Double fertilization, in which one sperm cell fertilizes the egg cell to form the embryo, and another sperm cell fertilizes the diploid central cell to produce the triploid endosperm, is a hallmark of angiosperms. Li et al. addressed a long-standing question: if only one sperm cell were present, would it have an equal probablity of […]
Modern rice is descended from a perennial grass, which through millennia of selection evolved into an annual “one-sow, one-harvest” crop. However, it has become apparent that perennial grains have the potential to decrease soil erosion and competition, as well as lower the labor required to produce food. Efforts to re-perennialize several crop species are ongoing, […]
Experimental or “wet lab” biologists look at data, develop a hypothesis to explain it, test the hypothesis, and repeat. Through these approaches, our understanding of life is continually being expanded and refined. A complementary approach involves developing mathematical models to explain observations, and then testing those models by tweaking them and comparing the outputs to […]
Strategies on how to maximize the moment as a junior faculty On the academic job hunt? Bookmark this article, which provides valuable information about what to do when your search is successful. The time between getting an offer and accepting it is the most critical time for you to negotiate to get the resources you […]
By Yunde Zhao, Mike Blatt, and Mary Williams Plant Physiology initiated the Assistant Features Editor (AFE) program five years ago to help disseminate discoveries published in the journal and to train the next generation of editors and reviewers. Our AFEs are promising early-career scientists and they bring their passion for science to our journal, communicating […]
Balancing the books means making sure that expenses don’t exceed income. In terms of a plant’s energy budget, most of the input comes from carbon fixed during photosynthesis. The output is much more diverse. Some fixed carbon is used for growth and stored in seeds, and some is respired to release ATP and reducing power […]
Salt is a massive problem for most land plants. At the macroscopic level, excess soil salinity can cause stunting or death. At the molecular / cellular level, salinity causes both osmotic and ionic challenges that affect membrane homeostasis, molecular interactions, and protein stability. A new review by Colin et al. focuses on the effects of […]
Some of the most fascinating questions in biology, subject to numerous Nobel Prizes, center on how all the parts of a eukaryotic cell are spatially and temporally coordinated, to allow the plethora of often incompatible functions to occur in harmony. Studies in three major systems, yeast, metazoans, and plants, reveal many commonalities arising from their […]
Update: Plant energy expenses: How to stretch the C budget Balancing the books means making sure that expenses don’t exceed income. In terms of a plant’s energy budget, most of the input comes from carbon fixed during photosynthesis. The output is much more diverse. Some fixed carbon is used for growth and stored in seeds, […]