Plants must adjust to varying levels of light in order to optimize photosynthetic rates; too little electron transport and plants will incur an energetic penalty, while excessive excitation of photosystem I leads to photodamage. During high light conditions, the increase in DpH acts as a brake on electron transport via acidification of the thylakoid lumen. […]
Flooding presents a dual threat to plants; not only is mitochondrial respiration supressed during the resulting hypoxic conditions, but once the floodwaters recede, the return to ambient oxygen levels triggers a cascade of harmful reaction oxygen species (ROS). One of the most well-studied responses to flooding stress is the accumulation of the gaseous hormone ethylene. […]
The size and shape of aerial organs in angiosperms is determined by the activity of shoot apical meristem cells. The mechanism by which this cell population is maintained has been well described in Arabidopsis, and involves a negative feedback loop of diffusible CLAVATA peptides and the transcription factor WUSCHEL. However, in bryophytes WUSCHEL is not […]