Bollier et al. investigate locule number control in Arabidopsis thaliana and tomato. The Plant Cell 2018 https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00653. By N. Bollier and M. Hernould Background: During flower development, production of a defined number of floral organs is due to the determinate fate of floral stem cells. The last structure to develop within the flower is the […]
Chen et al. link chromatin modifying machinery with ribosome biogenesis. The Plant Cell (2018). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00626 by Xiangsong Chen and Xuehua Zhong Background: All cells need to make proteins to function properly. Ribosomes are the protein production factories consisting of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and ribosomal proteins. Much like a large cake needs to be sliced into […]
Malnoë et al. demonstrate that a protein from the lipocalin family plays a role in promoting energy dissipation that prevents damage from long-term light stress. The Plant Cell (2017). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00536 By Alizée Malnoë Background: Light is necessary for plant growth but in excess can be damaging. One strategy that plants have evolved to prevent damage is […]
Hohenstatt et al. describe a new recruiter of PcG chromatin regulators affecting flowering and meristem identity in Arabidopsis. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00117 By Pawel Mikulski 1) BACKGROUND: Polycomb group (PcG) proteins are key regulatory proteins involved in maintaining the ability (and timing) of cells to differentiate into different cell types during development in plants and animals. PcG proteins […]
Godfroy et al investigate basal cell fate determination in the brown alga Ectocarpus https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00440 BACKGROUND: Brown algae are multicellular photosynthetic marine organisms living on rocky shores across the globe and representing one of the most developmentally complex groups within the eukaryotes. As in many land plants and animals, their main body axis is established early […]
Zhao et al. demonstrate that duplicated genomes in maize and soybean followed distinct trajectories over millions of years https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00595 By Meixia Zhao, Biao Zhang, Damon Lisch, and Jianxin Ma Background: Over evolutionary time, many organisms, particularly plants, have periodically experienced whole-genome duplication. This can happen spontaneously within a species, or occur during mating between related […]
Scharff et al. investigate function of anti-Shine-Dalgarno sequence in chloroplast ribosomes https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00524 By Lars B. Scharff BACKGROUND: Cells of plants contain three different systems for protein synthesis: in the cytosol, in plastids, and in mitochondria. Proteins in the cytosol are made by typical eukaryotic ribosomes. According to the endosymbiotic theory, plastids and mitochondria have bacterial […]
Robinson et al. develop a method to measure mechanical properties of plant tissue with cellular resolution https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00753 Background: Plant growth is controlled by the extensibility of the cell wall and the turgor pressure inside. The spatial regulation of these properties controls the final size and shape of the plant. In order to better understand growth, […]
Yan et al. searched for proteins that regulate the delivery of the micronutrient copper to flowers to ensure successful reproduction https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00363 By Jiapei Yan, Ju-Chen Chia, and Olena Vatamaniuk Background: Global food security and the demand for high-yielding grain crops necessitate the use of marginal lands for agriculture purposes. These soils are often deficient in […]