How do small populations persist in spite of sharing space with much larger populations? Wei et al. explored this question in the context of plant-pollinator interactions. They observed that rarer species tend to attract more specialized pollinators, whereas more abundant species have more shared pollinators, leading to reduced reproductive success as their pollinators were more […]
Special Issue of J. Exp. Bot. The quiescent center and root apical meristem: Organization and function 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 […]
Have you noticed that the quality and resolution of cell images has been getting better and better? Weiner et al. review the recent advances in 3D electron microscopy (EM) technologies that have provided these strikingly beautiful and informative images. Like “classic” transmission EM, EM tomography requires the production of thin sections, either through cryo-preservation (Cryo-EM) […]
Calcium ions (Ca2+) are ubiquitous and essential signals, with a very steep concentration gradient from outside to inside the cell. Numerous studies from across the kingdoms have demonstrated that transient Ca2+ fluxes convey information of many types. Here, Grenzi et al. provide an Update on the tools that have been developed to quantify and localize […]
This review by Wulff and Krattinger is a beautifully written “must read”. As the title suggests, it takes the reader on a journey of scientific progress, starting from the “first controlled cross between two wheat species” to the present, with a look into the future. Triticum aestivum (bread wheat) is a critically important food crop […]
Choosing a PhD supervisor is one of the most important and difficult decisions of an academic career. This new entry by Jabre et al. in the “Ten simple rules” series endeavors to highlight some of the factors to consider when faced with this decision. These span from the early steps of identifying potential supervisors based […]
“Food, fuel, and fiber” sometimes is used to describe our utter dependence on plants, but often, other than cotton, the “fiber” part is under appreciated. However, there is a growing interest in bio-based materials, both for their greater recyclability and as an alternative to petroleum-derived materials (see ‘Biobased Composites for Mobility and Transportation: Moving towards […]
Review: 3D electron microscopy for imaging organelles in plants and algae Have you noticed that the quality and resolution of cell images has been getting better and better? Weiner et al. review the recent advances in 3D electron microscopy (EM) technologies that have provided these strikingly beautiful and informative images. Like “classic” transmission EM, EM […]
As part of The Plant Cell’s upcoming celebration of plant cell biology, Roeder et al. write about fifteen of the “open questions” in the field. This, and the other reviews that make up the focus issue, provide valuable insights into the leading edge of the discipline. Among the questions posed: How are the connections between […]