Research

Yuqing Niu and Mo Wang Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Genetics, Breeding and Multiple Utilization of Crops, Fujian University Key Laboratory for Plant-Microbe Interaction, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China Niu and colleagues elucidate how phosphorylation…

Michalopoulou et al. identified a core Xanthomonas effector that targets the host exocyst complex and disrupts host immunity. Plant Cell. (2022) https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac162 By Vasiliki Michalopoulou1,2 and Panagiotis Sarris1,2,3 1 Department of Biology, University of Crete, 70013 Heraklion,…

Tian li Li, co-first author of "BPL3 binds the long noncoding RNA nalncFL7 to suppress FORKED-LIKE7 and modulate HAI1-mediated MPK3/6 dephosphorylation in plant immunity" Current Position: Ph.D. candidate at College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China. Education:…

Gan Ai, co-first author of "BPL3 binds the long noncoding RNA nalncFL7 to suppress FORKED-LIKE7 and modulate HAI1-mediated MPK3/6 dephosphorylation in plant immunity"  Current Position: Postdoctor Education: Ph.D. in Nanjing Agricultural University (NJAU) Non-scientific Interests: Reading,…

Harsha Somashekar, first author of "Rice GLUCAN SYNTHASE-LIKE5 promotes anther callose deposition to maintain meiosis initiation and progression" Current position: PhD student, National Institute of Genetics, The Graduate University for  Advanced studies (SOKENDAI), Japan Education: Master of…

He et al. discover how the transcription factor ANAC017 integrates primary stress responses to mitochondrial dysfunction with whole plant growth.  By Cunman He and Oliver Berkowitz Department of Animal, Plant and Soil Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria 3086, Australia ARC Centre…

Lester Botoman, first author of "Agronomic biofortification increases grain zinc concentration of maize grown under contrasting soil types in Malawi" Current Position: PhD student, Crop and Soil Sciences Department, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) Education: MSc.…

Jia He, first author of "Establishing Physalis as a Solanaceae model system enables genetic reevaluation of the inflated calyx syndrome" Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Education: Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Pennsylvania;…

Ulschan Bathe, co-first author of "Respiratory energy demands and scope for demand expansion and destruction" Current position: Postdoctoral associate, Department of Horticultural Sciences, University of Florida Education: Ph.D. in Plant Biochemistry, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg Non-scientific…

Kristen Van Gelder, co first author of "Respiratory energy demands and scope for demand expansion and destruction" Current Position: Post-Doctoral Researcher Education: PhD from the University of Guelph, Canada Non-scientific interests: camping, hiking, and kayaking Brief bio: My scientific…

Bryan Leong, co-first author of "Respiratory energy demands and scope for demand expansion and destruction" Current position: NSF post-doctoral fellow in Horticultural Sciences at University of Florida in Andrew Hanson lab Education: Ph.D. in Plant Biology, Michigan State University Non-scientific…

Guo et al. demonstrate that alternative splicing of REGULATOR OF LEAF INCLINATION 1 modulates phosphate signaling and plant growth in the face of phosphate deficiency.  By Meina Guo, Wenyuan Ruan, and Keke Yi  Background: Phosphate (Pi) limitation represents a primary constraint on crop production.…

Xing et al. investigate the link between chloroplast import and quality control in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac180 By Jiale Xing, Junting Pan and Wenqiang Yang Background: The chloroplast is an important bioreactor as well as a photosynthetic site. Approximately…

Balancing the books means making sure that expenses don’t exceed income. In terms of a plant’s energy budget, most of the input comes from carbon fixed during photosynthesis. The output is much more diverse. Some fixed carbon is used for growth and stored in seeds, and some is respired to release…

Salt is a massive problem for most land plants. At the macroscopic level, excess soil salinity can cause stunting or death. At the molecular / cellular level, salinity causes both osmotic and ionic challenges that affect membrane homeostasis, molecular interactions, and protein stability. A new review…

The majority of maize endosperm is made of starch (70%) and proteins (10%) and their biosynthesis is a complex process which involves many enzymes. N-containing compounds, such as enzymes, amino acids, and nucleotides are crucial for C metabolism. Thus, when N levels are altered, the storage of proteins…

Some of the most fascinating questions in biology, subject to numerous Nobel Prizes, center on how all the parts of a eukaryotic cell are spatially and temporally coordinated, to allow the plethora of often incompatible functions to occur in harmony. Studies in three major systems, yeast, metazoans,…

One of the well-known molecular pathways that regulate plant development is the one formed by the homeobox transcription factor WUSCHEL (WUS) and the secreted peptide CLAVATA 3 (CLV3). In the shoot apical meristem (SAM), WUS expression is constrained to the organizing center where it maintains the stem…

Artificial selection has significantly increased crop yield. However, this has come at the cost of compromising abiotic stress tolerance. Stomatal aperture has an important role in abiotic stress tolerance. Abiotic stress induces stomatal closure and involves the intracellular production of reactive…

The cross between genetically distant parents is an essential source of genetic variation. This process, known as hybridization, might result in the loss of adaptive gene combinations due to the introduction of non-adaptive alleles. However, Imaizumi and colleagues show this is not the case with weedy…

Plant immunity is crucial for adaptation to pathogen attack and subsequent survival. Two systems support plant immunity. Cell-surface pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs) recognize pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and prompt pattern-triggered immunity. Intracellular nucleotide-binding leucine-rich…

Alpine ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to climate change since they are experiencing swift temperature increases and rainfall reduction. These changes have been shown to affect different aspects of plant life history, such as phenology and germination. In this exciting research, White and colleagues…

Update: Plant energy expenses: How to stretch the C budget Balancing the books means making sure that expenses don’t exceed income. In terms of a plant’s energy budget, most of the input comes from carbon fixed during photosynthesis. The output is much more diverse. Some fixed carbon is used for…

Xintong Liu, first author of “Rose WRKY13 promotes disease protection to Botrytis by enhancing cytokinin content and reducing abscisic acid signaling”  Current position: Postdoctoral researcher, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China Education: PhD from China Agricultural University,…

Alexandra E.  DeShaw, first author of "The plastomes of Hyalomonas oviformis and Hyalogonium fusiforme evolved dissimilar architectures after the loss of photosynthesis" Current Position: Research Assistant, Mood Disorders Research Group, Nova Scotia Health Authority Education: MSc. in Evolutionary…

Weihao Wang, first author of “Current insights into post-transcriptional regulation of fleshy fruit ripening” Current Position: Associate researcher, Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, the Chinese Academy of Sciences Education: PhD from University of Chinese Academy of…

Erin Louise Baggs, co-first author of "Variation in plant Toll/Interleukin-1 receptor domain protein dependence on ENHANCED DISEASE SUSCEPTIBILITY 1" Current Position: Postdoctoral Researcher Education: PhD from Department of Plant and Microbial Biology University of California Berkeley. Bachelor's…

Ding et al. explore how MAP kinases affect virus propagation in plants and animal hosts.  Zhi-Hang Ding, Xian-Bing Wang, State Key Laboratory of Agro-Biotechnology, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China Background: Mitogen-activated protein kinase…

Bennet Reiter, first author of "CGL160-mediated recruitment of the coupling factor CF1 is required for efficient thylakoid ATP synthase assembly, photosynthesis, and chloroplast development in Arabidopsis" Current Position:  Medical Writer, Advanced Medical Services Education: Dr. rer. nat. in…

Procko et al. investigate the molecular identities of specialized photosynthetic cell types in leaves. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac167 By Carl Procko and Travis Lee. Salk Institute for Biological Studies, CA Background: Photosynthesis is arguably the most important biochemical process…

An et al. identify the regulatory pathways that affect heading in lettuce.  Background: The formation of leafy heads is an important agronomic trait in some vegetable crops, such as lettuce, cabbage, and mustard. Having leafy heads facilitates harvesting and transportation, extends shelf life, and…

Shunsuke Adachi, first author of "The Evolution of C4 Photosynthesis in Flaveria (Asteraceae): Insights from the Flaveria linearis Complex" Current Position: Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu, Japan Education: PhD in…

Ella Katz, first author of "Genetic variation underlying differential ammonium and nitrate responses in Arabidopsis" Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Prof. Dan Kliebenstein at University of California, Davis. Education: PhD in the lab of Prof. Daniel Chamovitz (Tel Aviv University,…

Sijia Qi, co-first author of “The OPEN STOMATA1-SPIRAL1 module regulates microtubule stability during abscisic acid-induced stomatal closure in Arabidopsis” Current Position: Ph.D. candidate in China Agricultural University Education: Bachelor, Agricultural University of Hebei Non-scientific…

Pan Wang, co-first author of “The OPEN STOMATA1-SPIRAL1 module regulates microtubule stability during abscisic acid-induced stomatal closure in Arabidopsis” Current Position: Ph.D. candidate in China Agricultural University Education: Master and bachelor, Capital Normal University Non-scientific…

Abdugaffor Ablazov, co-first author of "ZAXINONE SYNTHASE 2 regulates growth and arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis in rice" Current Position: PhD candidate, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering Division, Center for Desert…

Cristina Votta, co-first author of "ZAXINONE SYNTHASE 2 regulates growth and arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis in rice" Current Position: PhD student in Biological Sciences and Applied Biotechnologies at the University of Torino, Italy Education: Master's Degree in Plant Biotechnology at the University…

Lu et al. unravel a mechanism by which reactive oxygen species modulate brassinosteroid signaling through the GSK3-like kinase BIN2 Qing Lua,b, Eugenia Russinovaa,b a Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, 9052 Ghent, Belgium b Center for Plant Systems Biology,…

By Yadukrishnan Premachandran, PhD, Plant Physiology Assistant Features Editor Rashmi Sasidharan is an Associate Professor at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. She obtained her PhD at the University of Calgary, Canada, for her research on the role of plant cell wall proteins in shade-induced…

Li et al. discover a cold-tolerance allele that was not selected during maize domestication.   Background: Cold stress is an important environmental factor that limits plant growth, development, and geographical distribution. Maize originated in Mexico and is sensitive to low temperatures. Cold stress…

By Xiayan Liu and Fei Yu Chen et al. explore the relationship between the microtubule-associated protein MOR1 and the microtubule-severing protein KATANIN1.  Background: Microtubules (MTs) are highly dynamic cytoskeletal structures with essential functions in cell morphogenesis and cell division.…

Meet the newest member of the Teaching Tools in Plant Biology family, The Floral Transition and Adaptation to a Changing Environment: from Model Species to Cereal Crops, by Michela Osnato. Freely available in the November 2022 issue of The Plant Cell. You can download the resources here, from the supplemental…

Haruhiko Jimbo first author of "Deacylation of galactolipids decomposes photosystem II dimers to enhance degradation of damaged D1 protein" Current Position: Assistant Professor Education: PhD in Science from Saitama University, March 2018 Non-scientific Interests: DIY, Camping and Pets Brief…

Qiong Nan, first author of "Polarly localized WPR proteins interact with PAN receptors and the actin cytoskeleton during maize stomatal development" Current position： Post-doc, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA Education: Ph.D., Lanzhou University, China Non-scientific Interests: Cycling…

Lingmin Cai, first author of "The coiled-coil protein gene WPRb confers recessive resistance to Cucumber green mottle mosaic virus" Current Position: Ph.D candidate in Vegetable Science, Zhejiang University Education: Bachelor of Plant Protection, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University Non-scientific…

Lian Ding, co-first author of "DWARF AND ROBUST PLANT regulates plant height via modulating gibberellin biosynthesis in chrysanthemum" 现在职位：Associate Professor，Nanjing Agricultural University 教育经历：Bachelor：Liaoning Normal University Doctor：China Agricultural University 兴趣爱好：Traveling，food 个人简介：I…

Xue Zhang, co-first author of "DWARF AND ROBUST PLANT regulates plant height via modulating gibberellin biosynthesis in chrysanthemum" 姓名：Xue Zhang 现在职位：Graduated PhD，Nanjing Agricultural University 教育经历：Bachelor of Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University University;…

Yang et al. identify a maize Nitrate Transporter 1/Peptide Transporter family protein that functions as a sugar transporter in grain filling. By Bo Yang and Jinsheng Lai, State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry (SKLPPB) & National Maize Improvement Center, Department of Plant…

Shakirah Nakasagga, first author of "Genetic variation in hydrogen cyanide potential of perennial sorghum evaluated by colorimetry" Current Position: Instructor, Southeast Missouri State University Education: Ph.D. in Plant Breeding from Texas A & M University Non-scientific Interests: Cooking,…

Ziai Qi, co-first author of "Dual-function DEFENSIN 8 mediates phloem cadmium unloading and accumulation in rice grains" Current position: graduate student Education: Study in CAS Center of Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai, China B.S in Southwest University, Chongqing, China Non-scientific…

Tianyu Gu, co-first author of "Dual-function DEFENSIN 8 mediates phloem cadmium unloading and accumulation in rice grains" Current position: Searching Education: Ph.D in CAS Center of Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai, China B.S in Southwest University, Chongqing, China Non-scientific…

Yongping Zhao, first author of “The Evening Complex Promotes Flowering and Adaptation of Maize to the Temperate Regions" Current position: Research scientist at Syngenta Biotechnology China (SBC). Education: PhD in Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, supervised…

Jennifer Noble, co-first author of "Evolutionary analysis of the LORELEI gene family in plants reveals regulatory subfunctionalization" Current Position: Scientist, HTG Molecular Diagnostics, Inc., Tucson, Arizona Education: Ph.D. (in Plant Science), B.Sc. (in Plant Sciences and Molecular and Cellular…

Nicholas Bielski, co-first author of "Evolutionary analysis of the LORELEI gene family in plants reveals regulatory subfunctionalization" Current Position: PhD Candidate – Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Arizona Education: B.Sc in Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics,…

Huang and Sun explore how germline fate is suppressed in vegetative cells but not in sperm cells of pollen. By Xiaorong Huang and Meng-Xiang Sun College of Life Science, State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China Background: The microspore divides asymmetrically…

Gordon et al. report that knock-out of a recently discovered enzyme for salicinoid biosynthesis in poplar leads to changes in salicylic acid and jasmonic acid metabolism and has unexpected effects on growth.. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac135 By Peter Constabel and Harley Gordon Background:…

Xiaozheng Li, co-first author of "The chromatin accessibility landscape of pistils and anthers in rice" Current Position: Assistant Professor in College of Life Science and Oceanography, Shenzhen University Education: PhD Chemical Engineering, Columbia University, USA MPhil Chemical Engineering,…

Bhuvan Pathak, co-first author of "Phenotypic and transcriptomic analysis reveals early stress responses in transgenic rice expressing Arabidopsis DREB1a" Current Position: Assistant Professor, Biological and Life Sciences Division, School of Arts and Sciences, Ahmedabad University, Gujarat, India Education:…

Yasmin Vasques Berchembrock, co-first author of "Phenotypic and transcriptomic analysis reveals early stress responses in transgenic rice expressing Arabidopsis DREB1a" Current Position: PhD in Genetic and Plant Breeding Education: PhD in Genetic and Plant Breeding and MSc in Genetic and Plant…

Haiqi Fu, first author of “SALT OVERLY SENSITIVE 1 is inhibited by clade D Protein phosphatase 2C D6 and D7 in Arabidopsis thaliana” Current Position: Research Assistant Education: Ph. D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. College of Biological Sciences, China Agriculture University Non-scientific…

Olivier Michaud, first author of "Abscisic Acid Modulates Neighbor Proximity-Induced Leaf Hyponasty in Arabidopsis" Current Position: Professor at La Planta High School (LCP) in Sion, Switzerland Education: PhD in Molecular Life Sciences, Center for Integrative Genomics (CIG) at University of Lausanne…

Wang et al. identify three OsMYB36s that redundantly regulate Casparian strip formation. Jixing Xia; College of Life Science and Technology, Guangxi University, China Background: The Casparian strip (CS) is a ring-like lignin-rich structure in the anticlinal cell wall between endodermal cells…

Drew Harner, first author of "Prolonged phloem feeding by the spotted lanternfly, an invasive planthopper, alters resource allocation and inhibits gas exchange in grapevines" Current Position: Postdoctoral Scholar, Penn State University, Pennsylvania, USA Education: Ph.D. at Penn State University,…

Delphine Ménard, first author of “Plant biomechanics and resilience to environmental changes are controlled by specific lignin chemistries in each vascular cell type and morphotype” Current Position:  Head of the Plant in vitro cell cultures platform and Laboratory safety coordinator at the…

Miao Zhang, first author of "Acetylome reprograming participates in the establishment of fruit metabolism during polyploidization in citrus" Current Position: PhD candidate, Huazhong Agricultural University Education: Ph.D. in Pomology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China B.Sc.…

The ability to analyze the information contained within a single cell, for example through single-cell RNA sequening (scRNA-seq) presents exciting possibilities to biologists. Building on this and similar technologies, the Plant Cell Atlas (PCA) (www.plantcellatlas.org/) has the goal of creating an information…

Biodiversity contributes to thriving, healthy ecosystems that are essential for climate tolerance, improving water quality and habitat structure. As time goes on, there is increasing pressure to address climate change concerns worldwide, with one possible climate change mitigation approach being reforestation…

Review: Seed sourcing strategies for ecological restoration under climate change "The local is best" is a mantra in ecological restoration: if you want your project to succeed, you should use local plant material since it's already adapted to local conditions. However, ecosystems now need to withstand…

A protein kinase, target of rapamycin (TOR), controls cell growth and metabolism in all eukaryotes. The role of TOR in regulating synthesis and breakdown of organic compounds in response to nutrients, hormones and cellular energy to promote growth and development is universal in autotrophs and heterotrophs.…

TOR (Target of Rapamycin) complex is an information hub that integrates nutrition and energy signals and serves as a master regulator for multiple downstream cellular processes. The actin cytoskeleton in plant cells is highly dynamic, with rapid changes of its organization and constant turnover between…

