The availability of genome data from across the kingdom of plants has provided insights into plant evolution, and particularly the emergence of land plants. Here, Bowles et al. explore the genetic origins of three key innovations that supported the expansion of land plants: stomata, vascular tissues,…

Katherine M. Murphy, first author of "Shielding the oil reserves: the scutellum as a source of chemical defenses" Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center Education: Ph.D. in Plant Biology from UC Davis, B.S. in Chemistry from Stanford University Non-scientific…

Mendel Lane Perkins, first author of "Monolignol export by diffusion down a polymerization-induced concentration gradient"  Current Position: PhD Candidate, Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada Education: MSc in Biological Sciences, University of Calgary,…

Misato Kawai, first author of "Regulation of ammonium acquisition and use in Oryza longistaminata ramets under nitrogen source heterogeneity" Current Position: Admatechs Co. Ltd. R&D division Education: Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences, Nagoya University Non-scientific Interests:  A…

Chang et al. discover the phenotypic consequences of different isoforms of Coat Protein Complex II genes in the moss Physcomitrium patens. Background: Vesicles that form on the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and are bound for the Golgi apparatus are coated in a complex of proteins known as Coat Protein…

Laxman Adhikari, first author of “Genetic Characterization and Curation of Diploid A-Genome Wheat Species”  Current Position: Post-doc Fellow at Center for Desert Agriculture, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia). Education: M.S in Plant and…

Hua Qin, first author of "Orchestration of ethylene and gibberellin signals determines primary root elongation in rice"   Current Position: Assistant Investigator, Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) Education: Postdoc and Ph.D., (Biochemistry…

Yang Ou, first author of "Essential roles of SERKs in the ROOT MERISTEM GROWTH FACTOR-mediated signaling pathway" Current Position: Associate Professor, College of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, China Education: Ph.D, College of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, China; B.S., College of Life…