Research

Stomatal responses to environmental and endogenous signals in vascular plants are critical for regulating plant gas exchange with the atmosphere. In addition, stomatal closure is vital for minimizing water loss and preventing lethal embolism during drought.  The vast majority of studies concerning stomatal…

The flower head (capitulum) is a morphological feature that defines the family Asteraceae (the daisy or sunflower family). A typical capitulum consists of many flowers (florets) and phyllaries (modified bracts) compressed into a single structure that mimics a single flower. Capitula commonly have two…

In eukaryotic cells, the movement of cargo between single membrane-bound organelles such as the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), Golgi apparatus, trans-Golgi network (TGN), endosomes, lysosomes, and vacuoles is mediated by membrane trafficking. At the donor organelle, cargo molecules are loaded into transport…

Root hairs greatly increase the surface area of roots, thereby facilitating the uptake of nutrients and water from the rhizosphere. They also serve as sites for plant interactions with soil microorganisms. Thus, elucidation of the molecular pathway for their development is important for potential modification…

The red algae (Rhodophyta), encompassing over 8,000 species, are the richest source of marine secondary metabolites. Among red algae, many genera produce terpenes, which constitute the largest class of secondary metabolites. Despite the rich diversity of terpenes in red algae, little is known about how…

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) fruits undergo pronounced softening during ripening. Softening is important for flavor development and overall palatability, but also impacts fruit storage, transportability, and shelf life. Shelf life is a particularly important quality trait of tomato fruits affected by…

To optimize their fitness in the field, plants need to respond rapidly, specifically and dynamically to an ever-changing and often hostile environment. By integrating external environmental cues with endogenous developmental programs, phytohormones play a critical role in the cross-talk between signal…

Clay Wright, first author of Plant Synthetic Biology: Quantifying the Known Unknowns and Discovering the Unknown Unknowns Current Position: Assistant Professor, Biological Systems Engineering, Translational Plant Science Program, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg VA USA. Education: Postdoctoral Fellow,…

In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare wrote, “that which we call a rose, by any other word would smell as sweet,” but the truth is, most roses today don’t smell as sweet as the ones Shakespeare described; selection for prolonged cut flower life has largely been at the expense of fragrance. Roccia seek…

Future research success demands that data are reliable, accessible and shareable. This means that as types and magnitudes of data change, best practices for how data are collected and stored must be regularly updated. Following a focused workshop, the International Arabidopsis Informatics Consortium…

This week’s edition is guest edited by Arif Ashraf, a PhD student at Iwate University, Japan and Graduate Student Ambassador of ASPB (NOTE: Apply by January 15th to be an ASPB ambassador). His research interest is understanding the hormonal interplay in primary root development of Arabidopsis thaliana.…

Twenty years ago, a genetic screen of Lotus japonicas identified NIN (NODULE INCEPTION), a transcription factor required for both early (infection thread) and late (nodule primordium development) stages of nodule formation. In daphne (a weak allele of NIN), infection threads form but not nodule primordia,…

Morphogenic gradients of auxin are essential for plant phenotypic plasticity. Polar auxin transport plays a central role in auxin maxima generation. The exquisite spatiotemporal expression patterns of auxin biosynthesis genes suggested that local sources of auxin may contribute to the formation of auxin…

You probably saw this article being discussed in your favorite news channel (in the UK, coverage spanned from the Daily Mail to the Guardian). In an Opinion article, Naves et al. discuss the genetics, biochemistry, ecology and health-benefits of capsaicinoids (the “heat” in chili pepper), and consider…

Méndez-Bravo et al. explored the mechanism for the dramatic phenotype of the ctr1 mutant (CONSTITUTIVE TRIPLE RESPONSE 1), which inhibits both cell division and elongation. In the ctr1-1 mutant background, auxin response is induced at the root tip and an increase in expression of the auxin transporter…

Premature leaf senescence can occur due to a mutation of a L-cysteine desulfhydrase1 (DES1) gene that encodes an enzyme that produces hydrogen sulfide (H2S), a "gasotransmitter" with functions in plants as well as mammals. Jin et al. explored the physiological functions of H2S  in Arabidopsis. In addition…

Auxin distribution depends on the polar localization of PIN-FORMED or PIN proteins. Based on different development and environmental stimuli, PIN proteins switch polarity to redirect the auxin flux. Additionally, phosphorylation of PIN is required for its function. For instance, PIN3 phosphorylation…

The plant trans-Golgi network (TGN) plays the role of early endosomes and acts as hub for the both secretory and vacuolar trafficking pathways. Two types of TGN, GA-TGN (Golgi-associated TGN) and GI-TGN (Golgi-released independent TGN), have been observed in plants. Here, Uemura et al. explore the cellular…

Progression of the cell cycle central to growth, but during stress conditions plants arrest cell cycle progression to enable the organism to survive. SUPPRESSOR OF GAMMA RESPONSE 1 (SOG1), a plant-specific NAC-type transcription factor, regulates the expression of almost all genes induced by double-strand…

MEcPP, methylerythritol cyclophosphate, is an essential bifunctional plastidial metabolite that serves as a precursor of isoprenoids and is produced by the plastidial methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway. Jiang et al. demonstrated that MEcPP controls adaptive growth by regulating auxin responses…

Liyun Jiang, first author of The APETALA2-like transcription factor SUPERNUMRARY BRACT controls rice seed shattering and seed size Current Position: Ph.D candidate, Department of Plant Genetics and Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China Education: 2012–B.S., Agronomy, Jiangxi Agricultural…

Bhosale et al. computationally predicted and experimentally verified the DNA ploidy level of all cells in the Arabidopsis root tip, revealing that endoreplication is spatiotemporally regulated, stress-responsive, and likely important to coordinate cell expansion with changes in cell wall structure. Plant…

OsELF3 Rhythmicity Affects Flowering under Long-day Conditions Zhu et al. identify OsELF3 ubiquitination and degradation by HAF1 in rice. The Plant Cell (2018). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00653 By Changyin Wu Background: The photoperiodic response is one of the most important factors determining…

Zhai et al. show that Trehalose 6-phosphate positively regulates fatty acid synthesis by stabilizing WRINKLED1. Plant Cell. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00521 Background: In plants, oil synthesis is under the control of an “on switch” or transcription factor called WRINKLED1, that binds to DNA…

Li et al. take a new approach to identify a transcription factor that regulates γ-zein gene expression during maize endosperm development together with other transcription factors. By Chaobin Li and Rentao Song, China Agricultural University Background: Zeins are the most abundant storage proteins…

Martinez et al. show that a model based on three-dimensional cell shape successfully predicts the division planes of plant and animal cells, confirming a century-old hypothesis. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00401  Background: Plant cell division has long been thought to mimic weightless…

Zhan et al. report on genome-wide analysis of genes regulated by the maize transcription factor Opaque-2. Plant Cell. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00392 By Junpeng Zhan and Ramin Yadegari, University of Arizona Background: In flowering plants, development of seeds is initiated by double fertilization.…

Robinson et al. investigate scaling relationships between ploidy and size in Arabidopsis. The Plant Cell (2018). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00344 By Dana O. Robinson and Adrienne H.K. Roeder Background: The term “ploidy” refers to the number of copies of the genome contained in a cell.…

Zhang et al. investigate how Blue light enhances cell wall thickening https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00315. Background:  Plant vascular tissues provide plants with mechanical strength and long-distance transportation, and the thickened secondary cell walls of certain types of vascular cells help…

Garcia Cabanillas et al. show the existence of a tug-of-war for successful plant virus infection. The Plant Cell (2018). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00281  By Daniel Garcia Cabanillas, Jun Jiang and Jean-François Laliberté  Background: Plants are susceptible to viruses, which cause severe…

Sinclair et al. show that a low Zn status of shoots triggers in roots the transcription of genes important in root-to-shoot translocation of Zn. The Plant Cell (2018). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00207  By Scott A. Sinclair and Ute Krämer Department of Molecular Genetics and Physiology of…

Mishev, Lu, et al. discover a new chemical inhibitor of a protein family involved in the regulation of endomembrane transport. Mishev, Lu, et al. Plant Cell (2018) https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00145   By Kiril Mishev and Qing Lu Background: The structural and functional compartmentalization…

By Urszula Kania, Tomasz Nodzyński and Jiří Friml Background: Membrane proteins integrated into the lipid membranes of trafficking vesicles follow an elaborated road to arrive to their destination where they perform their tasks. Precise intracellular routing is especially critical and visible in…

Dong et al. identify important regulators of mineral nutrition in rice. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00051 By Luqing Zheng College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210095, P. R. China Background: Mineral nutrients are essential for plant growth…

Cui et al. found new vital players in regulating anther development.  The Plant Cell (2018). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00586 By Yanwei Cui and Xiaoping Gou Background: Anther is the male organ to produce pollen for pollination in angiosperms. The archesporial cells in early anther divide…

Invasion of plant tissues by pathogens is well known to activate localized reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and cell death.  However, the sources of ROS production and their role in triggering cell death are enigmatic. A recent study by Dangol et al. (2018) shows that, in rice (Oryza sativa),…

Tian et al. study the developing rice endosperm. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00321  By Li Tian and Thomas W. Okita Background:  Messenger RNAs (mRNAs) are transported to specific subcellular compartments for localized processing or translation, facilitating protein targeting and assembly of…

Mubeen et al. investigate cellular homeostasis related to the TOR kinase complex. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00159 By Umarah Mubeen and Patrick Giavalisco, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Golm, Germany. Background: Growth and cellular development are controlled…

Wang et al. find a positive feedback loop consisting of MPK3/6, WRKY33, ALD1, and pipecolic acid regulates local immune amplification contributing to systemic acquired resistance in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00547 By Yiming Wang, Jürgen Zeier, and Kenichi Tsuda…

(Translated from the original) Regina Devrient Press and Public Relations Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research   Sucrose is the primary transport form of sugar in plants. It therefore plays an essential role as an energy source, but also as a signal generator under…

Rice is an important food crop in China, but the damage of rice blast fungus is an important factor affecting the high and stable yield of rice. Liu Jun's research group of the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences found in the previous study that when rice blast fungus infects rice,…

Zihao Li, first author of Uncoupled Expression of Nuclear and Plastid Photosynthesis-associated Genes Contributes to Cell Death in a Lesion Mimic Mutant Current Position:  Ph.D. candidate, CAS center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai center for Plant Stress Biology, University of…

By Amna Mhamdi and Charlotte M.M. Gommers The nuclear genome encodes the majority of chloroplast-localized proteins and, in return, chloroplasts exert some control over nuclear gene expression via so-called retrograde signals. These signals derive from developing chloroplasts (referred to as biogenic…

We think of enzymes as highly specific catalysts that carry out one reaction and show nearly absolute substrate specificity. However, absolute specificity is the exception, not the rule, as most enzymes accept several structurally similar substrates. Moreover, many enzymes catalyze alternative reactions…

Most of the carbon dioxide sequestered by plants during photosynthesis is converted into sugars and stored into polysaccharide-enriched cells walls that constitute the majority of the plant biomass. While plants have long been considered a valuable resource of biomaterials for the chemical and textile…

Mateusz Bajczyk, first author of Novel nuclear functions of Arabidopsis ARGONAUTE1: beyond RNA interference Current Position: Ph.D. student, Department of Gene Expression, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland Education: M.S. in Biotechnology,…

Ruiqing Lv, first author of  Uncoupled Expression of Nuclear and Plastid Photosynthesis-associated Genes Contributes to Cell Death in a Lesion Mimic Mutant Current Position:  Ph.D. student, CAS center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai center for Plant Stress Biology, University…

Minmin Du, first author of MYC2 Regulates the Termination of Jasmonate Signaling via an Autoregulatory Negative Feedback Loop Current Position: Postdoc, Department of Plant & Microbial Biology, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Education: PhD, School of Horticulture, Northeast Agricultural…

  A look back at the most popular articles shared on Plantae social media in 2018. Plantae Social Media Interns Katie Rogers and Juniper Kiss have been reviewing the 2018 stats. Previously they shared the most popular posts overall. Here, they share the posts to research and review articles that…

Nitrogen (N) is a main constituent of amino acids and nucleotides and therefore plays a central role in plant growth, development, and stress responses. Plants are able to take up nitrogen from the soil in two forms, nitrate and ammonium. Nitrate is the predominant form of nitrogen found in most crop…

The arrangement of a plant’s root system in the soil (root system architecture, RSA) changes in response to nutrients through different signaling pathways. It is assumed that RSA adapts to optimize the uptake of nutrients from the environment, but strong evidence is still lacking. This review by Shahzad…

Anthocyanins are common plant pigments that provide dietary benefits, leading to an increase in their use as food coloring agents. However, purifying anthocyanins from current plant sources (such as waste grape skins, red cabbage, and berries) is expensive and creates a variable product. Modifying biosynthetic…

Rice (Oryza sativa) is an important food source in many parts of the world. Unfortunately, this crop requires large amounts of water and it is not tolerant of drought or high temperatures. Here, Caine et al., have engineered the ‘IR64’ rice cultivar so that leaves will have lower stomatal density.…

When plants are under attack by herbivores and microbes, running away is not an option. As a defence, plants produce volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that repel herbivores, attract enemies of the herbivores, or alarm surrounding plants; VOCs have mostly been viewed as positive regulators in the plant…

Plants are not able to move out of their neighborhood if they are unhappy, but they are capable of recruiting and assembling a community in which they are able to thrive. Plants are also able to initiate defense when they sense that threats are near. To keep tabs on their neighbors, plants utilize both…

This publication has many beautiful images of flowers and provides a detailed guide that researchers can use to statistically analyze corolla shape and structure. Part of what makes the flowers in these pictures so beautiful to our eyes and encourages us to hit “share” is their symmetrical designs.…

The term “phyllosphere” refers to the world of microbes that interact among themselves and with their plant hosts above ground. In this review, the authors explore what is known about this interesting habitat and how abiotic factors, especially light, influences the interactions and survival of its…

Zu et al., have successfully harnessed the power of synthetic biology to increase the nutritional content of rice by overexpressing only four synthetic genes in rice endosperm. Here, the authors have created a colorful gradient of carotenoid-enriched rice by expressing two, three, and then four genes…

A look back at the most popular articles shared on Plantae social media in 2018. Plantae Social Media Interns Katie Rogers and Juniper Kiss have been reviewing the 2018 stats. Previously they shared the most popular posts overall. Here, they share the posts to research and review articles that got…

Jiancai Li, first author of A group D MAPK protects rice plants from autotoxicity by suppressing herbivore-induced signaling Current position: Postdoctoral fellow at Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Germany. Education: Ph.D., Agriculture Entomology & Pest Control, Zhejiang University,…

Plants need to strike a fine balance between the production, transport, and degradation of stress signals in order to optimize growth in fluctuating environmental conditions. The signal 3’phosphoadenosine 5’phosphate (PAP) accumulates during drought and light stress and induces stress-responsive…

Abiotic stresses constitute a global threat to agricultural crop production and natural ecosystems. One of the most prominent abiotic stresses is drought, which dramatically alters plant physiology and morphology. Studies in model organisms have shed light into how plants respond to drought stress, including…

Of all plant behaviors, ectopic embryogenesis (reviewed in Radoeva and Weijers, 2014) might be one of the coolest. Zygotic embryogenesis begins with fertilization, followed by an asymmetric cell division that generates two cells with distinct fates. The small apical cell gives rise to the pro-embryo,…

Linhan Sun, first author of S-Locus F-Box Proteins Are Solely Responsible for S-RNase-Based Self-Incompatibility of Petunia Pollen Current Position: Ph.D. candidate in the Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Plant Biology at The Pennsylvania State University, USA Education: B.S. in Horticultural…

Mian Gu, first author of OsPHT1;3 Mediates Uptake and Translocation of Phosphate under Extremely Low Phosphate Regime Current Position: Visiting scholar, Institute of Plant Science and Resources, Okayama University, Kurashiki, Japan;  Associate Professor, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences,…

Mingxing Chang, first author of the OsPHT1;3 Mediates Uptake, Translocation and Remobilization of Phosphate under Extremely Low Phosphate Regimes Current position: PhD student of Nanjing Agriculture University Education: PhD student, MOA Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Fertilization in Lower-Middle…