The gynoecium is the female reproductive structure of flowering plants. This complex organ, composed of different tissues, is an excellent model for studying plant organ development. Although the gynoecium has been extensively studied from a genetic point of view and a few studies have been carried out…

Circadian regulation fine-tunes patterns of gene expression in plants in changing environments and has been selected for during crop domestication. Many studies have been done on circadian gene expression in Arabidopsis, but far less is known about this regulation in hexaploid bread wheat, especially…

Phosphorus (P, Pi in the form of inorganic orthophosphate) is crucial for plant homeostasis because it is a plant growth-limiting factor. White lupin is an excellent crop model to study Pi changes due to the development of cluster roots (CR). CR are composed of rootlets that allow a more efficient Pi…

Herbivore attack can trigger release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in numerous plant species. These airborne compounds from an infected plant act as messengers in plant-plant interactions causing adaptation to the stress in adjacent plants. Globally, rice is a staple food for millions of people,…

Update: Toward a data infrastructure for the Plant Cell Atlas The ability to analyze the information contained within a single cell, for example through single-cell RNA sequening (scRNA-seq) presents exciting possibilities to biologists. Building on this and similar technologies, the Plant Cell Atlas…

By Mária Šimášková, Norbert Brugière, and Moritz K. Nowack VIB Center of Plant Systems Biology, Ghent, Belgium; Corteva Agriscience, Johnston, Iowa, US  Mária Šimášková and colleagues increase seed yield in maize by modulating the activity of the transcription factor KIL1  Background:…

Yang and Zhao et al. examine the control of seed germination at the chromatin level. Zhe Wu and Deyue Yang, Key Laboratory of Molecular Design for Plant Cell Factory of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Institute of Plant and Food Science, Department of Biology, School of Life Sciences, Southern…

Plant Physiology Webinar: Celebrating the October 2022 Focus Issue on Circadian Rhythms (Part 2) Recorded Tuesday, October 18 2022   About this Webinar Circadian rhythms are ubiquitous across eukaryotes, but are perhaps of particular importance to plants. In all model organisms…

Minsoo Yoon, the first author of "A conserved glutamate residue in RPM1-INTERACTING PROTEIN4 is ADP-ribosylated by the Pseudomonas effector AvrRpm2 to activate RPM1-mediated plant resistance"   Current Position: Scientist, The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited, Auckland,…

Jiaxi Yong, first author of "Clay nanoparticles efficiently deliver small interfering RNA to intact plant leaf cells" Current Position: PhD candidate in Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, the University of Queensland, Australia Education: PhD candidate (University of Queensland,…

Ka Zhang, first author of "Transcription factor WRKY28 curbs WRKY33-mediated resistance to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in Brassica napus" Current Position: Crop Research Institute, Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, research associate Education: Huazhong Agricultural University, Crop genetics…

Nargis Parvin Laha, first author of “INOSITOL (1,3,4) TRIPHOSPHATE 5/6 KINASE1-Dependent Inositol Polyphosphates Regulate Auxin Responses in Arabidopsis” Current Position: DBT-Ramalingaswami Re-Entry Fellow, Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India Education:…

Kevin Cox, first author of "Automated imaging of duckweed growth and development" Current Position: Postdoctoral Associate at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, MO Education: B.S. from University of Missouri-St. Louis, St. Louis, MO; Ph.D. from Texas A&M University, College…

Samantha Klasfeld, first author of "Greenscreen: A simple method to remove artifactual signals and enrich for true peaks in genomic datasets including ChIP-seq data" Current Position:   Postdoctoral Fellow Rare Disease Research Unit (RDRU), Pfizer Education: University of Pennsylvania, Perelman…

Samuel Gámez Arcas, first author of "Glucose-6-P/phosphate translocator2 mediates the phosphoglucose-isomerase1-independent response to microbial volatiles" Current position: Researcher in Instituto de Bioquimica Vegetal y Fotosíntesis (IBVF-CSIC) Education: Master in molecular genetics and biotechnology,…

Profs. Stanislaw Karpinski and Ron Mittler teams discovered Network Acquired Acclimation. By Magdalena Szechyńska-Hebda, Ron Mittler, and Stanisław Karpiński Background: An injured leaf (e.g., by insect herbivory or excess light) generates electric signals (ES) that spread to tissues, leaves,…

Yannik Müllers, first author of "Stomatal conductance tracks soil-to-leaf hydraulic conductance in faba bean and maize during soil drying" Current Position: PhD candidate at IBG-2, Plant Sciences, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany Education: Master’s degree in biophysics at Saarland University,…

Lisha Zhang, first author of "POLLEN WALL ABORTION 1 is essential for pollen wall development in rice" Current Position: Doctor of Crop Genetics and Breeding, Southwest University Education: School of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Southwest University/ Doctor of Agriculture; Southwest University…

Liu et al. identify a monocot-specific splicing factor that elucidates a link between splicing and plant development through strigolactone signaling. By Tianzhen Liu, Qibin Lin National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy…

Shengming Yang, first author of "A SQUAMOSA promoter binding protein-like transcription factor controls crop ideotype for high productivity in barley" Current Position: Research Geneticist in USDA-ARS Education: B.S. from Shandong Agricultural University, China; M.S. from Shandong Agricultural…

Abbas El Sahili , co-first author of "Structural basis for proenzyme maturation, substrate recognition, and ligation by a hyperactive peptide asparaginyl ligase" Current Position: Senior Research Fellow Education: Ph.D. at University Paris-Sud XI (Paris Saclay) Non-scientific Interests: Reading,…

Side Hu, co-first author of "Structural basis for proenzyme maturation, substrate recognition, and ligation by a hyperactive peptide asparaginyl ligase" Current Position: Ph.D. graduate Education: Ph.D. at Nanyang Technological University Non-scientific Interests: Reading, Computer games, Chinese…

Frances Sussmilch, first author of "Mendel: from Genes to Genome" Current Position: ARC DECRA Fellow, University of Tasmania, Australia Education: PhD in Molecular Biology/Genetics, University of Tasmania, Australia Non-scientific Interests: Reading, woolcrafts, long scenic walks with the dog Brief…

Jakub Dolata, first author of "Chromatin-associated microprocessor assembly is regulated by the U1 snRNP auxiliary protein PRP40" Current Position: Assistant Professor,  Department of Gene Expression, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland Education:…

Huang et al. unravel the roles of ethylene in tomato fruit growth and ripening.  Background: Fruit development is an intriguing evolutionary strategy that functions in both seed protection and seed dispersal. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) has long been used as a model system to uncover mechanisms…

Qianwen WANG, co-first author of "Wildsoydb DataHub: an online platform for accessing soybean multiomic datasets across multiple reference genomes"  Current Position: Lecturer at School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University. Education: PhD in The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Non-scientific…

Lucie Schröder, first author of "The photosynthesis apparatus of European mistletoe (Viscum album)" Current Position: PhD student, Institute of Plant Genetics, Leibniz University Hannover Education: BSc and MSc in Plant Biotechnology, Leibniz University Hannover, Germany Non-scientific…

Agata Stepien, first author of "Chromatin-associated microprocessor assembly is regulated by the U1 snRNP auxiliary protein PRP40" Current Position: Postdoc, AMU, Poland Education: PhD, AMU, Poland; Msc, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Poland Non-scientific Interests: reading, singing and…

Gregoire Le Provost, co-first author of “Gene expression and genetic divergence in oak species highlights adaptive genes to soil water constraints” Current position: Researcher at INRAE (France) since 2005, Biogeco Unit Education:  Ph.D. (Molecular Biology), University of Bordeaux 1, France Non-scientific…

Benjamin Brachi, co-first author of “Gene expression and genetic divergence in oak species highlights adaptive genes to soil water constraints” Current position: Researcher Education:  PhD from the University of Lille, France Non-scientific interests: cycling, reading, guitar playing Brief…

Shan Jiang, co-first author of "An SNW/SKI-INTERACTING PROTEIN influences endoreduplication and cell growth in Arabidopsis" Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher at Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Beijing, China). Education: B.Sc., Biotechnology,…

Bolun Meng, co-first author of “An SNW/SKI-INTERACTING PROTEIN influences endoreduplication and cell growth in Arabidopsis” Current Position: PhD Student, Henan University. Education: Bachelor, Henan University of Technology; Master, South China Normal University  Non-scientific interests:…

Christian Silva, first author of "Botrytis cinerea infection accelerates ripening and cell wall disassembly to promote disease in tomato fruit" Current Position: Financial Advisor at Wells Fargo Advisors Education: Ph.D. in Plant Biology, University of California, Davis, 2021;  B.S. in…

Wang et al. explore how the circadian clock regulates phytochrome A abundance and activity to mediate far-red light inhibited hypocotyl growth. Background: To enhance plant adaptability to natural conditions, the circadian clock is synchronized and entrained by light via photoreceptors. Intriguingly,…

Lignin is one of the most important end-products of the cinnamate/monolignol pathway and it is abundant in the secondary cell wall of vascular plants. In grasses, lignins are derived from monolignols, p-hydroxycinnamates, and a flavonoid tricin. In the proposed cinnamate/monolignol pathway, 4-COUMARATE:COENZYME…

Salinity stress is one of the primary abiotic causes of crop loss worldwide. In roots, the early response to high salt levels is coordinated largely via the well characterized salt-overly sensitive (SOS) pathway, which is dependent on Ca2+ signaling. However, how plants cope with elevated salt levels…

In plants, microbial invasion is sensed by membrane-bound and cytoplasmic receptors. Our knowledge on the immune signaling that follows microbial recognition is mostly derived from studies on Arabidopsis thaliana. In this plant, receptor activation triggers immune responses that are distinct for each…

Arabidopsis thaliana has been established as a versatile and important model plant species, with abundant genetic and genomic resources. Through RNA sequencing, Verhoeven et al. identified an unexpected and previously unnoticed latent comovirus (the name “como” derives from cowpea mosaic virus) lurking…

Humidity is considered a key component for the growth of fungal plant pathogens. For many infection assays we either maintain plants in high humidity, or wrap the infected area and keep spraying it with water. This is generally performed to facilitate fungal growth and the assumption that this may not…

Genome-edited rice deficient in two 4-COUMARATE:COENZYME A LIGASE genes displays diverse lignin alterations Lignin is one of the most important end-products of the cinnamate/monolignol pathway and it is abundant in the secondary cell wall of vascular plants. In grasses, lignins are derived from monolignols,…

Plant Physiology Webinar: Celebrating the October 2022 Focus Issue on Circadian Rhythms (Part 1) Recorded Wednesday, October 5 2022   About this Webinar Circadian rhythms are ubiquitous across eukaryotes, but are perhaps of particular importance to plants. In all model organisms studied…

Hoffmann et al. discover how Arabidopsis RNA processing body components are co-opted by Cauliflower mosaic virus to evade translational repression. By Gesa Hoffmann and Anders Hafrén, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences  Background: Viruses are unique in their ability to reuse and recycle…

Zheng et al. reveal a novel fungal infection strategy. Xinhang Zheng (China Agricultural University), Fu Huang (Sichuan Agricultural University), and Wenxian Sun (China Agricultural University) Background: Rice commercial production is severely threatened by several important diseases including…

Loudya et al. report that complementary mutations in TIC100 of the chloroplast inner envelope membrane can cause reductions or corrective improvements in chloroplast protein import, highlighting a role in signalling. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac153 By Naresh Loudya, Paul Jarvis and…

Enzo Ariel Perk, co-first author of "The isothiocyanate sulforaphane induces respiratory burst oxidase homologue D-dependent reactive oxygen species production and regulates expression of stress response genes" Current Position: PhD student in IIB Mar del Plata. Education: PhD student in  Biological…

Andres Arruebarrena Di Palma, co-first author of "The isothiocyanate sulforaphane induces respiratory burst oxidase homologue D-dependent reactive oxygen species production and regulates expression of stress response genes" Current Position: full time researcher at National Institute for Fisheries…

Ashish Kumar, co-first author of "Plant-specific HDT family histone deacetylases are nucleoplasmins" Current Position: Postdoctoral Research Associate at Yale University, CT, USA. Education: Ph.D. in Biotechnology from Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar, India Non-scientific Interests:…

Ruchir Chandrakant Bobde, co-first author of "Plant-specific HDT family histone deacetylases are nucleoplasmins" Current Position: Ph.D. student at the Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar, India Education: M.Sc. in Biotechnology from Hislop College, RTM Nagpur University, Nagpur, India Non-scientific…

Abhishesh Bajracharya, first author of "PHYTOCHROME-INTERACTING FACTOR 4/HEMERA-mediated thermosensory growth requires the Mediator subunit MED14"  Current Position: Ph.D. Candidate (University of Mississippi) Education: B.Tech in Biotechnology (Asian Institute of Technology and Management,…

Daniel Ginzburg, first author of "Uncoupling differential water usage from drought resistance in a dwarf Arabidopsis mutant" Current Position: Research Assistant – Carnegie Institution for Science, Department of Plant Biology Education: M.Sc. Agricultural Sciences – Hebrew University of Jerusalem…

Peng Huang, first author of "Cytokinins Regulate Rice Lamina Joint Development and Leaf Angle"  Current Position: Assistant Professor, College of Life Science and Chemistry, Zhejiang Normal University Education: Ph.D. in Crop Genetics and Breeding from the Nanjing Agricultural University (China),…

Yang Yang, co-first author of “Multiple cyclic nucleotide-gated channels function as ABA-activated Ca2+ channels required for ABA-induced stomata closure in Arabidopsis” Current Position: Ph.D. candidate at CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Science (CEMPS) and University of Chinese…

Yan-Qiu Tan, co-first author of “ Multiple cyclic nucleotide-gated channels function as ABA-activated Ca2+ channels required for ABA-induced stomata closure in Arabidopsis.” Current Position: Research assistant Education:  Ph.D. in Botany from CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant…

Yishan Feng, co-first author of “A common whole-genome paleotetraploidization in Cucurbitales” Current Position: Master degree candidate, School of Life Sciences, North China University of Science and Technology (NCST), Tangshan, Hebei, China Education: B.S. in bioinformatics, NCST Non-scientific…

Yan Zhang, co-first author of “A common whole-genome paleotetraploidization in Cucurbitales” Current Position: Master degree candidate, School of Life Sciences, North China University of Science and Technology (NCST), Tangshan, Hebei, China Education: B.S. in bioinformatics, NCST Non-scientific…

Min Yuan, co-first author of “A common whole-genome paleotetraploidization in Cucurbitales” Current Position: Associate professor, School of Life Sciences, North China University of Science and Technology, Tangshan, Hebei, China Education: Ph.D. at Hebei Normal University in China Non-scientific…

Jiaqi Wang, first author of “A common whole-genome paleotetraploidization in Cucurbitales” Current Position: Master degree candidate, School of Life Sciences, North China University of Science and Technology (NCST), Tangshan, Hebei, China Education: B.S. in Bioinformatics, NCST Non-scientific…

Hu et al. demonstrate how the interactions of gibberellin and auxin signaling components regulate cambial activity during wood formation in poplar. By Jian Hu, Changzheng Xu, and Keming Luo  Background: In trees, the vascular cambium is the population of stem cells that laterally divide and as…

Chia-Nan Tao, first author of "A single amino acid transporter controls the uptake of priming-inducing beta-amino acids and the associated trade-off between induced resistance and plant growth" Current Position: PhD student at School of Biosciences, The University of Sheffield Education: Master…

Bo Yang, first author of "The sugar transporter ZmSUGCAR1 of the Nitrate Transporter 1/Peptide Transporter family is critical for maize grain filling" Current Position: Scientist, The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited (Plant & Food Research) Education: PhD in plant biology,…

Amy Ny Aina Aritsara, first author of "Divergent leaf and fine root “pressure-volume relationships” across habitats with varying water availability" Current Position: Postdoctoral fellow at Guangxi University, China Education: Ph.D. in Ecology Non-Scientific Interests: Music, walking, riding,…

Hongqing Guo, Department of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology, Iowa State University Wang and colleagues explore the transcriptome, proteome, and phosphoproteome in wild-type and fer mutant plants to dissect known and new functions of the receptor kinase FER. Background: FERONIA (FER) is a…

Nicolas Reynoud, first author of "The cutin polymer matrix undergoes a fine architectural tuning from early tomato fruit development to ripening" Current Position: PhD student in Plant biochemistry,  French National Institute for Agricultural Research, Nantes, France. Education: Master in plant…

Zheni Xie, first author of "STRONG STAYGREEN inhibits DNA binding of PvNAP transcription factors during leaf senescence in switchgrass"  Current Position: Looking for a job Education background: 2010.09-2014.06 Hebei Agricultural University (Bachelor ); 2014.09-2021.12 Nanjing Agricultural…

Jiajia He, first author of “ECERIFERUM1-6A is required for the synthesis of cuticular wax alkanes and promotes drought tolerance in wheat” Current Position: Master Student, Northwest A&F University, Xianyang, China Education: Northwest A&F University (Bachelor); Northwest A&F University…

Hui Tian, first author of “Fungal dual-domain LysM effectors undergo chitin-induced intermolecular, and not intramolecular, dimerization” Current Position: Post-doctoral researcher, University of Cologne, Germany Education:  MSc in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Nanjing Agricultural University,…

Jie He, first author of “The trans-Golgi-localized protein BICAT3 regulates manganese allocation and matrix polysaccharide biosynthesis” Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Plant Nutrition Laboratory, Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg,…

Antoine Nicolas, first author of "De novo stem cell establishment in meristems requires repression of organ boundary cell fate" Current Position: Looking for a postdoc position in Germany close to Berlin  Education: PhD in Plant Biology at University Paris-Saclay ; MSc and BSc at University Paris-Saclay  Non-scientific…

Pavol Vadovič, co-first author of "Knockout of MITOGEN-ACTIVATED PROTEIN KINASE 3 causes barley root resistance against Fusarium graminearu" Current Position: Assistant Professor at the Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic. Education: Ph.D.…

