To anticipate daily changes imposed by Earth's rotation, organisms from all domains of life have evolved an endogenous 24-h timer with daily rhythmic functions: the circadian clock. In plants, the first organisms where circadian dynamics were observed, the circadian clock processes daylength information…

Like a Phoenix rising from the flames, the Plantae Presents webinar series was created in response to the shutting down of labs and universities in early 2020. Our first season ran from April 1 to July 1, during which time we hosted 26 speakers on topics spanning from auxin to terpenes. Each live…

Martin-Avila et al. use synthetic biology to improve photosynthesis in tobacco by swapping out the endogenous small subunits of Rubisco for one coming from potato, among other things. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00288 By Spencer Whitney, Elena Martin-Avila, Sally Buck, Timothy Rhodes,…

Michael J. Skelly University of Edinburgh Edinburgh, United Kingdom [email protected] Fruit ripening is a process unique to plants that makes their fruit more appealing to seed-dispersing animals. Ripening involves a combination of physiological and metabolic reprogramming events that lead to…

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is an organelle that is vital for many cellular processes such as protein and lipid synthesis, calcium signaling, detoxification, and movement of other organelles. It forms an intricate meshwork in the cell cortex that is comprised of highly dynamic interconnected tubules…

Guo et al. demonstrate how perceived developmental signals modulate cytokinin homeostasis to shape the rice inflorescence. The Plant Cell (2020) https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00351.  By Tao Guo, Zi-Qi Lu, Jun-Xiang Shan, Wang-Wei Ye, Nai-Qian Dong, Hong-Xuan Lin  Background: Rice is one of…

This PlantBio20 workshop, organized by the ASPB Publications, covered the production of figures, artwork, illustrations, and posters that effectively convey information and complex concepts. The workshop consisted of three presentations on principles of good design, using R/Python to generate complex…

Gao et al. demonstrate that CK1 regulates plant cytorhabdovirus infections in both plants and insects. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00369   By Qiang Gao and Xian-Bing Wang, China Agricultural University  Background: Phosphorylation is a widespread post-translational modification…