Youssef et al. investigate how the vsr2 mutant affects inflorescence (spike) development in barley. In the two-row variety, at each node there are two sterile spikelets and a single grain forms. In the six-row variety, each of the spikelets is fertile and three grains form at each node. The vsr2 mutation partially converts the two-row […]
A metabolon is a physical clustering of metabolic pathway proteins. Until now, evidence for metabolons has been patchy, but Laursen et al. convincingly demonstrate the physical association of several enzymes involved in the production of dhurrin, a defense compound of sorghum. They use a method involving styrene maleic acid to stabilize the membrane-bound metabolon, which […]
Nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria such as Anabaena sp. PCC 7120 have the challenge of supporting nitrogenase, an enzyme that is highly sensitive to oxygen, and simultaneously photosynthesis, an oxygen-producing set of reactions. They accomplish this by segregating these reactions into two cells, heterocysts and vegetative cells. Malatinszky et al. curate and compile a stoichiometric model of the […]
The yield of a maize plant is correlated with the size, shape and number of kernels it produces. Miller et al. have developed an automated system to quantify these crucial attributes from photographs of kernels both on and off the cob. Their methods will enable researchers and breeders to record maize traits with greater precision […]
In an interesting and accessible review, Peyraud et al. provide a big-picture view of how systems biology can be used to address plant-pathogen interactions. They describe the core interactions scaling from molecular to ecosystem / environment, and describe the different types of models that can be used to assess and predict the outcomes, as well […]
Programmed cell death (PCD) is an active process that occurs as part of normal development and also contributes to defense against pathogens. While there are many similarities in developmental PCD (dPCD) and pathogen-triggered PCD (pPCD), there are also differences. Huysmans et al. review and contrast these two types of PCD. A key conclusion is that […]
Svitashev et al. demonstrate a new way to introduce CRISPR-Cas9 reagents into a plant cell, through the biolistic delivery of pre-assembled Cas9-gRNA ribonucleoproteins. This approach was successful in the production of engineered plants, and also demonstrated that this method can be done in a DNA- and selectable marker-free way. Nature Comm. 10.1038/ncomms13274
IN BRIEF by Kathleen L. Farquharson [email protected] Alternative splicing (AS) regulates gene expression and greatly expands the coding capacity of complex genomes. By regulating which elements of an mRNA transcript are removed or retained, AS produces multiple transcripts from a single gene. Some of these transcripts contain a premature termination codon (PTC) and are targeted […]
IN BRIEF by Nancy R. Hofmann [email protected] A new study calls into question whether phytochrome B (phyB) must directly interact with phytochrome-interacting factors (PIFs) to promote light responses. Phytochrome photoreceptors mediate responses to red light in part by inducing the degradation of PIF transcription factors, which generally are repressors of light responses (reviewed in Jeong […]