Jasim Basheer, co-first author of "Knockout of MITOGEN-ACTIVATED PROTEIN KINASE 3 causes barley root resistance against Fusarium graminearu" Current Position: Junior researcher at the Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic. Education: Ph.D.…

Ma et al. reveal the role of a key tomato RNA-binding protein in translating the nuclear transcripts that encode chloroplast proteins via its association with a eukaryotic translation initiation factor Background: The nuclear genome encodes most of the proteins that are found in chloroplasts; these…

Plant Physiology Webinar: Celebrating the September 2022 Focus Issue on Evolution of Plant Structure and Function Recorded Friday, September 16, 2022   About this Webinar Plant morphology, physiology, and development are shaped by a combination of internal, external, and historical factors…

Bibek Subedi, co-first author of "The START domain mediates Arabidopsis GLABRA2 dimerization and turnover independently of homeodomain DNA binding"  Current Position: PhD candidate and Graduate Teaching/Research Assistant in Division of Biology at Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, 66506…

Xiaojie Tian, co-first author of “WRKY53 negatively regulates rice cold tolerance at the booting stage by fine-tuning anther gibberellin levels” Current Position: Associate Research Fellow, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Harbin, China Education:…

Jiaqi Tang, co-first author of “WRKY53 negatively regulates rice cold tolerance at the booting stage by fine-tuning anther gibberellin levels” Current Position: Research associate, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Harbin, China Education: Ph.D.,…

Pasquale Luca Curci, first author of "Identification of new growth regulators using cross-species network analysis in plants"  Current Position: Researcher at Institute of Biosciences and BioResources (IBBR), National Research Council (CNR), Italy Education: Postdoc at VIB Center for Plant Systems…

There is a clear need to synergize advances from cutting-edge genomic approaches with the needs and knowledge of growers, particularly small-holder growers who have access to much of a crop’s genetic diversity. Here, Woldeyohannes, Iohannes et al. took a transdisciplinary approach to explore the breeding…

In January 2019, a workshop was convened to explore strategies to address inclusivity in the plant sciences, and the recommendations emerging from this workshop are presented in a new report by Henkhaus et al. The authors recognize that this is an expansive challenge and requires action on many fronts,…

One of the longstanding questions in plant biology concernes how auxin coordinates both gene expression in the nucleus and the so-called fast responses at the cell periphery including proton extrusion and cytoskeletal rearrangements. At this point the nuclear branch is well understood, but the cell periphery…

The September 2022 issue of Nature Plants includes two papers describing the analysis of homosporous fern genomes. Ferns are interesting for many reasons including the diversity of the clade, their typically very large genomes, their often free-living gametophytes, and in many cases, homospory (a single…

Calcium (Ca) signaling is one of the primary plant responses to confront abiotic stresses. To coordinate Ca levels in the different compartments of the cell, several transporters are needed including the H+/Ca exchangers (CAXs) in the tonoplast (vacuolar membrane). While the role of calcium signaling…

Symbioses and nodule organogenesis processes that occur independently of Nod-factors are relatively unexplored. Quilbe et al. investigated the semi-aquatic legume Aeschynomene evenia, which has recently been shown to establish symbioses with Bradyrhizobium sp. that do not produce Nod factors. The authors…

Many different pathogens attack plants, and many genes have been identified that confer pathogen-specific resistance.  In a recent study, Hao et al. identified a signaling cascade that regulates broad-spectrum disease resistance. This pathway is composed of a rice ubiquitin ligase OsPUB73, a VQ motif-containing…

The seeds of the Agarwood tree (Aquilaria sinensis) lose viability within a few hours of the fruit splitting, so need to reach the ground as soon as possible. Qin et al. report that agarwood achieves this by fooling hornets (Vespa spp.), which generally eat herbivore insects such as caterpillars. When…

Removing systemic barriers to equity, diversity, and inclusion: Report of the 2019 Plant Science Research Network workshop “Inclusivity in the Plant Sciences” In January 2019, a workshop was convened to explore strategies to address inclusivity in the plant sciences, and the recommendations emerging…

Yang Zhou, first author of "Rice EIL1 interacts with OsIAAs to regulate auxin biosynthesis mediated by the tryptophan aminotransferase MHZ10/OsTAR2 during root ethylene responses" Current Position: Postdoc, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Education:…

Lina Cheng, first author of "A SlCLV3-SlWUS module regulates auxin and ethylene homeostasis in low light–induced tomato flower abscission" Current Position: PhD student, Shenyang Agricultural University Education: 2011-2015, Shanxi Agricultural University, Horticulture, Undergraduate. 2015-now,…

Iny Elizebeth Mathew, first author of "The vacuolar H+/Ca transporter CAX1 participates in submergence and anoxia stress responses" Current Position: Research associate, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas Education: PhD in Plant Molecular Biology, National Institute of Plant Genome Research…

Qiuling Wang, co-first author of “Type one protein phosphatase regulates fixed-carbon starvation-induced autophagy in Arabidopsis” Current Position: Post-doctoral Research Fellow, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lan Zhou, China Education: Ph.D by cooperation of Institute of Genetics…

Qianqian Qin, co-first author of “Type one protein phosphatase regulates fixed-carbon starvation-induced autophagy in Arabidopsis.” Current Position:Lecturer, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lan Zhou, China Education: Ph.D., Lanzhou University, China Non-scientific Interests:…

Aranzazú Díaz-Ramos, co-first author of "New horizons for building pyrenoid-based CO2-concentrating mechanisms in plants to improve yields" Current Position: Post-Doctoral Researcher in the group of Alistair McCormick, SynthSys & Institute of Molecular Plant Sciences, School of Biological Sciences,…

Liat Adler, first author of "New horizons for building pyrenoid-based CO2-concentrating mechanisms in plants to improve yields" Current Position:   PhD student at the University of Edinburgh Education:   Msci in Biochemistry and a BA in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge Non-scientific…

Bandana Bhusal, first author of "Efficient Fluorescence-Based Localization Technique for Real-Time Tracking Endophytes Route in Host-Plants Colonization" Current Position: PhD in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology at Iowa State University Education: Master’s in Plant Science from Tennessee…

Yu et al. find a hemicellulose that has similar function, structure, and biosynthesis to the well-studied hemicellulose xyloglucan  Authors: Li Yu, Yoshihisa Yoshimi, Paul Dupree. Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, UK. Background: Plant primary cell walls need to be rigid enough…

Won C. Yim, co-first author of "The final piece of the Triangle of U: Evolution of the tetraploid Brassica carinata genome" Current Position: Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Nevada, Reno, USA. Education: Ph. D in Dept. Plant Biotechnology at the Dongguk…

Mia Lynn Swain, co-first author of "The final piece of the Triangle of U: Evolution of the tetraploid Brassica carinata genome" Current Position: Ph.D. student in Dr. Won Yim’s plant genomics lab in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Nevada, Reno, USA. Education: B.S. in Biochemistry…

Longsheng Zhao, first author of “Native architecture and acclimation of photosynthetic membranes in a fast-growing cyanobacterium” Current Position: Postdoctoral fellow in State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, and Marine Biotechnology Research Center, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237,…

Thieffry, López-Márquez, et al. explore the use of alternative transcriptional start sites during immune responses. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac108 Background: Upon sensing an attempted infection, plants change from growth to defense by reshaping gene activity. However, there is not always…

Omar Arias-Gaguancela, first author of "Enhanced seedling growth by 3-n-pentadecylphenolethanolamide is mediated by fatty acid amide hydrolases in upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)" Current Position:  PhD candidate in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, BioDiscovery Institute, Department of Biological…

Hui Chen, first author of "TaHRC suppresses the calcium-mediated immune response and triggers wheat head blight susceptibility" Current Position: Research Assistant Professor, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA Education: Ph.D. in Plant Molecular Biology, Ehime University, Matsuyama, Ehime,…

Qingwen Wu, first author of “Rhamnosyltransferases Involved in the Biosynthesis of Flavone Rutinosides in Chrysanthemum Species” Current Position: PhD candidate, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine Education: Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine Non-scientific interests: Horticulture Brief…

Nahyun Cho, first author of "E3 Ligase AtAIRP5/GARU Regulates Drought Stress Response by Stimulating SERINE CARBOXYPEPTIDASE-LIKE1 Turnover" Current Position: Ph.D candidate, Department of Systems Biology, Division of Life Science, Yonsei University Education: Bachelor of Systems Biology, Yonsei…

By Alexandra J. Burgess, PhD, Plant Physiology Assistant Features Editor Tracy Lawson is a Professor of Plant Physiology in the Plant Productivity group and Director of Plant Phenotyping at the University of Essex (UK). She obtained her first degree in applied biology from Liverpool John Moores University…

Thiya Mukherjee, co-first author of "The START domain mediates Arabidopsis GLABRA2 dimerization and turnover independently of homeodomain DNA binding" Current Position: Research Scientist, in Douglas Allen lab at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Saint Louis, MO, USA Education: PhD from…

Xiaoxiao Li, co-first author of “Ectopic expression of BOTRYTIS SUSCEPTIBLE1 reveals its function as a positive regulator of wound-induced cell death and plant susceptibility to Botrytis” Current Position: Ph.D. candidate at Zhejiang University Education: M.S., Zhejiang A&F University Non-scientific…

Haiyan Cao, first author of "AtPRMT5-mediated AtLCD methylation improves Cd2+ tolerance via increased H2S production in Arabidopsis" Current position: Ph.D. candidate in Botany, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, China Education: M.S. in Cell Biology, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, China B.S. in Bioscience,…

By Chengxiang Li and Hao Yu National University of Singapore Background: Maternal carbon source supports seed development and is eventually transformed into seed reserves, such as storage oil in the filial embryo and protective compounds in the maternal seed coat. During seed development of Arabidopsis…

Natalie A. Henkhaus, first author of "Removing systemic barriers to equity, diversity, and inclusion: Report of the 2019 Plant Science Research Network workshop “Inclusivity in the Plant Sciences”" Current Position: Genomics Field Application Scientist at Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. Education:…

Author et al. explore the role of plasma membrane H +-ATPases in ABA-induced stomatal closure. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac106 By Zhizhong Gong1, 2 and Dan Pei1 1State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing,…

Sun-Ju Rhee, first author of "Virus-induced gene silencing for in planta validation of gene function in cucurbits" Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher, Chung-Ang University, Republic of Korea. Education: Postdoctoral researcher. Dept. of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. Dept.…

Jiawei Xiong, first author of  “The deubiquitinating enzymes UBP12 and UBP13 positively regulate recovery after carbon starvation by modulating BES1 stability in Arabidopsis thaliana” Current Position: Ph.D. candidate, Sichuan University Education: Bachelor’s degree, Sichuan Agricultural…

Ana González Moreno, first author of “3D (x-y-t) Raman imaging of tomato fruit cuticle: microchemistry during development” Current Position: Ph.D. Student in Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at Instituto de Hortofruticultura Subtropical y Mediterránea "La Mayora" (IHSM-UMA-CSIC)  Education:Master…

Chandrasekar, Wanke, Wawra and co-workers discover how fungal cell surface polysaccharides assist in evading hostile plant immune responses. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac114 By Alan Wanke1 and Pia Saake2 Alga Zuccaro2 1 Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United…

Experience is the best teacher, so hand-on learning is invaluable for students of biology. If you have the opportunity to teach with a laboratory course and haven’t yet incorporated a module that incorporates CRISR/Cas9, you’re in luck! Here, Mayta et al. share the design of the laboratory course…

The AlphaFoldDB database recently made headlines by predicting the three-dimensional protein structure of millions of proteins based on their primary amino acid sequence. Most of these models remain to be tested, but it’s a place to start. Here, Dumortier et al. add an important complementary tool…

Synthetic genetic circuits offer a promising method to achieve beneficial changes in plant phenotypic traits. By combining different activator or repressor transcription factors (TFs) , the expression of target genes may be fine-tuned according to Boolean operations. Here, Brophy et al. describe a method…

Responses to environmental and internal signals require the recruitment of transcription factors (TFs). TFs recognize simple DNA sequences to activate specific genes that will accomplish the required functions. DOF (DNA-binding with one finger) is a large family of plant TFs that encloses the CYCLING…

Programmed cell death (PCD) plays roles in both developmental and environmental responses across plant species. During pathogen attack, the hypersensitive response can limit spread of infection by orchestrating an organised death of cells around the infection area. A recent study by Lukan et al. demonstrated…

The ATP-dependent CLP chaperone-protease system is a crucial part of the peptidase network required to maintain proteostasis in the Arabidopsis chloroplast. Its substrates include misfolded and aggregated proteins of any size, and it is essential for plant growth and development. PREP1,2 peptidases are…

Nitrate, the prominent form of nitrogen used by most land plants, is a signal regulating plant growth and development. Nitrate sensing by roots not only regulates root development to facilitate nutrient foraging, but also the growth of distant plant organs. Cytokinin is a mobile signal coordinating nitrate…

Programmed cell death (PCD) is a ubiquitous eukaryotic process in which specific cells are eliminated during development or in response to stress. Here, Fuqiang Cui and colleagues confirm for the first time the exact role of the BOS1 gene in the regulation of PCD in Arabidopsis thaliana. Originally identified…

An experimental protocol for teaching CRISPR/Cas9 in a post-graduate plant laboratory course: An analysis of mutant-edited plants without sequencing Experience is the best teacher, so hand-on learning is invaluable for students of biology. If you have the opportunity to teach with a laboratory course…

Li Yu, first author of "Eudicot primary cell wall glucomannan is related in synthesis, structure and function to xyloglucan" Current position: Research Associate at University of Cambridge with Prof. Paul Dupree. Education: PhD in Biochemistry Department from the Northeast Normal University, China…

Sina Fischer, first author of "Transcriptional network underpinning ploidy-related elevated leaf potassium in neo-tetraploids" Current Position: Assistant Professor, University of Nottingham, UK Education: PhD in molecular Biology, University of Bayreuth, Germany Non-scientific Interests: Cycling…

Grunwald et al. explore how blue light regulates leaf water balance https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac089 By Y. Grunwald, S. Gosa, T. Torne Srivastava, M. Moshelion and N. Moran. The Robert H. Smith Institute of Plant Sciences and Genetics in Agriculture, The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture,…

Luyan Zhou, co-first author of “Phytochrome Interacting Factor Regulates Stomatal Aperture by Coordinating Red Light and Abscisic Acid” Current Position: Master degree candidate at Yangzhou University, China Education: B.Sc. at Yangzhou University, China Non-scientific Interests: Reading,…

Qian Li, co-first author of “Phytochrome Interacting Factor Regulates Stomatal Aperture by Coordinating Red Light and Abscisic Acid” Current Position: Master degree candidate at Yangzhou University, China Education: B.Sc. at Yangzhou University, China Non-scientific Interests: Reading and…

Weiwei Fang, first author of “TANDEM ZINC-FINGER/PLUS3 Regulates Phytochrome B Abundance and Signaling to Fine-tune Hypocotyl Growth” Name: Weiwei Fang Current position: Post-doctoral researcher at University of Milan (starting in September 2022). Education: PhD in Plant Cell and Molecular…

Peng Wang, first author of "Transcript and metabolite network perturbations in lignin biosynthetic mutants of Arabidopsis" Current Position: Scientist at PACT Pharma Education: Ph.D. Biochemistry at Purdue University; B.Sc. Biology at Nanjing University Non-scientific interests: Hiking, playing…

Sanhita Chakraborty, co-first author of "An LCO-responsive homolog of NODULE INCEPTION positively regulates lateral root formation in Populus sp" Current Position: Research associate, Ané lab, Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA Education: Ph.D. (Plant Biology), University…

Thomas B. Irving, co-first author of "An LCO-responsive homolog of NODULE INCEPTION positively regulates lateral root formation in Populus sp"  Current Position: Post-Doctoral Researcher (University of Cambridge, Crop Science Centre) Education: BA Natural Sciences (University of Cambridge), PhD…

DurreShahwar (Durre) Muhammad, first author of "POPEYE intercellular localization mediates cell-specific iron deficiency responses" Current Position: NSF Postdoctoral Fellow in Biology, Rice University, Houston, TX USA Education: Ph.D. from North Carolina State University in the Department of…

Eliška Škrabálková, co-first author of "DIACYLGLYCEROL KINASE 5 Participates in Flagellin-Induced Signaling in Arabidopsis" Current Position: PhD candidate at the Charles University, Faculty of Science, Department of Experimental Plant Biology, Prague, Czech Republic Education: Master degree…

Tetiana Kalachova, co-first author of "DIACYLGLYCEROL KINASE 5 Participates in Flagellin-Induced Signaling in Arabidopsis" Current Position: researcher at the Institute of Experimental Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences (Laboratory of Pathological Plant Physiology) Education: University Paris-Est,…

Yang Li, first author of "The RNA helicase UAP56 and the E3 ubiquitin ligase COP1 coordinately regulate alternative splicing to repress photomorphogenesis in Arabidopsis" Current Position: Ph.D. (job hunting), Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences Education: Ph.D. from Institute of Botany,…

Yang et al. identify a connection between a mitochondrial RNA-processing factor and plant disease resistance. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac082 Yang Yang and Weixing Shan  State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas and College of Agronomy, Northwest A&F University, Yangling,…

Cao et al. demonstrate that the photomorphogenic repressors BBX28 and BBX29 enhance brassinosteroid signaling to promote hypocotyl elongation and cotyledon closure.  By Jing Cao and Fang Lin  Background: Light signals and brassinosteroids (BRs) are external stimuli and internal cues, respectively,…

Vincenzo D’Amelia, first author of "Targeted mutagenesis of StISAC stabilizes the production of anthocyanins in potato cell culture" Current Position: Researcher at Institute of Bioscience and Bioresources of the Italian National Research Council Education:  PhD in Agrobiology and Agrochemistry…

Guanghui An, first author of “Loss-of-function of SAWTOOTH 1 affects leaf dorsiventrality genes to promote leafy heads in lettuce” Education: B.S. (2016) at Huazhong Agriculture University; Ph.D. (2022) at Huazhong Agriculture University. Non-scientific Interests: Travelling, Cooking, Music Brief…

