Yamaoka et al. report that the mRNA of a Chlamydomonas bZIP transcription factor is spliced by CrIRE1 under ER stress, and the resulting protein protects cells via modulating lipid remodeling. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00723 By Yasuyo Yamaoka and Youngsook Lee Background: The endoplasmic…

By Ivan Baxter First published: 28 June 2017 https://doi.org/10.1002/pld3.1 As the Editor‐in‐Chief, I am excited to introduce Plant Direct, a new journal from Wiley and the societies behind Plant Physiology, The Plant Journal, and The Plant Cell. While there is a crowded landscape…

Plant Direct is a monthly, sound science journal for the plant sciences that gives prompt and equal consideration to papers reporting work dealing with a variety of subjects. Topics include but are not limited to genetics, biochemistry, development, cell biology, biotic stress, abiotic stress, genomics,…

The water transport system of woody plants can experience periods of excessive xylem tension. It is generally assumed that during these times, water stored in capacitive tissue moves into the transpiration stream and buffers the liquid tensions that develop inside the vessel lumen, thereby protecting…

Three types of phloem loading have been defined in plants: 1.) “active apoplasmic” loading, in which sugar transporters are responsible for the active uptake of sugars into the sieve element companion cell complex (SECCC) which is believed to be symplasmically isolated; 2.) “passive symplasmic”…

The unfolded protein response (UPR) is a cellular stress response involving the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). The UPR is activated in response to an accumulation of unfolded or misfolded proteins in the lumen   of the ER.  However, ER stress can also be induced in the absence of external stressors,…

Endoplasmic reticulum bodies (ER bodies) are endoplasmic reticulum-derived organelles specific to the order Brassicales that are thought to play a role in plant defense against biotic factors. ER bodies are generally classified into two types: 1.) constitutive ER bodies that are found in the epidermal…

Plant roots foraging in the soil have to sense, transduce, and respond to fluctuations in water and nutrients plus a multitude of stresses to which they may be subjected. Biotic and abiotic stresses (including mechanical, salt, osmotic, and oxidative stress) trigger rapid and transient modulations in…