Murcia et al. discover how plants store information about daytime temperatures to control stem growth during the night. By Germán Murcia, Cristina Nieto, Romina Sellaro, Salomé Prat, and Jorge J. Casal Background: Plants increase their stature in response to warm temperatures by enhancing stem growth. One thermosensor is EARLY FLOWERING 3 (ELF3). ELF3 represses the […]
Kitazawa et al. identified a unique proteasome-utilizing mechanism of phyllogen, a bacterial effector protein produced by pathogenic phytoplasmas. Plant Cell. (2022) https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac062 By Yugo Kitazawa and Kensaku Maejima, Department of Agricultural and Environmental Biology, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo Background: Phyllogens are a protein family conserved among phytoplasmas, a […]
Karimi et al. showed that Arabidopsis plants secrete numerous RNAs, which are associated with proteins and are located outside extracellular vesicles. Plant Cell. (2022) https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac043 By: Hana Zand Karimi and Roger W. Innes, Indiana University Background: To prevent infection by disease-causing microbes, plants secrete diverse antimicrobial compounds into their extracellular spaces. Included among these compounds […]
Chiu et al. characterize hidden viral genes in tomato yellow leaf curl Thailand virus. Background: When viruses such as begomoviruses infect plants, they hijack the host translation machinery to drive the expression of their proteins. This process causes viral disease, leading to great yield losses in crops such as tomato. To develop effective antiviral strategies, […]
Lee, Fu et al. discover an unusual immune receptor locus that confers broad-spectrum, strong resistance to fungal pathogens in sorghum. Background: Sorghum, the fifth most widely grown cereal crop globally, provides food security for millions of people. The fungal disease sorghum anthracnose is the most devastating disease of this crop, with yield losses ranging from […]
By Yang Gao and Reimo Zoschke, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Potsdam-Golm, Germany Gao and colleagues dissect how transcription and translation of tobacco chloroplast genes respond to cold exposure and reveal a critical role for the nonessential gene petL. Background: Plants have to cope with ever-changing environmental conditions. Climate change causes sudden cold […]
Wu et al. uncover the unexpected role of the truncated NLR NRG1C in negatively regulating plant immunity by antagonizing its full-length NRG1 neighbors. Background: Plants utilize sophisticated innate immune systems to fight against pathogens. Their genomes encode abundant immune receptors to detect the presence of pathogens and initiate defense responses. Nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat immune receptors […]
Yang et al. find complex interactions between primary metabolism and plant immunity. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koab283 By Jian Hua, Leiyun Yang, Zhixue Wang, Plant Biology Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA Background: Plant NLR proteins are intracellular immune receptors that recognize pathogens and initiate defense responses against invaders. The expression […]
Wu et al. uncover a mechanism underlying chalkiness, an important grain quality trait in rice. Background: With improved living standards, the demand for better grain quality has become a challenge in rice production areas. Rice chalkiness, i.e., endosperm containing opaque regions, seriously reduces the appearance quality of grain, making it unpopular for consumers and marketers. […]