Kuenzang Om, first author of "Pyruvate, phosphate dikinase regulatory protein impacts light response of C4 photosynthesis in Setaria viridis" Current Position: Graduate student(PhD) Education: BA Biology from Whitman College, WA Non-scientific Interests: Gardening, chess, hiking Brief bio:…

Jo et al. uncover the role of a spliceosome component in removing retained introns in Arabidopsis in response to heat stress https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac084  Background: Alternative splicing plays a key role in abiotic stress responses in plants, especially responses to heat stress. The spliceosome…

Krawczyk et al. describe a tethering complex that anchors a subset of lipid droplets to the plasma membrane during post-germinative seedling growth in Arabidopsis. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac095 By Hannah Elisa Krawczyk, Till Ischebeck Background: Germinating seeds are not yet able to produce…

Fuguo Cao, co-first author of “Methylation of a MITE insertion in the MdRFNR1-1 promoter is positively associated with its allelic expression in apple in response to drought stress” Current Position: Ph.D. student, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China Education: Bachelor's degree in…

Lijuan Jiang, co-first author of “Methylation of a MITE insertion in the MdRFNR1-1 promoter is positively associated with its allelic expression in apple in response to drought stress” Current Position: Post-doctoral in Yangzhou University Education: PhD’s degree in Northwest A&F University Non-scientific…

Chundong Niu, co-first author of “Methylation of a MITE insertion in the MdRFNR1-1 promoter is positively associated with its allelic expression in apple in response to drought stress” Current Position: Post-doctoral in College of Horticulture, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China Education:…

Edwige Souleyre, first author of "Alcohol Acyl Transferase Genes at a High Flavor Intensity Locus Contribute to Ester Biosynthesis in Kiwifruit" Current Position: Scientist, Kiwifruit New Cultivar group, Fruit Quality team, The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited, Auckland,…

Sjoerd Woudenberg, first author of "Deep Origin and Gradual Evolution of Transporting Tissues: Perspectives from across the Land Plants" Current Position: PhD student, Laboratory of Biochemistry, Wageningen University and Research Education: MSc in Biology (Wageningen University) Non-scientific…

Yajun Leng, first author of "Arabidopsis ERdj3B coordinates with ERECTA-family receptor kinases to regulate ovule development and the heat stress response" Current Position: Postdoc, Tsinghua University Education: Ph.D. from China Agricultural University B.S. from Shandong Agricultural University; Non-scientific…

Jing Hui, first author of “The Mycorrhiza-Specific Ammonium Transporter ZmAMT3;1 Mediates Mycorrhiza-dependent Nitrogen Uptake in Maize Roots" Current Position: China Agricultural University, Research Assistant Education: Ph.D. degree from China Agricultural University; Bachelor degree from Northwest…

Lin Meng, first author of "NAC transcription factor TgNAP promotes tulip petal senescence" Current Position: Searching Education: PhD in Horticulture and Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China Non-scientific Interests: Basketball Brief bio: In 2015, I joined the…

Chiara Bernardini, first author of “Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus accumulation in the phloem inhibits callose and reactive oxygen species” Current position: Post-doctoral Researcher, University of Florida, USA Education: PhD in Agricultural Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Udine,…

Kumud Saini, first author of "High temperature restricts cell division and leaf size by coordination of PIF4 and TCP4 transcription factors" Current position: Research Associate, Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University, UK Education: MSc. Plant Biology and Biotechnology, University of Hyderabad,…

By Dariusz Jan Smoliński, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland Rudzka and colleagues characterize the retention of Sm pre-mRNAs that retain introns in Cajal bodies over the course of microsporocyte development in European larch (Larix decidua) Background: Reports in both animals and plants have…

“Grassy biomes—from the steppes of Mongolia to the savannas of Tanzania— are predicted to be the ecosystems hardest hit by the ongoing climate and land use crises,” begins a Perspective by Strömberg and Staver in the August 4, 2022 Science special issue on Grasses that raises awareness of the…

The development of vascular plants (tracheophytes) was a major innovation during the evolution of land plants. The classic view is that the evolution of transporting tissues is distinct to tracheophytes, but Woudenberg and Renema et al. discuss an alternative hypothesis where this was a gradual process…

The plasma membrane (PM) is a critical interface between the cell and its environment and serves crucial sensing and transducing roles. This timely review by Medina-Puche and Lozano-Durán updates exciting new developments in understanding communication between the PM and intracellular organelles, focusing…

C4 and CAM are both photosynthetic strategies that concentrate CO2 upstream of RuBisCO, somewhat uncoupling photosynthetic carbon fixation from transpirational water loss. Both strategies use the enzyme PEP-carboxylase to produce an organic acid, which can then be decarboxylated to provide CO2 to RuBisCO.…

To improve the profitability and sustainability of agriculture, there has been an extensive quest to identify regulators that boost nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) without compromising yield. Wei et al. identified a DREB family transcription factor based on RNAseq analysis of rice plants exposed to low…

Plants demonstrate increased susceptibility to pathogens upon exposure to heat stress, apparently due to suppressed salicylic acid (SA) accumulation and subsequently decreased effector-triggered immunity. How exactly does heat stress cause this suppression, and how can we take advantage of genetics to…

Tolerance against a pathogen can be achieved by either overexpressing a resistance-related gene, or removing a susceptibility-related gene. Overexpression of defense-related genes generally comes with side effects such as decreased growth and yield. On the other hand, a susceptibility factor might have…

Science special issue on Grasses “Grassy biomes—from the steppes of Mongolia to the savannas of Tanzania— are predicted to be the ecosystems hardest hit by the ongoing climate and land use crises,” begins a Perspective by Strömberg and Staver in the August 4, 2022 Science special issue on…

Wenfeng Ye, first author of "Belowground and aboveground herbivory differentially affect the transcriptome in roots and shoots of maize" Current Position: Post-Doctor, Laboratory of Fundamental and Applied Research in Chemical Ecology, University of Neuchâtel (UniNE), Neuchâtel, Switzerland Education:…

Junfei Ma, first author of "A nuclear import pathway exploited by pathogenic noncoding RNAs" Current Position: Ph.D. candidate at Mississippi State University, MS, US. Education: Expected to graduate in the Fall of 2022 at Mississippi State University. Non-scientific Interests: Travelling,…

Emma Tung Corcoran, first author of "Systematic histone H4 replacement in Arabidopsis thaliana reveals a role for H4R17 in regulating flowering time" Current Position: Seeking industry positions Education: Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology from Yale University, Sc.B. in…

Zizhen Liang, first author of "Electron tomography of prolamellar bodies and their transformation into grana thylakoids in cryofixed Arabidopsis cotyledons" Current Position: Post-doctoral Research Associate, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Education: Ph.D. in Botany, College of Life Sciences,…

Anna Schulten, first author of "Energy status-promoted growth and development of Arabidopsis require copper deficiency response transcriptional regulator SPL7" Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher with Prof. Caroline Dean at the John Innes Centre, UK Education: PhD in the lab of Prof. Ute…

Johan Quilbé, first author of "A mutant-based analysis of the establishment of Nod-independent symbiosis in the legume Aeschynomene evenia" Current Position: PostDoc Education: PhD Non-scientific Interests: Outdoor activities and martial arts Brief bio: During my PhD I worked on the new…

Fangfang Niu, co-first author of "ADP-Ribosylation Factor D1 Modulates Golgi Morphology, Cell Plate Formation and Plant Growth in Arabidopsis" Current Position: Postdoc fellow, School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China Education: Ph. D, Cell biology, Northwest…

Changyang Ji, co-first author of "ADP-Ribosylation Factor D1 Modulates Golgi Morphology, Cell Plate Formation and Plant Growth in Arabidopsis"  Current Position: PhD Student, School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China Education: B.S. in Biotechnology, Sun Yat-sen…

By Margot Raffeiner and Frederik Börnke (Leibniz-Institute for Vegetable and Ornamental Crops) Background: Like other organisms, plants defend themselves against pathogens by activating immune responses. One of the first lines of plant immunity is to block the entry of bacteria into the leaf through…

Laura S. Lopez, first author of “The Arabidopsis T-DNA mutant SALK_008491 carries a 14 kb deletion on chromosome 3 that provides rare insights into the plant response to dynamic light stress” Current Position: 2nd year medical student, Washington State University College of Medicine Education:…

Lifan Sun, first author of "TOUCH 3 and CALMODULIN 1/4/6 cooperate with calcium-dependent protein kinases to trigger calcium-dependent activation of CAM-BINDING PROTEIN 60-LIKE G and regulate fungal resistance in plants" Current Position: Research Assistant, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy…

Andrew Fife Galloway, first author of "Altered properties and structures of root exudate polysaccharides in a root hairless mutant of barley" Current Position: Research Coordinator at the University of Oxford. Education: PhD in Biology (Plant Science) and MSc in Plant Science and Biotechnology…

Peng, D. Guo, Y. Guo, et al. Shui Wang, College of Life Sciences, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China  Background: Immune receptors recognize invading microorganisms and activate immune responses. There are two types of immune systems, innate immunity and adaptive immunity. In animals,…

Venura Herath, "The plant endoplasmic reticulum UPRome: A repository and pathway browser for genes involved in signaling networks linked to the endoplasmic reticulum" Current Position: Professor at the University of Peradeniya Education: PhD in Biological Sciences (University of Maine) and BSc…

Yue Niu, co-first author of “The phospholipid flippase ALA3 regulates pollen tube growth and guidance in Arabidopsis" Current Position: Associate professor in School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University. Education: Ph.D. in School of Life Sciences with Prof. Guochang Zheng (Academician of CAS)…

Yang Yang, the first author of “The phospholipid flippase ALA3 regulates pollen tube growth and guidance in Arabidopsis” Current Position: Postdoctor in the School of Ecology, Lanzhou University Education: Ph.D. in School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University Non-scientific Interests: music,…

Yuxi Wang, co-first author of "CmbHLH16 is responsive to different red-to-far-red light ratios and fine-tunes anthocyanin homeostasis in Chrysanthemum"  Current Position：Ph.D. candidate，Nanjing Agricultural University Education：Bachelor of Agriculture, Northeast Agricultural University; Ph.D.…

Li-jie Zhou, co-first author of "Transcription factor CmbHLH16 regulates petal anthocyanin homeostasis under different lights in Chrysanthemum" Current Position: Lecturer, College of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210095, China. Education: Ph.D. in Agriculture (2018),…

Benjamin Spears, first author of "Class I TCP transcription factor AtTCP8 modulates key brassinosteroid-responsive genes" Current Position: Assistant Professor- Department of Biological Sciences, Butler University Education: Postdoctoral associate- University of Missouri, PhD in plant, insect,…

Pedro Humberto Castro, first author of "SUMO E3 Ligase SIZ1 connects sumoylation and reactive oxygen species homeostasis processes in Arabidopsis" Current Position: Researcher at the PlantBio group, BIOPOLIS-CIBIO/InBIO, University of Porto, Portugal. Education: Ph.D. in Biology, University of…

Misawa, Ito, et al. explore how nitrate transporters and NIN-like protein transcription factors repress nodulation in the presence of exogenous nitrate. Momoyo Ito, Takuya Suzaki Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan  Background Through…

Xu et al. identify a key transcriptional regulatory module involved in biosynthesis of the pectic polysaccharide rhamnogalacturonan I in the mucilage surrounding the Arabidopsis seed. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac011 Background: Pectin is a complex cell wall polysaccharide that plays important…

Kang et al. (2022) show that Arabidopsis CHROMATIN REMODELING 19 represses transcription and functions in plant defenses against pathogens. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koab318 by Huijia Kang and Yan Zhu, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University. Background: Plants induce defenses in response…

Choi et al. report that the Chlamydomonas bZIP transcription factor BLZ8 induces the carbon-concentrating mechanism to provide an electron sink pathway, reducing reactive oxygen species production under oxidative stress conditions. Plant Cell. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koab293 By Bae Young Choi,…

Xiaojuan Wu, first author of "Identification of microRNAs and their target genes related to the accumulation of anthocyanin in purple potato tubers (Solanum tuberosum)" Current Position: PhD student, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, China Education: B.E. Inner Mongolia Agricultural University,…

Mei Niu, first author of “Rice DWARF AND LOW-TILLERING and the homeodomain protein OSH15 interact to regulate internode elongation via orchestrating brassinosteroid signaling and metabolism” Current Position: Research Assistant in Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China Education: PhD…

Zhongfu Yang, first author of "DNA hypermethylation promotes the flowering of orchardgrass during vernalization" Current Position: PhD student, Sichuan Agricultural University Education: Jilin Agricultural University (Bachelor) Non-scientific Interests: Badminton and travel Brief bio: In…

Xingbo Cai, co-first author of "ERECTA regulates seed size independent of its intracellular domain via MAPK-DA1-UBP15 signaling" Current Position:  Ph.D. student, The University of Texas at Austin Education: M.S., Hebei Normal University, China B.S., Hebei Normal University, China Non-scientific…

Xuedan Wu, co-first author of "ERECTA regulates seed size independently of its intracellular domain via MAPK-DA1-UBP15 signaling" Education: Ph.D., Hebei Normal University China; B.S., HuiHua College of Hebei Normal University, China Non-scientific Interests: Travel, Reading and photography Brief…

Qing Zhou, first author of “Heat shock-induced failure of meiosis I to meiosis II transition leads to 2n pollen formation in a woody plant" Current Position: PhD candidate, College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, China Education: Shenyang Agricultural University…

Zahra Zangishei, co-first author of "Parasitic plant small RNA analyses unveil parasite-specific signatures of microRNA retention, loss, and gain" Current Position: PhD student, Institute of Biological Data Science, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany. Education: Msc of Agriculture Biotechnology,…

María Luz Annacondia López, co-first author of "Parasitic plant small RNA analyses unveil parasite-specific signatures of microRNA retention, loss, and gain" Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen (Denmark) Education:…

Wang et al. find an RNA 3’-terminal phosphate cyclase-like protein that participates in processing the 18S ribosomal RNA in maize. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac052 by Tao Wang and Jun Yang The National Engineering Laboratory of Crop Resistance Breeding, School of Life Sciences, Anhui Agricultural…

Genevieve Hoopes, first author of "Keeping time in the dark: potato diel and circadian rhythmic gene expression reveals tissue-specific circadian clocks" Current Position: Scientist in the Plant Sciences Group at J.R. Simplot Company in Boise, Idaho, USA Education: PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology…

By Jathish Ponnu, PhD, Plant Physiology Assistant Features Editor Prof. Christian Fankhauser is an eminent photobiologist passionate about phototropism and shade avoidance in plants. He works at the Center for Integrative Genomics, University of Lausanne, Switzerland and has served as a Monitoring…

Jieming Jiang, first author of "A diRNA–protein scaffold module mediates SMC5/6 recruitment in plant DNA repair" Current Position: Associate Research Fellow Education: South China Normal University, Doctor Non-scientific Interests: Keep pets, Travel Brief bio: I joined the research team…

Hongtao Tian, first author of “KARRIKIN UPREGULATED F-BOX 1 negatively regulates drought resistance in Arabidopsis” Current Position: State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology Henan University, Postgraduate Laboratory assistant in Zhejiang University School of Medicine, July, 2022， Education:…

To avoid ammonium toxicity, the ammonium transporters (AMTs) are tightly regulated by phosphorylation-dependent inactivation. The multifunctional kinase CIPK23 inactivates the AMT1s by phosphorylating conserved threonine residues (T460 in AMT1;1 and T472 in AMT1;2).  ABA-INSENSITIVE1 (ABI1) and ABI2…

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 the aging program encoded in these reproductive cells must be rejuvenated per generation.…

Climate emergency and the increase of human population are challenges for human food security. Plant breeders use natural genetic variation to improve crops, but bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) has particularly low genetic diversity with unique evolutionary constraints. Genetic modification of spike…

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…

Guoqiang Yuan, co-first author of “SWOLLEN TAPETUM AND STERILITY 1 Is Required for Tapetum Degeneration and Pollen Wall Formation in Rice" Current Position: Job hunting Education: Sichuan Agricultural University (Bachelor and Ph.D.) Non-scientific Interests: badminton, basketball, cooking Brief…

Xiaokun Wang, co-first author of “Characterization of regulatory modules controlling leaf angle in maize” Current Position: PhD Student at College of Agriculture, Shandong Agricultural University, China. Education: College of Agriculture of Qingdao Agricultural University (Bachelor), College…

Xianglan Wang, co-first author of “Characterization of regulatory modules controlling leaf angle in maize” Current Position: professor at College of Agriculture, Shandong Agricultural University, China Education: Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Physiology, Institute of Botany, Chinese…

Shuxian Huang, first author of “The plant ESCRT component FREE1 regulates peroxisome-mediated turnover of lipid droplets in germinating Arabidopsis seedlings” Current Position:  Research Associate, School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Education: Ph.D. in The Chinese…

Chuande Wang, first author of “Pentatricopeptide repeat protein Mitochondrial Stability Factor 3 ensures mitochondrial RNA stability and embryogenesis” Current Position: Postdoc at Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin (IJPB), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRAE). Education: Université…

Ning Zhang, first author of "Loss of function of the bHLH transcription factor Nrd1 in tomato enhances resistance to Pseudomonas syringae" Current Position: Postdoctoral Associate Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research/Cornell University Ithaca, NY, USA Education: PhD in Horticulture…

Liang Zhang, first author of "The tetratricopeptide repeat protein OsTPR075 promotes heading by regulating florigen transport in rice" Current Position: Post-doctoral Research Fellow, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China Education: Ph.D., Wuhan Botanical…

Chan Liu, first author of “AP1/2β-Mediated Exocytosis of Tapetum-Specific Transporters Is Required for Pollen Development in Arabidopsis thaliana.” Current Position: Ph.D. candidate (job hunting), Lanzhou University, China Education: Master degree from Zhejiang Normal University, China Non-scientific…

