Entries by Mary Williams

CRISPR-TSKO: A technique for efficient mutagenesis in specific cell types, tissues, or organs in Arabidopsis ($) (Plant Cell)

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The ability to introduce base-specific changes through CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing has given scientists fantastic tools with which to understand and modify the genes that control plant development and physiology. New tools and refinements to this toolkit are being developed rapidly. In this new work, Decaestecker et al. introduce CRISPR-TSKO (tissue-specific knockout system). The power of […]

Genome editing retraces the evolution of toxin resistance in the monarch butterfly ($) (Nature)

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When a few species from several distantly related groups produce a similar but unusual trait, we usually assume that this trait is an example of convergent evolution; starting from different places but ending up at the same place. The ability to eat plants that produce cardiac glycosides, which are toxic to most animals, occurs in […]

Identification of calmodulin-dependent NAD+ kinase that sustains the elicitor-induced oxidative burst (Plant Phys)

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When pathogens attack, one line of defense is the production of a burst of reactive oxygen species (ROS) which triggers additional defences. ROS is produced by the action of NADPH oxidases, which require NADPH as a substrate; NADPH is derived from NADP+, but where does this come from? Previous studies have pointed to its production […]

High-resolution expression profiling of selected gene sets during plant immune activation (bioRxiv)

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The problem with gene expression profiling is that it preferentially reports on the more highly-expressed genes. Capture sequencing uses targeted sequence libraries to pull out transcripts from genes of interest, including lowly expressed genes, so that their signals aren’t overwhelmed. To explore gene expression early in plant defense responses, Ding, Ngou et al. describe the […]

NEEDLE1 encodes a mitochondria localized ATP-dependent metalloprotease required for thermotolerant maize growth ($) (PNAS)

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Previously, the needle1 (ndl1) maize mutant was identified as showing a variable phenotype mainly affecting the tassel. Here, Liu et al. showed that this variability arises due to its temperature sensitivity, with strongest effects at warmer temperatures. In some cases, the plants arrest before reaching maturity, and in others the tassel forms a bare, unbranched […]

Plant Science Research Weekly: October 4th

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Letter. The human health benefits from GM crops If you’ve ever spoken publicly about GM crops, you’ve probably heard people express concern about how eating GM crops might affect their health. Smyth lays out a positive case for the human health benefits of GM crops, which will be a useful resource for science communicators. Here […]