Tatyana Radoeva, first author of A robust auxin response network controls embryo and suspensor development through a bHLH module Current Position:  Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Biochemistry, Wageningen University & Research, the Netherlands Education: PhD, Wageningen University &…

Without roots, plants are unable to gain height due to poor anchorage and are less fit for survival outside of humid environments. Root branching allows plants to better adapt to their environmental conditions and improves their capability to forage for water and nutrients. In this review, Motte and…

The holiday season is upon us! If you are looking for a good book to read and relax with, browse the Plantae Bookshelf Network to find your next favorite. In this post, Juniper Kiss has compiled a list of some of your 2018 favorites including, She Has Her Mother's Laugh by Carl Zimmer, The Food Explorer…

Plants provide us with food, fiber, shelter, medicine, and fuel. In the process, they also release the oxygen that we breathe. Now, they can also help remove carcinogens from our homes. Zhang et al., have developed a genetically modified a common houseplant, Epipremnum aureum, pothos ivy, that can remove…

Striga hermonthica (Striga) parasitizes a wide range of crops including sorghum and rice, mainly  in sub-Saharan Africa. This parasite decreases crop yields and results in billions of dollars in economic damage. Striga seeds are numerous and remain dormant in the soil until prompted to germinate by…

To compensate for their lack of a nervous system, vascular plants have developed complex mechanisms to connect their organs and coordinate stress. Many different types of molecules are involved in long-distance signaling and must be integrated to maintain homeostasis. In this review, Takahashi and Shinozaki…

The economic importance of angiosperms, whether for food, ornamentals, timber, pharmaceuticals, or any other commercial product is easy to prove. However, their origin is not. Evolutionary biologists have long debated the origin of flowering plants. Fu et al., have unearthed fossils from the Early Jurassic…

Floral heteromorphy (differences in form) in Primula has long been of interest to plant biologists. Over 150 years ago, Charles Darwin recognized the importance of this floral anatomy for promoting cross-pollination. In heterostylous Primula species, plants produce either, pin or thrum flowers. Pins…

Cryptochromes are a class of flavoproteins found in plants and animals that are sensitive to blue light. In Arabidopsis, cryptochromes are involved in many important physiological processes including de-etiolation, flowering, circadian rhythms, cotyledon opening and expansion, anthocyanin accumulation,…

In rice, successful completion of meiosis to generate haploid cells is essential for seed production and propagation. This process is complex, requires precise regulation, and produces visible changes in the structure of chromosomes. In this paper, Zhao et al., characterize a sterile rice mutant with…

Welcome to the penultimate 2018 collection of plant research highlights. Starting this week, for search engine optimization (SEO) purposes we are renaming the series "Plant Science Research Weekly". We thank contributors and readers for their ongoing support. We started this project more than two…

Feng Wang, first author of SlHY5 Integrates Temperature, Light and Hormone Signaling to Balance Plant Growth and Cold Tolerance Current Position: Associate Professor, College of Horticulture, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang 110866, China; Key Laboratory of Protected Horticulture, Ministry…

Lee et al. identify a protein involved in pollen aperture development and the formation of distinct membrane domains in microspores. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00442  By Byung Ha Lee and Anna Dobritsa Background: Pollen grains are famous for their ability to develop various intricate patterns…

Li et al. demonstrate that APE2 and the DNA 3′ phosphatase ZDP play overlapping roles in active DNA demethylation in Arabidopsis thaliana. The Plant Cell (2018). By Jinchao Li and Weiqiang Qian Background: DNA methylation, the addition of a methyl group to the C-5 position of cytosine, is a…

Srivastava et al. identify a mechanism for rapid regulation of jasmonic acid signaling. Plant Cell  https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00036 Background: The sessile nature of plants dictates that growth must be integrated with changes in the natural environment. Modulation of hormone signalling pathways…

Ganesan et al. investigate protein import into chloroplasts The Plant Cell (2018).  By Iniyan Ganesan and Steven Theg Background: Chloroplasts are the green compartment in plant cells that carry out photosynthesis. Most plant proteins are made in the cytoplasm and many need to cross different…

Huysmans et al. identify cell death regulatory proteins in root cap cells. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00293 Background: Some plants, such as giant sequoia trees, can grow into the “Largest Living Things on Earth.” Ironically, most of a tree’s biomass is actually not alive but…

Bahaji et al. identify an important player determining seed yield in Arabidopsis. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00312 Background: Oilseeds are major sources of calories for human consumption and have a significant agricultural and industrial value. Seed number and weight are the two main components…

Morel et al. study the nectar-producing organs in flowers and identify major regulators of nectary size https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00425 By Patrice Morel and Michiel Vandenbussche Background: Nectaries are the organs that produce nectar, a sugary substance that motivates pollinators such as…

Kretzschmar et al. study the proteome of lipid droplets and identify a protein that functions in protein degradation during germination https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00276 Background:  Lipid droplets (LDs) are structures inside cells that store oil or fat, for example, in oil seeds. They were once…

Deruyffelaere et al. investigate lipid mobilization during seed germination. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00275 By Sabine D’ANDREA and Corine ENARD Background:  In cells, storage lipids are compartmentalized in specialized organelles called lipid droplets (LDs). The structure…

Lin et al. show that B-BOX DOMAIN PROTEIN28 plays a role in regulating plant development in response to light signals. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00226. By Dongqing Xu and Xing Wang Deng Background: Sunlight is one of the key environmental cues influencing plant growth and development.…

Plant stomatal aperture regulation via guard cells is an example of how plants dynamically process environmental signals to induce a physiological response. The drought stress hormone abscisic acid (ABA) is a well-characterized signal that induces stomatal closure, preventing water loss. ABA acts via…

The phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) regulates a variety of processes in plants including seed dormancy, seedling growth, and response to environmental stresses. A fascinating study by Ni et al. (2018) shows that ABA responses in rice are regulated by an interaction between the DMI3 kinase, which activates…

Mingda Luan, first author of Vacuolar phosphate transporters contribute to systemic Pi homeostasis vital for reproductive development in Arabidopsis Current Position: Postdoctoral fellow at Northwest University Education: PhD, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China Non-scientific…

John I. Hendry, first author of Genome-scale fluxome of Synechococcus elongatus UTEX 2973 using transient 13C-labeling data Current Position: Post-doctoral Research Scholar, Pennsylvania State University Education: BS Industrial Biotechnology, Anna University, Tamil Nadu, India; PhD Chemical Engineering,…

Shuang Li, first author of Histone Acetylation Cooperating with AREB1 Transcription Factor Regulates Drought Response and Tolerance in Populus trichocarpa Current Position: Ph.D, State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China Education: BS, School…

Ryohei Thomas Nakano, first author of A Golgi-released subpopulation of the trans-Golgi network mediates protein secretion in Arabidopsis Current Position: Principal Investigator at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany Education: M.Sc (2009) and D.Sc (2012) in Biological…

The reproductive success of angiosperms relies on the fertilization of the female gametophyte (egg sac) by pollen that travels long-distances in the pistil. Previous studies suggest a role for phenylpropanoid-related metabolites (flavonoids and anthocyanins) in controlling pollen growth and fertilization,…

For years, scientists have relied on model species to investigate the fundamental nature of plants. Not surprisingly, these systems have facilitated our combined efforts for a deeper understanding of complex plant phenomena, from the coordinated orchestration of developmental programs to the emerging…

High wind speeds may result in substantial damage to crop canopies, resulting in a loss of productivity.  Lower wind speeds affect crop canopies in different ways – while physical damage does not occur, the movement of plant tissues impacts photosynthetic capacity by altering the light environment,…

A forthcoming issue of Current Opinion in Biotechnology features a set of reviews on the topic of lignin, particularly its chemistry and applications. Lignin is a complex set of polymers that provide structural support to vascular plants (See Renault et al. for insights into lignin's evolutionary origins).…

In the Brassicaceae, inorganic phosphate (Pi) deprivation modifies root system architecture to favor Pi foraging, through the inhibition of primary root growth and the stimulation of lateral root growth. Root growth inhibition is triggered by Fe-stimulated ROS generation and cell wall modifications,…

LEA genes were first identified as being highly abundant during seed desiccation (hence their name), but later were also shown to accumulate in other tissues in response to drought stress, and to confer desiccation tolerance in “resurrection plants”. These small proteins are characterized by having…

Many flowers have evolved to attract pollinators through scent, shape, nectar production and color. Small changes in any of these attributes can be sufficient to dramatically shift pollinator preferences and pollination efficiency. Petunia has recently diverged into several species, characterized as…

Sexual reproduction mixes up genes and provides genetically diverse progeny, key for survival and fodder for evolution. Sexual reproduction is detrimental to the propagation of hybrid crops though, as mixing up the genes leads to progeny that will be inferior to the hybrid parent. Khanday et al. have…

Opinion: A canopy conundrum: can wind-induced movement help to increase crop productivity by relieving photosynthetic limitations? ($) High wind speeds may result in substantial damage to crop canopies, resulting in a loss of productivity.  Lower wind speeds affect crop canopies in different ways…

Elio Fantini, first author of Pivotal roles of cryptochromes 1a and 2 in tomato development and physiology Current Position: Postdoctoral fellow at ENEA Trisaia, Italy Education: Master’s Degree in Agriculture sciences and technologies, University of Pisa, Italy. PhD in  Molecular, industrial…

Yang-Er Chen, first author of The Low Molecular Mass Photosystem II Protein PsbTn is Important for Light Acclimation Current Position: Associate Professor, College of Life Science, Sichuan Agricultural University Education: Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and M.Sc. in Ornamental Plants…

Amanda A. Cardoso, first author of Hydraulics regulates stomatal responses to changes in leaf water status in Athyrium filix-femina Current Position: Post-Doctoral Research Assistant, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA Education: PhD in Plant Physiology, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa,…

We recognize the hard work that goes into scientific discovery, and the significant challenges faced by those at the beginning of their research career: low pay, long hours, and job insecurity. And yet, without graduate students and postdocs, science would grind to a virtual halt. As publisher…

Elisabeth Grund, first author of Plant NLRs with integrated domains: Unity makes strength Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher at the LIPM, INRA Occitanie-Toulouse, France Education: PhD in Phytopathology (specialization: Fungal genetics) from Claude Bernard University Lyon 1, France; MSc in…

Anna Newman-Griffis, first author of Medicago LINC complexes function in nuclear morphology, nuclear movement, and root nodule symbiosis Current Position: Teaching Associate, The Ohio State University Center for Life Sciences Education Education: BA, Biology, Carleton College; PhD, Molecular, Cellular,…

Anyone who works on plants should be dazzled by the complexity and versatility of plant metabolism. In fact, why restrict this to plant biologists? We all love plant metabolites, whether we’re enjoying the caffeine in our morning cup of tea, or the capsaicin heat in the pepper flakes on our lunchtime…

Resurrection plants have the unique ability to survive extreme dehydration (desiccation), lying dormant for months or sometimes years until rehydration is possible. This formidable survival strategy has independently evolved several times across the land plant phylogeny, and several phylogenetically…

By Amna Mhamdi and Scott Hayes They say you can get too much of a good thing, and for plants that is certainly true. Light is essential for growth, but excessive light causes an overloading of the plant’s photosynthetic machinery. This excess energy can spill out and, through formation of reactive…

Exocytosis is a form of an active transport in which vesicles fuse with the plasma membrane. This vesicle transport secretes soluble cargo proteins and polysaccharides into the apoplast, but also delivers membrane lipids and transmembrane proteins to the plasma membrane. Vesicle trafficking is initiated…

Climate change is a potent environmental force that all living organisms must contend with. This is especially true for photosynthetic, microalgae that are forced to acclimate to ever changing water temperatures and coordinate changes in their physiology and growth rates (Singh and Singh, 2015). These…

Prokaryotic endosymbiont-derived organelles (i.e. mitochondria and chloroplasts), contain their own genomes and the copy number of organelle genomes per cell is high; indeed, a previous study calculated that in Arabidopsis thaliana, each cell has 1000 to 1700 copies of the chloroplast genome (Zoschke…

Despite its toxicity, cyanide has been proposed to act as a regulator of several biological processes such as seed dormancy and germination, resistance to fungal and viral infection. Arabidopsis null mutants of the mitochondrial enzyme β-CYANOALANINE SYNTHASE (CAS-C1) accumulate cyanide to apparently…

The appropriate spatial arrangement of nuclei is essential for various cellular activities during cell division, growth, migration, and differentiation in eukaryotes. In plants, nuclear positioning is also required for proper responses to environmental stimuli, including pathogen infection, touch, temperature,…

Despite its essential role in photosynthetic carbon fixation, ribulose 1,5 bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) is a relatively inefficient enzyme, due in part to its inability to discriminate between CO2 and O2 as substrates. To suppress the oxygenase reaction and enhance the carboxylase activity…

Auxin controls body plan patterning in land plants and it has been proposed to play a similar role in the development of brown algae (Phaeophyta) despite their distant evolutionary relationship with land plants. In flowering plants and many multicellular brown algae, the establishment of the apical-basal…

Hemipterans, a group of phloem-feeding insects that includes aphids, planthoppers, and whiteflies, are responsible for the spread of most plant viruses from plant to plant. Stylet positioning and feeding activities have important consequences for the acquisition and transmission of viruses by insect…

Plants use diverse strategies for salt tolerance, including regulated transport of several different ions and production of compatible organic solutes. In April 2018, a workshop was held to discuss strategies for breeding salt tolerance in plants, with a focus on the energy requirements of various strategies.…

We often think about how the soil environment influences plants, but two new papers focus on how plants influence the soil environment (through abiotic and biotic effects), in turn affecting other plants. These plant-soil feedbacks (PSFs) can be negative (resource depletion, natural enemy accumulation)…

Plant cells have polarity, with the distribution of the auxin transporter protein PIN2 being a well-described example. Glanc et al. investigated how polarity is re-established following cell division. The authors showed that during cytokinesis, protein trafficking is directed towards the central cell…

Vegetative shade affects the ratio of red (R) and far-red (FR) light; relative to sunlight, the R/FR ratio is decreased due to absorbance of photosynthetically-active R light by other leaves. Low R/FR ratios cause increased elongation of shaded plant stems and petioles, as the plants strive to raise…

This paper is kind of fun because it explores plant leaf and petal shape from an engineering perspective, identifying “fundamental mechanistic insights into how nature invokes mechanics in the evolution of commonly found shapes in plant organs by differential growth.” For each organ, the authors…

I think most scientists are occasionally exasperated when confronted with statements that clearly contradict what we know to be true, whether the topic is climate change, vaccine safety or biotechnology. Iyengar and Massey argue that the persistence of these flawed ideas is not due to a lack of positive…

In plants, like people, having an overactive immune response is just as bad as having an underactive one. R genes in plants are key immune components that need to be kept quiet until needed. Previous studies have shown that miRNAs are involved in suppressing R gene expression, in a process that is amplified…

Grafting is an ancient technology and still extremely important in horticulture and food production, including grapes for wine. Although much is known about what scion/shoot combinations work, less is known at the molecular and cellular level about successful grafts. How do two genetically different…

Congratulations to everyone involved in the launch of the new journal Plants, People, Planet, “… a new cross-disciplinary Open Access journal from the New Phytologist Trust focusing on the interface between plants and society.” I’m sure that we’ll be seeing some terrific articles in this new…

New journal launched – Plants, People, Planet Congratulations to everyone involved in the launch of the new journal Plants, People, Planet, “… a new cross-disciplinary Open Access journal from the New Phytologist Trust focusing on the interface between plants and society.” I’m sure that…

Yu-chi Liu, first author of A methyltransferase trio essential for phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis and growth Current Position: Technical specialist, Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan Education: BS in Bioengineering, Tatung University, Taiwan. MS in Life…

Guanxiao Chang, first author of ABI5-BINDING PROTEIN 2 Coordinates CONSTANS to Delay Flowering by Recruiting the Transcriptional Corepressor TPR2 Current position, Postdoctoral Researcher, Key Laboratory of Plant Stress Biology, State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, School of Life Sciences, Henan…

Evan McConnell, first author of Proteome-wide analysis of cysteine reactivity during the effector-triggered immunity Current Position: Ph.D. Student in Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA Education: B.S. in Chemistry (2014), University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa,…

