Plants launch their response to osmotic stress with a sudden spike in cytosolic Ca2+ levels, which subsequently leads to the accumulation of the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA). This further initiates a chain of events including closure of stomata, large-scale transcriptional changes, retardation of…

Crop damage and yield losses caused by herbivores have become major threats to global food security. Upon wounding and herbivory, plants rapidly accumulate high levels of jasmonates (JA). However, the mechanism underlying how JA biosynthesis is triggered by herbivore attack remains unclear. It is therefore…

One of the most significant limitations in seed-based restoration projects is that some native species exhibit low recruitment in the field. As a result, various seed enhancement technologies (SETs) are being developed to improve germination and seedling emergence by facilitating access to nutrients…

Review: Molecular mechanisms involved in functional macroevolution of plant transcription factors Transcription factors (TFs) are very important actors through which evolution can operate. In every organism and system studied, starting with the seminal work of Jacob and Monod, they’ve been shown…

If you’ve ever grown cucumbers (Cucumis sativus) at home, you know that at some point over the summer, those cucumbers will probably produce a bounty of fruit and only your trusted pickle recipe will help manage the massive number of cucumbers. Rather than being overwhelmed commercial growers want…

Gao et al. demonstrate TaNAC019 regulates kernel weight and quality in wheat. The Plant Cell (2021). http://bit.ly/3qCTXSH By YJ Gao, KX An, WW Guo, YM Chen, RJ Zhang, X Zhang, SY Chang, V Rossi, FM Jin, XY Cao, MM Xin, HR Peng, ZR Hu, WL Guo, JK Du, ZF Ni, QX Sun, and YY Yao Background: Wheat…

F1 plants resulting from crosses between parents of different strains often exhibit improved fitness, known as heterosis, or also hybrid vigor. Hybrids are heavily used in modern agriculture and could be part of the solution to address the challenge of feeding an ever-growing world population. However,…

Yokoyama et al. explore regulation of the shikimate biosynthetic pathway in plants. https://bit.ly/3oZeh01 By Ryo Yokoyama and Hiroshi A. Maeda, Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin-Madison  Background: The shikimate pathway directs bulk carbon toward biosynthesis of aromatic amino acids…