Foliar water uptake (FWU); water uptake through the leaf surface, is observed in several species and helps in drought conditions through water uptake from fog, snow, dew and rain. In this paper, Schreel et al. showed trichomes as a major source of FWU in beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) plants. Trichomes are…

The large apoplastic intercellular space of plant leaves creates nutrient-rich niches for microbial colonization. To date, whether and how plants control the composition of leaf microbiota is poorly understood. Chen et al. reported that the Arabidopsis quadruple mutant (min7fls2efrcerk1 or mfec)…

Cuscuta (dodders) are parasites that survive on other host plants.Liu et al. found more than 1500 proteins are transferred between Cucuta and host plants forming a sort of interplant chemical communication. Furthermore, proteins could move between two hosts that are connected by dodder bridges, and retain…

In 1985, Marianna Nikolaeva, Marina Razumova, and Valentina Gladkova published the Reference Book on Dormant Seed Germination. There they provided details on the germination ecology of different plant species –mostly from Northern Europe and Russia. However, since the original publication was in Russian,…

Reviews: The physiology of plant responses to drought, and forests and drought ($) The increasing global population causes an increasing need for food, but the changing climate means increasing drought occurrences. The April 17 2020 special issue of Science focusses on drought and its effects on…

Daniel Solymosi, first author of Cytochrome cM decreases photosynthesis under photomixotrophy in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 Current Position: PhD student in the Photosynthetic Microbes research group, Molecular Plant Biology, Department of Biochemistry, University of Turku, Finland Education: BSc…

Keylla Bicalho, co-first author of A Seed-Specific Regulator of Triterpene Saponin Biosynthesis in Medicago truncatula Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher at Metabolomics Core – VIB/UGent, Gent, Belgium Education: PhD and MSc in Organic Chemistry – Natural Products at Federal University…

Elia Lacchini, co-first author of A Seed-Specific Regulator of Triterpene Saponin Biosynthesis in Medicago truncatula Current Position: Postdoctoral scientist, VIB-UGENT Center for Plant System Biology, Ghent Belgium Education: B.Sc. Crops and Plant Sciences, University of Milan, Italy; M.Sc. Plant,…