Plants demonstrate a gorgeous diversity in cell types to adapt to their unique environments. Certain cell types, such as the epidermal, cortex, and vascular cells within plant roots, or the classically-defined root developmental zones (meristematic, elongation, and maturation), are homologous in angiosperms.…

Precise cell cycle control is essential for the differentiation of specialized cell types. Stomata, essential pores for gas exchange located in the epidermis, are generated via proliferative asymmetric cell division (ACD) of a transient stem cell called a meristemoid, which will give rise to a guard…

I firmly believe that the experience of doing science (observing, framing questions, designing and carrying out experiments, and interpreting findings) is the best way to cultivate future scientists, as well as a science-literate public (which we so clearly need). This preprint by Elgin et al. (it’s…

As scientists, we often measure what we can measure as a proxy for what we want to measure. Critical to this strategy is a good understanding of how well the first represents the second. Currently, advancement in science largely rests upon factors that are easy to measure: number of publications and…

Review: Functional morphology of plants - a key to biomimetic applications Humans have derived inspiration from innumerable corners of the natural world. Plants of diverse forms have inspired many “biomimetics,” or technical products derived from biological models. Speck and Speck review how plant-based…

Prakitchai Chotewutmontri, first author of "Ribosome profiling elucidates differential gene expression in bundle sheath and mesophyll cells in maize" Current Position: Research Associate, Institute of Molecular Biology, University of Oregon. Education: Ph.D. Life Sciences (Genome Science and Technology),…

Xing et al. find that Arabidopsis plants ward off pathogen infection by limiting iron availability. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koab075 By Yingying Xing, Deepak D. Bhandari, and Jun Liu Background: Iron is an essential nutrient for most lifeforms. Organisms get their iron from their…

Emilie Widemann, first author of "Multiple indole glucosinolates and myrosinases defend Arabidopsis against Tetranychus urticae herbivory" Current Position: Postdoctoral associate in the laboratory of Dr. Vojislava Grbić at the University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada Education: M.S.…