Plant biotechnology often refers to crops and, more recently, algae, but biotechnology also applies to mosses. As Decker and Reski summarize, mosses have some of the same desirable features as algae, including a largely haploid lifecycle that facilitates genetic studies (including homologous recombination…

Bulliform cells lie in rows along the upper (adaxial) surface of the maize leaf, and through changes in volume contribute to leaf-rolling, which is a response to water deficit. Several mutants have been identified that affect bulliform cell formation and function, but as yet their occurance in natural…

Chromoplasts are a type of plastid, usually found in fruits and flowers, that can accumulate large amounts of carotenoids including beta-carotene (pro-vitamin A). It has been proposed that increasing chromoplast formation could be a way to enhance human consumption of vitamin A. In a new report, Llorente…

Multicellularity has arisen independently many times across the eukaryotic tree of life (e.g., in plants, animals and fungi). Comparisons of green algae with land plants is likely to identify the genetic toolkit of multicellularity as well as the colonization of terrestrial habitats. Here, Liang et al.…

Plants perceive and respond to touch and other physical contact including wounding. Van Moerkercke et al. explored the network of rapid gene responses to a gentle water spray, simulating rainfall. Many of these mecho-induced genes are also responsive to jasmonate, the hormone involved in response to…

Disease-suppressive soils have long been known, although it hasn’t always been clear how they function. Previous studies have suggested that soil microbes are responsible for disease suppression, because the suppressive property can be transferred to other soils and is lost when soil is sterilized.…

Some species of Streptomyces bacteria produce antimicrobial compounds that have been shown to enhance plant resistance to pathogens. Kim et al. show that his protection can extend to a pollinator.  The Streptomyces defends the plant against Botrytis cinerea and protects the bees against insect pathogens…

This is a very interesting paper that provide a new, fast and easy protocol, with specific step-by-step instructions, for a trustworthy imaging with cellular resolution of fixed Arabidopsis ovules at different developmental stages. The authors combine two previously outlined techniques: clearing of fixed…