Yalin Liu, Handong Su, Jing Zhang, et al. explore centromere birth and death by inducing rearrangements via pollen irradiation in maize. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00389 Background: The centromere is one of the most important components of chromosomes. Every normal chromosome has one…

Plantae Presents - Plants and their microbiome, from molecules to ecosystems Recorded Tues Sept 22 (6pm PDT or 9pm EDT) /Wed Sept 23 (10:30 am Adelaide) We're pleased to announce the first in our series of webinars that are drawn from contributed short videos, followed by a panel discussion. This…

Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) chloroplast-division mutants that have abnormally large chloroplasts have been around for quite some time, not only because they can be identified relatively easily through screening (Pyke & Leech 1991) and because their spectacular morphology sparks intrigue, but…

Guillaume Charrier Université Clermont Auvergne, INRAE, PIAF, F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France. [email protected] Leaves are specialized for the photosynthetic assimilation of atmospheric carbon, but they also are responsible for the transpiration of water into the atmosphere, as…

Steinbeck et al. investigate in vivo NAD redox dynamics in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00241 By Janina Steinbeck and Markus Schwarzländer Background: All organisms rely on their cellular metabolism to live, develop, grow, and procreate. Metabolism provides the energy,…

The American Society of Plant Biologists is proud to celebrate Peer Review Week 2020, which recognizes peer reviewers and focuses on the theme “Trust in Peer Review.” In 2020, our plant biology community, like the rest of the world, was impacted by the devastating effects of COVID-19. Despite…

If you are thinking about PhD or have PhD-related queries on the brain, this post is for you! There are a few things I have observed and learned during my PhD, I am putting them all in this pretty list post as an ode to PhD lessons. 1. Choose your project wisely Remember, you are the driver of…

Tissues are composed of specialized cell types. As a cell matures, it acquires the characteristics associated with a specific identity, or fate. This process is called cell differentiation and is crucial for proper organ development. However, after a differentiation program is initiated, the mechanisms…