Have you noticed that the quality and resolution of cell images has been getting better and better? Weiner et al. review the recent advances in 3D electron microscopy (EM) technologies that have provided these strikingly beautiful and informative images. Like “classic” transmission EM, EM tomography…

Calcium ions (Ca2+) are ubiquitous and essential signals, with a very steep concentration gradient from outside to inside the cell. Numerous studies from across the kingdoms have demonstrated that transient Ca2+ fluxes convey information of many types. Here, Grenzi et al. provide an Update on the tools…

This review by Wulff and Krattinger is a beautifully written “must read”. As the title suggests, it takes the reader on a journey of scientific progress, starting from the “first controlled cross between two wheat species” to the present, with a look into the future. Triticum aestivum (bread…

Unlike animal cells, plant cells cannot migrate due to the presence of interconnected rigid cell walls, thus plant development relies on a continuous supply of new cells, (fueled by the cell cycle) to form new organs throughout their life. This excellent review by Sablowski and Gutierrez focuses on the…

Assessing the viability of ungerminated seeds at the end of a trial is a common practice in seed germination experiments. By doing this, researchers aim to establish the number of viable seeds that were sown in an experiment and estimate germination parameters accordingly. Still, can we be sure that…

Choosing a PhD supervisor is one of the most important and difficult decisions of an academic career. This new entry by Jabre et al. in the “Ten simple rules” series endeavors to highlight some of the factors to consider when faced with this decision. These span from the early steps of identifying…

“Food, fuel, and fiber” sometimes is used to describe our utter dependence on plants, but often, other than cotton, the “fiber” part is under appreciated. However, there is a growing interest in bio-based materials, both for their greater recyclability and as an alternative to petroleum-derived…

Review: 3D electron microscopy for imaging organelles in plants and algae Have you noticed that the quality and resolution of cell images has been getting better and better? Weiner et al. review the recent advances in 3D electron microscopy (EM) technologies that have provided these strikingly beautiful…