Philip Berg, first author of Proteome-wide analysis of cysteine reactivity during the effector-triggered immunity Current position: Ph.D. student; Biochemistry, Bioinformatics, and Systems Biology, Mississippi State University Education: MSc in Genomics and Systems biology, BSc in Plant Biology Non-scientific…

Timothy Westlake, first author of Proteome-wide analysis of cysteine reactivity during effector-triggered immunity Current Position: Researcher at the National Institutes of Health and current student pursuing Masters in Public Health at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland. Future Position: Post-doctoral…

Lisa-Marie Schmid, first author of PUMPKIN, the sole Plastid UMP Kinase, Associates with Group II Introns and Alters Their Metabolism Current Position: PhD student in the group of PD Dr. Jörg Meurer, Leister lab, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, München, Germany Education: B.Sc. Biology and M.Sc.…

Plants encounter myriad invaders, including bacteria, fungi, insects, and other parasites. These pathogens generally deliver effector proteins into plants, increasing their virulence and targeting various host processes (Toruño et al., 2016). Although advances in the past two decades have led to significant…

The soil-borne pathogen Plasmodiophora brassicae can infect most members of the Brassicaceae family. The infections, which can lead to extensive crop losses, typically involve development of galls in the underground tissues of the plant, giving the pathogen its common name, ‘clubroot’. Although…

Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) is a potent inhibitor of cytochrome c oxidase, a conserved component of the respiratory electron transport chain in all aerobic life. Thus, HCN is well suited to serve as a broad-spectrum chemical defense, and indeed it plays such a role in many interactions between plants and…

Plants devote more than 70% of their available nitrogen to maintaining chloroplast function (Makino and Osmond, 1991). During senescence or under stress conditions, chloroplasts are degraded and their constituent components are recycled. Chloroplasts can be degraded through at least three pathways: (1)…

(Translated from the Chinese original) Auxin is an important plant hormone that is essential for plant growth and development. At present, people's understanding of auxin signal transduction mainly focuses on the process of auxin receptor TIR1/AFBs- mediated Aux/IAAs protein degradation…

Sheng Wang, first author of CYP76B74 catalyzes the 3'-hydroxylation of geranylhydroquinone in shikonin biosynthesis Current Position: Assistant Researcher at National Resources Center of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China Education: B.S. in Resources…

Wojciech J. Nawrocki, first author of Chlororespiration controls growth under intermittent light Current Position:  Postdoctoral fellow at the VU Amsterdam Education:  MSc in Biophysics, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France, PhD, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique, CNRS, Paris, France Non-scientific…

I think trees are awesome, and I mean that in the truest sense of the word. They dwarf us in height, and when we look at a tree that has lived for hundreds or thousands of years it is impossible not to think of that span in terms of human generations and human history. But, trees don’t live or grow…

Several recent studies have demonstrated that plants are able to respond to environmental challenges within minutes, through electrical signals, calcium oscillations, hydraulic changes, metabolites such as glutamate, and reactive oxygen species. Kollist et al. review studies of rapid responses that control…

What tools and skills do tomorrow’s plant scientists need, and how can we as a community ensure that today’s students get appropriate training? The Plant Science Research Network (PSRN), a consortium of plant science organizations and societies, has organized a series of workshops and discussions…

The enemy of my enemy is my friend, right? Gao et al. argue that we should be more aware of the beneficial impacts of friendly protists that eat potentially harmful microbes in the rhizosphere (they deliberately exclude plant pathogenic protists in their discussion). Protists are a diverse paraphyletic…

Plants can die from a lack of oxygen (hypoxia), which contributes to the devastating losses caused by flooding. Iacopino et al. set out to develop a more specific method for detecting oxygen levels in plants, based on the mammalian Hypoxia Inducible transcription Factor HIF.  HIF is hydroxylated by…

Installation of C4 photosynthesis into C3 crops appears a realistic way to boost crop yields.  A key aspect of C4 photosynthesis is an enlarged bundle sheath volume and an increase in bundle sheath chloroplast number.  To identify the regulators of this phenotype, Döring et al. subjected Arabidopsis…

The establishment of root nodule symbiosis in legume roots involves the perception, infection, and accommodation of nitrogen-fixing rhizobia. The de novo formation of root nodules relies on complex developmental programs coordinated through different tissues via unknown cellular routes. Gaudioso-Pedraza…

Properly functioning guard cells change size in response to myriad stimuli to control the passage of water and gasses through stomata. The change in volume is mirrored by changes in plasma membrane surface area, with membrane moving dynamically between tonoplast and plasma membrane as needed. Bourdais…

Assessing the effect of rising CO2 concentrations on plant growth and physiology traits is crucial in order to determine how ecosystems and crop production systems will perform in future climates.  Such assessments have been made with free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) experiments, which have provided a…

Increases in atmospheric CO2 have been shown to confer enhanced photosynthetic rates, boosting plant growth and yield.  Unfortunately, there is evidence that the content of minerals important for human health are reduced in both the foliar and edible tissues when plants are grown under elevated CO2…

Strigalactones are phytohormones that regulate plant growth and development processes. The α/β hydrolase D14 (metabolizes strigolactone) interacts with the F-box protein D3 to ubiquitinate and degrade the transcription repressor D53. This process inhibits shoot branching. However, it is still unknown…

Opinion: Limits to tree growth and longevity ($) I think trees are awesome, and I mean that in the truest sense of the word. They dwarf us in height, and when we look at a tree that has lived for hundreds or thousands of years it is impossible not to think of that span in terms of human generations…

Wei Zeng, first author of Modulation of auxin signaling and development by polyadenylation machinery Current Position: Ph.D. candidate, Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Physiology, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China Education: M.S. in College of Life Sciences,…

Renuka Kolli, first author of Oxa2b is crucial for proper membrane insertion of Cox2 during complex IV biogenesis in Arabidopsis Current Position: PhD student at the department of Biology I, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany Education: 2014 - M. Tech in Biotechnology and Biochemical…

Zhang et al. investigate the regulation of apical hook development in Arabidopsis thaliana. The Plant Cell (2018). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00018. By Xing Zhang, Yichuan Wang and Hongwei Guo. Background: For sessile plants, survival in dynamic nature is never easy! The very first challenge…

In the new Cell Biology issue of Current Opinion in Plant Biology, editors Haswell and Dixit have chosen to focus on quantitative cell biology, arguing that, “if seeing is believing, then measuring is knowing.” Topics of the issue's reviews span parts of the cell (including cell wall, cytoskeleton,…

Although mulicellularity, and so also development, evolved independently in animals and plants, there are nevertheless some striking parallels in the mechanisms used to coordinate these processes. Ten Tesschur compares four developmental processes in plants to similar processes that occur in animal development.…

Wheat production demands huge inputs of nitrogen as fertilizer, with accompanying financial and environmental costs. Zorb et al. discuss several strategies by which to maintain wheat yields and wheat quality while decreasing N use and wastage. Some of these are agronomic, such as ensuring that the N…

In Arabidopsis, stomatal guard cells are specified following a set of conserved asymmetric cell divisions (ACDs), starting with a meristemoid mother cell. How do cells establish asymmetric divisions? Several proteins have been identified that are required for this, including BASL and POLAR, transcription…

Much of our understanding of the molecular pathway for ABA response comes from studies on Arabidopsis. Thanks to genomic sequencing efforts, we know that this pathway is largely conserved amongst plants, including mosses. Jahan et al. extend this understanding to liverworts, drawing on the recently sequenced…

Phosphate deficiency leads to arrest of primary root elongation. Previous work has shown that this arrest depends upon Fe, raising the possibility that Fe accumulation in the root apex is the cause of growth arrest. Several genes involved in low Pi response have been identified, including genes encoding…

Small RNAs are known to move between cells and even between organisms. Studies in mammals have shown that extracellular vesicles (EVs) can contribute to small RNA transport, and recently small-RNA containing EVs were identified in plants. Baldrich et al. extend this work with an analysis of the types…

Clubroot is a disease of brassicas (including oilseed crops and Arabidopsis) caused by the protist Plasmodiophora brassicae. The infection is characterized by the formation of swollen tissues called galls that are metabolic sinks in which the pathogen propagates. Walerowski et al. took advantage of Arabidopsis…

Editorial. Counting what counts: the importance of quantitative approaches to studying plant cell biology In the new Cell Biology issue of Current Opinion in Plant Biology, editors Haswell and Dixit have chosen to focus on quantitative cell biology, arguing that, “if seeing is believing, then measuring…

Schaefer and colleagues have developed Camoco (Co-analysis of molecular components), which integrates data from GWAS and co-expression networks to identify high confidence candidate genes associated with a phenotype of interest. To evaluate the program they used GWAS and co-expression data from maize.…

By Nicholas Smirnoff, University of Exeter. This article is part of the forthcoming Synthetic Biology focus issue. Plants provide a source of enzymes for metabolic engineering to produce valuable or useful products in micro-organisms or can themselves be engineered (Andre et al., 2016; Vickery et…

Calcium (Ca2+) is a versatile second messenger that controls a range of cellular processes—from pollen tube growth to stress responses—by regulating the activity of various proteins. Although Ca2+ is present at millimolar concentrations in the cell wall and vacuole, a set of channels, pumps, and…

The endosperm of maize (Zea mays) seeds undergoes a complicated developmental program that ends with the production of massive amounts of storage compounds, particularly carbohydrates, but also including zein storage proteins (reviewed in Li and Berger, 2012; Hannah and Boehlein, 2017; Larkins et al.,…

Jiyue Huang, first author of The Largest Subunit of DNA Polymerase Delta is Required for Normal Formation of Meiotic Type I Crossovers Current Position:  Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Copenhaver Lab, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, NC Education: PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,…

Cong Wang, first author of The Largest Subunit of DNA Polymerase Delta is Required for Normal Formation of Meiotic Type I Crossovers Current Position:  Ph.D. Candidate, Biochemistry and Molecule Biology, Fudan University, China. Education:  B. S. Biological Science, Sep. 2009-Jul. 2013. Lanzhou…

Nicholas Zoulias, first author of Auxin and pattern formation of the Asteraceae flower head (capitulum) Current Position: Post-Doctoral Researcher at the University of Sheffield. Education: PhD in Computational Evolution and Biology, University of Manchester. MRes in Biological Sciences, University…

Sascha Duttke, first author of Auxin and pattern formation of the Asteraceae flower head (capitulum) Current Position: Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California San Diego Education: 2015 – Ph.D., Biological Sciences University of California, San…

Sergio Iacopino, first author of A synthetic oxygen sensor for plants based on animal hypoxia signaling Current Position: PhD candidate at Plantlab, Institute of Life Sciences, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna of Pisa Education: 2013 – MSc. In Molecular Biology and Genetics, University of Pavia, 2011…

Lu Qin, first author of Adaptation of roots to N deficiency revealed by 3-D quantification and proteomic analysis Current Position: Associate Professor in Oil Crops Research, Institute of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Wuhan, China Education: Ph.D. in Plant Nutrition at the State Key…

Zhang et al. show that a single-nucleotide polymorphism in a hairpin RNA promoter contributes to Alternaria alternata leaf spot resistance in apple and could serve as a marker to distinguish susceptible versus resistant apple cultivars. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00042. Background: Apple Alternaria…

Zhang et al. investigate the assembly of a molecular motor that produces cellular ATP in chloroplasts https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00075. By Lin Zhang, Lianwei Peng and Jean-David Rochaix Background: The F-type ATP synthase produces nearly all of the cellular ATP, the universal energy currency…

Background: Chloroplasts are the major powerhouse of plant and algal cells, where photosynthesis—the conversion of carbon dioxide into organic compounds using sunlight energy—occurs. Chloroplasts are also where important cell components (such as membrane lipids and pigments) and energy-rich compounds…

Richardson et al. explore the molecular topology of the chloroplast transit peptide and its nucleotide-dependent movement within the chloroplast protein import channel. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00172. By Lynn GL Richardson and Danny J Schnell Background: Chloroplasts, the site…

The rubisco holoenzyme is comprised of eight large subunits and eight small subunits (L8S8).  Several auxiliary proteins are required to correctly assemble the functional protein. In this manuscript, Conlan et al investigate the chaperone function of one of these proteins, BSD2, in tobacco. The authors…

It has long been thought that C4 species generally perform less well than C3 species in cold environments as a consequence of a physical space restriction.  C3 species tend to accumulate more rubisco under chilling stress to avoid limiting photosynthesis, but there is less capacity for this in C4 species…

The cyanobacterial CO2 concentrating mechanism (CCM) is dependent on a continuous supply of inorganic carbon (Ci) to rubisco inside carboxysomes in order to function optimally.  CO2 uptake pathways are therefore of great importance for a full understanding of the cyanobacterial CCM.  Sun et al demonstrate…

Introduction of the cyanobacterial carboxysome into C3 crops represents a viable strategy to increase photosynthetic conversion efficiency and boost crop yield.  Key to this challenge is gaining a full understanding of the carboxysome system in cyanobacteria, including how these microcompartments assemble…

Stomata represent the entry point into the leaf for CO2 that will be fixed by rubisco in photosynthesis and the exit point of water as it is lost to the atmosphere.  As such, they are subject to tight regulation in response to the environment so that water loss is minimised and a supply of CO2 is…

The speed at which photosynthesis is induced during shade-sun transitions, such as sun-flecks, contributes towards determining crop yield.  The speed of induction can be limited by the dynamics of stomatal and mesophyll conductance, deactivation rates of photoprotective mechanisms, the acclimation rate…

Modern crop production is intimately linked to the availability of nitrogen.  Photosynthetic proteins (including rubisco) account for most of the nitrogen in leaves, a significant amount of which is removed during harvesting and must be replenished primarily through the application of synthetic nitrogen…

It has been over seventy years since Melvin Calvin and Andrew Benson first started on their journey to discovering the Calvin-Benson cycle – the series of biochemical reactions in which the Sun’s energy is converted to chemical energy stored inside the cells of plants, cyanobacteria and algae. …

Eric Soubeyrand, first author of The Peroxidative Cleavage of Kaempferol Contributes to the Biosynthesis of the Benzenoid Moiety of Ubiquinone in Plants Current Position: Postdoctoral Researcher, Horticultural Sciences, University of Florida, FL. Education: PhD in plant biology; Ecophysiology and…

Plants devote more than 70% of their available nitrogen to maintaining chloroplast function (Makino and Osmond, 1991). During senescence or under stress conditions, chloroplasts are degraded and their constituent components are recycled. Chloroplasts can be degraded through at least three pathways: (1)…

Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) is a potent inhibitor of cytochrome c oxidase, a conserved component of the respiratory electron transport chain in all aerobic life. Thus, HCN is well suited to serve as a broad-spectrum chemical defense, and indeed it plays such a role in many interactions between plants and…

Xiaoyue Wang, first author of Genetic dissection of Fe-dependent signaling in root developmental responses to phosphate deficiency Current Position: Ph.D. candidate in School of Life Sciences at Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. Education: B.S., School of Life Sciences at Shandong University,…

Rob Schaefer, first author of Integrating co-expression networks with GWAS to prioritize causal genes in maize Current Position: Postdoctoral Associate, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota Education: 2015 - Ph.D., Biomedical Informatics and Computational Biology, University of…

Real-time tracking is a hugely powerful way to understand the behaviour of single proteins. Cui et al. review the methods and applications of single-particle tracking (SPT) in plant cells. They describe the applications of variable-angle total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (VA-TIRFM) to…

Carboxysomes are protein-bound microcompartments of cyanobacteria that sequester Rubisco and carbonic anhydrase (which converts bicarbonate to carbon dioxide), thus enhancing Rubisco’s carboxylation efficiency. The carboxysome shell is made up of hexamer, pentamer and trimer modules, with selectively…

Aphids are major vectors for viral spread. Guo et al. have identified an interesting interaction that affects aphid feeding behavior and viral spread. They showed that reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation in plants infected with cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) affects aphid feeding behavior; specifically,…

Rice (Oryza sativa) is derived from breeding of perennial wild ancestors with long stalks and few seeds to short plants with enlarged panicles (inflorescences). Many known domestication changes are due to changes in transcription factors or modulation of enzymatic actions. Recent work by Swetha et al.…

It is known that changes in the epigenetic state can be inherited, but whether the epigenetic changes are subject to natural selection is uncharted territory. Schmid et al. examined the phenomic and epigenomic changes in Arabidopsis accessions that underwent selection to simulated habitat fragmentation.…

