The effects of light on plant growth are incredibly complex and depend on where it is perceived, light quantity, light quality (wavelength), and when within the circadian cycle it is perceived. Romanowski et al. examined the effect of late-day far-red light perception in Arabidopsis leaves. This treatment is known to induce shade-avoidance syndrome, which is […]
Genetic studies have provided us with countless examples of regulatory switches that transduce a signal into a response. Mutant analysis is usually sufficient to identify these controlling elements, but often in an all-or-nothing way. Here, Ghusinga et al. have taken a theoretical kinetic approach to examine how three types of switch architectures affect the properties […]
Review: Microbiota-root-shoot-environment axis and stress tolerance in plants ($) Roots and shoots exist in different environments and have different functions, but each depends on the actions of the other. In recent years, many factors have been identified that move from root to shoot or vice versa to integrate their actions; these include hormones, small RNAs, […]
Plantae Presents: Yuling Jiao and Lilan Hong Recorded March 24 Yuling Jiao: Stochastic gene expression drives mesophyll protoplast regeneration in Arabidopsis Yuling Jiao is a Research Group Leader at the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, a position he has hold since 2010. He earned his BS from Peking University, MS […]
Please help us envision and achieve a better Society Take a moment to imagine what the ideal professional society would be. How would decisions be made, opportunities allocated, scientists supported? Are we there yet? We hope we’re close, but we know that the best ASPB will be the one that continues to grow with our […]
The root system has three key functions: support/anchoring, uptake of water, and uptake of nutrients. Many questions remain about how roots integrate all of these functions into the architecture of a single system. Here, Bardhan et al. explore whether modifying the nutrient environment (hence root’s foraging responses) can enhance root water uptake capabilities. The authors […]
It’s like the plot of every spy movie you’ve ever seen. If you could infiltrate your opponent’s headquarters what would you target to disable your enemy? This is the question addressed in new work by Petre et al. More than ten years ago, a family of small proteins was identified, the RXLR proteins (named for […]
Two very exciting papers have come out this week in Nature that address a long-standing question about the relative contributions of two different plant immunity pathways. PTI (pathogen-triggered immunity) recognizes conserved pathogen signatures at the plant cell surface; a model system for PTI is the interaction between the bacteria flagellin protein (or the peptide flg22) […]
Review: Can smart nutrient applications optimize the plant’s hidden half to improve drought resistance? The root system has three key functions: support/anchoring, uptake of water, and uptake of nutrients. Many questions remain about how roots integrate all of these functions into the architecture of a single system. Here, Bardhan et al. explore whether modifying the […]