It’s easy for most of us to grasp how an enzyme evolves new functions or substrate specificities, but envisioning how something incredibly complex like the human eye can be quite challenging (even Darwin was stumped). In this fascinating paper, Chomicki et al. asked how two geographically…

Plants shape ecosystems and sustain human life. Only a small portion of plant diversity is currently known to be in use, even though most plants may be useful to humans. Over time, certain species become widespread, but others are native to specific geographical regions. Thus, to manage plant resources…

Review: A century of studying plant secondary metabolism—From “what?” to “where, how, and why?”  Phytochemicals, also known as plant secondary metabolites, play primary roles in plant development, structure, and response to the environment. Their metabolism has been studied for over a century.…

Mermet et al. identify a protein that provides a continuum between the nucleoskeleton and the nuclear pore complex basket via short peptide motifs.  https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koad236  Christophe Tatout and Aline Probst iGReD, Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, INSERM, 63001 Clermont-Ferrand,…

Huang et al. explore the molecular mechanism underlying the regulation of autophagy by HLS1.  https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koad252  By Li Huang, Xing Wen, Lian Jin, Huihui Han, and Hongwei Guo New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Institute of Plant and Food Science, Department of Biology,…

Xu et al. demonstrate the transcriptional regulatory steps responsible for establishing the regenerating capability of callus during Arabidopsis regeneration.  https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koad255  By Chongyi Xu1, Pengjie Chang1,2, Shiqi Guo1,2, Xiaona Yang1,2, Xinchun Liu1,2, Baofeng Sui1,2,…

Hirano et al. uncover the secretion route for root hair shank hardening in Arabidopsis. The Plant Cell (2023). https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koad240 By T. Hirano, K. Ebine, T. Ueda, T. Higaki, T. W.-Nakayama, H. Konno, H. T.-Imamura, and M. H. Sato Background: Root hairs are rapidly growing…

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…