Ana Laura Alonso-Nieves, first author of "The pho1;2a′-m1.1 allele of Phosphate1 conditions misregulation of the phosphorus starvation response in maize (Zea mays ssp. mays L.)" Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher at Unidad de Genómica Avanzada LANGEBIO-CINVESTAV, Guanajuato, México. Education:…

Ming Chen, first author of “Rapid Growth of Moso Bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis): Cellular Roadmaps, Transcriptome Dynamics, and Environmental Factors” Current Position: PhD student, Nanjing Forestry University Education: BSc Jiangsu Normal University Non-scientific Interests: Tennis, Travelling…

Lei Li, first author and co-correspondence author of “Defects in autophagy lead to selective in vivo changes in turnover of cytosolic and organelle proteins in Arabidopsis” Current Position: Professor, Frontiers Science Center for Cell Responses, Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, College…

Cunman He, first author of "The retrograde signalling regulator ANAC017 recruits the MKK9-MPK3/6, ethylene, and auxin signalling pathways to balance mitochondrial dysfunction with growth"  Current position: Research officer, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia Education: MS, School of…

Kulaporn Boonyaves, first author of "Interplay between ARABIDOPSIS Gβ and WRKY transcription factors differentiates environmental stress responses" Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, Singapore Education: PhD in Plant Biology at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology…

Daniel DeGennaro, first author of "Initiation of aboveground organ primordia depends on combined action of auxin, ERECTA family genes, and PINOID" Current Position: Senior Account Manager for Bio-Rad Laboratories Education: Ph.D. in Biochemistry & Cellular and Molecular Biology, University…

Peng et al. discover that COP1, a central repressor of seedling photomorphogenic development, positively regulates ABA signal transduction during Arabidopsis seedling growth in darkness by mediating ABA-induced ABI5 accumulation.  By Jing Peng and Jigang Li  Background: The phytohormone abscisic…

Sang-Ji Lee, first author of “Natural alleles of CIRCADIAN CLOCK ASSOCIATED1 contribute to rice cultivation by fine-tuning flowering time” Current Position: Ph.D. Student in Department of Crop Science and Biotechnology, Seoul National University, South Korea Education: Master of Science in…

Dahhan et al. explore the clathrin-coated vesicle proteome in Arabidopsis By Dana A. Dahhan and Sebastian Y. Bednarek, Dept. of Biochemistry, UW-Madison Background: Trafficking of vacuolar and plasma membrane proteins and other macromolecules is essential for plant development, nutrient uptake,…

Alexandra Keren-Keiserman, author of "CLASS-II KNOX genes coordinate spatial and temporal ripening in tomato" Current position: Research Engineer at the Institute of Plant Sciences, Volcani Institute ARO Education: Post-Fellow, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem National Natural History Collections…

Jinseung Jeong, first author of "GREEN FLUORESCENT PROTEIN variants with enhanced folding are more efficiently imported into chloroplasts" Current Position: Researcher, Sanigen Co., Ltd. R&D Center, Korea Education: Bachelor degree (Department of Bioenergy Science and Technology, Chonnam National…

Jiapeng Han, first author of “Evolution of the DEHYDRATION-RESPONSIVE ELEMENT BINDING PROTEIN subfamily in green plants” Current Position: PhD student in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China Education: Huazhong University of Science and Technology Non-scientific…

Kawa and Brady review the contributions and responses of individual cell types and cell identities in plant biotic interactions, both pathogenic and commensal. The first step in these interactions is the perception of the microbes by root cells, which involves highly conserved microbe-associated molecular…

Organ size is imperative to biological function. In plants, newly-developing organs start out as a pool of meristematic cells, which set the number of cells in the organ through regulated iterations of cellular division; eventually, these cells transition out of the cell cycle and differentiate, during…

Leaves are the specialized organs of the plant that have evolved to maximize the use of light and CO2 for efficient photosynthesis. Although knowledge of photosynthesis has exploded recently, the molecular intricacies underlying leaf anatomy, especially mesophyll, remains unravelled. The palisade mesophyll…

Review: Root cell types as an interface for biotic interactions Kawa and Brady review the contributions and responses of individual cell types and cell identities in plant biotic interactions, both pathogenic and commensal. The first step in these interactions is the perception of the microbes by…

In spite of several years of observation of the symbiotic relationship between plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, we are still learning about the intricate mechanisms and processes behind their relationship. Symbiotic fungi provide nutrients (mainly phosphorus and nitrogen), stress tolerance, and…

Plants and microorganisms build complex associations that are essential for plant homeostasis. Studies have suggested that there is a ‘core microbiota’ that is particular to specific crops and that is inherited through generations. Targeted manipulation of crop microbiomes with the inoculation of…

Gene manipulation in most plant species faces two major hurdles, transformation efficiency of tissue and regeneration of callus. Agrobacterium-mediated transformation is the most common method of plant transformation. Transformation efficiency can range from more than half  the  tissue to less than…

Aala A. Abulfaraj, first author of "Analysis of the Arabidopsis coilin mutant reveals a positive role of AtCOILIN in plant immunity" Current Position: Assistant Professor of Molecular Genetics at King Abdulaziz University, Rabigh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Education Profile 2013-2018 Ph.D. Molecular…

Camille Puginier, first author of "Plant - microbe interactions that have been consequential to plant terrestrializations"     Current Position: PhD Student at the University of Toulouse, LRSV (Plant Science Research Laboratory, Toulouse France) supervised by Jean Keller and Pierre-Marc Delaux Education:…

Junting Pan, co-first author of “A plastid-encoded protein Orf2971 is required for protein translocation and chloroplast quality control” Current Position: Ph.D candidate, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences Education: Master (2018) from Nanjing Agricultural University Non-scientific…

Jiale Xing, co-first author of “A plastid-encoded protein Orf2971 is required for protein translocation and chloroplast quality control” Current Position: Postdoc, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences Education: Ph.D. (2018) from Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences Non-scientific…

Mateusz Majda, co-first author of “A future in 3D: analysing morphology in all dimensions” Current Position: Postdoctoral Scientist, John Innes Centre, UK Education: PhD in Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden Non-scientific Interests: photography, traveling and reading Brief…

Zakaria and Stegemann et al. identify and characterize an enzyme involved in pyrrolizidine alkaloid biosynthesis in a member of the borage family. Mahmoud M. Zakariaa,b, Thomas Stegemanna,b, Dietrich Obera a Botanical Institute and Botanic Gardens, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany b Department…

Murcia et al. discover how plants store information about daytime temperatures to control stem growth during the night. By Germán Murcia, Cristina Nieto, Romina Sellaro, Salomé Prat, and Jorge J. Casal Background: Plants increase their stature in response to warm temperatures by enhancing stem…

Yiping Wang, first author of “Arabidopsis MAPKK kinases YODA, MAPKKK3, and MAPKKK5 are functionally redundant in development and immunity” Current Position: Associate researcher, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China Education: PhD in Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology,…

Yi-Xuan Fu, first author of "In Vivo Diagnostics of Abiotic Plant Stress Responses Via In Situ Real-Time Fluorescence Imaging" Current Position: MS student in the Key Laboratory of Pesticide & Chemical Biology of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Central China Normal University, China. Education: MS…

Pete Apicella, first author of "Delineating genetic regulation of cannabinoid biosynthesis during female flower development in Cannabis sativa" Current Position: Actively seeking a new industry role in plant and/or fungal biology research and development Education: MSc., Plant Sciences, Department…

Guoren He, first author of “WUSCHEL-Related Homeobox Genes Cooperate with Cytokinin Signalling to Promote Bulbil Formation in Lilium lancifolium” Current Position: Lecturer, Shanghai Normal University, China Education: PhD in Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural…

Amey Redkar, first author of  "Conserved Secreted Effectors Contribute to Endophytic Growth and Multi-Host Plant Compatibility in a Vascular Wilt Fungus"  Current Position:   Ramalingaswami Re-entry Fellow, Department of Botany, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Ganeshkhind, Pune, India Education:  Ph.D.…

By José Manuel Ugalde, PhD, Plant Physiology Assistant Features Editor, and Elisa Dell’Aglio, PhD Prof. Pierdomenico Perata is an Italian plant physologist and professor at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa. He completed his PhD in agricultural biology at the University of Pisa, Italy, and…

Hans van Veen, co-first author of "Ethylene augments root hypoxia tolerance via growth cessation and reactive oxygen species amelioration" Current Position: Post-Doctoral Researcher, Utrecht University Education: MSc Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (University of Groningen); PhD Plant Sciences…

Chenyang Wang, co-first author of “T-LOC: a comprehensive tool to localize and characterize the T-DNA integration sites” Current position: Undergraduate in the College of Biological Science, China Agriculture University (CBS, CAU) Intern at Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy…

Zeeshan Z. Banday, first author of "Friend or Foe: Hybrid proline-rich proteins determine how plants respond to beneficial and pathogenic microbes" Current Position: Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, The University of Chicago, USA Education: Ph.D. Life…

In rice, the circadian clock component gene Circadian Clock Associated 1 (OsCCA1) regulates flowering and nitrogen use efficiency. CCA1 is a MYB family transcription factor that follows a rhythmic expression pattern. Wei et al. confirmed the role of CCA1as a key hub in coordinating plant growth and abiotic…

Secondary dormancy (SD) of seeds is a natural strategy that allows survival of the plant in environments with unfavourable climatic conditions. However, in Arabidopsis, a variance of dormancy depth in between identical seeds can be explained by population-based threshold models. This single-seed variability…

The ABA INSENSITIVE (ABI) transcription factors (TFs) (ABI3, ABI4, ABI5) regulate DT and play essential roles during seed germination. Therefore, these TFs must be functionally protected during seed desiccation. Recalcitrant seeds are sensitive to desiccation, while orthodox seeds possess a remarkable…

Palms are a taxonomically and ecologically diverse group. This wide variety is also reflected in their seeds, with their species showing all combinations of dormancy and desiccation tolerance behaviors. Yet, comparative studies of their germination physiology are relatively scarce. In this paper, Santos…

Plants’ interaction with microbes in the rhizosphere affects their health and productivity. Plant-arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) fungi symbiosis is associated with almost 80% of land plants. The fungi provide phosphate, stress tolerance, and firmness to the soil in exchange for carbon. While low phosphate…

Restoration ecologists seek to repair damaged environments, and as Toone et al. write, “the same principles that shape ecosystem restoration also provide a blueprint for cultivating inclusion in science”. Here, a group of mostly early-career restoration ecologists use their professional lenses and…

Circadian clock component CCA1 is a transcriptional regulator of ABA-mediated abiotic stress tolerance in rice In rice, the circadian clock component gene Circadian Clock Associated 1 (OsCCA1) regulates flowering and nitrogen use efficiency. CCA1 is a MYB family transcription factor that follows a…

XinMeng Gui, first author of “Phytophthora effector hijacks the host pre-mRNA splicing machinery to modulate small RNA and plant immunity” Current Position: Ph.D. candidate at Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China. Education: Ph.D. in College of life Sciences, Shanghai Normal University. Non-scientific…

Yongyao Zhao, first author of "The evolution of stomatal traits along the trajectory towards C4 photosynthesis" Current position: Doctoral student Education: Doctoral student in CAS center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Science, Shanghai, China Non-scientific interests: listening to music Brief…

Kitazawa et al. identified a unique proteasome-utilizing mechanism of phyllogen, a bacterial effector protein produced by pathogenic phytoplasmas. Plant Cell. (2022) https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac062 By Yugo Kitazawa and Kensaku Maejima, Department of Agricultural and Environmental Biology, Graduate…

Aurélia Emonet, first author of "Development and Diversity of Lignin Patterns" Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany Education: Ph.D. in Life Sciences (Plant Molecular Biology) and MSc of Molecular Life Sciences at the…

Kyle Palos, first author of "Identification and functional annotation of long intergenic non-coding RNAs in Brassicaceae" Current Position: Postdoctoral scientist at the Boyce Thompson Institute with Dr. Andrew Nelson. Education: PhD in Plant Science from the University of Arizona with Dr. Mark…

Xiao Li, first author of “CALCIUM-DEPENDENT PROTEIN KINASE38 regulates flowering time and common cutworm resistance in soybean” Current Position: Post-doc in Nanjing Agricultural University, China Education: PhD in Nanjing Agricultural University, China Non-scientific Interests: Cats, Reading,…

Karimi et al. showed that Arabidopsis plants secrete numerous RNAs, which are associated with proteins and are located outside extracellular vesicles. Plant Cell. (2022) https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac043 By: Hana Zand Karimi and Roger W. Innes, Indiana University Background: To prevent infection…

Guo-Feng Jiang, first author of "Coordination of hydraulic thresholds across roots, stems, and leaves of two co-occurring mangrove species" Current Position: Associate Professor, College of Forestry, Guangxi University Education: PhD in Botany, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Non-scientific…

Tianzhen Liu, first author of "Dwarf and High Tillering1 represses rice tillering through mediating the splicing of D14 pre-mRNA" Current Position：Ph.D. candidate, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China Education: B.S. at Shandong Agricultural University,…

Ruiqi Li, first author of “SKI-INTERACTING PROTEIN interacts with SHOOT MERISTEMLESS to regulate shoot apical meristem formation” Current Position: No academic position Education: Ph.D. candidate in Crop Cultivation and Farming System, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China. M.S.…

Chiu et al. characterize hidden viral genes in tomato yellow leaf curl Thailand virus. Background: When viruses such as begomoviruses infect plants, they hijack the host translation machinery to drive the expression of their proteins. This process causes viral disease, leading to great yield losses…

Rahul Bose, first author of "The rolB -transgenic Nicotiana tabacum plants exhibit upregulated ARF7 and ARF19 gene expression" Education – B.Sc.(First Class, 2010)  with Honours in Microbiology, University of Calcutta , M.Sc. in Genetics (First Class, First postion/Gold Medal, 2012), University…

Meina Guo, first author of "Alternative splicing of REGULATOR OF LEAF INCLINATION 1 modulates phosphate starvation signaling and plant growth" Current Position: Postdoctoral/associate researcher in the lab of Prof. Keke Yi, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy…

Sjon Hartman, co-first author of "Ethylene augments root hypoxia tolerance via growth cessation and reactive oxygen species amelioration" Current Position: Junior Professor and Group Leader of Plant Environmental Signalling and Development at CIBSS and the University of Freiburg, Germany Education:…

Zeguang Liu, co-first author of "Ethylene augments root hypoxia tolerance via growth cessation and reactive oxygen species amelioration" Current Position: Post-doctoral fellow at Vitamins & Environmental Stress Responses in Plants, BIVEG, University of Geneva, Switzerland Education: PhD at…

Mohanned Abdalla, first author of "Coupled effects of soil drying and salinity on soil-plant hydraulics" Current positions: Ph.D. candidate in the Chair of Soil Physics, Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research (BayCEER), University of Bayreuth, Germany. Lecturer at the Department…

Zhiquan Qiang, first author of “The transcription factor ZmMYB69 represses lignin biosynthesis by activating ZmMYB31/42 expression in maize” Current Position:  No academic position Education: Ph.D. candidate in China Agricultural University, Beijing, China Non-scientific Interests: Travelling…

Xinhang Zheng, first author of "Ustilaginoidea virens secretes a family of phosphatases that stabilize the negative immune regulator OsMPK6 and suppress plant immunity" Current Position: Ph.D. candidate at China Agricultural University Education: Bachelor’s degree in China Agricultural University Non-scientific…

Monica Borghi, first author of "High-energy-level metabolism and transport revealed at the transition from closed to open flowers" Current Position: Assistant Professor, Utah State University, Department of Biology, Logan, UT, USA Education: Ph.D. in Agriculture; Sant’Anna School of Advanced…

Fanna Maina, first author of "Genome-wide association studies identify putative pleiotropic locus mediating drought tolerance in sorghum" Current Position: Crop Geneticist/Research Scientist at the National Institute of Agronomic Research of Niger INRAN (Niger Republic) Education: Ph.D. in Agronomy…

Vasiliki Michalopoulou, first author of "The host exocyst complex is targeted by a conserved bacterial type-III effector that promotes virulence" Current position: Post-doc, IMBB-FORTH Education: PhD in Microbiology Plant Biotechnology at University of Crete, MSc in Molecular Biology and Plant…

Name: Juliene Moreira, first author of "Auxin-driven ecophysiological diversification of leaves in domesticated tomato" Current Position: Researcher; looking for a Postdoc position Education: B.Sc. in Biology at the Federal University of Viçosa-UFV/CRP (2014), M.Sc. in Plant Physiology at the…

Lee, Fu et al. discover an unusual immune receptor locus that confers broad-spectrum, strong resistance to fungal pathogens in sorghum. Background: Sorghum, the fifth most widely grown cereal crop globally, provides food security for millions of people. The fungal disease sorghum anthracnose is the…

Zhibo Ma, first author of "Mycorrhizal symbiosis reprograms ion fluxes and fatty acid metabolism in wild jujube during salt stress" Current position: Doctoral candidate, College of Forestry, Northwest A&F University Education: Silviculture, Northwest A&F University， A master's degree；Forestry，Gansu…

Nitrate is the major form of nitrogen used by plants in an aerobic crop cultivation scenario. Lamig et al. review recent additions to the already vast knowledge of nitrate signaling. A first line of regulation concerns nitrate uptake through post-transcriptional and post-translational regulation of nitrate…

During my research journey, I have come across a handful of genes that are hard to express. Sometimes, even with a strong promoter and high transcript level, the protein level is negligible. We generally considered these proteins might be degrading very fast. But maybe not. A recent article by Wu et…

Each plant species has a defined window of time during which flowers can be pollinated in order to trigger fruit or seed development. After this time, unpollinated flowers undergo a form of senescence culminating in programmed cell death (PCD). A detailed understanding of this cell death process is thus…

Vitamin D deficiency in humans is correlated with malfunction of the immune system and inflammation together with cancer, Parkinson disease, depression, neurocognitive decline, dementia, and severe COVID-19 infection. In humans, exposure of the skin to UV light promotes the production of Vitamin D from…

