Meng et al. show that sorbitol acts as a signal regulating resistance to the fungal pathogen Alternaria alternata in apple.Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00231 By Dong Meng, B. Gillian Turgeon and Lailiang Cheng Background: Sugars produced by photosynthesis fuel plant growth and development, but may also play a role in plant-pathogen interactions, acting as a carbon source […]
Liu, et al. examine how wound response and its control mechanism differs between domesticated and wild tomato. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00194. By Ming-Jung Liu and Shin-Han Shiu Background: Two related species accumulate differences between each other over time. If one of the species is domesticated due to human selection of desirable traits, the domesticated species experiences […]
Calixto et al. demonstrate a rapid wave of alternative splicing as temperatures drop. The Plant Cell (2018) https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00177. By Cristiane Calixto and John Brown Background: Alternative splicing (AS) allows a single gene to produce more than one transcript, which can affect protein production and function. AS is common and essential for eukaryotes to control gene […]
Xie et al. discover an EPSP synthase gene involved in the transcriptional regulation of the phenylpropanoid pathway in Populus trichocarpa The Plant Cell (2018). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00168. By Meng Xie, Wellington Mechuro, Jin-Gui Chen, and Gerald A. Tuskan Background: 5-enolpyruvylshikimate 3-phosphate (EPSP) synthase is an enzyme existing in plants and microorganisms. EPSP synthase catalyzes the sixth reaction […]
Corem et al. demonstrate a switch in DNA methylation patterns across the tomato genome. The Plant Cell (2018). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00167. By Shira Corem, Tzahi Arazi and Nicolas Bouché Background: Crop genomes are covered by transposons, which are DNA sequences that can jump from one place to another. Transposon mobility must be tightly controlled to avoid deleterious […]
Yang et al. investigate the role of autophagy in the ongoing arms race of plant defense and viral counterdefense. The Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00122 By Meng Yang and Dawei Li Background: Most plants have defense mechanisms that enable resistance to pathogens. One of theses is autophagy, which is a major cellular degradation pathway in eukaryotes. Disfunctional […]
Chen et al. higlight the importance of AS in diversifying gene function and regulating phenotypic variation. The Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00109 Background: Alternative splicing (AS) of precursor mRNAs is an essential regulatory mechanism that greatly enhances transcriptome and proteome diversity. AS is prevalent in plants and functions in a wide range of growth and development processes. […]
Ma et al. investigate epigenetic aspects of heat-induced male sterility in cotton. By Yizan Ma, Ling Min and Xianlong Zhang Background: Global warming causes extremely high temperatures in summer in some areas. Certain crops cultivated in summer cannot tolerate extreme heat stress and begin to show male sterility (which means there is no active pollen […]
Fu et al. demonstrate a requirement for the heterochromatin factors CMT and DDM1 in RNA-directed DNA methylation in maize. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00053 By Fang-fang Fu and Jonathan I. Gent Background: DNA methylation is a chemical modification of DNA consisting of addition of a methyl group to cytosine nucleotides in the DNA molecule. There are three major […]