Maize (corn), an important staple of the diet in ancient and modern times, was cultivated at higher altitudes in the southwestern United States, around 2,000 years after its introduction to the lowland US regions. In order to better understand how maize later adapted to high altitudes, authors sequenced the genomes of fifteen 1,900-year-old maize species. […]
Both receptor-like protein kinase (RLK) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) signaling have been shown to affect a plethora of plant processes, including growth, metabolism, development, and environmental responses. To date, previous reviews have focused on mechanisms that govern either ROS or RLK signaling; however, Kimura et al. examined mechanisms that govern cross-talk between ROS and […]
To balance nutrient uptake (usually from heterogeneous sources) with nutrient demand, plants use a root-shoot-root signaling pathway. Previously, a root-to-shoot mobile peptide C-TERMINALLY ENCODED PEPTIDE (CEP) was shown to translocate from N-starved roots to the shoot, where it interacts with a leucine-rich repeat receptor kinase, CEP Receptor 1 (CEPR1). Ohkubo et al. identified two peptides, […]
The plethora of diverse leaf shapes results from variations of shared molecular mechanisms that govern leaf growth and development. To better understand the molecular underpinnings of diverse leaf morphologies, Runions et al. constructed a computational model of leaf development that included multiple parameters from prior inferences, molecular data and previous computational models. Factoring in mathematical […]
Signal transduction in plant and animal cells is often initiated at the plasma membrane (PM) and involves common signaling components, raising the question of how receptor complexes elicit distinct signaling outputs. To address this question, Bücherl et al. investigated physical characteristics of the transmembrane plant immune receptor FLS2 and growth receptor BRI1. Using imaging techniques […]