Understanding the processes contributing to plant productivity will help to secure food production in the future. Larry York proposes how this can be achieved using functional phenomics. First the ideotype needs to be constructed; the ideotype is a set of phene states that are hypothesized to enhance…

Plant roots in soil are surrounded by different microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi and oomycetes. The impact of these organisms on plant health has been known f0r many decades. However, the interaction network between these organisms is not well understood. By using next generation sequencing as…

Review: Single-particle tracking for the quantification of membrane protein dynamics in living plant cells Real-time tracking is a hugely powerful way to understand the behavior of single proteins. Cui et al. review the methods and applications of single-particle tracking (SPT) in plant cells. They…

Plants can strategically maintain a state of dormancy to prevent germination and growth under unfavorable environmental conditions. In evolutionarily young lineages, dormancy is regulated by a canonical abscisic acid signalling pathway comprised of ABA receptors (PYR/PYL/RCAR), the negative regulator…

Franck et al. demonstrate that protein phosphatases ATUNIS1 and 2 negatively regulate cell wall integrity in pollen tubes and root hairs of Arabidopsis. Plant Cell (2018). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00284 By C. M. Franck, J. Westermann, S. Bürssner, R. Lentz, D. Lituiev, and A. Boisson-Dernier Background:…

Higashi et al. investigate the function of a heat-inducible lipase in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Cell (2018). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00347 By Yasuhiro Higashi and Kazuki Saito Background: Land plants suffer from high-temperature stress, exacerbated by climate changes in recent years.…

Liao et al. performed comparative phylogenomic analysis on rice centromeres. Plant Cell (2018). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00163 By Yi Liao and Mingsheng Chen Background: Centromeres are necessary for faithful chromosome segregation in eukaryotic organisms. The genomic regions conferring centromere…

Irmisch et al. investigate enzymes of the ornamental plant montbretia involved in a complex flavonoid biosynthetic system relevant to human health. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00406   Background: Type-2 diabetes is a major health challenge of the 21st century requiring new treatments. Plants produce…

Chen et al. investigate the mechanism of MCD1’s action in chloroplast Z-ring positioning in dividing chloroplasts. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00189 Background: Chloroplasts are specialized photosynthetic organelles in plants that evolved from an ancient photosynthesizing cyanobacterium through…

Jose Espejo Valle-Inclán, first author of Long Read Annotation (LoReAn): automated eukaryotic genome annotation based on long-read cDNA sequencing Current Position: PhD student at the Department of Genetics, Center for Molecular Medicine, University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands. Education:…

David E. Cook, first author of Long Read Annotation (LoReAn): automated eukaryotic genome annotation based on long-read cDNA sequencing Current Position: Assistant Professor of Plant Pathology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas USA. Education: PhD in Plant Pathology from the University of…

Linlin Qi, first author of Elongator is required for root stem cell maintenance by regulating SHORT ROOT transcription Current Position: Associate Professor, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China Education: PhD in Genetics, Institute of Genetics and…

Mark A.C.J. Kwaaitaal, first author of The SUMO conjugation complex self-assembles into nuclear bodies independent of SIZ1 and COP1 Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher at Molecular Plant Pathology, Swammerdam Institute for Life sciences (SILS), University of Amsterdam (UvA), the Netherlands Education:…

Magdalena J Mazur, first author of The SUMO conjugation complex self-assembles into nuclear bodies independent of SIZ1 and COP1 Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher at the Laboratory of Virology, Wageningen University, the Netherlands Education: PhD (2016) at Molecular Plant Pathology, University…

Nicolai Kallscheuer, first author of Identification and microbial production of the raspberry phenol salidroside that is active against Huntington's disease Current Position: Postdoctoral Researcher at Radboud University Nijmegen, Faculty of Science, Department of Microbiology, Heyendaalseweg 135,…

Regina Menezes, first author of Identification and microbial production of the raspberry phenol salidroside that is active against Huntington's disease Current Position:  Researcher, iBET - Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica, Apartado 12, 2781-901 Oeiras, Portugal and Instituto de Tecnologia…

Yonghong Li, first author of OHP1, OHP2, and HCF244 form a transient functional complex with the photosystem II reaction center Current Position: PhD candidate in Developmental Biology at the Key Laboratory of Photobiology, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. Education:…

A pollen grain lands on a stigma, swells with water, and sprouts a pollen tube, which races through the style to deliver sperm to the ovule below. When the pollen arises from the flower itself, this process often stops in its tracks. Self-incompatibility (SI) between pollen and pistil promotes outcrossing…

Jinpeng Wang, first author of Recursive paleohexaploidization shapes the durian genome Current Position: Associate Professor, Center for Genomics and Computational Biology, and School of Life Sciences, North China University of Science and Technology, Tangshan, China Education: B.S. in Applied Mathematics,…

(Translated from the Chinese  original http://news.hzau.edu.cn/2018/1101/52991.shtml) Nanhu News Network (Correspondent Sheng Ke) On October 30th, the research group of Professor Tian Xingming from the Rice Science Team of the National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement of our School…

Why do people persist in thinking that climate change is not happening, or that vaccines cause autism? Scientists need to find better ways to communicate about what we do. In this editorial from Nature Cell Biology, the authors point to the low achievement level of US high school students (and those…

Plants produce hundreds of carotenoids with functions ranging from photoprotection to signalling, and with important roles in human health as well. Wurtzel describes opportunities arising from applying the tools of synthetic biology to carotenoids. The regulation of carotenoid biosynthesis is complex,…

Phytotoxic aluminum can drastically harm plant roots, leading to decreased nutrient uptake, water absorption and yields. Many plant species efflux organic anions into the rhizosphere to reduce the toxic effects of aluminum. Some of the genes that encode transporter proteins which mediate organic anion…

Desiccation tolerance is the property of being able to survive and recover from extreme dehydration. Although there are many desiccation-tolerant plant species, efforts to identify the genetic basis of desiccation tolerance have been limited by a lack of closely-related desiccation sensitive species.…

Closely related species that have different numbers of chromosomes (e.g., 2n versus 4n) are reproductively isolated, and this can arise as a consequence of an unbalancing in the expression levels of maternally- and paternally-imprinted genes. Wang et al. have identified a fascinating mechanism that explains…

FLS2 is a well-known cell-surface receptor that triggers plant immune response. Zou et al. asked whether its expression level is age-dependent, and found that FLS2 is expressed at very low levels in newly-emerged seedlings. They identified two closely related transcription factors TOE1 and TOE2 that…

Jasmonates promote defense reponses but at the expense of growth. JAZ proteins repress jasmonate responses. Guo et al. examined the consequences of knocking out 10 of the 13 JAZ genes in Arabidopsis, by producing a jaz decuple, or jazD mutant. They compared jazD mutant to previously described jazQ mutants…

Enhancing root growth can aid plant survival in challenging environments such as salty soils. Dickinson et al. built upon a previous study that identified D15, an inhibitor of lateral root development. They treated roots with D15 and also components of a small-molecule library to search for suppressors…

Editorial: The challenge of the post-truth era Why do people persist in thinking that climate change is not happening, or that vaccines cause autism? Scientists need to find better ways to communicate about what we do. In this editorial from Nature Cell Biology, the authors point to the low science…

In response to shading, plants undergo a suite of developmental and physiological responses known as shade avoidance. In agricultural settings, dense planting can cause shade avoidance responses, thereby reducing yields due to changes in carbon allocation that favor stem elongation over seed, fruit,…

Global climate change is currently affecting the growth and photosynthetic capacities of microalgae, which are major contributors to carbon fixation on Earth. The consequences of global climate change have already had dramatic effects on aquatic ecology. For example, thermal changes have led to coral…

The plant endomembrane system is comprised of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), the Golgi complex, trans-Golgi network (TGN), pre-vacuolar compartment (PVC) and vacuoles. The endomembrane system, by enabling protein modification and sorting, plays important roles in cell polarity, cytokinesis, cell wall…

The plant cortical microtubule array is a dynamic self-organizing structure that controls the mechanics of plant growth by guiding the deposition of wall materials. While much is known about the properties of individual microtubules, the mechanism by which plant cells organize the cortical array into…

Polyacetylenic lipids accumulate in various Apiaceae species after pathogen attack, suggesting 
that they are naturally occurring pesticides and potential targets for crop improvement. These chemicals are also of interest because they exhibit cytotoxic activity against human cancer cell lines and slow tumor…

Not every leaf of a plant is subjected to the same light intensity or quality in nature. As a consequence, plants have evolved multiple signaling pathways to transduce light‐related signals between different leaves. These systemic acclimation processes optimize the overall light perception of the…

Irene Garcia, first author of HCN regulates cellular processes through posttranslational modification of proteins by S-cyanylation Current Position: Distinguished Researcher at the Institute of Plant Biochemistry and Photosynthesis (CSIC-Universidad de Sevilla) Seville, Spain. Education: PhD in Biological…

(This press release has been translated from the original) In the evolution of plants, the production of vascular organizations is a major event. Vascular plants provide structural support and water transport to stems by producing xylem vessels, thickening secondary cell walls, and programmed cell…

The discovery of the gene behind stem juiciness in sweet sorghum could have huge agricultural implications Perhaps you've never tasted sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), the fifth most popular crop in the world, but you probably will soon. This ancient grain is a common source of food in developing countries…

Thousands of years of artificial selection have produced rice plants (Oryza sativa) that are vastly different from their wild progenitor species in terms of architecture, yield, and resilience. Most of the genetic changes linked to rice domestication involved genes encoding transcription factors. However,…

Although secondary cell walls represent the bulk of plant biomass, the mechanism by which cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin assemble into a functional three-dimensional matrix is unknown. Cortical microtubules are thought to guide cellulose deposition in the plasma membrane by defining the trajectories…

How many genes control a phenotype? Dozens? Hundreds? Thousands? The whole genome? And what about the epigenome? Such fascinating questions on biological complexity and the interaction between genes and the environment (or, in the case of infection by a plant pathogen, multiple genomes) have long…

Plants balance CO2 uptake with water loss via a complex network of signals regulating stomatal aperture size. Stomata close in response to a number of stimuli, including drought, low light intensity, low air humidity, elevated intercellular CO2 concentration, pathogens, and certain air-borne chemicals…

Valentin Couvreur, first author of Going with the flow: multiscale insights into the composite nature of water transport in roots Current Position: FRS-FNRS postdoctoral researcher, University of Louvain, Earth and Life Institute Education: PhD in Agronomical Sciences and Biological Engineering,…

Christing Scoffoni, first author of The causes of leaf hydraulic vulnerability and its influence on gas exchange in Arabidopsis thaliana Current Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, Los Angeles Education: PhD (University of California, Los…

Rosa Micol-Ponce, first author of Arabidopsis RIBOSOMAL RNA PROCESSING 7 is required for 18S rRNA maturation Name: Rosa Micol-Ponce Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Biology and Geology, University of Almería, Almería, Spain. Education: BS in Biology, University of…

Li-jie Zhou, first author of The SUMO E3 ligase MdSIZ1 targets MdbHLH104 to regulate plasma membrane H+-ATPase activity and iron homeostasis Current Position: Lecturer, College of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210095, China. Education: Ph.D. in Agriculture (2018),…

Lucas Busta, first author of Identification of genes encoding enzymes catalyzing the early steps of carrot polyacetylene biosynthesis Current Position: NSF Plant Genome Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Nebraska Education: 2016 Ph.D. Analytical Chemistry University of British Columbia,…

Kazunari Nozue, first author of Network analysis reveals a role for salicylic acid pathway components in shade avoidance Current Position:  Staff Research Associate, University of California, Davis, California Education: Ph. D and M.S. in Biology, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan; B.A.…

Ammonium (NH4+) is an inorganic nitrogen source that is the preferred source for some plant species (e.g., rice and tea) but can be toxic in high amounts. The nitrate transporter NRT1.1 is involved in mediating the effects of toxic NH4+, as well as functioning in NO3- and auxin transport, NO3- signaling…

The apical hook helps to protect the fragile cotyledons and shoot apical meristem while pushing through the soil, and hook angle determines the success of emergence from soil. Multiple hormones and light signals have contrasting roles in the regulation of hook formation; e.g., auxin, ethylene and gibberellic…

Plants perceive blue light through cryptochrome (CRY) photoreceptors that are responsible for photomorphogenesis, flowering, and circadian rhythms. At the same time, brassinosteroid (BR) represses photomorphogenesis. In this article, Wang et al. demonstrated CRY1-mediated inhibition of BR signaling as…

Plants perceive the change of seasons based on measuring the duration of daylight. Flowering is a major seasonal response that depends on photoperiod. In this study, Seaton et al. looked at the role of phytochrome A (phyA) in photoperiod sensing. PHYA is the direct target of PIF4 and PIF5 transcription…

Auxin is involved in a diverse array of developmental processes as well as biotic and abiotic stress responses. The chemical–genetic approach is a powerful tool to decipher the auxin signaling pathway. In this review, Fukui and Hayashi have provided a comprehensive overview about the structure, molecular…

This week’s edition is guest edited by Arif Ashraf, a PhD student at Iwate University, Japan and Graduate Student Ambassador of ASPB. His research interest is understanding the hormonal interplay in primary root development of Arabidopsis thaliana. He blogs about plant science (http://www.aribidopsis.com/).…

Eleanore T. Wurtzel, first author of Changing form and function through carotenoids and synthetic biology Current Position: Professor, Lehman College and The Graduate School, The City University of New York Education: B.S. in Biochemistry, Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry (SUNY Stony Brook);…

Sakharam Pralhad Waghmare, first author of SNAREs SYNTAXIN OF PLANTS 121 (SYP121) and SYP122 mediate the secretion of distinct cargo subsets Current Position: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biophysics, University of Glasgow Education: PhD, Department of Chemical…

Clonal propagation is widely used by humans to maintain and propagate desirable phenotypic traits in plants. Despite a restricted genetic variety, phenotypical difference, known a somaclonal variation, arises sometimes between parents and the clonally propagated progeny. Some of this variability is attributed…

Expansion of plant genomes is thought to be linked to massive bursts of transposable elements activity. This implies consequences on the distribution of epigenetic modifications required for the silencing of the causative transposons. Consequences of transposon bursts have been extensively described…

Hybridization of plants with distinct chromosome number often results in seed development defects due to a phenomenon known as the triploid block. While this is triggered by the unbalanced expression of some paternally and maternally imprinted alleles, the molecular basis of the triploid block is not…

Fruit softening in melting-flesh peaches is triggered by a major accumulation of ethylene at the late stage of ripening. Existence of stony hard peaches showing inhibition of fruit softening has been correlated with low levels of indole-3-acetic-acid inducing low levels of ethylene, but the underlying…

Crop domestication relies on harnessing the natural genomic diversity present in the cultivated population. The contribution of genetic variation for selection and improvement of traits in plants has been extensively studied. Besides this, variation in epigenetic components such as DNA methylation offers…

Postembryonic development in plants relies on stem cells located within the shoot apical meristem. Male and female gametes are descendants of those stem cells and maintenance of genome stability in this pool of cells is thus fundamental. In-depth molecular analysis has so far been hindered by the tedious…

Spontaneous epimutations are stochastic and heritable changes of DNA methylation in genomes. In this review, Johannes and Schmitz discuss the molecular origins of spontaneous epimutations in plants as well as their functional and phenotypical consequences. The authors highlight that spontaneous epimutations…

Previous reports have shown that M. polymorpha DNA methylation status varies during its life cycle and it contains only one copy of the METHYLTRANSFERASE1 (MET1) orthologous gene. MET1 is responsible of CG methylation in angiosperms. Ikeda and collaborators generated MpMET mutants using the CRISPR/CAS9…

Plant phenotypes are influenced by the nature and intensity of biotic interactions. While the role of genetic diversity has been extensively studied, contribution of epigenetics to plant fitness and response to biotic stresses remains elusive. The authors review here the most recent literature about…

This week's edition is guest edited by Matthias Benoit, a postdoctoral Research Associate at The Sainsbury Laboratory University of Cambridge. His research focuses on the developmental, environmental and epigenetic regulation of tomato retrotransposons. His favorite models of study are fruit development…

