Entries by Nathan Scinto-Madonich

EXPANSIN A1-mediated radial swelling of pericycle cells positions anticlinal cell divisions during lateral root initiation ($) (PNAS)

April 19, 2019 in /by

Lateral root development helps plants explore the soil for mineral nutrients and water, and there are environmental and internal cues that precede the formation of lateral root primordia. In Arabidopsis thaliana, some of these internal cues include increased auxin concentrations around lateral root founder cells and their radial expansion. Ramakrishna et al. used an auxin-inducible […]

Complete biosynthesis of cannabinoids and their unnatural analogues in yeast (Nature) ($)

March 15, 2019 in /by

Cannabis sativa L. produces cannabinoid compounds that interest the medical community for the treatment of symptoms that may be difficult to suppress with common medical treatments. Research on cannabinoids is limited by their low abundance in plant tissue and structurally complex chemical synthesis. Luo et al. addresses these issues through the assembly of a cannabinoid […]

Crystal structure of plant vacuolar transporter VIT1 (Nature Plants) ($)

February 22, 2019 in /by

Iron is an essential nutrient for plants that participates in cellular processes such as DNA replication, photosynthesis, and respiration. Excess iron accumulation is harmful to plants due to its participation in the generation of reactive oxygen species, which can damage cellular machinery. One of the ways to detoxify iron is to sequester it in the […]

Natural Herbicide: Cyanobacterial antimetabolite inhibits the growth of prototrophic organisms (Nature Comms)

February 15, 2019 in /by

The shikimate pathway synthesizes aromatic amino acids in microorganisms and plants, and its absence in animals makes the shikimate pathway a common target for the development of herbicides. Brilisauer et al. 2019 isolated a novel compound from the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus—7-deoxy-sedoheptulose (7dSH)—that blocks 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phospate (DAHP) from binding to 3-dehydroquinate (DHQ) synthase, a key step […]

Auxin efflux carrier ZmPGP1 mediates root growth inhibition under aluminum stress (Plant Physiology)

February 1, 2019 in /by

Acid soils (pH < 5.5) mobilize aluminum (Al) in the rhizosphere, which damages the root meristem and hinders exploration for nutrients and water. Zhang et al. demonstrate that a mutation in ZmPGP1, an auxin transport protein, imparts enhanced root growth under toxic Al conditions. The enhanced root growth is attributed to greater auxin accumulation, which […]