Entries by Mary Williams

Review: Chloride on the move ($)

Saline soils are an ever growing problem, whether due to seawater incursions, for example in Bangladesh, or due to the rising water table in Australia. Salinity is harmful in three ways: non-specific osmotic effects, excess Na+, and excess Cl–. Of these, chloride has received the least attention. Li et al. review recent insights into the […]

Review: Modeling stomatal conductance

The transpiration rate of water though stomata, known as stomatal conductance or gs is one of the most critical and regulated of plant physiological processes.  Buckley reviews recent progress on the development of comprehensive models of stomatal conductance, including the effect of soil moisture and air humidity, ABA synthesis and responses to light, CO2 and […]

Two Reviews: CRISPR/Cas for genome engineering in plants, and genome editing in cereal crops ($)

The gene-editing technology CRISPR/Cas, which introduces double-strand breaks that are repaired by non-homologous end joining (NHEJ), is best known for the promise it holds in modifying an organism’s DNA without the introduction of exogenous genes. However, as Puchta describes (Curr. Opin. Plant Biol. 10.1016/j.pbi.2016.11.011), there are also many other ways that CRISPR/Cas can alter gene […]

Fine-tuning plant growth in the face of drought

IN BRIEF by Kathleen L. Farquharson [email protected] Limiting shoot growth is an important survival strategy for plants during times of drought; smaller leaves mean that less water is lost through transpiration and more is retained in the soil. As drought stress restricts both cell division and expansion – processes that rely on specialized microtubule arrays […]

More than Window Dressing: Revealing 5-Methylcytocine Patterns that Decorate Arabidopsis RNA

IN BRIEF by Jennifer Lockhart [email protected] DNA is sculpted by several types of epigenetic modifications with profound effects on gene expression, development, and stress responses. Much less is known about the more than 100 chemical modifications shaping plant RNA, a topic explored in the newly emerging field of epitranscriptomics (reviewed in Burgess et al., 2016). […]

Low Phytate Rice Grains

Phosphorus (P) is an important macronutrient for crop productivity.  In cereal crops like rice, about 60-85% of total plant P is allocated to grains and therefore removed from fields at harvest. Furthermore, the major form of P in the grains is phytate (C6H18O24P6), which cannot be digested by humans and monogastric animals. Phytate, therefore is […]

Review: DNA Checkpoints and Aluminum Tolerance ($)

Aluminum (Al) toxicity is an important agricultural problem, limiting crop production globally. Al toxicity causes a reduction in nutrient uptake, resulting in nutritional deficiency and leading to an overall reduction in shoot biomass and crop yield. Eekhout et al. discuss Al toxicity and strategies to develop Al-tolerant plants. The identification of Al hypersensitive mutants as […]

Getting a scientific message across means taking human nature into account (The Conversation)

Rose Hendricks, University of California, San Diego We humans have collectively accumulated a lot of science knowledge. We’ve developed vaccines that can eradicate some of the most devastating diseases. We’ve engineered bridges and cities and the internet. We’ve created massive metal vehicles that rise tens of thousands of feet and then safely set down on […]