Cindy L. Sigler, first author of Parts-prospecting For a High-efficiency Thiamin Thiazole Biosynthesis Pathway Current Position: Graduate Research Fellow, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida Education: B.S. (2016) in Plant Science, University of Florida, Gainesville Florida Non-scientific…

Plants evolved to react to the changing environment by developing sensing and signal transduction mechanisms, which ultimately lead to changes in gene expression and altered plant performance. Transcription factors (TFs) are key to regulating the expression of individual genes. TFs can confer sequence…

Evidence of epigenetic gene regulation in plant immunity was first reported in 1975 (Guseinov et al., 1975) with the demonstration that cytosine methylation is altered in response to pathogen infection. Since then, it has been established that pathogen infection influences DNA methylation and histone…

Most chloroplast proteins are encoded by the nuclear genome and synthesized on cytosolic ribosomes. N-terminal transit peptides serve as targeting sequences to direct precursors of chloroplast proteins to receptors on the chloroplast surface. These receptors are part of the translocase of the outer envelope,…

To survive, organisms must sense their nutritional status (including nutrient availability and quality) and regulate their growth and metabolism accordingly. In plants, animals, and fungi, the Target of Rapamycin (TOR) kinase regulates metabolism, nutrient sensing, and growth (reviewed in Dobrenel et…

The in vivo imaging of sugars is useful for understanding how assimilated carbon, in the form of sugars, moves in plants and how this process is differentially regulated. Voothuluru et al. (10.1104/pp.18.00614) developed a gel-based enzyme-coupled colorimetric and fluorometric assay to image glucose…

Water deficit is one of the main limiting factors in apple (Malus × domestica) cultivation. Root architecture plays an important role in the drought tolerance of plants. Due to the difficulties associated with the visualization of root systems, however, there is currently a poor understanding of the…

Under normal growth conditions, there is a constitutive or basal level of autophagy in plant cells that helps to recycle unnecessary cell contents. Autophagy provides essential building blocks (e.g. amino acids and fatty acids) and energy sources that promote cell homeostasis and survival. Autophagy…

The plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) plays an important role in plant drought responses. Previous studies have indicated that ABA inhibits plasma membrane H+-ATPase (PM H+-ATPase) activity, and the resultant decrease in PM H+-ATPase activity promotes stomatal closure under drought stress, thereby reducing…

Light-induced chloroplast movement is one of the most important responses for utilization of photosynthetic light. Chloroplasts move toward weak light-irradiated areas to efficiently absorb light (the accumulation response), whereas they move away from excess light to avoid photodamage (the avoidance…

Boron (B) is an essential plant micronutrient that plays a major role in cell wall structure and function by providing cross-linking of the rhamnogalacturonan II (RG-II) pectin component of the cell wall. Under normal pH conditions, B is found principally as boric acid. Although boric acid permeates…

Maurizio Camagna, first author of Enzyme fusion removes competition for geranylgeranyl diphosphate in carotenogenesis Current Position: PhD Student at Nagoya University Non-scientific Interests: Traveling, gardening, programming, learning languages, drinking and brewing beer, magnets Brief Bio:…

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is the fifth most important cereal crop globally and is considered to be the “camel among crops” due to its ability to flourish in low-nutrient soils and to withstand prolonged drought. Cultivated varieties are phenotypically and morphological diverse. Consequently, sorghum…

Resistance to plant pathogens is often studied as a qualitative trait than quantitative, focusing on the lesion size and pathogen numbers. However, resistance to generalist plant pathogens, such as Botrytis cinerea, is known to involve multiple genes. Fordyce et al. used high-throughput phenotyping…

Roots navigate through the soil, foraging for water and nutrients. Orman-Ligeza et al. observed that lateral root development is repressed when the roots are growing through the soil air spaces. Exposure to water deficit induced transcriptome reprogramming in barley roots of genes involved in many hormone…

In the face of increasing incidence of drought events, developing drought-tolerant plants becomes urgent matter. However, the increase in drought tolerance often coincides with the significant reduction of plant size, as in the case of overexpressing DEHYDRATION-RESPONSIVE ELEMENT-BINDING PROTEIN 1A…

Plants exhibit various forms which are determined by the individual cells. The diversity of cell shapes within a single organism is astounding and results from the interactions between the pressure generated by the cell and surrounding tissue as well as heterogeneities in the cell wall composition. As…

Nitrogen-fixing bacteria produce species-specific chitin-like molecules, Nod factors, which induce nodule development and infection thread formation in the host plant, aiding microbial infection. Malolepszy et al. performed a detailed study of symbiotic defective mutants in lotus (chit5), where the nodule…

Plants are frequently attacked by pathogens, but the pathogen-resistance is often attributed to the host. While interactions between the plant and its microbiota are recognized for their role in plant growth, their role in pathogen resistance is unknown. Kwak et al. studied the effect of soil-borne pathogen Ralstonia…

Plant cell walls are important for terrestrial lifestyle, providing support and directing the plant growth. The primary and secondary cell walls differ in their chemical composition and flexibility. Secondary cell walls are less perceptive to industrial degradation processes and therefore pose problems…

Receptor-like kinase FERONIA plays important role in the regulation of plant growth as well as interactions with the environment. In order to understand how FER affects plant growth Guo et al. examined global transcriptome changes in fer mutant. The authors observed that genes up-regulated by stress…

The global increase in CO2 concentrations results in the reduced opening of the stomata. Although reduction in the stomatal opening in response to drought relies on abscisic acid (ABA), less is known about the mechanism controlling stomatal aperture in response to elevated CO2. Hsu et al. examined stomatal…

The host range of a pathogen depends on its ability to overcome various plant defense barriers and successfully complete its life cycle. Although host “jumps” are considered rare, the pathogens are able to infect plants other than their usual host with varying degree of success. Yellow stripe rust…

The new genetic variation is generated by recombination of the chromosome during meiotic cell divisions. The programmed double-strand breaks are initiated by DNA Topoisomerase VI-a Subunit (SPO11). As the repair of the double-strand breaks is tightly controlled, the number of breaks usually exceeds the…

Studying local adaptation is a tricky as the environmental parameters that we measure might affect the organism’s fitness. When local adaptation is driven by complex and non-covarying stresses, it is predicted that loci with similar pleiotropic effect are favored. Lotterhos et al. developed a framework…

Plant roots are essential organs for water and nutrient uptake, and aboveground biomass support. While these organs are important for many plant functions, the evolutionary history of the root is still unclear. The fossil record suggests that roots evolved in both the lycophyte (clubmosses and their…

Peitong Wang, first author of Arsentate Induced CHLOROSIS 1/ TRANSLOCON at the outer envelope membrane of CHLOROPLASTS 132 Protects Chloroplasts from Arsenic Toxicity Current Position: PhD student. State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, College of Resources and Environmental…

Guest editor: Magdalena Julkowska  Magdalena is a PostDoc at King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (KAUST, Saudi Arabia) working with Prof. Mark Tester. Her main interests are (1) salt-induced changes in root-to-shoot ratio in Arabidopsis, (2) study the expression patterns in plants…

Cecilie Ida Cetti Hansen, first author of Reconfigured cyanogenic glucoside biosynthesis in Eucalyptus cladocalyx involves a cytochrome P450 CYP706C55 Current Position: PhD fellow at the Section for Plant Biochemistry, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark Education: MSc…

Wenshuang Li, first author of A Musashi Splice Variant and its Interaction Partners Influence Temperature Acclimation in Chlamydomonas Current position: PhD candidate of Botany, Matthias Schleiden Institute of Genetics, Bioinformatics and Molecular Botany, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany Education:…

We have been charged by ASPB to conduct a search for the next Editor-in-Chief of The Plant Cell.  Back in March of this year, we began the search process by meeting as a group to discuss potential candidates for this important role.  We invited candidates and issued a call for nominations to…

Schreier et al. investigate the role of a plastid malate dehydrogenase in early chloroplast development. Plant Cell 30: 1745-1769 Background: Malate dehydrogenases (MDH) are enzymes that are widespread in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. MDH interconverts oxaloacetate and malate, using either NAD or…

Proper uptake and management of water is essential for plant growth and adaptation to stress. However, there are gaps in the understanding of the genetics of root hydraulics, including the regulatory components. Tang et al. used a genome-wide associate analysis approach to identify XYLEM NAC DOMAIN 1 (XND1),…

The transition from unicellular to multicellular life forms occurred across multiple kingdoms, and in plants is correlated with the expansion of gene families involved in extracellular matrix formation and cell cycle regulation. Green seaweeds acquired their plant-like body independently of other lineages…

Wild tomato, Solanum pimpinellifolium, exhibits remarkable tolerance to salt stress and bacterial spot disease. Domestication of S.pimpinellifolium requires adjustment of day-length sensitivity, plant compactness, fruit size and the fruit could benefit from increased vitamin C content. Li et al. used…

Asymmetric cell division is instrumental to development of specialized cells, while symmetric cell division underlies proliferative growth. The defects in cell division plane arise when transition between the G1 to S stage is accelerated, suggesting that the signals leading to division plane position…

Orphan crops, like groundcherry (Physalis pruinosa), are regionally important but are not grown on large commercial scale as they never went through a breeding cycle. Precision gene editing techniques, such as CRISPR/Cas9, can alter the most important agronomic traits in relatively short time. Lemmon…

Breeding of crops typically focuses on yield increase, and is accompanied with the loss the genetic diversity, reduced nutritional value as well as susceptibility to environmental stress. As many domestication traits exhibit simple Mendelian inheritance patterns, Zsögön et al. targeted known domestication…

Peiyan Guan, first author of SENSITIVE to SALT1, An ER-localized Chaperone, Positively Regulates Salt Resistance in Arabidopsis Current Position: Lecturer, Biology Department, Dezhou College, Dezhou, China Education: PhD in Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, China Non-scientific Interests:…

Feroza K. Choudhury, first author of Local and systemic metabolic responses during light-induced rapid systemic signaling Current position: Postdoctoral fellow at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, USA Education: PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of North Texas, Texas,…

Hanna Lasok, first author of Root gravitropism is regulated by a crosstalk between para-aminobenzoic acid, ethylene, and auxin Current Position: Unemployed, looking for a job Education: PhD (2018) in the Molecular Plant Physiology, University of Freiburg, Germany. M.S. (2010) in the Plant Biotechnology,…

Hugues Nziengui, first author of Root gravitropism is regulated by a crosstalk between para-aminobenzoic acid, ethylene and auxin Current Position: Independent professional, Saskatoon, SK, Canada Education: PhD in Plant Breeding and Genetics, National Polytechnic Institute of Lorraine, Nancy, France Non-scientific…

Chiara Mizzotti, first author of Time-course transcriptome analysis of Arabidopsis siliques discloses genes essential for fruit development and maturation Current Position: Postdoctoral fellow, Department of Biosciences, Università degli Studi di Milano Education: PhD in Plant Biology (2012),…

Jiakun Zheng, first author of INCREASING NODULE SIZE1 expression is required for normal rhizobial symbiosis and nodule development Current Position: Master candidate student, Root Biology Center, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China Education: Bachelor in College of Agriculture,…

Xinxin Li, first author of INCREASING NODULE SIZE1 expression is required for normal rhizobial symbiosis and nodule development Current Position: Associate Professor in Root Biology Center, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China Education: PhD in Plant Nutrition at the State…

Eiji Gotoh, first author of Chloroplast accumulation response enhances leaf photosynthesis and plant biomass production Current Position: Assistant Professor, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University Education: Eiji Gotoh obtained his Ph.D. at the Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyushu University. Non-scientific…

Focused Review: A role for ecophysiology in the ’omics’ era Ecophysiology is the study of plant functioning as modulated by the environment (or, as described by one author, "outdoors physiology"). Flexas and Gago ask whether research (and training) in  ecophysiology has been left behind somewhat…

Producing data is costly, and with advances in technology, we are producing data with revolutionary capacity. However, we are also losing data at an astonishing rate, with around 80% of data being unavailable 20 years after publication. Griffin et al. provide guidelines, repositories and other resources…

Ecophysiology is the study of plant functioning as modulated by the environment (or, as described by one author, “outdoors physiology“). Flexas and Gago ask whether research (and training) in  ecophysiology has been left behind somewhat by successes in -omics approaches, and from a Web of Science…

The recent focus on quinoa is a result of not only its high nutritional value, but also its astonishing salt stress tolerance. Epidermal bladder cells (EBC) are suspected to be a cause of salinity tolerance by serving as salt dumping place. In order to identify molecular mechanisms underlying salt sequestration,…

Plant cell walls provide mechanical support and define the extent and direction of cell expansion. Regulation of cellulose synthase determines cell wall load bearing and involves the receptor like kinases FEI1/FEI2. To gain further understanding of cell wall integrity regulation Polko et al. performed…

Zeins are maize seed storage proteins, but are notoriously low in the amino acids lycine and tryptophan. Therefore, to improve maize's nutritional properties, efforts have been made to decrease zein levels. However, such efforts often lead to abnormal (opague) kernels. Previous work has demonstrated…

There are pros and cons to growing plants in controlled conditions. On the one hand, controlling light, temperature, humidity and other environmental factors should aid reproducibility between experiments and labs. But what if the conditions used profoundly and unexpectedly affect the process you are…

Junpeng Zhan, first author of Opaque-2 regulates a complex gene network associated with cell differentiation and storage function of maize endosperm Current Position: Postdoctoral Associate, Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri Education: Ph.D. in Plant Science, University of Arizona,…

Chi Zhang, first author of The MAPK kinase kinase GmMEKK1 regulates cell death and defense responses Current Position: Postgraduate Student in the College of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China 321004 Education: Bachelor's Degree in Biology, Shaanxi University of…

Zhi-Rong Wang, first author of The MAPK kinase kinase GmMEKK1 regulates cell death and defense responses Current Position: Research Manager, Zhejiang Tian-Feng Bio-Science Company, Jinhua, China 321004 Education: Master Degree in Plant Genetics from Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China 321004 Non-scientific…

Zhen-Chao Li, first author of The MAPK kinase kinase GmMEKK1 regulates cell death and defense responses Current Position: Postgraduate Student, College of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, Zhejiang, China Education: Bachelor's Degree in Biology, Ludong University, Yantai,…

Hui-Yang Xu, first author of The MAPK kinase kinase GmMEKK1 regulates cell death and defense responses Current Position: Education Counselor, Zhejiang Post and Telecommunication College, Shaoxing, China. Education: MS in Plant Genetics from Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China Non-scientific…

(From a press release written in Chinese - original here) On September 10th , The Plant Cell published a research paper entitled Maize Oxalyl-CoA Decarboxylase1 Degrades Oxalate and Affects the Seed Metabolome and Nutritional Quality by the Wu Yongrui Research Group of the Institute of Plant and Plant…

Qian Zhang, first author of Blue light regulates secondary cell wall thickening via MYC2/MYC4 activation of the NST1-directed transcriptional network in Arabidopsis Current Position: PhD candidate. National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics ＆ CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences,…

Priya Voothuluru, first author of An in vivo imaging assay detects spatial variability in glucose release from plant roots Current Position: Research Associate, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee Education: Ph.D. University of Missouri 2012 Non-scientific interests:…

The great strides we’ve made in understanding how plants perceive their environment, from light to pathogens to nutrients, haven't been matched with an understanding of what they do with all that information; how do so many inputs get integrated into a single or few responses? And how does the information…

Of course plants need to communicate between their different parts, and our understanding of these crucial signals has been advancing rapidly. This issue of Plant Cell Physiology includes a set of papers highlighting recent findings. A meeting report by Kiba on the Integrative Graduate Education and…

Zinc is an important micronutrient for plants and people. To better understand Zn uptake and homeostasis, Sinclair et al. used a transcriptomic approach to identify genes abnormally expressed in zinc-transporter mutants (hma2 hma4). In these mutants, Zn accumulates in roots but isn’t effectively transported…

Polyamines including spermine and spermidine are present in all eukaryotes and have diverse roles. In plants they have been implicated in responses ranging from abiotic and biotic stresses to grain filling. Tao et al. examined the function of OsPMS1, encoding a spermine synthase, through genetic methods…

FT encodes a mobile protein that carries a flower-promoting signal to the shoot apical meristem. In most plants, the FT gene has duplicated and diversified. Mulki et al. investigated the function of FT3 (HvFT3) in barley. Prior work showed that overexpression of HvFT1 accellerated the initiation and…