Review: Molecular regulators of nitrate response in plants Nitrate is the major form of nitrogen used by plants in an aerobic crop cultivation scenario. Lamig et al. review recent additions to the already vast knowledge of nitrate signaling. A first line of regulation concerns nitrate uptake through…

Dorothea Graus, co-first author of "The digestive systems of carnivorous plants" Current Position: Postdoctoral fellow in the group of Dr. Kenji Fukushima, University of Würzburg, Germany Education: Ph.D. in Plant Biology, Department of Molecular Plant Physiology and Biophysics, University…

Aikaterini Koletti, first author of "Selenium-Binding Protein 1 (SBD1): A stress response regulator in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii" Current Position: PhD candidate, Dr. Emmanouil Flemetakis lab, Department of Biotechnology, School of Applied Biology and Biotechnology, Agricultural University of Athens Education:…

Asaf Khan, first author of “Effector-triggered inhibition of nodulation: A rhizobial effector protease targets soybean kinase GmPBS1-1” Current Position: PhD candidate, State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University,…

Mehmet Kılıç, first author of "Gene expression and organization of thylakoid protein complexes in the PSII-less mutant of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803" Current Position: PhD Student, Department of Life Technologies, University of Turku, Finland. Education: B.S. in Molecular Biology and Genetics,…

Naresh Loudya, first author of "Mutations in the chloroplast inner envelope protein TIC100 impair and repair chloroplast protein import and impact retrograde signalling" Current Position:  Post-doctoral Research Associate, Royal Holloway University of London. I am fortunate to be about to join as…

By Yang Gao and Reimo Zoschke, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Potsdam-Golm, Germany Gao and colleagues dissect how transcription and translation of tobacco chloroplast genes respond to cold exposure and reveal a critical role for the nonessential gene petL. Background: Plants…

Thiago Alexandre Moraes, first author of "The lhy cca1 elf3 mutant paces starch mobilization to dawn despite severely disrupted circadian clock function" Current Position: Postdoctoral Researcher, Crop Science Centre, Cambridge, UK Education: PhD in Molecular Plant Physiology studying the role…

Cuiping Wan, first author of “A serine-rich effector from the stripe rust pathogen targets a Raf-like kinase to suppress host immunity” Current Position: PhD student at College of Plant Protection of Northwest A&F University, China Education: Bachelor degree (College of Plant Protection…

Yu Chen, co-first author of “MOR1/MAP215 acts synergistically with katanin to control cell division and anisotropic cell elongation in Arabidopsis” Current Position: Ph.D. candidate, College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China Education: Bachelor Degree from Hainan…

Xiayan Liu, co-first author of “MOR1/MAP215 acts synergistically with katanin to control cell division and anisotropic cell elongation in Arabidopsis” Current Position: Professor, College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China Education: B.S. from Fudan University in…

Wu et al. uncover the unexpected role of the truncated NLR NRG1C in negatively regulating plant immunity by antagonizing its full-length NRG1 neighbors. Background: Plants utilize sophisticated innate immune systems to fight against pathogens. Their genomes encode abundant immune receptors to detect…

Rekha Agrawal, co-first author of "MEDIATOR SUBUNIT17 integrates jasmonate and auxin signaling pathways to regulate thermomorphogenesis" Current Position: PhD student, National Institute of Plant Genome Research, New Delhi, India. Education: Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Botany, Jiwaji University,…

Mohan Sharma, co-first author of "MEDIATOR SUBUNIT17 integrates jasmonate and auxin signaling pathways to regulate thermomorphogenesis" Current Position: Post-doctoral fellow, Institute of Biology III, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany Education: Doctor of Philosophy, National…

Yang et al. find complex interactions between primary metabolism and plant immunity. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koab283 By Jian Hua, Leiyun Yang, Zhixue Wang, Plant Biology Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA Background: Plant NLR…

By Guada Fernández-Milmanda, PhD, Plant Physiology Assistant Features Editor Professor Ronald Pierik completed his PhD in the lab of Drs. Eric Visser and Hans de Kroon in Radboud University, The Netherlands, researching the role of ethylene in neighbor-induced shade avoidance. After completing his…

Anjil Kumar Srivastava, co-first author of "The conjugation of SUMO to the transcription factor MYC2 functions in blue light-mediated seedling development in Arabidopsis" Current Position: Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Division of Plant Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, UK  Education: PhD;…

Moumita Srivastava, co-first author of "The conjugation of SUMO to the transcription factor MYC2 functions in blue light-mediated seedling development in Arabidopsis" Current Position:   Protein Scientist, Iksuda Therapeutics, Newcastle, UK Education:  PhD; Biotechnology, National Institute…

Ana Arnaiz, first author of "Hydroxynitrile lyase defends Arabidopsis against Tetranychus urticae" Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellowship, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain Education: PhD in Biotechnology and Genetic Resources of Plants and Associated Microorganisms Non-scientific…

Wu et al. uncover a mechanism underlying chalkiness, an important grain quality trait in rice. Background: With improved living standards, the demand for better grain quality has become a challenge in rice production areas. Rice chalkiness, i.e., endosperm containing opaque regions, seriously reduces…

Zhuoyang Li, first author of "Natural variation in the bZIP68 promoter modulates cold tolerance during maize domestication” Current Position: Research Assistant at China Agricultural University Education: Ph.D. degree from China Agricultural University Non-scientific Interests: playing football,…

Fabiola Muro-Villanueva, first author of "H-lignin can be deposited independently of CINNAMYL ALCOHOL DEHYDROGENASE C and D in Arabidopsis" Current Position: Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Purdue University Education:  Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Purdue University B.S. in Biochemistry and…

Muhammad Numan, first author of "Analysis of miRNAs responsive to long-term calcium deficiency in tef (Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter)" Current Position: PhD student at Laboratory of Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Department of Biology, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro,…

Zhigang Wang, co-first author of "Three OsMYB36 members redundantly regulate Casparian strip formation at the root endodermis" Current Position: Ph.D. Candidate in College of Life Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning, China Education: 2018-present, Ph.D. Candidate in Biology Major,…

Baolei Zhang, co-first author of "Three OsMYB36 members redundantly regulate Casparian Strip formation at the root endodermis" Current Position: PhD student, Guangxi University, China Education: B.E. Shandong University of Science and Technology, China Non-scientific Interests: Table tennis,…

Magdalena Szechyńska-Hebda, co-first author of “Aboveground Plant-to-Plant Electrical Signaling Mediates Network Acquired Acclimation” Current Position: Deputy Director for Science at the Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute - National Research Institute, Poland Education: Habilitation…

Yang Shen, first author of "Osa-miR1320 targets the ERF transcription factor OsERF096 to regulate cold tolerance via JA-mediated signaling" Current Position: PhD student in Crop Science, Heilongjiang Bayi Agricultural University, China  Education: Heilongjiang Bayi Agricultural University (Bachelor);…

Wang et al. investigate the role of MdMPK4 in fruit peel degreening during light/dark transitions By Shuai Wang, Zhenhai Han and Ting Wu Background: One of the most important visual indicators of fruit ripening in apple is the color change caused by anthocyanin accumulation and chlorophyll degradation.…

Yanlong Li, co-first author of “High temperature induces male sterility via MYB66-MYB4-Casein kinase I signaling in cotton” Current Position: PhD Student at College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, China. Education: College of Agriculture of Hunan Agricultural…

Yaoyao Li, co-first author of “High temperature induces male sterility via MYB66-MYB4-Casein kinase I signaling in cotton” Current Position: Postdoc, College of Life Sciences, South China Agricultural University, China. Education: Huazhong Agricultural University (Bachelor and PhD). Brief…

Plant Cell Webinar: Celebrating the May 2022 Focus Issue on Plant Biotic Interactions Plant Biotic Interactions (Part 2) Recorded May 24, 2022.  About This Webinar As much as half of all the calories produced by plant crops is lost to pathogens. Efforts to strengthen plant immunity have led…

The green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is a useful model system to study photosynthetic organisms, as this single-celled species allows for more high-throughput methods than in multicellular plants, and many conserved pathways of interest can be identified. Here, Fauser et al. demonstrate the value…

Roots are dependent on shoot-produced sucrose for energy associated with growth and nutrient uptake. The CLAVATA3/ESR2-related peptides (CLEs) regulate several aspects of plant growth. Okamoto et al. present evidence on the involvement of CLEs in conveying the root sucrose demand to the shoot.  Carbon…

Many plants trigger a form of cell death, known as the hypersensitive response (HR), immediately upon pathogen recognition. To minimize damage to the plant, this cell death must be highly localized to the site of attack, while more distal cells survive and activate other immune responses. However, the…

Polyamines are endogenous cationic amines that have been shown to regulate a plethora of biological processes in plants, including the hypersensitive response. However, the importance of polyamines in other aspects of plant immunity has not yet been fully explored. In this new preprint, Zhang and colleagues…

Landraces are local cultivars developed by traditional agricultural methods. Landraces not only represent an essential genetic resource for modern crop breeding but are also key to understand crops’ domestication processes. Thus, it is crucial to collect landraces for genebank conservation since demographic…

Systematic characterization of gene function in the photosynthetic alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii The green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is a useful model system to study photosynthetic organisms, as this single-celled species allows for more high-throughput methods than in multicellular plants,…

Yang et al. explore the mechanism of grain filling in maize. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac044 Tao Yang and Yongrui Wu, National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy…

Young-Joon Park, first author of "SMAX1 potentiates phytochrome B-mediated hypocotyl thermomorphogenesis" Current Position: Post-doctoral researcher, Molecular Signaling Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, South Korea Education: Ph.D., Molecular Signaling Laboratory,…

Ruihua Huang, first author of "BLISTER promotes seed maturation and fatty acid biosynthesis by interacting with WRINKLED1 to regulate chromatin dynamics in Arabidopsis" Current Position: Postdoctor in South China Normal University Education:  PhD’s degrees in South China Normal University Non-scientific…

Jutta Baldauf, first author of "Single-parent expression complementation contributes to phenotypic heterosis in maize hybrids" Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher, Crop Functional Genomics lab, INRES, University of Bonn, Germany Education: PhD in Genetics, University of Bonn, Germany;…

Kangning Li, first author of "The rice transcription factor Nhd1 regulates root growth and nitrogen uptake by activating nitrogen transporters" Current position: PhD student, Nanjing Agricultural University Education: Nanjing Agricultural University Non-scientific interests: Travel Brief…

Athanas Guzha, first author of "Cell wall–localized BETA-XYLOSIDASE4 contributes to immunity of Arabidopsis against Botrytis cinerea" Current Position: Postdoctoral Research Associate Education: PhD Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of Goettingen Germany (In collaboration with University…

Kamil Demski, first author of "Phosphatidylcholine:diacylglycerol cholinephosphotransferase’s unique regulation of castor bean oil quality" Current Position: Postdoc at Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Education: a PhD in Biological Sciences - Discipline of Biochemistry from Intercollegiate…

Alejandro Torrado Maya, co-first author of "Directing cyanobacterial photosynthesis in a COX knockout mutant via insertion of a heterologous electron sink" Current Position: Distinguished Research Fellow ‘María Zambrano’, (University of Seville, Spain) Education: B.Sc. in Biology, M.Sc. in…

Hannah Connabeer, co-first author of "Directing cyanobacterial photosynthesis in a cytochrome c oxidase mutant using a heterologous electron sink" Current Position: Final year PhD student at the University of Southampton Education: MSci in Marine Biology (University of Southampton) Non-Scientific…

Nicholas Gladman, first author of "Sorghum Root Epigenetic Landscape During Limiting Phosphorus Conditions" Current Position: Research Plant Molecular Geneticist, USDA-ARS Education: Ph.D. in Genetics, University of Wisconsin-Madison Non-scientific Interests: Hiking and baking Brief bio: …

Harley Gordon, first author of "CRISPR/Cas9 Disruption of UGT71L1 in Poplar Connects Salicinoid and Salicylic Acid Metabolism and Alters Growth and Morphology" Current Position: PhD Candidate, University of Victoria Education: MSc University of Guelph, BSc University of Victoria Non-scientific…

Hua Wei, first author of "Rice CIRCADIAN CLOCK ASSOCIATED1 transcriptionally regulates ABA signaling to confer multiple abiotic stress tolerance" Current Position: Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Postdoctor Education: Institute of Botany, Chinese…

Sun et al. explore the molecular basis of the stomatal response and stomatal development in maize.  https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac047  Guiling Sun, State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Adaptation and Improvement, State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, School of Life Sciences, Henan University…

Sagar Sudam Jadhav, co-first author of "A comparative transcriptomics and eQTL approach identifies SlWD40 as a tomato fruit ripening regulator"  Current position: Research Associate, Nutritional Improvements of Crops Group, ICGEB, New Delhi, India. Education: PhD, Max Planck Institute of Molecular…

Jian Hu, first author of “AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR 7 integrates gibberellin and auxin signaling via interactions between DELLA and AUX/IAA proteins to regulate cambial activity in poplar” Current Position: PhD candidate at the School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, China. Education:…

Gesa Hoffmann, first author of "Arabidopsis RNA processing body components LSM1 and DCP5 aid in the evasion of translational repression during Cauliflower mosaic virus infection" Current Position: PhD candidate at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala, Sweden Education: Bachelor…

Mengzhan Li, first author of "SAUR15 interaction with BRI1 activates plasma membrane H+-ATPase to promote organ development of Arabidopsis" Current Position: Ph.D. student in Prof. Suo-min Wang lab at Lanzhou University Education: College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou…

Author et al. explore the non-autonomous mechanism controlling stomatal aperture https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac038 Manuel Nieves-Cordones, Biochimie et Physiologie Moléculaire des Plantes, UMR BPMP, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, INRAE, Montpellier SupAgro, Montpellier 34060, France. Present address:…

Fengli Zhao, co-first author of "Progressive chromatin silencing of ABA biosynthesis genes permits seed germination in Arabidopsis" Current Position: Postdoc fellow, School of Life Sciences, Southern University of Science and Technology Education: B.S. in Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University,…

Deyue Yang, co-first author of “Progressive chromatin silencing of ABA biosynthesis gene permits seed germination in Arabidopsis” Current Position: Senior Research Fellow, Southern University of Science and Technology, China Education: B.S. in Biology, Nanjing University, China; PhD in Plant…

Nikhil Job, first author of "Transcription factors BBX11 and HY5 interdependently regulate the molecular and metabolic responses to UV-B" Current position: Ph.D. student, Plant Cell and Developmental Biology lab, Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research…

Author(s) and Institutions: Leelyn Chong and Yingfang Zhu State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Adaptation and Improvement, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng 475001, China Sanya Institute, Henan University, Sanya, 572025, China Leelyn Chong and colleagues provide cues as to how plants…

Plant Cell Webinar: Celebrating the May 2022 Focus Issue on Plant Biotic Interactions Plant Biotic Interactions (Part 1)  Recorded Tuesday, May 17, 2022   About This Webinar As much as half of all the calories produced by plant crops is lost to pathogens. Efforts to strengthen plant immunity…

Feng Zhu, first author of "A comparative transcriptomics and eQTL approach identifies SlWD40 as a tomato fruit ripening regulator" Current Position: Postdoc at Huazhong Agricultural University and Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Education: B.S. in Huazhong Agricultural University;…

Dingyue Wang, co-first author of “Chromatin remodeling complexes regulate genome architecture in Arabidopsis" Current Position: Ph.D. candidate, Peking University, China Education: B.S., Capital Normal University, China Non-scientific Interests: Basketball, bodybuilding, travel Brief…

Tingting Yang, co-first author of “Chromatin remodeling complexes regulate genome architecture in Arabidopsis” Current Position: Postdoc, Peking University, China Education: B.S., Qingdao Agriculture University, China M.S., Northwest A&F University, China Ph.D, Max Planck Institute…

Alan Wanke, co-first author of "Fungi hijack a ubiquitous plant apoplastic endoglucanase to release a ROS scavenging β-glucan decasaccharide to subvert immune responses" Current Position: Research Assistant in the group of Dr Sebastian Schornack (Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge,…

Balakumaran Chandrasekar, co-first author of "Fungi hijack a ubiquitous plant apoplastic endoglucanase to release a ROS scavenging β-glucan decasaccharide to subvert immune responses" Current Position:   Assistant Professor (Plant Biotechnology), Department of Biological Sciences, Birla Institute…

Alexandra Burgess, co-first author of "A future in 3D: analysing morphology in all dimensions" Current Position: Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, University of Nottingham, UK Education: BA in Biological Sciences, University of Oxford, UK; PhD in Biosciences, University of Nottingham, UK Non-scientific…

Li et al. developed a new tool called LeafNet for segmenting and quantifying stomata and pavement cells. Background: Stomata are microscopic openings in the leaf epidermis that allow for oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange between a plant and the atmosphere. The phenotypes of stomata and the surrounding…

Iftikhar Ali, first author of "The poly(A) polymerase PAPS1 mediates pollen maturation by regulating sperm cell differentiation in plants" Current Position: Assistant Professor of Botany, University of Swat, Pakistan Education: Ph.D and Postdoc, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology,…

Diego López Márquez, co-first author of "PAMP-triggered genetic reprogramming involves widespread alternative transcription initiation and an immediate transcription factor wave" Current Position: Postdoc at Peter Brodersen`s lab (University of Copenhagen). Education: PhD in Advanced Biotechnology…

Axel Thieffry, co-first author of "PAMP-triggered genetic reprogramming involves widespread alternative transcription initiation and an immediate transcription factor wave" Current Position: Bioinformatics Project Manager, Intomics A/S, Lyngby, Denmark Education: BSc Biotechnics & Medical…

Craig Schenck, first author of "Natural Variation Meets Synthetic Biology: Promiscuous Trichome-Expressed Acyltransferases from Nicotiana" Current Position: Assistant Professor Department of Biochemistry University of Missouri Education: NSF Postdoctoral Fellow Michigan State University, Ph.D.…

