PHYTOCHROME INTERACTING FACTOR4 (PIF4) is a key protein that mediates thermomorphogenic responses in plants. Under warm temperatures, PIF4 levels are high in the daytime even in the presence of active phyB, which is known to induce degradation of PIFs. Thus, in warm temperatures there must be a mechanism that circumvents the phyB-mediated degradation of PIF4. […]
Plants form leaves with highly reproducible sizes and shapes by employing a conserved set of developmental regulators. During early leaf growth, a zone of high cell proliferation is formed towards the proximal end of the lamina. Proliferating cells progressively exit this zone and enter the distal half of the lamina where cell expansion and differentiation […]
Plants perceive UV-B radiation using a specialized photoreceptor protein called UVR8. Upon UV-B exposure, activated UVR8 initiates a signaling cascade, inducing a range of morphological and biochemical responses that facilitates UV adaptation. In a mutagenesis screen, Podolec et al. identified a mutant named uvr8-17D, which produces a hyperactive variant of UVR8, harbouring a glycine-101 to […]
Aging of plants is marked by the growth and differentiation of individual organs, as well as transitions of the whole plant through developmental phases: juvenile, vegetative adult, and reproductive phase. In their recent review, Rankenberg et al. discuss how abiotic stress responses vary in plants with their age. Spatiotemporally regulated and meticulously coordinated action of […]
Plants launch their response to osmotic stress with a sudden spike in cytosolic Ca2+ levels, which subsequently leads to the accumulation of the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA). This further initiates a chain of events including closure of stomata, large-scale transcriptional changes, retardation of overall growth, and the onset of early senescence. However, the mechanism by […]
Plants have evolved two major adaptive strategies to tackle shade from their neighbours: avoidance and tolerance. However, what makes a species shade-avoider or shade-tolerant at the molecular level has remained mostly elusive. Recently, Paulisic et al. uncovered the key role of a regulatory module formed by PHYTOCHROME INTERACTING FACTORS (PIFs) and LONG HYPOCOTYL IN FR1 […]
Seedlings emerging in light undergo photomorphogenic development, forming short hypocotyls and green, fully opened cotyledons. Disruption of chloroplast development by drugs such as lincomycin induces retrograde signals (RS) that inhibit photomorphogenesis. The retrograde signaling pathway has been known to act primarily through the chloroplast-localized master regulator protein GENOMES UNCOUPLED1 (GUN1). Now, Gommers et al. reveals […]