Thylakoid membrane remodelling during the dark-to-light transition
Plant Science Research WeeklyIn the dark, plants modify thylakoid stacking to alter electron transport and reduce photodamage. More photosystem II (PSII) is located in thylakoids within stacked grana, which promotes cyclic electron transport. Upon light exposure, there is granal unstacking, which increases the amount of linear electron…
Lag, then leg it! An updated two-phase model for axillary bud activation and outgrowth in Arabidopsis
Plant Science Research WeeklyThe mechanisms of apical dominance and bud outgrowth have puzzled generations of plant scientists, and over a century various hypotheses have been scrutinized. Two main hubs of regulation – auxin canalization (movement of auxin from a bud into the main stem) and the branching transcription factors…
Neo-polyploid infertility associated with defective pollen tube growth
Plant Science Research WeeklyPolyploidy, arising from whole-genome duplication, is a common phenomenon in plant species. However, newly formed polyploids are often infertile and the mechanism(s) by which they adapt to their new karyotypes remain unclear. In this article, Westermann and colleagues chemically induced the formation…
Herbivore-deterring trichomes persist with the help of Woolly and Get02
Plant Science Research WeeklyType-IV glandular trichomes, which produce acylsugars, are effective deterrents against herbivory in Solanum, but they only persist in the juvenile stage of the cultivated tomato (S. lycopersicum). Therefore, these trichomes serve as a marker for the transition from juvenile to adult phases in developmental…
An inducible protein degradation system for rapid depletion of target proteins
Plant Science Research WeeklyTargeting a given protein for degradation at a specific time can be very useful when investigating its function in the cellular context. In this paper, Huang et al. present an inducible protein degradation system tailored for plants, named E3-DART. The system is based on the specific interaction between…
Plant Science Research Weekly: March 29, 2024
WWR Full PostReview. Chloroplast ATP synthase: From structure to engineering
I remember how amazed I was the first time I saw an animation of ATP synthase doing its job. This fantastic engine is largely conserved across the domains of life, with some variation as highlighted in this review of the chloroplast…
Nuclear pore Y-complex and regulation of FLOWERING LOCUS C in Arabidopsis
The Plant Cell: In a NutshellHuang et al. explore the functions of the nuclear pore complex in regulating the expression of FLOWERING LOCUS C in plants.
Penghui Huang1,2†, Xiaomei Zhang2†, Zhiyuan Cheng3†
1 Research Institute of Intelligent Computing, Zhejiang Lab, Hangzhou 310012, China
2 MARA Key Laboratory of…
Casparian strip formation at root endodermal and non-endodermal cell layers in rice
The Plant Cell: In a NutshellZhang et al. investigate the role of the OsCIF1/2–OsSGN3a/b signaling pathway in Casparian strip formation in rice.
https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koad269
By Jixing Xia, of Life Science and Technology, Guangxi University, China.
Background: The Casparian strip (CS) is a belt-like lignin-based…
The Plant Cell in a Nutshell: H2O2 negatively regulates aluminum resistance
The Plant Cell: In a NutshellWei et al. show how hydrogen peroxide affects aluminum tolerance via its effects on the transcription factor SENSITIVE TO PROTON RHIZOTOXICITY 1 in Arabidopsis thaliana.
https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koad281
By X. Wei, Y.F. Zhu, W.X. Xie, W.W. Ren, Y. Zhang, H. Zhang, S.J. Dai, and C.-F. Huang
Background:…