To better understand plant responses to different environments, Lou et al. compared Arabidopsis thaliana accessions derived from Sichuan (high precipitation/regular flooding) and Tibet (arid) to isolate genetic adaptations towards flooding stress. The two accessions showed divergent phenotypes: the Sichuan…

Are modern agricultural practices good for the environment? Or at least for the crops? If we look at a small field at a particular time point, it may seem they are good. But looking at a broader picture gives a different notion. In a recent study, Edlinger et al. collected 210 soil samples from traditional…

The observation that “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” (attributed to philosopher George Santayana) is quite relevant for our efforts to comprehend the impacts of climate change. As we observe temperature and rainfall records being broken with increasing frequency,…

A robust mechanism for resetting juvenility during each generation in Arabidopsis Proper development requires an aging program that is regulated throughout the entire lifespan of an organism as well as across generations. In plants, reproductive cells are derived from differentiated cells, and thus…

Fan Zhang, co-first author of “Rice catalase OsCATC is degraded by E3 ligase APIP6 to negatively regulate immunity” Current Position: Postdoctoral fellow in the group of Dr. Yuese Ning, Institute of Plant Protection/State Key laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Chinese…

Xiaoman You, co-first author of “Rice catalase OsCATC is degraded by E3 ligase APIP6 to negatively regulate immunity" Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China Education: PhD in Crop Genetics and Breeding, College of Agriculture, Nanjing…

Huang et al. elucidate the relationship between fatty acid biosynthesis and seed maturation in Arabidopsis. By Ruihua Huang and Shengchun Zhang  Background: Storage substances such as starch, protein, and oil in crop seeds are major sources of food for humans. These substances mainly accumulate…

We’re excited to announce the publication of The Plant Cell’s latest Teaching Tool, "Plants and Python," by Robert VanBuren, Alejandra Rougon-Cardoso, Erik J. Amézquita, Evelia L. Coss-Navarrete, Aarón Espinosa-Jaime, Omar Andres Gonzalez-Iturbe, Alicia C. Luckie-Duque, Eddy Mendoza-Galindo, Jeremy…