A. N. M. Rubaiyath Bin Rahman, first author of "The Absorption of Water from Humid Air by Grass Embryos During Germination" Current Position: Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong Education: Ph.D. in Plant Biology, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong; M. Sc.…

Protein phosphorylation and dephosphorylation act as a switch regulating a multitude of protein properties, be it their activity, interaction with other proteins, stability, or even cellular localization. This review by Li et al. describs the many ways that protein phosphorylation contributes to iron…

Damage to DNA occurs through exposure to environmental stresses in animal and plant kingdoms alike. While the former groups are relatively well explored when it comes to DNA damage response (DDR) mechanisms, plant-related knowledge lags behind. A recent study by Wang et al. revealed a unique plant DDR…

Xylem vessels have a distinct secondary cell wall (SCW) formation, where the metaxylem stage contains a characteristic pit pattern. The hemicellulose xylan is an important component of the SCW, functioning as a crosslinking polymer that coats cellulose microfibrils and interacts with other SCW components.…

The shoot apical meristem (SAM) maintains a small pool of pluripotent stem cells, which are the source of all above-ground plant tissues. In Arabidopsis thaliana, CLAVATA3 (CLV3), CLAVATA1(CLV1) and RECEPTOR-LIKE PROTEIN KINASE2 (RPK2) repress WUSCHEL (WUS) expression. WUS induces CLV3, forming a local…

In rice, the transcription factor N-mediated heading date-1 (Nhd1) activates the expression of Heading date 3a (Hd3a), a floral regulator gene and regulate flowering. Li et al. report the role of Nhd1 in nitrogen (N) use efficiency and N-dependent root growth in rice. nhd1 mutants were impaired in root…

Barley seeds are anoxic, and during germination pathways are induced to allow energy to be obtained without oxygen. Phytoglobins (Pgb) are hypoxia-induced proteins that are involved in energy metabolism during germination through the Pgb-NO cycle, an alternative pathway to fermentation. In the…

Knowing whether a given plant species forms a persistent soil seed bank is essential to understanding its ecological dynamics, yet soil seed bank studies are both labor-intensive and time-consuming. One could argue that models should help predict this. Still, seed persistence in the soil is shaped by…

The studies on the apoplastic interactions of plants and fungi often focus on the fungal cell-wall, but recent studies indicate various plant colonizing fungi also have an exopolysaccharide (EPS) layer outside their cell wall. Chandrasekar et al. observed that the composition of this fungal EPS is distinct…

Review: Protein phosphorylation “toggle switch” for plant iron balance Protein phosphorylation and dephosphorylation act as a switch regulating a multitude of protein properties, be it their activity, interaction with other proteins, stability, or even cellular localization. This review by Li…

Deng, Chen and colleagues focus on fruit ripening in tomato and describe the role of the EAR domain-containing Ethylene Response Factor SlERF.F12 in recruiting transcriptional repressors to the promoter regions of their targets By Heng Deng, Yao Chen and Mingchun Liu, Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource…

Rameez Arshad, co-first author of "A kaleidoscope of photosynthetic antenna proteins and their emerging roles" Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher, Palacký University Olomouc, Czechia Education: Ph.D. in Structural Biology Non-scientific interests: Landscape and astrophotography, nature…

Francesco Saccon, co-first author of "A kaleidoscope of photosynthetic antenna proteins and their emerging roles" Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher at Wageningen University & Research (Netherlands) Education: PhD in Biological Sciences at Queen Mary University of London (UK); MSc and…

Loitongbam Lorinda Devi, first author of "The interplay of auxin and brassinosteroid signaling tunes root growth under low and different nitrogen forms" Education: High School: RK Sanatombi Devi Vidyalaya. Bachelor of Science in Botany (Hons.) from Miranda House, Delhi University (DU) Master…

Wuzhong Yin, first author of  "Oryza sativa PECTIN DEFECTIVE TAPETUM1 affects anther development through a pectin-mediated signaling pathway in rice" Current Position: Job hunting Education: College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, Southwest University/Doctor of Agriculture College of Agronomy and…

Ping Wang, first author of “Integrated Omics Reveal Novel Functions and Underlying Mechanisms of FERONIA Receptor Kinase in Arabidopsis thaliana” Current Position: Postdoctoral Research Associate in the lab of Prof. Yanhai Yin, Department of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology, Iowa State University Education:…

Liqun Ma, first author of "SlRBP1 promotes translational efficiency via SleIF4A2 to maintain chloroplast function in tomato" Current Position: Postdoc, China Agricultural University Education: Ph.D. (2021) from China Agricultural University Non-scientific Interests: Reading, Travelling, I started…

Hirofumi Ishihara, first author of "Rising rates of starch degradation during daytime and trehalose 6-phosphate optimize carbon availability" Current Position: Postdoctoral Researcher, the University of Helsinki Education: PhD in Bioinformatics and Genome research, Bielefeld University, Germany Non-scientific…

Inyoung Kim, first author of "Fibrillin2 in chloroplast plastoglobules participates in photoprotection and jasmonate-induced senescence" Current Position: Ph.D. student in Prof. Hyun Uk Kim’s Laboratory at the University of Sejong, South Korea Education: MSc in Bioindustry and Bioresource Engineering…

David Burks, first author of "The Arabidopsis gene co-expression network" Current Position: Bioinformatics Scientist I, Ambry Genetics Education: PhD Bioinformatics, University of North Texas; BS Biology, University of North Texas Non-scientific Interests: Hiking, Vinyl Collection, Video Games,…

Fuchs et al. report that reductive stress triggers retrograde signaling to safeguard the endoplasmic reticulum by boosting mitochondrial respiratory capacity. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac017 By Philippe Fuchs, Markus Schwarzländer Background: A strict division into specialized…

Xianfeng Liu, first author of "The HD-Zip transcription factor SlHB15A regulates abscission by modulating jasmonoyl-isoleucine biosynthesis" Current Position: PhD Student in Shenyang Agricultural University. Education: 2014-2018, Shenyang Agricultural University, Horticulture, Undergraduate. 2018-2021,…

Hannah Elisa Krawczyk, first author of "SEED LIPID DROPLET PROTEIN1, SEED LIPID DROPLET PROTEIN2 and LIPID DROPLET PLASMA MEMBRANE ADAPTOR mediate lipid droplet-plasma membrane tethering" Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Human Genetics of the University Medical Center…

Dong Jiang, first author of “Arabidopsis HOPS subunit VPS41 carries out plant-specific roles in vacuolar transport and vegetative growth” Current position: PhD candidate Education: 2014-2016: Mater study in Bonn University, Germany 20019-Now: PhD study in Southern University of Science…

Hasegawa, Reyes et al. discover a link between the ubiquitination of a key membrane trafficking regulator and carbon/nitrogen nutrient stress.  Background: Ubiquitination is a post-translational modification that functions in numerous cellular processes by serving as a molecular signal, such as protein…

Anna Elisabeth Backhaus, first author of "High expression of the MADS-box gene VRT2 increases the number of rudimentary basal spikelets in wheat" Current Position: PhD student at the John Innes Centre, supervised by Cristobal Uauy, Richard Morris and Wilfried Haerty Education: Bachelor of Science,…

Xiang Ouyang,  first author of “Partially functional NARROW LEAF1 balances leaf photosynthesis and plant architecture for greater rice yield” Current Position: Assistant researcher, Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Center, China Education: PhD in Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology,…

Gayani Weeraratne, first author of "APYRASE1/2 mediate red light–induced de-etiolation growth in Arabidopsis seedlings" Current Position: Senior research and development scientist, Natural products Education: PhD in plant biology, University of Texas at Austin Non-scientific Interests: Reading,…

Qin et al. identify a mechanism by which ethylene activates gibberellin catabolism to determine primary root growth in rice. Hua Qin and Rongfeng Huang Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Background: The optimization of root architecture is one of the…

By Sarah Courbier, PhD, Plant Physiology Assistant Features Editor A native of Kos, Greece, Eirini studied in the UK at the University of Glasgow, earning a degree in biotechnology and, later, a PhD investigating the function and localization of the first genetically encoded UV-B receptor, UVR8. Eirini…

Gene Editing and its Applications Recorded Thursday, April 28, 2022 About This Webinar Recent advancements in gene editing provide unprecedented tools for plant biology research and offer unlimited potential for improving existing crops and de novo domesticating new crops. The Plant Physiology…

By Yunde Zhao (Plant Physiology EIC) and Mary Williams (Plant Physiology Features Editor) The mission of the Assistant Features Editor  program is to help disseminate exciting discoveries published in Plant Physiology and to advance young scientists’ careers. This past January, Plant Physiology…

In 1991, Jon E. Keely wrote the first review about the role of fire as a dormancy-breaking cue in California's Mediterranean ecosystems. In this review, almost 30 years after Keely's work, Pausas and Lamont provide us with an updated and worldwide vision of the subject. Four dormancy syndromes and their…

In August 2021, The International Seed Science Society hosted its 13th International Conference. The meeting had many exciting presentations, including the keynote lecture given by Dr. Hiroyuki Nonogaki, entitled “Seed traits and pylogenomics: perspectives for the 21st Century”. This paper synthesizes…

Ammonium is a nitrogen form preferred by many plant species. However, high ammonium concentrations lead to decreased primary root elongation due to membrane depolarization and lower apoplastic pH.  Liu et al. report that ammonium toxicity results in iron-dependent reactive oxygen species (ROS) production…

Root growth is highly sensitive to nitrogen (N), and affected by both the form and distribution of N. The hormone auxin is a major player in root growth response to N heterogeneity. Devi et al. report on the intricate interplay of auxin and brassinosteroid (BR) signaling in determining the root growth…

Female gametophytes (FG) of angiosperms contain eight nuclei and seven cells, distributed in a defined manner. In the micropylar end of the FG there are two synergid cells and the haploid egg, while in the central cell there are two polar nuclei. The synergid cells are responsible for attracting the…

Plant pathogenic bacteria of the genus Clavibacter tend to have a narrow host range, but different species affect many important crops. Clavibacter michiganensis (Cm) causes bacterial wilt and canker in tomato, pepper and a few varieties of eggplant. There are no Cm-resistant tomato varieties but many…

Keystone species shape the structure of an entire ecosystem, but can a gene determine structure of the whole ecosystem?  A recent study indicates yes, some genes can, and such genes are called keystone genes. Barbour et al. set up a small ecosystem containing two herbivore aphids, one predator of these…

Review: Fire-released seed dormancy - a global synthesis In 1991, Jon E. Keely wrote the first review about the role of fire as a dormancy-breaking cue in California's Mediterranean ecosystems. In this review, almost 30 years after Keely's work, Pausas and Lamont provide us with an updated and worldwide…

Sören Strauss co-first author of "The annotation and analysis of complex 3D plant organs using 3DCoordX" Current Position: Research Scientist (Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany) Education: Diploma in Computer Science (University of Technology Ilmenau, Germany);…

Athul Vijayan, co-first author of  "The annotation and analysis of complex 3D plant organs using 3DCoordX" Current Position: Postdoc in the group of Prof. Miltos Tsiantis, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany. Education: BS-MS in biological science from Indian Institute…

Ronald Myers, Jr., first author of "Extracellular ATP plays an important role in systemic wound response activation" Current Position: Graduate Research Assistant/Ph.D. Student in the Division of Plant Science and Technology, Bond Life Sciences Center, University of Missouri Education: BSc in Biochemistry…

Nan, Teng et al. uncover bHLH-regulated genetic networks that sequentially control maize anther development.  By Chong Teng (DDPSC, MO), Guo-Ling Nan (Stanford University, CA), Blake Meyers (DDPSC and University of Missouri–Columbia, MO), and Virginia Walbot (Stanford University, CA)  Background:…

Yang Yang, first author of "A mitochondrial RNA processing protein mediates plant immunity to a broad spectrum of pathogens by modulating the mitochondrial oxidative burst" Current Position: PhD student, College of Agronomy, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China. Supervisor: Prof. Weixing…

Guillermo Baena, first author of "SNARE SYP132 mediates divergent trafficking of H+-ATPase AHA1 and antimicrobial PR1 during bacterial pathogenesis" Current Position: Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Plant Science Group, Institute of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology, University of Glasgow. Education:…

Qi Wu, first author of "OsNAC016 regulates plant architecture and drought tolerance by interacting with GSK2 and SAPK8” Current Position: No academic position Education: Ph.D. candidate in Plant Biology, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China. M.S. in Plant Biology, Central China Normal University,…

Justyna Jaślan, first author of "Heterologous expression reveals that GABA does not directly inhibit the vacuolar anion channel AtALMT9" Current Position: Postdoc, INRAE, Institute for Plant Sciences of Montpellier (IPSiM), France Education: MS’s: Chemistry (speciality: analytical chemistry)…

Qi Guo, first author of "Salt stress alters membrane lipid content and lipid biosynthesis pathways in the plasma membrane and tonoplast" Current Position: Research Assistant at Faculty of Science and Engineering, Southern Cross University Education: Ph.D. in Plant Science from Faculty of Science…

Von der Heyde and Hallmann uncover the enormous dynamics of early cell divisions in Volvox embryos.  https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac004 Eva Laura von der Heyde and Armin Hallmann Department of Cellular and Developmental Biology of Plants, University of Bielefeld, Universitätsstr. 25, 33615…

Kanae Nishii, first author of "The first genome for the Cape Primrose Streptocarpus rexii (Gesneriaceae), a model plant for studying meristem-driven shoot diversity" Current Position: Laboratory Technician, Research Associate Education: BSc Agriculture (Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology),…

Mahmoud M. Zakaria, co-first author of "Insights into polyamine metabolism: homospermidine is double-oxidized in two discrete steps by a single copper-containing amine oxidase in pyrrolizidine alkaloid biosynthesis" Current Position: Ph.D. candidate in the laboratory of Chemical Ecology and Molecular…

Thomas Stegemann, co-first author of "Insights into polyamine metabolism: homospermidine is double-oxidized in two discrete steps by a single copper-containing amine oxidase in pyrrolizidine alkaloid biosynthesis" Current Position: Senior Application Scientist GC, GC-MS at ThermoFisher Scientific,…

Shuai Wang, first author of "Phosphorylation of MdERF17 by MdMPK4 Promotes Apple Fruit Peel Degreening during Light/Dark Transitions" Current Position: Ph.D. candidate at China Agricultural University Education: M.S. at Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Non-scientific Interests: reading,…

Guo-Qian Yang, first author of "Activation and negative feedback regulation of SlHY5 transcription by the SlBBX20/21–SlHY5 transcription factor module in UV-B signaling" Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher at School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (Shanghai, China). Education:…

Bikram D. Pant, first author of "Overexpression of Arabidopsis nucleolar GTP-binding 1 proteins confers drought tolerance in rice" Current Position: Research Assistant Professor at Oklahoma State University, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Institute for Agricultural Biosciences. Education:…

Poorwa Kamal Badola, co-first author of "MicroRNA858a, its encoded peptide, and phytosulfokine regulate Arabidopsis growth and development" Current Position: Senior Research Fellow (SRF) Education: Ph.D. in Science (2021): CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow, India Non-scientific…

Ashish Sharma, co-first author of "MicroRNA858a, its encoded peptide, and phytosulfokine regulate Arabidopsis growth and development" Current Position: Post-Doctoral Fellow, Copenhagen Plant Science Centre, University of Copenhagen, Denmark Education:   Ph.D. in Science (2020): CSIR-National…

Luca Piccinini, first author of "A synthetic switch based on the orange carotenoid protein to control blue-green light responses in chloroplasts" Current Position: PhD candidate, Plantlab, Institute of Life Sciences, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy Education: B.Sc. in Biotechnology and…

Sanbon Chaka Gosa, co-first author of "Out of the blue: Phototropins of the leaf vascular bundle sheath mediate the regulation of leaf hydraulic conductance by blue light" Current Position: Postdoctoral Research Associate in Prof. Andrew Leakey’s research group at the Institute for Genomic Biology,…

Yael Grunwald, co-first author of "Out of the blue: Phototropins of the leaf vascular bundle sheath mediate the regulation of leaf hydraulic conductance by blue light" Current Position: TBD Education: PhD in Plant Physiology and MSc in Environmental Biology, both at the Faculty of Agriculture of…

Xun Liao, first author of "Mitochondrion-encoded circular RNAs are widespread and translatable in plants" Current Position: Postgraduate student, College of Agriculture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China Education: B.S., College of Agriculture, South China Agricultural University,…

Wang et al. investigate the downstream effectors of CLE peptide ligand-mediated meristem homeostasis. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koab315 By Wenping Wang, Chong Hu, Xiaoping Gou and Jing Yi Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Cell Activities and Stress Adaptations, School of Life Sciences,…

Zhihao Jiang, first author of "Barley stripe mosaic virus γb protein targets thioredoxin h-type 1 to dampen salicylic acid–mediated defenses" Current Position: Post-doc, Center for Plant Molecular Biology, University of Tübingen (ZMBP), Tübingen, Germany Education: Ph.D. in college of Biological…

Parveen Akhtar, first author of "Trimeric Photosystem I facilitates energy transfer from phycobilisomes in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803" Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher, Biological Research Centre, Szeged Education: 2018 PhD in Biology, University of Szeged, Hungary Non-scientific…

Seung Hee Jo, first author of "The Arabidopsis cyclophilin CYP18-1 facilitates PRP18 dephpshorylation and the splicing of introns retained under heat stress" Education: BSc in School of Biological Science and Technology in Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Korea Non-scientific Interests: Tasty…

Hannah Elisa Krawczyk, first author of "Heat stress leads to rapid lipid remodelling and transcriptional adaptations in Nicotiana tabacum pollen tubes" Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Human Genetics of the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG), Germany Education:…

Jiang et al. discover a module controlling endoreduplication, a process in which DNA replication occurs in the absence of mitosis. Background: Organ size is coordinately regulated by both cell number and cell size. Endoreduplication is often associated with cell size in plants and animals, but the…

