Review. Autophagy: A key player in the recovery of plants from heat stress
Plant Science Research WeeklyPlants have a remarkable ability to adapt to stress. For many stresses, plants respond to short-term mild exposure by becoming more tolerant to subsequent harsher stresses that would otherwise be lethal; this effect is known as priming. Priming occurs through several mechanisms that can include changes…
UMAMIT44 exports plastidial glutamate and is essential for plant growth
Plant Science Research WeeklyAmino acids (AA) are fundamental components of peptides, proteins, and enzymes that play a critical role in plant growth, cellular metabolism, and stress response. Plants synthesize most AA within chloroplasts and require membrane transporters to transfer them from stroma to cytosol. Cytosolic AA are…
Altering the location of starch granules by relocalizing a starch granule initiation protein
Plant Science Research WeeklyStarch granules are synthesized in leaf chloroplasts during the day and degraded at night to provide carbon. MFP1 (MAR-BINDING FILAMENT-LIKE PROTEIN 1) is known to have a role in starch granule initiation, but its mechanistic role has been unknown. Sharma et al. hypothesized MFP1’s thylakoid localization…
In tune with power: Mitochondrial regulation of energy with TOR
Plant Science Research WeeklyAs seedlings grow, they continuously fine-tune the balance between plant growth and energy consumption for better plant fitness. Mitochondria are essential to generate energy. Here, Canal et al. generated single mutants for a gene involved in the mitochondrial respiratory chain – CYTOCHROME C-1 (CYTC-1),…
Unveiling distinct responses of maize primary and seminal roots under drought stress
Plant Science Research WeeklyCan you imagine going a day without a sip of water? Neither can plants. Water is essential for supporting diverse physiological processes in plants, including photosynthesis, nutrient transport, temperature regulation, and maintenance of cell turgidity. However, with global increase in temperature and…
Auxin receptor OsTIR1 mediates auxin signaling during seed filling in rice
Plant Science Research WeeklyThroughout the world, cereal endosperm is a major source of food. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying the import of sugar into the endosperm of rice plants (Oryza sativa) and how these pathways relate to auxin signaling. In this paper, Wu et al. investigate the role of…
Receptor-associated kinases control lipid provisioning in plant–fungal symbiosis
Plant Science Research WeeklyMost plants benefit from symbiotic associations with fungi, in which the fungi aid in nutrient update particularly of phosphate, and the plant returns the favor by supplying the fungi with lipids. Several but not all of the molecular players required for these important pathways have been identified.…
Convergent evolution in pitcher plant traps reveals a mechanism for composite trait evolution
Plant Science Research Weekly
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…
The global distribution of plant diversity and its significance to humans
Plant Science Research WeeklyPlants 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…