Plants can adjust their growth and reproduction cycles according to the local climate they experience, but how will they respond when ambient temperatures rise? Most Arabidopsis accessions respond by increasing cell elongation and accelerated flowering, but some cannot cope with higher temperatures and…

Griffiths et al. examine how allopolyploidy facilitated the expansion of white clover. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00606   By Andrew Griffiths; Forage Genetics, AgResearch, Grasslands Research Centre, Palmerston North, New Zealand and Stig Uggerhøj Andersen; Department of Molecular…

SNAREs (soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptors) comprise a highly conserved superfamily of proteins in all eukaryotic cells and play important roles in membrane fusion events involved in the delivery of membranes, proteins, and soluble cargos. SNARES form a core complex…

Upon exposure to light, many leaf and stem cells acquire photosynthetic competence by converting pale etioplasts into green chloroplasts. Deetiolation involves the concerted and synchronized activity of a highly complex biogenesis program. Thylakoid membranes must develop from disassembling prolamellar…

Abiotic stress conditions such as drought and salt stress increase isoprene synthesis and emission in many plant species. The carbon and energy cost of isoprene production has been found to vary depending on the plant species and environmental conditions. For example, trees that normally produce isoprene,…

Frost is one of the most severe abiotic stresses a plant can experience, and exposure to frost is a limiting factor for many species in temperate and arctic regions. Only a few ancestrally tropical angiosperm lineages have managed to colonize temperate biomes.  Although the grass subfamily Pooideae…

The importance of Ca2+ in animal physiology led to the development of an extensive pharmacological toolbox to manipulate specific groups of Ca2+ channels. Simple drug treatments allow for the manipulation of specific Ca2+ channels, thereby providing insights of which Ca2+ channels are involved in any…

The development of crop cultivars with increased seed number or seed size and weight (SW) is critical for ensuring global food and nutritional security. Because of the importance of SW, substantial efforts have been directed towards identifying genetic factors regulating this yield-contributing trait.…