At some point, most biology students learn the term “dioecy” (two houses), which refers to the separation of male and female function into different individuals, a characteristic that is common in animals but less so in flowering plants. About 6% of angiosperms and 65% of gymnosperms are dioecious,…

Genes are generally expressed in concert with one another with data often represented by gene co-expression networks. Gene co-expression data may be useful in identifying genes with unknown functions and are generally utilized in exploring molecular processes occurring during normal development as well…

In plant development, advanced computer model simulations allow the understanding of the non-intuitive relations between local morphogenetic processes and global patterning. In Arabidopsis thaliana, the hormone auxin is involved in several processes of plant development. Auxin transporters play an important…

Seed germination is can be described as having two phases depending on light availability, skoto- and photomorphogenesis. Skotomorphogenesis, which occurs while the seed is still buried, is characterized by the elongation of the coleoptile and the inhibition of the root system. When the seed reaches…

In most angiosperms, the seed is an outcome of a double fertilization process that initiates the development of the embryo and endosperm. The endosperm plays an essential role in nourishing the developing embryo by ensuring adequate maternal nutrient transfer. However, we are far from knowing the factors…

In addition to its role as a nutrient and a developmental signal, nitrate regulates stress responses in plants. By homology to nitrate transporters previously identified in Arabidopsis as contributing to stress induced-nitrate allocation to roots (SINAR) and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), Guan et al.…

Rain contributes to plant disease.  Rain can contain high concentrations of pathogens (like Pseudomonas, Xanthomonas, Alternaria, Fusarium sp., etc.), and high humidity associated with rain antagonizes stomatal closure, leaving open entry points for some pathogens. Matsumura and colleagues have demonstrated…

Phytophthora are a group of oomycete pathogens that infect a wide range of plants and cause disease in many important crop species. Large scale mutant screens have previously been used to identify Arabidopsis thaliana mutants with enhanced resistance to P. parasitica. Here, Yang and colleagues investigate…

The study of seed microbiota is rapidly getting attention among plant scientists, given its role in modulating seed germination and plant fitness. Here, Simonin and colleagues synthesize the information from 63 studies and provide a thorough overview of this topic's current state of the art. The authors…

Recently, there has been a huge impetus to develop plants that can perform well under stress conditions and produce high yields so that an ever-increasing human population can be fed. Another point, less discussed but equally important, is the nutritional value that these crops can provide. Cantwell-Jones…

Special issue: Sex determination and sex chromosome evolution in land plants, Philosophical Transactions B At some point, most biology students learn the term “dioecy” (two houses), which refers to the separation of male and female function into different individuals, a characteristic that is…

By Raphael Tröscha, Fabian Riesb, Lisa Désirée Westrichb, Felix Willmundb, a Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Am Mühlenberg 1, 14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany; b Molecular Genetics of Eukaryotes, University of Kaiserslautern, Paul-Ehrlich-Str. 23, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany Trösch,…

Inyoung Kim, co-first author of "The seed-specific transcription factor DPBF2 modulates the fatty acid composition in seeds" Current Position: Ph.D. student in Prof. Hyun Uk Kim’s Laboratory at the University of Sejong, South Korea Education: MSc in Bioindustry and Bioresource Engineering and…

Magda Rudzka, co-first author of "Functional nuclear retention of pre-mRNA involving Cajal bodies during meiotic prophase in European larch (Larix decidua)" Current position: Laboratory assistant at the Central Laboratory of the Main Inspectorate of Plant Health and Seed Inspection Education: PhD.…

Patrycja Wróblewska-Ankiewicz, co-first author of “Functional nuclear retention of pre-mRNA involving Cajal bodies during meiotic prophase in European larch (Larix decidua)” Current Position: Ph.D. student at the Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Nicolaus Copernicus University…

Karolina Majewska, co-first author of "Functional nuclear retention of pre-mRNA involving Cajal bodies during meiotic prophase in European larch (Larix decidua)" Current Position: Ph.D. student in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń Education: M.Sc.…

Xuedong Liu, first author of “Maize miR167-ARF3/30-PAO1 module-regulated H2O2 production confers resistance to maize chlorotic mottle virus”   Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher at the college of life sciences and oceanography, Shenzhen University (China). Education: Ph.D. (2020)…

Huc et al. discover a method for bypassing the triploid block via chemically induced epimutagenesis using 5-Azacytidine. Background: Hybridization of plants with different chromosome numbers is often hindered by reproductive barriers established after fertilization. This is because the correct balance…

Yunfei Wu, first author of "The sucrose transport regulator OsDOF11 mediates cytokinin degradation during rice development" Current Position: Yangzhou University Education: KyungHee University Doctor Non-scientific Interests: Read, travel Brief bio: From 2012 to 2018, I conducted my Ph.D.…

Yuxiang Hu, first author of "Sucrose non-fermenting-1-related protein kinase 1 regulates sheath-to-panicle transport of non-structural carbohydrates during rice grain filling" Current Position: PhD Student at Nanjing Agricultural University Education: B.S. in Yangzhou University Non-scientific…

Wang et al. explore cellulose deposition in maize seeds. Qun Wang and Rentao Song China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China Background: Plant seeds are mainly classified into two types: one with a persistent endosperm as in cereals, and the other with a transient endosperm as in…

By Sjon Hartman, PhD Prof. Yunde Zhao completed his PhD in biochemistry at the University of Michigan under the supervision of Prof. Michael Marletta. He subsequently pursued a postdoc at Joanne Chory’s lab at the Salk Institute. In 2002, he started his lab at the University of California, San Diego,…

Lung et al. demonstrate that acyl-CoA-binding proteins initiate oxylipin signaling to help soybean adapt to the salty environment. The Plant Cell (2021) https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koab306 By Shiu-Cheung Lung and Mee-Len Chye, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China Background:…

Ian S. Gilman, first author of  "Gene co-expression reveals the modularity and integration of C4 and CAM in Portulaca" Current Position: PhD Candidate, Dr. Erika Edwards Lab, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University  Education: M.S., Department of Ecology and Evolutionary…

Yuko Yamamoto, first author of "Enhancement of Arabidopsis growth by non–24 hour day–night cycles" Current Position: Researcher in TOYOTA BOSHOKU CORPORATION, Japan Education: PhD in Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences at Nagoya University (Japan), working at TOYOTA BOSHOKU CORPORATION…

Jing Peng, first author of “COP1 positively regulates ABA signaling during Arabidopsis seedling growth in darkness by mediating ABA-induced ABI5 accumulation” Current Position: Postdoc, China Agricultural University Education: B.S. (2016) from Shanxi Agricultural University; Ph.D. (2022) from…

The neurological condition Huntington’s disease is caused by mutated versions of the Huntingtin gene that encode expanded stretches of polyglutamine repeats, resulting in protein aggregation. However, despite the widespread presence of polyglutamine repeat regions in plant proteomes, similar pathologies…

Synthetic biology aims to engineer and redesign components of natural organisms for useful purposes.  One of the most prolific areas of synthetic biology is based on the engineering of photoreactive proteins with signaling potential, such as photoreceptors. Natural photoreceptors consist of a prosthetic…

The vascular plant body composed of root and shoot is specified during embryogenesis, but most flowering plants can also develop additional root systems post-embryonically: lateral roots, as a response to wounding, or shoot-borne roots (“adventitious” roots, literally meaning “in the wrong place”).…

Generally, evolution is driven by natural selection, but not always. Human activities lead to the creation of unique niches, and other organisms must adapt accordingly. Cities are unique niches that are significantly different from rural areas and natural conditions. The urban habitat provides plants…

The seed germination niche is the set of environmental conditions in which a seed can germinate. This collection of requirements is expected to be tuned to the climate each species encounters in its natural habitat, but this hypothesis remains to be formally tested. Here, Carta and colleagues make use…

Seed dormancy is widely recognized as a key mechanism to ensure that germination takes place under the most suitable conditions. Such is its importance that multiple studies have described the morphological, physiological, and genetic mechanisms behind it, yet its global distribution and the past and…

NLPs (Necrosis and ethylene-inducing peptide 1–like proteins) are small peptides produced by a variety of plant pathogens. Some NLPs are cytolysins meaning that they trigger lysis of their target cells. Here, Pirc et al. use an assortment of tools including molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, neutron…

Live Plant Cell Tracking: A Fiji plugin to analyze cell proliferation dynamics and understand morphogenesis Morphogenesis in plants occurs in 3D space over time, referred to as 4D. Recent advances in high-resolution microscopy imaging and computational pipelines have helped to better understand…

Chloroplast protein import determines plant proteostasis and retrograde signaling The neurological condition Huntington’s disease is caused by mutated versions of the Huntingtin gene that encode expanded stretches of polyglutamine repeats, resulting in protein aggregation. However, despite the widespread…

Takashi Akagi, co-first author of "Genome-wide cis-decoding for expression design in tomato using cistrome data and explainable deep learning" Current Position: Research Professor, Grad Sch Environ Life Sci, Okayama University, Japan Education: B.S., M.S. and PhD in agricultural biology, Kyoto…

Eriko Kuwada, co-first author of "Genome-wide cis-decoding for expression design in tomato using cistrome data and explainable deep learning" Current Position: Master candidate, Graduate School of Environmental and Life Science, Okayama University, Japan Education: B.S. in agricultural biology,…

Kanae Masuda, co-first author of "Genome-wide cis-decoding for expression design in tomato using cistrome data and explainable deep learning" Current Position: Ph.D. candidate in Graduate School of Environmental and Life Science, Okayama University, Japan. Education: MSc and BSc in Agricultural…

Chuanmei Zhu, first author of "Pleiotropic and Non-redundant Effects of an Auxin Importer in Setaria and Maize" Current Position: Plant Reproductive Biology Scientist at Bayer Crop Science Education: PhD at Washington University in St. Louis; BS in Tsinghua University, China Non-scientific Interests:…

Han et al demonstrate that sugar-activated TOR promotes guard cell starch degradation and stomatal opening. Chao Han and Ming-yi Bai The Key Laboratory of Plant Development and Environmental Adaptation Biology, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237,…

Honglong Zhao, first author of "Two Major Metabolic Factors for an Efficient NADP-Malate Enzyme Type C4 Photosynthesis" Current Position: Postdoc in CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, China Education: PhD in CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, MS in CAS-MPI…

Yehyun Yim, co-first author of "CONSTITUTIVELY PHOTOMORPHOGENIC1 promotes seed germination by destabilizing RGA-LIKE2 in Arabidopsis" Current Position: Ph.D. Student in Crop Science and Biotechnology, Seoul National University, South Korea  Education: Bachelor of Science in Crop Science and Biotechnology,…

Esther Cañibano Morejón, co- first author of "CONSTITUTIVELY PHOTOMORPHOGENIC1 promotes seed germination by destabilizing RGA-LIKE2 in Arabidopsis" Current Position: PhD candidate in Dr. Vicente Rubio and Dr. Sandra Fonseca´s lab, at the Spanish National Center of Biotechnology (CNB-CSIC). Education:…

Rui Xu, co-first author of "The tomato OST1-VOZ1 module regulates drought-mediated flowering" Current Position: PhD student, Henan University, China Education: B.S., Henan Agriculture University, China M.S., Chinese Academy of Agriculture Science, China Non-scientific Interests: food and…

Leelyn Chong, co-first author of "The tomato OST1-VOZ1 module regulates drought-mediated flowering" Current Position: Associate Professor at Henan University, China Education: Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Life Sciences, Purdue University, Indiana, USA; Master of Science in Nutritional…

Shaopeng Li, first author of "LeafNet: A Tool for Segmenting and Quantifying Stomata and Pavement Cells" Current Position: PhD candidate at Wuhan University, China Education: B.S., Wuhan University, China Non-scientific Interests: Reading Brief bio: In 2018, I finished my undergraduate study…

Yanan Hu, first author of "Ethylene response factor MdERF4 and histone deacetylase MdHDA19 suppress apple fruit ripening through histone deacetylation of ripening related gene"   Current Position:  Associate professor, College of Horticulture, Northwest A&F University. Education: Shanxi…

Ahmed Ali, first author of "Tracking metabolites at single-cell resolution reveals metabolic dynamics during plant mitosis" Current Position: Assistant Professor, Analytical Biosciences and metabolomics, LACDR, Leiden University: Education: PhD Biomedical sciences, Hiroshima University, Bsc in…

Xiong Min, first author of “Brassinosteroids regulate rice seed germination through the BZR1-RAmy3D transcriptional module” Current position: Lecturer, Yancheng Institute of Technology, Jiangsu, China Education: Ph.D. from Yangzhou University, Jiangsu, China (2021) Non-scientific Interests:…

Kyung, Jeon et al. investigated the nature of the molecular mechanism by which winter cold accelerates flowering and discovered that circadian clock regulators are involved. By Jinseul Kyung and Myeongjune Jeon; School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea Background: Appropriate…

Suresh Pokhrel, first author of "The Evolutionary History of Small RNAs in Solanaceae" Current Position: Postdoctoral Associate at Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Saint Louis, MO, USA Education: Ph.D. in Plant, Insect and Microbial Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia, MO, USA Master…

Longkumer et al. explore how plant growth is regulated during drought. Paul E. Verslues and Toshisangba Longkumer, Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, TAIWAN Background: Plants can deliberately slow down their growth in response to even a small decrease in water…

Yugo Kitazawa, first author of "A phytoplasma effector acts as a ubiquitin-like mediator between floral MADS-box proteins and proteasome shuttle proteins" Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Laboratory of Plant Pathology, Department of Agricultural and Environmental Biology, Graduate School of…

Wei-wei Zhang, co-first author of “FvWRKY48 binds to the pectate lyase FvPLA promoter to control fruit softening in Fragaria vesca” Current position: Postdoctor, College of Plant Science and Technology, Beijing University of Agriculture Education: PhD (China Agricultural University) Non-scientific…

Shenglin Jing, first author of "Transcription factor StABI5-like 1 binding to the FLOWERING LOCUS T homologs promotes early maturity in potato" Current Position：Ph.D student in Huazhong Agricutural University Education： Undergraduate，Biotechnology，2012-2016，Southwest University of…

Kosuke Kuwabara, first author of "orf137 triggers cytoplasmic male sterility in tomato" Current Position: PhD student in the laboratory of Olericulture and Floriculture at the University of Tsukuba, Japan Education: M.Sc. in Agricultural science, and B.Sc. in Bioresource science at the University…

Huang, Chen and colleagues take advantage of a partial duplicated gene to compare the functions of the partial duplicate and its parental copy.  By Yuan Huang, Jiahui Chen, Shengqian Xia and Manyuan Long, Department of Ecology and Evolution, The University of Chicago, Chicago, USA  Background:…

Weiwei Gao, first author of "miR2105 and the kinase OsSAPK10 co-regulate OsbZIP86 to mediate drought-induced ABA biosynthesis in rice" Current Position: Ph.D. candidate at South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Guangzhou, China) Education: M.S. at South China Agricultural University Non-scientific…

Guohui Yu, first author of "The NAC factor LpNAL delays leaf senescence by repressing two chlorophyll catabolic genes in perennial ryegrass" Current Position: Postdocs in Nanjing Agricultural University Education: Ph.D, College of Agro-grassland Science, Nanjing Agricultural University, China;…

Jiang Wang, first author of "Hexose transporter SWEET5 confers galactose sensitivity to Arabidopsis pollen germination via a galactokinase" Current Position: Postdoc, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA Education: 2012-2017 Ph.D. in Biology, University of Western Ontario, Canada 2007-2011…

Guokai Xu, first author of "Embryonic reactivation of FLOWERING LOCUS C by ABSCISIC ACID-INSENSITIVE 3 establishes the vernalization requirement in each Arabidopsis generation" Current Position: Assistant Scientist, Peking University Institute of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, China Education: Ph.D.…

Amit Kumar Singh, first author of "Rubisco Regulation in Response to Altered Carbon Status in the Cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942" Current Position: Postdoctoral Research Associates, Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA Education: Ph.D.,…

Chang et al. discover the role of an evolutionarily conserved splicing factor in regulating temperature-responsive flowering in Arabidopsis. Background: Eukaryotic genes contain non-coding sequences termed introns that intervene between coding sequences. After being transcribed into pre-mRNA, these…

Symbiotic associations with bacterial or fungal partners enhance nutrient uptake for most plants, and recent years have uncovered the very sophisticated means by which these associations are established and controlled. Peptides have emerged as key regulators of many facets of mycorrhizal and rhizobial…

Plants use starch in leaf chloroplasts to fuel their growth and metabolism during the night. In Arabidopsis, nighttime starch degradation is tightly regulated; the degradation rate is linear and adjusts to both the availability of starch and length of night, so that most but not all the starch is used…

Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) is a powerful tool to identify rare and novel cell types, characterize multiple cell types, and more accurately understand their functions across their life cycles. The Arabidopsis root is a perfect system in which to investigate cellular differentiation due to…

Genes (protein-coding or noncoding) and transposable elements (TEs) are the main characters in the genomic landscape, but there are few reported systems where we have seen all acting together to produce a phenotype. Oliver and collaborators analyzed miRNA populations during pollen maturation in an outstanding…

Abscisic acid (ABA) is a phytohormone that plays a crucial role in the inhibition of seed germination, and the transcription factor ABI5 is the final and common downstream factor that represses germination. Many proteins are known to inhibit ABI5, such as the mediator complex subunit MED25 or other transcription…

Mechanisms of phytohormone modulation and their interface with other regulatory molecules are still being uncovered. Nitric oxide (NO) is a regulatory molecule which has been shown to affect ethylene biosynthesis through the action of ETHYLENE RESPONSE FACTOR 5 (ERF5) in apple fruit. New work by Ji et…

When nitrogen or nitrate availability is high, symbiotic nodule generation is curtailed to conserve the associated energy cost. But how does the presence of nitrate interfere with nodulation and symbiosis?  Previously, genetic studies identified nitrate unresponsive symbiosis (nrsym) mutants in Lotus…