Do you know the difference between a wine made from Pinot noir grapes and one made from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes? Most people can taste a difference, but to really understand the wines you might want to go a bit deeper through metabolomic and transcriptomic approaches, as done by Fasoli et al. (in a…

Several years of intensive research have revealed a suite of mobile signals that travel long-distances to inform meristems on developmental phase transitions or to protect distal plant tissues from abiotic or biotic stressors. In a new article published in Science, Toyota et al. (2018) identify a role…

Nitrogen-fixing rhizobacteria and leguminous plants engage in a tightly controlled root symbiosis resulting from bacteria-to-plant as well as (plant) shoot-to-root communication. This interplay controls the initiation and maintenance of root nodule development while preventing the over-production of…

Cell surface pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs) such as FLS2 that recognize conserved pathogen features are important contributors to plant defenses against pathogens, triggering the so-called Pattern-Triggered Immunity (PTI) response. Pattern recognition by PRRs triggers the production of extracellular…

Sometimes the plant is a relatively passive host upon which other organisms engage in dynamic interactions. Chen et al. showed that a wheat head-associated bacterium, Pseudomonas piscium, produces antifungal compounds that inhibit the growth of a plant pathogenic fungus, Fusarium graminearum. The authors…

The rhizosphere represents a complex and dynamic environment that poses many challenges for seed germination and seedling establishment. While a number of well-characterized abiotic factors and hormone signaling pathways are known to contribute to the initiation of seed germination, our current understanding…

Mixing different plant species in a single field increases productivity by exploiting species complementarities for capturing resources (i.e. water, nutrients, sunlight). Both competition avoidance responses and individual organ accommodations to the changing environment  contribute to this complementarity.…

Special Issue: Long-distance signaling ($) Of course plants need to communicate between their different parts, and our understanding of these crucial signals has been advancing rapidly. This issue of Plant Cell Physiology includes a set of papers highlighting recent findings. A meeting report by…

The plant immune system is effective in conferring resistance to various invading pathogens and pests. Membrane-localized pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) and intracellular nucleotide-binding domain, leucine-rich repeat proteins (NLRs) recognize pathogen-associated molecular patterns and pathogen…

Umarah Mubeen, first author of Target of Rapamycin inhibition in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii triggers de-novo amino acid synthesis by enhancing nitrogen assimilation Current Position: Doctoral student Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology (MPIMP), Potsdam, Germany Education: MS Industrial…

Cătălin Voiniciuc, first author of Identification of Key Enzymes for Pectin Synthesis in Seed Mucilage Current Position: Research Associate at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf Education: Ph.D., summa cum laude (RWTH Aachen University), M.Sc. (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada),…

Mingzhu Fan, first author of A Trihelix Family Transcription Factor is Associated with Key Genes in Mixed-linkage Glucan Accumulation Current Position: Postdoctoral Researcher at Michigan State University Education: PhD in Developmental Biology (2013), Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences,…

Yuan Xue, first author of VAMP711 is required for ABA-mediated inhibition of plasma membrane H+-ATPase activity Current Position: Ph.D. of Science, China Agricultural University, Stake Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry Education: Biological ScienceBachelor of Science, Shandong…

Muhammad Aman Mulki, first author of FLOWERING LOCUS T3 (FT3) promotes spikelet formation but not floral development Current Position: Postdoctoral fellow, Plant Breeding and Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany. Education: PhD, Crop Genetics, University…

I guess we're well past the stage of thinking "one gene - one protein", but even a single polypeptide isn't really one protein, due to the huge number of different types of post-translational modification (PTM) it can be subjected to. These are summarized in the illustration that accompanies the editorial…

Just like the epigenome is the collection of epigenetic marks on DNA, the epitranscriptome is the collection of epigenetic marks on mRNA. Vandivier and Gregory review our current understanding of the epitranscriptome, with a focus on N6-methyladenosine (m6A) and 5-methylcytosine (m5C), and their various…

The plant pathogenic bacterium Xylella fastidiosa occurs widely and often asymptomatically, yet it is associated with a few seriously bad disease outbreaks, the most recent affecting olive trees in southern Italy and adjoining regions. It also is the causal agent of Pierce’s Disease of grapevine, citrus…

One of the fundamental challenges facing terrestrial plants occurs when CO2 levels are depleted at Rubisco, causing its inefficient oxygenase activity to dominate. Some plants minimize this problem by adding a carbon-fixing step upstream of Rubisco, and various algae and cyanobacteria sequester Rubisco…

Plants regularly prioritize either growth or defense, leading to reduced growth rate when the plant is under attack. Wang et al. have identified a simple switch  in rice that demonstrates this principle beautifully. The Ideal Plant Architecture 1 (IPA1) transcription factor is involved in controlling…

Sex chromosome restructure has happened frequently during the evolution of eukaryotes, often resulting in highly differentiated sex chromosomes. However, little is known about this process in plants. The wild North American octoploid strawberries (Fragaria) have separate sexes with homomorphic, female…

Kiyoshi et al. investigated auxin biosynthesis during the formation of crown galls by Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Agrobacterium introduces into the plant T-DNA containing two auxin biosynthesis genes iaaM (TRYPTOPHAN-2-MONOOXYGENASE) and iaaH (INDOLE-3-ACETAMIDE HYDROLASE). The authors used LC-MS/MS to…

Many plant hormones have pleiotropic effects, switching on and off multiple, seemingly unrelated processes. As an example, jasmonates both turn on herbivore defense responses and suppress growth. Takaoka et al. have elegantly separated these, by developing a jasmonate mimic that only activates defences.…

Brassinostreroid (BR) regulates the development of the root apical meristem. High levels of BR have inhibitory effects on cell production rates in the meristem and low levels show the opposite effect. Ruan, Halat et al. showed that BR regulates microtubule-associated CLASP (CLIP-Associated Protein) expression…

It’s often surprising and a bit confusing when a protein that has been implicated in one process reveals itself to be involved in a totally different process as well. BAK1 (also known as SERK3) was first identified as a co-receptor for brassinosteroids (BRs), forming ligand-induced heterodimers with…

Special issue: Orchestrating the proteome with post-translational modifications I guess we're well past the stage of thinking "one gene - one protein", but even a single polypeptide isn't really one protein, due to the huge number of different types of post-translational modification (PTM) it can…

Lijuan Song, first author of The genomes uncoupled mutants are more sensitive to norflurazon than wild type Current position: PhD student, Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology, Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China Education: BS (2016) from JiangHan University,…

Going grocery-shopping on an empty stomach is a bad idea. You’re bound to make poor decisions, not based on nutritional content of the food but based on temporary cravings that will leave you asking for more later. Plants face this nutritional puzzle every day, since they eat where they shop, and shop…

Plants must accommodate many stresses in order to grow and reproduce normally. Heat stress in particular can negatively affect anther development in flowering plants, leading to male-sterile flowers that produce indehiscent anthers and sterile pollen, and consequently are not capable of sexual reproduction.…

Huawen Lin, first author of MAPINS, a highly efficient detection method that identifies insertional mutations and complex DNA rearrangements Current Position: Instructor, Department of Genetics, Washington University in St. Louis, USA Education: PhD in Plant Physiology from Washington University…

In addition to hormones, proteins, and metabolites, many plants use mRNAs as mobile molecules for long-distance communication. It has been demonstrated that many mobile mRNAs are trafficked through phloem, probably by forming an RNA-protein complex to allow the stable translocation of mRNA molecules.…

Stomatal opening is stimulated by light, including blue and red light. Blue light-induced stomatal opening is fairly well understood: it is mediated by blue-light photoreceptor phototropins (phot1 and phot2). Blue light activates the plasma membrane (PM) H+-ATPase via phosphorylation of its penultimate…

Senescence in plants is a prelude to cell or organ death. The metabolites and macromolecules released during senescence are salvaged by the plant for use elsewhere. Generally, senescence occurs prior to programmed cell death (PCD), since the characteristic leaf yellowing can be reversed while PCD is…

The study of phloem transport and its vital roles in long distance communication and carbon allocation have been hampered by a lack of suitable tools that allow high-throughput, real-time studies. Since the 1970s, several studies have used 11C or 14C isotopes to measure rates of phloem transport in large…

Recent evidence indicates that H2S acts as an important messenger that affects plant responses to abiotic stresses, including high salinity, drought, heat shock, heavy metals, and oxidative stress. H2S signaling has also been shown to modulate important physiological processes, such as photosynthesis,…

Plastids differentiate into subtypes. For example, the transition of proplastids to chloroplasts defines the photosynthetic tissues within a plant, whereas amyloplasts are formed in nonphotosynthetic tissues. Recently, evidence has accumulated for a novel class of plastids that is specialized for stress…

Studies of flower development have lots of information about petals, carpels, and stamens, but let’s not forget the birds and the bees—and the flies and moths—and what draws pollinators to insect-pollinated flowers, including flower color, shape, and rewards that provide energy. For example, to…

What we think of as a strawberry is botanically not a berry or even a fruit, but rather multiple fruits (achenes that contain the seeds) on the outside of a swollen receptacle. This technicality aside, strawberries are both economically important and a useful system in which to study seed-fruit communication.…

Light is life, especially for plants. It fuels photosynthesis and, when perceived by photoreceptors, directs important developmental programs, including photomorphogenesis and shade avoidance. Red and blue light wavelengths activate phytochrome (phy) and cryptochrome (cry) photoreceptors, respectively,…

Protein-protein interactions mediate fundamental biological processes. Yeast two-hybrid assays can be used to detect protein-protein interactions in a fast and large-scale manner. However, in traditional yeast-two hybrid assays, the prey and bait proteins must be located in the nucleus to activate reporter…

Yuki Yoshida, first author of  The Arabidopsis phyB-9 mutant has a second-site mutation in the VENOSA4 gene that alters chloroplast size, photosynthetic traits, and leaf growth Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher in Graduate School of Science at The University of Tokyo. Education: PhD and…

Aigerim Soltabayeva, first author of Early senescence in the older leaves of low nitrate grown Atxdh1 mutant uncovers a role for purine catabolism in N supply Current Position: Postdoctoral Researcher at the Biology Department in the School of Science and Technology at Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan Education:…

Auxin has been studied since Charles Darwin observed the phototropic response. More recently, chemical genetic approaches using auxin agonists and antagonists have been applied to studies of auxin. Torii et al. review how synthetic chemistry and chemical genetics have provided insights into and new tools…

How chloroplasts remain viable inside of herbivorous sea slugs is a long-standing curiosity. Unlike corals, which host intact photosynthetic algae, sea slugs retain naked chloroplasts (which are then called kleptoplasts – stolen plastids), some of which remain viable for seveal weeks. Christa et al.…

Numerous prokaryotic and eukaryotic genes have been identified as having homology to viral sequences. This phenomenon is the result of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) between viral pathogens and host cells. Chu and collaborators performed a proteome-wide analysis for the identification of viral domains…

When plant cells are infected by RNA viruses, viral replication complexes are generated in organelle-like structures. These vesicles are important for the replication of viral RNA (vRNA) as well as moving vRNA-protein complexes through plasmodesmata to infect other plant cells. When turnip mosaic virus…

Plasmodesmata are cell-cell junctions that form cytosolic channels between neighboring plant cells. These junctions mediate the exchange of information between cells during various stress and developmental programs by actively regulating the aperture of the channel entrance or ‘pore’. In a new study…

Martinez et al. used a modelling approach to see if it is possible to predict the location of a cell’s future division plane. In most cases the cell divides according to strict geometric rules, such that the newly formed wall will have a minimum area (described as a soap-film minimization model). However,…

Ploidy refers to the number of genomes contained within a nucleus. Ploidy levels can increase through whole-genome duplication, which affects every cell equally, and through endoreduplication, a cell-by-cell process in which DNA synthesis is not accompanied by cytokinesis. Robinson et al. investigated…

The HYDRA1 (HYD1) gene is primarily expressed in the root epidermis and encodes a sterol Δ8-Δ7 isomerase. The hyd1 mutant has defects in growth and radial patterning of root development. Short et al. showed that although HYD1 is not expressed in the vascular cells, PIN1 localization and vascular patterning…

By now we’re probably all familiar with the central dogma of auxin signalling; that the interaction between auxin and auxin receptors (e.g., TIR1) leads to degradation of Aux/IAA proteins, freeing up ARF transcription factors to do their things. The complexity of this simple system arises in part due…

Plant lipid transfer proteins (LTPs) display a strikingly clear capacity to bind lipidic molecules yet their mechanistic role in plant developmental or stress physiology is not yet clear. In a recent study published in Molecular Plant Pathology, Fahlberg et al. (2018) investigated the role of glycophosphatidylinositiol-(GPI)-anchored…

Much has been discussed about the impacts of abiotic effects (e.g., heat and drought stress) on crop yields arising from climate change. Here, Deutsch and Tewksbury et al. evaluate how a changing climate will affect crop (wheat, rice and maize) yields through increases in insect herbivory. Temperature…

Review: Harnessing synthetic chemistry to probe and hijack auxin signaling Auxin has been studied since Charles Darwin observed the phototropic response. More recently, chemical genetic approaches using auxin agonists and antagonists have been applied to studies of auxin. Torii et al. review how…

The circadian rhythm confers competitive advantages by coordinating the physiology and behavior of biological systems. The internal clock in eukaryote organisms comprises feedback loops, and in Arabidopsis most of them involve negative transcriptional regulation events as well as post-transciptional,…

Li Yu, first author of The patterned structure of galactoglucomannan suggests it may bind to cellulose in seed mucilage Current Position: Research Associate at Department of Biochemistry and The Leverhulme Trust Centre for Natural Material Innovation, University of Cambridge, UK Education: Ph.D.…

Ascensión Andres-Garrido, first author of Chloroplast damage induced by the inhibition of fatty acid synthesis triggers autophagy in Chlamydomonas CURRENT POSITION: Ph.D. student in Genetics Department, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain EDUCATION: Master’s Degree in Plant Breeding NON…

Luis Heredia-Martínez, first author of Chloroplast damage induced by the inhibition of fatty acid synthesis triggers autophagy in Chlamydomonas Current Position: Ph.D. student at the Institute of Plant Biochemistry and Photosynthesis (CSIC-Universidad de Sevilla) Seville, Spain. Education: Master…

Christian R. Boehm, first author of Recent advances and current challenges in synthetic biology of the plastid genetic system and metabolism Current Position: Research Associate at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Potsdam, Germany / Research Affiliate of the Centre for the Study…

Jisheng Li, first author of Hydrogen sulfide disturbs actin polymerization via S-sulfhydration resulting in stunted root hair growth Current Position: Associate professor, College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, China Education: Ph.D in Lanzhou University, China Non-scientific…

Green leaf volatiles (GLVs) are a set of six-carbon volatile molecules that are produced in response to wounding and herbivore activity and contribute to plant defences including indirect defences. As yet, the pathways involved in production and removal of GLVs are largely not known. Tanaka et al. identified…

Marimo are aggregations of the filamentous green macroalga Aegagropila linnaei. They grow in lake beds in Japan, Iceland and Ukraine and are can rise to the lake surface after becoming buoyant. In this paper, Cano-Ramirez et al. showed that this movement is the product of the formation of air bubbles…

Stomata opening and closing are regulated by guard cells. Airborne pollutants such as ozone, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide cause stomatal closure. In this study, Lia Ooi et al. tried to understand the molecular mechanism of SO2-induced stomatal closure. SO2 is found in three forms in aqueous solution…

The Casparian strip in the endodermis acts a barrier to allow the selective absorption of water and nutrients. Because of its cell-specific presence, the Casparian strip is considered a marker for functional endodermis. The cellular identity of endodermis is controlled by two transcription factors, SHR…

In this study, the authors performed strand-specific RNA sequencing of wild-type seedlings at 16°C, 23°C, and 27°C. They have found one candidate gene, a small nuclear robinucleoprotein family protein which contains a Like-Sm (LSM) domain. They named it as PORCUPINE (PCP) due to its “spiky” phenotype.…

Plants experience abiotic stresses, such as alteration of temperature, and their responses have been studied through transcriptomics and proteomics approaches. X et al have studied how low temperature stress affects the transcriptome through alternative splicing. The author showed that a few hours after…

