Behind the Plant Physiology manuscripts are researchers, professors, professionals and students dedicated to advancing the field of plant science. You’ve seen our First Authors on Twitter and Facebook— now, read more about why they chose to pursue plant sciences and click on the links below the pictures…

Chopy et al. investigate the layer-specific contribution of the petunia homolog of DEFICIENS (PhDEF) in petal tube and limb development.  https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koad258 Background: Petals are not only beautiful, but they are also very important floral organs that have co-evolved with different…

This is an excellent introduction to how synthetic biology can be used to program plants for climate resilience by engineering them to respond predictably and in ways beyond those that evolution has explored, through the use of controllable synthetic gene circuits. Ragland et al. describe how precise…

Advances in sequencing technologies have led to a tremendous growth in the number of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) being identified in plants, but identifying their function lags behind. Here, Ramirez Gonzales and Blom et al. draw on lessons from studies in mammalian systems and highlight several known…

Asteraceae, also known as Compositae or the daisy family, is one of the largest plant families and comprises 10% of all flowering plants. Members of this family are found in habitats worldwide. The unique inflorescence, called a capitulum, is a key innovation of the family and contributes to its success.…

Genome complexity in multicellular organisms is often associated with repetitive sequences from Transposable Elements (TEs). TE function, importance for genome integrity, and dispensability have not been completely characterized.  In prokaryotes and simple eukaryotes, genome synthesis (production of…

Marchantia’s power as a model organism continues to grow! Here, Ramoni et al. have investigated the expression pattern of the proximal promoters of most of its 450 transcription factor (TF)-encoding genes. The promoter elements were fused to nuclear-localized fluorescent reporters and introduced into…

This is a fascinating story by Hao et al., which takes us from phenotype to novel insights by looking at glandular trichomes in cucumber. Cucumber fruits often have a silica-based white powder deposited on their surface, but this is missing from the yellow green peel (ygp) mutant. Staining shows that…