Entries by Plant Cell

Semi-annotated metabolomics facilitates specialized metabolic gene and pathway elucidation

Anting Zhu et al. establish an approach to identify metabolites and their corresponding genes and pathways in wheat. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koad286 By A. Zhu, M. Liu, Z. Tian, W. Liu, W. Chen et al.  National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and National Center of Plant Gene Research, Huazhong Agricultural University. Background: Plants produce many metabolites that regulate their biological […]

Photorespiration: Wasteful or useful?

Rosa-Téllez et al. explore the role of glycine flux regulation by photorespiration in maintaining nitrogen, carbon, and sulfur balance in plants.  https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koad256 Sara Rosa-Téllez, Andrea Alcántara-Enguídanos and Roc Ros Palau. Institut de Biotecnologia i Biomedicina (BIOTECMED). Departament de Biología Vegetal. Universitat de València. 46100 Burjassot, Spain. Background: Photorespiration, in which Rubisco adds oxygen to ribulose […]

From cell layers to complex petal shapes

Chopy et al. investigate the layer-specific contribution of the petunia homolog of DEFICIENS (PhDEF) in petal tube and limb development.  https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koad258 Background: Petals are not only beautiful, but they are also very important floral organs that have co-evolved with different animal visitors to ensure pollination. This long co-evolution produced many complex petal shapes. In the […]

Strategy-I plants exploit the distinct chemical activities of coumarins to maximize Fe acquisition

Paffrath et al. explore the main physiological roles of coumarins released in response to iron deficiency under different environmental pHs.   https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koad279 By Ricardo F. H. Giehl, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics & Crop Plant Research (IPK), Germany.  Background: Although iron (Fe) is abundant in the Earth’s crust, the availability of this micronutrient to plants is […]

The Membrane-bound Transcription Factor GmNTL1 Promotes Salt Tolerance in Soybean

Zhang et al. identified a membrane-bound NAC transcription factor GmNTL that can be oxidized and released from the endoplasmic reticulum to the nucleus, thereby regulating downstream target genes to promote salt tolerance in soybean. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koad250 Wenxiao Zhang, Wenjiao Zhi, Hong Qiao, Jingjing Huang, Shuo Li, Qing Lu , Nan Wang, Qiang Li, Qian […]

It takes a complex to degrade starch

Jian Liu, Xuecui Wang, Zeyuan Guan, Junjie Yan and colleagues reveal how the glucan phosphatase LSF1 acts as a scaffold to bring together the necessary enzymes for starch degradation. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koad259 Background: Starch is a glucan-polymer that accumulates in chloroplasts during the day as a product of photosynthesis and is mobilized at night to continuously provide […]

Conserved function of MADS8 in pistil regulation at high temperatures

Shen et al. explore how female reproductive development is maintained in at high ambient temperatures in barley and rice, and whether members of the SEPALLATA subfamily of floral organ regulators contribute. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koad246 Chaoqun Shena,b and Matthew R. Tuckerb a Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic and Developmental Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, School […]

Imaging of Ca2+-decoding in planta

Liese et al. reveal a genetically encoded fluorescent biosensor for CDPK conformational activation. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koad196 By Anja Liese1,2 and Tina Romeis1,2 1 Department for Biochemistry of Plant Interactions, Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry, D-06120 Halle (Saale), Germany 2 Dahlem Centre of Plant Sciences, Freie Universität Berlin, D-14195 Berlin, Germany Background: Changes in cytosolic calcium (Ca2+) concentration […]

Pros and cons of various popular RNA sequencing methods

Liu and Zhu et al. systematically compare various methods for investigating transcription. The Plant Cell: https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koad237 By M. Liu and Z. Dong Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Adaptation and Molecular Design, Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Editing, Innovative Center of Molecular Genetics and Evolution, School of Life Sciences, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou Background: mRNA […]