Subcellular trafficking helps determine the development of the plant through for instance the regulation of polar localization of auxin transporter PIN-FORMED (PIN) proteins. PIN trafficking or recycling is maintained by GNOM, a BFA-sensitive ARF GEF (ADP-ribosylation factor guanine nucleotide exchange…

ARF GEFs (ADP-ribosylation factor guanine nucleotide exchange factors) play a major role in the intracellular trafficking and eventually regulate developmental cues. As plants contain multiple ARF GEF with very similar sequences, chemical genetics approaches are more appropriate to uncover their function…

This week's edition is guest edited by Arif Ashraf, a PhD student at Iwate University, Japan and Graduate Student Ambassador of ASPB. His research interest is understanding the hormonal interplay in primary root development of Arabidopsis thaliana. He blogs about plant science (http://www.aribidopsis.com/).…

Andrew Elliott, first author of A Cycloheximide-Sensitive Step in Transverse Microtubule Array Patterning Current Position:  Postdoctoral Fellow, Oncological Sciences, Huntsman Cancer Institute/University of Utah Education:  PhD, Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, Indiana University Bloomington Non-scientific…

Finding genes that function in plant development often requires mutant screening, but probing the wealth of natural variation can provide important insights as well. A major focus of developmental biology is uncovering the mechanism behind cell polarity, that is, how components are deposited asymmetrically…

Every plant organ, from tuber to tepal, is formed by cells that divide along precisely placed cell plates. While much is known about the molecular biology behind cell plate formation (e.g., Gu et al., 2016), why cells divide where they do is much less clear. Dividing cells have much in common with soap…

Qin Hu, first author of GhCPK33 negatively regulates defense against Verticillium dahliae by phosphorylating GhOPR3 Current Position: Post-Doctoral position at the National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University (China)  Education: PhD in Crop Science, Huazhong…

Byung Ha Lee, first author of Arabidopsis protein kinase D6PKL3 is involved in formation of distinct plasma-membrane aperture domains on the pollen surface Current Position: Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Molecular Genetics and Center for Applied Plant Sciences, The Ohio State University,…

Asis Shrestha, first author of An ancestral allele of pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthase1 promotes proline accumulation and drought adaptation in cultivated barley Current Position: Doctoral student, Plant Breeding, INRES, University of Bonn, Germany Education: Masters of Science in Agriculture Sciences…

Shumaila Muzammil, first author of An ancestral allele of pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthase1 promotes proline accumulation and drought adaptation in cultivated barley Education: Doctorate, University of Bonn, Germany Non-scientific interests: Traveling, reading Brief Bio: I completed my MSc (hons)…

Land plants had to acquire new ways to occupy the terrestrial environment, including the innovative shooting system with organs in a radial position. This new 3D form of growth was possible thanks to the capacity to rotate stem cells divisions through different orientation planes. In Arabidopsis the…

Plants and cars need energy and are powered by a process that has changed depending on the environment: photosynthesis, in the case of plants and an engine in the case of cars. Hartzell and coworkers make an analogy in the evolution of the original C3 pathway and the evolution of the internal combustion…

Jesús Beltrán, first author of Specialized Plastids Trigger Tissue-specific Signaling for Systemic Stress Response in Plants Current Position: Postdoctoral Research Associate at The Pennsylvania State University Education: BSc in Biology, MPhil in Biology, PhD in Biology-Plant Science Non-scientific…

Everybody mentors, but usually without much training in how to be an effective mentor. I recommend that you have a look at Beronda Montgomery’s short article, “From Deficits to Possibilities: Mentoring Lessons from Plants on Cultivating Individual Growth through Environmental Assessment and Optimization.”…

The Rhynie chert  (near the village of Rhynie, Scotland; chert is a type of sedimentary rock) is an important site for plant biologists as it holds some of earliest and best preserved land-plant fossils. Hetherington and Dolan examined more than 600 thin sections prepared from this site, specifically…

The plant vacuole makes up to 90% of the cell volume and its dynamics are important for regulating growth, development and stomatal movement. Membrane fusion between the vacuole and the smaller vesicles is at the heart of central vacuole establishment. Homotypic fusion and vacuole protein sorting…

When it comes to evading pests and pathogens, stealth comes in handy. Anything that advertises “food here” is an invitation. Therefore, the work of Hu et al. shouldn’t be surprising, but it is a great story. Phytosiderophores such as benzoxazinoid are secreted by roots to chelate iron and facilitate…

Most of the proteins that function inside of mitochondria or chloroplasts are encoded in the nucleus, translated in the cytosol, and imported through one or two membrane-localized translocons. (In mitochondria the outer- and inner-membrane translocons are called TOM and TIM, and in chloroplasts they…

Wheat is a tough nut to crack, as it is hexaploid, comprising three diploid genomes (the A, B and D genomes). The International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium has released a fully-annotated wheat reference genome, and Ramírez-González et al. present a thorough analysis of its transcriptome. Although…

Kopittke et al. review the use of synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence microscopy as a tool to quantify and localize diverse elements in plants. The authors describe how this method can be used to study nutrients in plants and human foods, as well as metal hyperaccumulating plants, and toxic metal(oid)…

Giberellins (GA) are plant hormones that have diverse role in plant growth and development. Although many GAs have been identified, only few of them show functional activity in plants. GAs are perceived by the GID1 receptor, which is widespread in vascular plants and structuraly similar to carboxylesterases…

Review: X-ray fluorescence microscopy imaging Kopittke et al. review the use of synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence microscopy as a tool to quantify and localize diverse elements in plants. The authors describe how this method can be used to study nutrients in plants and human foods, as well as metal…

Aidi Zhang, first author of Transcriptome analysis identifies a zinc finger protein regulating starch degradation in kiwifruit Current Position: PhD student in the Institute of Fruit Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. Education: B.S. (2013) College of Horticulture Science and Engineering,…

Bi et al. provide a link between immune receptors and MAPK cascades. Plant Cell (2018) https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00981.   By G. Bi and J.-M. Zhou Background: Plants use numerous immune receptors localized at the cell surface to detect invading pathogens. These receptors send a warning signal…

Zizhen et al. perform electron tomography and correlative gene expression analyses of thylakoid assembly in greening Arabidopsis cotyledons Plant Cell (2018) https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00972 By Byung-Ho Kang Background: The chloroplast produces carbohydrates and molecular oxygen from water,…

Mateo-Bonmatí et al. have found novel components of the Arabidopsis epigenetic machinery. Plant Cell (2018). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00300  By Eduardo Mateo-Bonmatí, Lucía Juan-Vicente, Riad Nadi, and José Luis Micol Background: In multicellular organisms, most cells contain the same…

Chen et al. reveal a multilayer molecular protection system functioning in Arabidopsis and human cells https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00236 By Mingjia Chen and Claus-Peter Witte Background: RNA possesses over 100 distinct posttranscriptional modifications in eukaryotic species. N6-methyladenosine…

Meng et al. show that sorbitol acts as a signal regulating resistance to the fungal pathogen Alternaria alternata in apple.Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00231 By Dong Meng, B. Gillian Turgeon and Lailiang Cheng Background: Sugars produced by photosynthesis fuel plant growth and development,…

Liu, et al. examine how wound response and its control mechanism differs between domesticated and wild tomato. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00194. By Ming-Jung Liu and Shin-­Han Shiu Background: Two related species accumulate differences between each other over time. If one of the…

We're excited to annouce the publication of The Plant Cell's latest Teaching Tool, "Small and mighty: Peptide hormones in plant biology," by Sonali Roy, Peter Lundquist, Michael Udvardi, and Wolf-Rüdiger Scheible, available without subscription at Plantae.org. A phytohormone (plant hormone) is defined…

Anjil Kumar Srivastava, first author of SUMO Suppresses the Activity of the Jasmonic Acid Receptor CORONATINE INSENSITIVE 1 Current Position: Postdoctoral Research Associate in Department of Biosciences, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom Education: Ph.D. in Botany from Purvanchal University,…

Rahul Arvind Bhosale, first author of A spatiotemporal DNA endoploidy map of the Arabidopsis root reveals roles for the endocycle in root development and stress adaptation Current Position: Research Fellow at Department of Plant Sciences, University of Nottingham, UK. Education: PhD in Biochemistry…

Small RNAs constitute a unique signal transduction mechanism by targeting specific mRNAs and causing a direct down-regulation of target gene expression. Mobile RNAs are known to act as positional cues in developing tissues or to signal stress responses at the systemic level. Although plasmodesmata…

Nectar production is a crucial feature of plants to attract insects and enhance their expansion across the ecosystems. The molecular basis of nectary development has been studied in detail only in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, where the nectaries are positioned on the flower receptacle and near…

Green revolution varieties of rice and wheat are dwarfed, making them resistant to lodging, and DELLA proteins contribute to this dwarfing. At the same time, green-revolution varieties are not very good at taking up nitrogen, so much of the applied fertilizer is wasted (and polluting). Li et al. have…

Increasing water use efficiency is important for improving crop yields in diverse environments. This has been difficult due to the complex morphological and biochemical processes involved in water use and plant growth. Feldman and colleagues use a high-throughput phenotyping platform to monitor an interspecific…

The exploration of space is one of the most inspiring areas of scientific research and a major driver of technological innovation. One of the major factors limiting human expansion trough space is the immensely high cost of resupplying resources from Earth. Mars is the closest neighbor to Earth and although…

Signals determining tissue polarity are fundamental to proper organ development. Asymmetry across the entire organ  arises due to to polarity fields. Although there are numerous examples of proteins that express preferential polar localization in the cell, the mechanism that coordinates the polarity…

REIL1 and REIL2 proteins in Arabidopsis are homologs of REI1, a yeast ribosome biogenesis factor. REI1 facilitates 60S ribosomal maturation in yeast. Beine-Golovchuk and co-workers have studied the cold acclimation response of the double mutant reil1-1 reil2-1. Previous studies by the same group showed…

Introducing DNA or RNA into plant cells remains a challenge. Demirer et al. describe a new method for transient expression studies through delivery of DNA or RNA via carbon nanotubes (CNTs); the size of the nanoparticles is smaller than the exclusion limit for plant cell walls. The authors show that…

Plants engage in intimate interactions with symbiotic microbes for the mutually beneficial exchange of nutrients. In a keystone study published in PLoS Biology, Van Deyze et al. (2018) describe the presence of nitrogen-fixing microbiota contained within an extensively carbohydrate rich mucilage found…

The transition from aquatic to terrestrial environments exposed the earliest land plants to higher doses of damaging ultraviolet (UV-B) radiation. To cope with this stress, land plants evolved complex signalling mechanisms and an inventory of protective ‘sunscreen-like’ flavonoids. To explore whether…

As sessile organisms, plants must constantly sense and respond to a dynamic range of stimuli in their environment, which includes both the duration of light (photoperiod) and the presence of microbial invaders. In a recent article published in Plant Physiology, Cagnola et al. (2018) investigate how plant…

Complex developmental programs regulate tissue and organ formation throughout the green plant lineage, from early diverging non-vascular lineages (bryophytes) to vascular flowering (angiosperm) plants. In the model liverwort Marchantia polymorpha, epidermal patterning gives rise to surface structures…

Calixto et al. demonstrate a rapid wave of alternative splicing as temperatures drop. The Plant Cell (2018) https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00177. By Cristiane Calixto and John Brown Background: Alternative splicing (AS) allows a single gene to produce more than one transcript, which can affect…

Xie et al. discover an EPSP synthase gene involved in the transcriptional regulation of the phenylpropanoid pathway in Populus trichocarpa The Plant Cell (2018). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00168. By Meng Xie, Wellington Mechuro, Jin-Gui Chen, and Gerald A. Tuskan Background: 5-enolpyruvylshikimate…

Corem et al. demonstrate a switch in DNA methylation patterns across the tomato genome. The Plant Cell (2018). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00167. By Shira Corem, Tzahi Arazi and Nicolas Bouché Background: Crop genomes are covered by transposons, which are DNA sequences that can jump from one…

Yang et al. investigate the role of autophagy in the ongoing arms race of plant defense and viral counterdefense. The Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00122 By Meng Yang and Dawei Li Background: Most plants have defense mechanisms that enable resistance to pathogens. One of theses is…

Chen et al. higlight the importance of AS in diversifying gene function and regulating phenotypic variation. The Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00109 Background: Alternative splicing (AS) of precursor mRNAs is an essential regulatory mechanism that greatly enhances transcriptome and proteome…

Ma et al. investigate epigenetic aspects of heat-induced male sterility in cotton. By Yizan Ma, Ling Min and Xianlong Zhang Background:  Global warming causes extremely high temperatures in summer in some areas. Certain crops cultivated in summer cannot tolerate extreme heat stress and begin…

Once viewed merely as inert packets of metabolic energy that are mobilized during postgerminative growth, lipid droplets (LDs) have emerged as dynamic organelles with important roles in processes ranging from stress responses to hormone signaling (Pyc et al., 2017). LDs consist of a core of neutral lipids…

Most proteins within a cell are encoded in the nucleus and then translated in the cytosol, but how do they end up where they need to be? With the exception of the few proteins expressed within the chloroplast, the process of shipping nucleus-encoded proteins into the chloroplast is dependent on N-terminal…

Perspective: The multiplanetary future of plant synthetic biology The exploration of space is one of the most inspiring areas of scientific research and a major driver of technological innovation. One of the major factors limiting human expansion trough space is the immensely high cost of resupplying…

Fu et al. demonstrate a requirement for the heterochromatin factors CMT and DDM1 in RNA-directed DNA methylation in maize. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00053 By Fang-fang Fu and Jonathan I. Gent
 Background: DNA methylation is a chemical modification of DNA consisting of addition…

Yamada and Goshisma identify a nuclear transporter that controls the position of the nucleus during cell growth in plants https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00038. Background: Transportation of cellular components to appropriate locations for their activity is a critical aspect of cell function. Microtubule…

Mine et al. use RNA-seq to study RPS2-mediated bacterial resistance https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00970 By Akira Mine, Carolin Seyfferth and Kenichi Tsuda Background: To fight against pathogens, plants can detect enemies and transduce the signal to reprogram gene expression in the cell as a defense…

Park et al. demonstrate that phytochrome B preferentially inhibits its interacting transcription factors via one of two mechanisms depending on light conditions. The Plant Cell (2018). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00913. By Eunae Park Background: Phytochrome B (phyB) is a plant photoreceptor…

Carter et al. explore aspects of chromatin remodeling related to gene expression in Arabidopsis. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00867 By Benjamin Carter and Joe Ogas Background: Plant tissues are composed of cells that all contain the same genomic information and yet have very different properties.…

Yao et al. found that OsPM1 can move the plant hormone abscisic acid into rice cells. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00770. By Lingya Yao and Xiaochun Ge Background: Abscisic acid (ABA) is an important plant hormone that regulates plant seed dormancy and stress responses, especially drought responses.…

Background: Maize is one of the world’s leading crops that is used for food, feed, and fuel. Maize is vulnerable to adverse environmental conditions that lead to production losses. Such conditions can upset delicate cellular processes in maize cells such as protein folding in the endoplasmic reticulum…

Yang et al. investigate the evolution of flowering time in the young species Capsella rubella. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00124 Background: Flowering time is an important adaptive life-history trait in plants. Capsella rubella, a close relative of Arabidopsis thaliana and—in evolutionary time—a…

Clavel et al. investigate recognition and binding of AGO1 by viral P0 protein https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00111. By Marion Clavel Background:  In plants, small RNAs (sRNAs) are widely used to regulate gene expression of both host genes and foreign nucleic acid, like viruses. sRNAs function…

Roberts et al. investigate cell wall synthesis in Physcomitrella patens. The Plant Cell (2018). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00082. By Alison Roberts and Eric Roberts Background: The health-promoting soluble fiber in whole grains is rich in mixed-linkage glucan (MLG), so called because it consists…

Breker et al. provide a large collection of mutants in cell-cycle-essential pathways in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00071. By Michal Breker Background: The cell division cycle is a set of tightly regulated and orchestrated events that lead to accurate…

Poitout et al. study how plants forage for nutrients in the soil https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00011. By Arthur Poitout and Sandrine Ruffel Background: Nitrate, NO3- (the preferential nitrogen [N] source for most of higher plants) is spread unevenly in the soil due to its high mobile property,…

