Membrane transport is essential for nutrition and cellular homeostasis, it plays key roles in signaling and development, and it is a vital component of responses to biotic and abiotic stress. The December 2021 Plant Physiology Focus Issue highlights recent advances in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms behind membrane transport, its integration with signaling, and its roles in […]
Review. Chloroplast development in green plant tissues: The interplay between light, hormones, and transcriptional regulation Chloroplasts are indispensable for plant growth and physiological performance; not only for photosynthesis but also for many biochemical processes. Due to the endosymbiont origin of the chloroplast, chloroplast development requires sophisticated machinery to relay the signals between the nuclear and […]
By Yunde Zhao, Mary Williams, and Mike Blatt Plant Physiology initiated the Assistant Features Editor (AFE) program four 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 […]
The November issue of Plant Physiology is a Focus Issue on Architecture and Plasticity. One of the most intriguing aspects of plant growth and development is the environmental responsiveness (also known as “plasticity”) of plant architecture (growth form). Depending on environmental conditions, roots can grow deeper, branch more, or be hairier; leaves can be thicker […]
You’ve heard of “Plant Awareness Disparity” (10.1002/ppp3.10153), a term gaining popularity to highlight the fact that plants are sometimes overlooked as living organisms (replacing the abelist term “Plant Blindess”). You’ve also recently read that plants with bigger, more conspicuous flowers get more research attention (10.1038/s41477-021-00912-2) Silviera et al. extend these observations and demonstrate that some […]
Phytophthora sojae is an oomycete pathogen that causes huge yield losses in soybean. Genetic studies have identified several loci that confer resistance (Resistance-to-P. sojae loci, or Rps). Here, Wang et al. have cloned Rps11 and found that it encodes a very large NLR (nucleotide-binding site leucine-rich repeat) protein. Their initial mapping identified a cluster of […]
Focus Issue on Architecture and Plasticity The November issue of Plant Physiology is a Focus Issue on Architecture and Plasticity. One of the most intriguing aspects of plant growth and development is the environmental responsiveness (also known as “plasticity”) of plant architecture (growth form). Depending on environmental conditions, roots can grow deeper, branch more, or […]
As the name suggests, the root quiescent center (QC) is an area at the root tip of low cell-division activity. This special issue of the Journal of Experimental Botany provides a comprehensive overview of what we understand about the QC and its importance in root growth. The issue is dedicated to the memory of Frederick […]
In a contribution to the January 2022 Plant Cell Focus Issue on Plant Cell Biology, Kang et al. have assembled an updated survey of plant cell structures. This review includes a dozen mini-reviews that describe various compartments or structures within plant cells: the nucleus, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi stacks, endosomes, vacuole, lipid droplets, peroxisomes, mitochondria, chloroplast, […]