Biosensors have provided abundant information about the distribution of target enzymes, for example auxin, revealing much about their roles in plant physiology and development. Ethylene is a tiny (C2H4) gaseous hormone that hasn’t been very amenable to the development of biosensors. Here, Vong et al. describe the development of an albumin-based artificial metalloenzyme (ArM) that […]
Numerous genes have been identified that modify shoot architecture, which has allowed breeding of varieties for specific purposes and environments. Here, Kwon et al. describe how they have used gene editing to modify several of these genes to produce tomatoes and groundcherries that are compact and rapid cycling, so are optimized for restricted growth environments […]
Special Current Opinion in Biotechnology issue Issue: Plant Biotechnology Since most of us will have a few days off this coming week as we welcome in 2020, I’d like to highlight some of the engrossing reviews in this special issue of Current Opinion in Biotechnology, edited by Ralf Reski, Gary Foster & Ed Rybicki. Several […]
Reading this review by Diaz et al. feels a bit like reading a bad report card. Although we know we’re failing in our role as Earth’s stewards, we don’t always want to be reminded of this. But, in this case we need to read and act on the suggestions for improvement. The authors review the […]
Multicellularity is without doubt a fantastic fluke. We know that it arose independently in plants and animals, but how many times? And is there a common “predisposition” to multicellularity in the universal common ancestor? These are the questions addressed in this review by Niklas and Newman. Looking across the green lineage, the authors explore the […]
In the middle part of the 20th century, cell biology leapt forward with the development of differential centrifugation methods for purifying subcellular compartments. However, these methods require large amounts of starting material and can suffer from contamination. Kuhnert et al. present a new simple and fast method for isolating plant mitochondria through affinity tagging. They […]
Knowing RNA abundance is nice, but in most cases protein abundance is more biologically interesting. Traubenik et al. used TRAP (Translating Ribosome Affinity Purification) to examine efficiency of translation and contributions of non-coding and alternatively spliced RNAs during the establishment of symbiosis between Medicago truncatula and Sinorhizobium meliloti. The authors found numerous genes that show […]
The ability of seeds to pack nutrients into dense stable capsules transformed plants’ and animals’ ability to thrive on land (imagine getting through your day without eating any foods derived from seeds or animals that eat seeds). Within many seeds, nutrients are packaged in lipid droplets, with specific proteins such as oleosins instrumental to their […]
Review: Pervasive human-driven decline of life on Earth points to the need for transformative change Reading this review by Diaz et al. feels a bit like reading a bad report card. Although we know we’re failing in our role as Earth’s stewards, we don’t always want to be reminded of this. But, in this case […]