photosynthetic organisms, including the green alga Chlamydomonas. Cryptochromes are a family of photoreceptors, of which there are four members in Chlamydomonas. One of these is known as the animal-type cryptochrome, aCRY. To investigate the function of aCRY, Zou et al. generated insertional mutants in aCRY that knocked […]

Root hydrotropism is controlled via a cortex-specific growth mechanism ($)

May 12, 2017 /0 Comments/in , /by

Hydrotropism is the curvature of a plant root towards water. Previous work showed that the hormone abscisic acid (ABA), but not the auxin transporters AUX1 and PIN, is required for hydrotropism, demonstrating that the mechanisms of hydrotropism and gravitropism are distinct. Previous work also showed that MIZU-KUSSEI1 (MIZ1), a gene of unknown function, is required […]

Silver birch: genome sequence and population genomic analyses

May 12, 2017 /0 Comments/in , /by

Salojärvi et al. have assembled the genome of silver birch (Betula pendula) and examined genomic diversity across 150 individuals collected from across Northern Europe and Asia. Their study shows that there have been several genetic bottlenecks associated with climate upheaval (e.g., at the K-Pg boundary 66 million years ago).  They also find evidence of short […]

Review: Invasion science: A Horizon Scan of emerging challenges and opportunities ($)

May 12, 2017 /0 Comments/in , /by

Ricciardi et al. describe the conclusions from a “horizon scanning” workshop set up “to identify emerging scientific, technological, and sociopolitical issues that are likely to affect how invasion processes and dynamics are studied and managed within the next 20 years.” Key concerns include expanding transportation networks, global environmental change, genomic modification tools (which offer both […]

Review: Transfer and engineering of immune receptors to improve recognition capacities in crops

May 12, 2017 /0 Comments/in , /by

Cell-surface localized immune receptors are one of the ways that plants detect pathogens. Traditionally, these receptors have been introgressed from resistant to susceptible varieties through classical breeding. More recently, it has become possible to use genetic engineering methods to move immune receptor genes between more distantly-related plants, where they are able to confer resistance. Rodriguez-Moreno […]

Review: Making plants break a sweat: the structure, function, and evolution of plant salt glands

May 12, 2017 /0 Comments/in , /by

Many agricultural lands are becoming saltier as a consequence of irrigation and sea water incursion, yet most crops are very sensitive to salt. Salt glands that accumulate and secrete salt have evolved independently at least 12 times in plants. Dassanayake and Larkin review the structure, function and evolution of salt glands, and describe how model […]

Review: Synthetic biology approaches for the production of plant metabolites in unicellular organisms ($)

May 12, 2017 /0 Comments/in , /by

The excellent review by Moses et al. starts by defining the oft-confused terms  metabolite engineering and systems biology. Although systems biology can contribute to the former, it is distinguished by the use of “defined ‘parts’ that are easily combined and exchanged, using standardized workflows and often combined with modelling and computational methods.” The authors go […]