Recent Posts

Yuhong Li: The Plant Cell First Author

Yuhong Li, first author of "Arabidopsis EXECUTER1 interacts with WRKY transcription factors to mediate plastid-to-nucleus singlet oxygen signaling" Current Position: Post-doc Education: Ph.D. in Developmental Biology Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Non-scientific Interests:…

Xiaona Wang: Plant Physiology First Author

Xiaona Wang, first author of "Multiple-omics analysis reveals the mechanism of bHLH130 responding to low nitrogen stress of apple rootstock"  Current Position: PhD candidate, College of Horticulture, China Agricultural University Education: Bachelor Degree of Qingdao Agricultural University;…

Updating plant ribosomal protein nomenclature

The ribosome is a macromolecular structure made up of many subunits. The proteins in these subunits were named based on their sedimentation rates and gel mobility, but different groups gave the proteins different names in various species, not based on homology. A ribosomal protein (r-protein) nomenclature…

Review: Power and perils of de novo domestication

I’m excited by the ways that knowledge about plant developmental and metabolic programs is being used to make new varieties of plants. This excellent review describes some of these applications such as changes in fruit size or seed number. De novo domestication is a specific type of application that…

TOC-TIC supercomplex structure

In an evolutionary plot twist, most of the proteins needed inside the chloroplast are encoded in the nucleus and translated in the cytosol as preproteins. The preproteins are imported into the chloroplast through two membranes (outer and inner). Genetic and biochemical approaches have revealed many of…