In a contribution to the January 2022 Plant Cell Focus Issue on Plant Cell Biology, Kang et al. have assembled an updated survey of plant cell structures. This review includes a dozen mini-reviews that describe various compartments or structures within plant cells: the nucleus, endoplasmic reticulum,…

Small RNAs (sRNAs) are 21- to 24-nucleotide non-coding RNAs that induce gene silencing by targeting specific mRNAs for degradation. They regulate a plethora of developmental and physiological processes. Based on their biogenesis they are classified into two groups: micro-RNAs (miRNAs) and siRNAs. Within…

How do small populations persist in spite of sharing space with much larger populations? Wei et al. explored this question in the context of plant-pollinator interactions. They observed that rarer species tend to attract more specialized pollinators, whereas more abundant species have more shared pollinators,…

Special Issue of J. Exp. Bot. The quiescent center and root apical meristem: Organization and function As the name suggests, the root quiescent center (QC) is an area at the root tip of low cell-division activity. This special issue of the Journal of Experimental Botany provides a comprehensive overview…

Patricia Ballester Fuentes, first author of "A transcriptional complex of NGATHA and bHLH transcription factors directs stigma development in Arabidopsis" Current position: Postdoctoral researcher at IBMCP (CSIC-UPV, Valencia-Spain). Education: PhD in Biotechnology, Polytechnic University of Valencia,…

Paula Vacs, first author of "HYPONASTIC LEAVES 1 is required for proper establishment of auxin gradient in apical hooks" Current Position: PhD Student, Laboratory of Biophysics of Molecular Recognition, Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology of Rosario (IBR), School of Biochemical and Pharmaceutical…

Zupok et al. demonstrate that photosynthesis genes encoded on the chloroplast genome can establish hybridization barriers. Plant Cell. (2021)  https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koab155 By Arkadiusz Zupok, Danijela Kozul and Stephan Greiner, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Potsdam/Golm,…

Ashish K. Chaturvedi, co-first author of "Carbon dioxide responsiveness mitigates rice yield loss under high night temperature" Current Position: Scientist at Land and Water Management Research Group, Centre for Water Resources Development and Management, Kozhikode Kerala, India Education: M.Sc.…