Seung et al. identify two plastidial coiled-coil proteins that play an important role in initiating starch granules in Arabidopsis chloroplasts https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00219  By David Seung, Tina B. Schreier,  Léo Bürgy, Simona Eicke and Samuel C. Zeeman. Background: Starch is the…

Plant Cell Editor Zach Lippman and his work are featured in this National Geographic article, "Why Gene Editing Is the Next Food Revolution" Tucked into a suburban Long Island neighborhood, a 12-acre plot may be growing the future. Under a blistering July sun, Zachary Lippman bends over…

Press release from The World of Seeds, translated by Google Translate Rice and upland rice are two ecological types of Asian cultivated rice that are differentiated under different water conditions, and their drought resistance is significantly different. Therefore, mining the drought-resistant genes…

Source: SeedQuest Some plants like the giant sequoia trees can grow into the “Largest Living Things on Earth”. Ironically, most of a tree’s biomass is actually not alive, but is formed by persistent cell corpses that are collectively called wood. Wood development is terminated by a tightly controlled…

Peter M Kopittke, first author of Synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence microscopy as a technique for imaging of elements in plants Current Position: Associate Professor in Soil and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia Education: PhD in Soil Science, Graduate…

Eigo Ando, first author of Red light-induced phosphorylation of PM H+-ATPase in stomatal guard cells of Arabidopsis thaliana Current position: Ph.D. Student, graduating in October 2018 Education: B.S. (2012): Division of Biological Science, School of Science, Nagoya University, Japan; M.S. (2014):…

As plant biologists, we do love to consider the physiological adaptations plants have made to being sessile organisms—unlike animals, plants cannot move away from adverse environmental conditions such as high temperature, etc. We commonly consider such responses for organisms, but what about genes?…

Plants integrate signals in the form of light, humidity, temperature, CO2 concentrations and daily circadian rhythms. In addition, plants encounter pathogens, pests, herbivores and other stressors. Physiological processes like responding to stimuli, plant growth and development are usually governed and…

Global climate change is one of the most pressing issues facing our world today. The impact of increasing temperatures can be felt in diverse areas, including human health and disease, natural ecosystems, and food security. In the agricultural sector, deciphering how plants respond to changing environmental…

Abdellatif Bahaji, first author of Plastidial phosphoglucose isomerase is an important determinant of seed yield through involvement in gibberellin-mediated reproductive development and biosynthesis of storage reserves in Arabidopsis Current Position: Postdoctoral fellow at the Instituto de Agrobiotecnología,…

Leaf morphology, both between species and within the same organism, 
 is diverse: leaves can be simple or compound; they can have margins that are smooth or serrated, and they can be flat or have various curvatures. In Arabidopsis, leaf development starts with extensive cell proliferation throughout…

During the course of evolution, the invasion of lands by  plants exposed plant tissues to air, 
which dramatically lowered the resistance for CO2 diffusion to chloroplasts by ~10,000-fold. The evolutionary development of the leaf intercellular airspace was a key innovation that allowed land plants…

Depending on the species, daylength profoundly affects the timing of key developmental transitions in plants, including, floral initiation, tuberization, and bud set and growth cessation in trees. To explore additional effects of daylength on plant function, Cagnola et al. (10.1104/pp.18.00443) investigated…

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) is a perennial C4 grass native to North America primarily valued as a next-generation feedstock for biofuel production. Its high net energy yield and 
wide habitat range make switchgrass an attractive crop for cultivation on marginal lands with minimal agronomic inputs,…

Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) forms in plants under stress conditions, but little is known about its 
physiological functions. Using a variety of techniques, Mayer et al. (10.1104/pp.18.00704) have examined the effects of fumigating Arabidopsis with 10 ppm NO2 for 1 h, a treatment that does not cause 
visible…

Because local sugar concentrations play a critical role in regulating root growth, it is important to learn more about the mechanisms that control sugar transport into the growing zones of the 
root. It has previously been proposed that once translocated sugar reaches the interface between conducting…

Cells use a sophisticated sorting system to ensure that proteins get to the proper destination. Proteins that are supposed to stay in the ER carry special tags (KDEL or HDEL, recognized by the ERD2 receptor) that prevent them from being swept along with other proteins out of the ER and into the Golgi.…

Through a GWAS study, Yu, Xiong et al. previously identified a transcription-factor encoding gene, OsLG3, with alleles that contribute to increased grain length in rice. In this new work, Xiong, Yu et al. showed that the same alleles of OsLG3 that confers longer grain length also enhance drought tolerance.…

Even without knowing a lot about parasitic plants, you can probably guess some of the insights that come from the first parasitic plant genomic sequence. Because parasitic plants get their nutrients from another organism (functionally, they become heterotrophic), you might expect they would gradually…

The maize genome is largely composed of transposable elements, which is one reason maize has been such a powerful genetic model. However, these transposons also mean that there is a great deal of genetic variability between inbred lines, which can contribute to heterosis (hybrid vigor). In a pair of…

The two classic approaches to introducing DNA into a plant’s genome are by harnessing Agrobacterium tumefaciens’ fascinating gene-transfer skill, or by shooting the new DNA into the cell using a “biolistic” (gun) approach. Because of Agrobacterium’s restricted choice of hosts, the biolistic…

Forward-genetic, loss-of-function studies have been invaluable in identifying factors necessary for the formation of the root endodermis. Drapek et al. used an ectopic expression approach to identify factors that are sufficient to produce endodermal-like cells in different root regions. They found that…

The interaction between transcription factors WUSCHEL (WUS) and CLAVATA3 (CLV3) controls the size of the meristem. Although WUS is known to activate CLV3 expression, their expression domains don’t fully overlap, with CLV3 being restricted to the upper part of the meristem. Previously, in the multiple…

As gatekeepers between the outside world and the interior of the leaf, guard cells are extraordinarily sensitive to their environment. Closing keeps out pathogens and keeps in water vapor, but opening is needed to admit CO2. The web of interactions that control stomatal aperture are also correspondingly…

Flower traits (mainly flower colour, position, shape, size, reward and scent) in present-day plants are the result of past selection pressures. Among these traits, scent is a crucial component mediating pollinator attraction, and is often greatly reduced in abiotic-pollinated plants. Wang et al. characterize…

Plant photosynthesis occurs in the chloroplast, the green organelles that are the most famous members of the plastid family. Chloroplast biogenesis starts with illumination at germination, when the colorles, non-photosynthetic proplastid acquires photosynthetic activity as it greens. Gaining photosynthetic…

Multicellular organisms have different tissues that carry out diverse and specialized functions, and tissue-specific expression is the feature that gives each tissue its specific protein content. Despite its importance, the mechanisms that control spatial patterning is poorly understood. In this work,…

Plants and their algal predecessors both utilize chloroplasts for photosynthesis and other essential metabolic processes. The endosymbiotic origin and subsequent co-evolution of this autotrophic organelle introduced striking regulatory mechanisms combining both prokaryotic and eukaryotic strategies for…

Genome assemblies of maize lines Mo17 and W22: Extensive intraspecific variation, and resource for functional biology The maize genome is largely composed of transposable elements, which is one reason maize has been such a powerful genetic model. However, these transposons also mean that there is…

Apple (Malus x domestica) is a major fruit crop worldwide that faces production losses due to many pathogens. Among them, Alternaria alternata is a fungal pathogen that causes necrotic leaf spots (see Figure), defoliation, and moldy fruit cores and constitutes a serious threat to orchards. Different…

When did you last stop to think about the amazing chemical properties of water? Water is one of the few substances that have a larger volume as a solid than a liquid due to the hexagonal arrangement of molecules that make up ice crystals. For plants, ice crystals forming in the extracellular space of…

As the study of plant variation and characterization moves from measurements of largely organismal-level polymorphisms to those of cellular- and molecular-level traits, the need for morphological measuring tools that incorporate complex trait information is clear. While quantitative methodologies have…

How do you make the invisible visible? It’s a question that crops up again and again in molecular biology. Abscisic acid (ABA) is one of the most important hormones in plants and is essential for survival in suboptimal conditions. Despite this, we have only a basic understanding of where and when this…

Molly Perchlik, first author of Leaf Amino Acid Supply Affects Photosynthetic and Plant Nitrogen Use Efficiency under Nitrogen Stress Current Position: In search Education: Ph.D. in Plant Biology, Washington State University. B.S. in Biology, Indiana University (Bloomington) Non-scientific Interests: Travel,…

Linhui Yu, first author of Starch Deficiency Enhances Lipid Biosynthesis and Turnover in Leaves Current Position: Postdoctoral fellow, Bioscience Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, New York, USA Education: PhD in Plant Biology at the School of Life Science, University of Science and Technology…

Fernanda A.L. Silva-Alvim, first author of Predominant Golgi-residency of the plant K/HDEL receptor is essential for its function in mediating ER retention Current Position: Visitor student, Centre for Plant Sciences, University of Leeds/UK Education: BSc in Food Engineer, Master in Agroenergy,…

The MYB transcription factors, specifically the R2R3 family of MYBs, are closely associated with the regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis. This easy-to-score trait made MYBs some of the earliest characterized plant transcription factors. Allan and Espley summarize the contributions of MYBs to pigmentation…

N-terminal acetylation is a common protein modification completed by ribosome-associated N-terminal acetyltransferases (NATs) or plastid-localized NATs. The recent discovery of the plastid-localized NATs upended the traditional model of static, co-translational imprinting of the plant proteome. These…

A key step in pathogen recognition occurs at the cell surface with the interaction between receptor-like kinases (pattern-recognition receptors) and their ligands. This event triggers a signal-transduction cascade that leads to the induction of defense responses. Mithoe and Menke review our current understanding…

C4 photosynthesis relies on the transport of carbon (in the form of C4 acids) from the mesophyll into bundle sheath cells (BSCs).  Subsequent decarboxylation of these C4 acids generates a high concentration of CO2 in the vicinity of Rubisco, helping to improve the catalytic efficiency of this enzyme. …

RALF peptides were identified nearly 20 years ago, as small peptides that induce rapid alkalinisation of the culture medium when added to cell suspension cultures.  Previously, members of the receptor-like kinase  (RLK) family including FERONIA (FER) have been identified as RALF receptors.  A related…

Golden Delicious apples are particularly susceptible to the fungal pathogen Alternaria alternaria f. sp. mali. Zhang et al. have traced this susceptibility to a single nucleotide in the promoter of gene encoding a hairpin RNA (hpRNA), MdhpRNA277. This hpRNA produces small RNAs that selectivey target…

Some pathogen effectors disarm a plant’s immunity directly, for example through targeting resistance genes, whereas others work indirectly, through the plants own susceptibility (S) factors. He et al. provide an example of the latter. Previously, the authors showed that the Phytophthora infestans effector…

Endophytic insects, which spend much of their life inside of plant tissues (e.g., leaf miners and gall-forming insects) are well-known for manipulating plant host physiology to their advantage, unlike free living herbivore insects whose game plan relies on their ability to move and find the most nutritious…

As we face increasingly odd weather patterns resulting from elevated CO2 emissions to the atmosphere, the question of how best to balance the need to produce food with the desire to minimize CO2 emissions becomes increasingly urgent. Williams et al. compared the effects of different types of land-use…

Review: MYBs drive novel consumer traits in fruits and vegetables The MYB transcription factors, specifically the R2R3 family of MYBs, are closely associated with the regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis. This easy-to-score trait made MYBs some of the earliest characterized plant transcription factors.…

Jianping Yu, first author of Natural Variation in OsLG3 Increases Drought Tolerance in Rice by Inducing ROS Scavenging Current Position: Postdoctoral fellow in Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. Education: Ph. D., China Agricultural University Non-scientific…

Haiyan Xiong, first author of Natural Variation in OsLG3 Increases Drought Tolerance in Rice by Inducing ROS Scavenging Current Position: Postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Plant Science, University of Cambridge, UK. Education: Ph.D., China Agricultural University Non-scientific Interests:…

Juan Ignacio Cagnola, first author of Long-day photoperiod enhances jasmonic acid-related plant defense Current Position: Post-Doctoral position at IFEVA-CONICET, Faculty of Agronomy, University of Buenos Aires (Argentina). Education: Doctor of Agronomic Science, Faculty of Agronomy, University…

The ATP synthase complex of chloroplasts is an elegant example of the union of structure and function at the molecular level (Junge and Nelson, 2015). This enzyme complex consists of an integral membrane CFo component that transports protons and an extrinsic CF1 component that synthesizes ATP (Hahn et…

Guoliang Yuan, first author of PROTEIN PHOSHATASE 2A B'α and β maintain centromeric sister chromatid cohesion during meiosis in Arabidopsis Current Position: PhD student, Department Plant and Crop, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University Education: Master of Landscape Architecture,…

Chen et.al. demonstrate that phosphatidic acid mitigates S-RNase signaling in pollen by stabilizing the actin cytoskeleton. Plant Cell (2018). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00021 By Jianqing Chen, Peng Wang, Shaoling Zhang, and Juyou Wu Background: The success of sexual reproduction in flowering…

Zheng et al. reveal that plant endogenous peptides and their receptors initiate stomatal closure to prevent microbes’ entry, thus enhancing plant immunity. The Plant Cell (2018) https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00701. By Xiaojiang Zheng and Sheng Luan. Background: Unlike animals, plants can’t…

Lu et al. show that diterpenoids contribute to disease resistance in rice. Plant Cell. (2018). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00205 Background: Rice (Oryza sativa) is an important food crop. Diseases caused by the fungal blast pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae and bacterial leaf blight pathogen Xanthomonas…

Segami et al. investigate cellular phosphate homeostasis in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00911 Background: Many biological reactions, including the biosynthesis of DNA, RNA, proteins, and polysaccharides, produce inorganic pyrophosphate (PPi). However, accumulation of PPi…

News: CRISPR gene-edited plants subject to same restrictions as GMO plants On 25 July, the European Court of Justice ruled that “Organisms obtained by mutagenesis are GMOs and are, in principle, subject to the obligations laid down by the GMO Directive,” and “The Court of Justice takes the view,…

Stromules (or stroma-filled tubules) have been observed for more than 100 years, but uncertainty remains about their formation and function. Stromules are extensions of the plastid membrane that form highly dynamic tubule-like structures that sometimes interact with other plastids or organelles. Hypothetical…

Anthocyanins are common plant pigments that provide dietary benefits, causing an increase in their use as a food coloring agents. However, purifying anthocyanins from current plant sources (such as waste grape skins, red cabbage and berries) is expensive and creates a variable product. Modifying biosynthetic…

Pathogenic bacteria Pseudomonas syringae produce an effector protein, AvrPphB. The indirect interaction between this bacterial effector and the Arabidopsis resistance (R) protein RPS5 has been characterized previously; AvrPphB is a cysteine protease that targets another plant protein, PBS1, causing it…

In this review Stewart et al. address the potential use of houseplants as biosensors for harmful agents in the home environment, taking advantage of phytosensor technology already in use in agricultural settings. The authors propose the design of genetically modified plants that carry a synthetic promoter…

The diverse responses of rice to flooding are really interesting. Many varieties die, some survive by essentially becoming metabolically quiescent to conserve their energy (which involves the Sub1 pathway), and some, called deepwater rice, respond through rapid elongation that elevates their leaves above…

Cryptochromes (CRYs) are blue-light receptors that were first identified in plants more than 20 years ago, but with modes of action that have remained obscure. Yang, Mo, and Yu, et al. reassembled this blue-light signaling module in mammalian cells in order to better understand CRY function. Previously,…

Gene knock-outs and overexpression studies are useful indicators of gene function, but can obscure the gene’s distinct cell-type specific functions. Schürholz and Lopez-Salmeron et al. have developed a set of constructs that allow for precise expression of a gene-of-interest in subsets of cells, accompanied…

Light is arguably one of the most important signals recognized by plants. Not surprisingly, plants exhibit a wide range of light responses, ranging from cell-specific to large-scale. Küpers et al. review these responses, with an emphasis on their spatial scales. For example, the production of extrafloral…

Wang et al. show that abscisic acid-inducible genes encode lipid degrading enzymes that release polyunsaturated fatty acids from chloroplast lipids as precursors for jasmonic acid production leading to biotic defenses in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00250 By Kun Wang and Igor Houwat Background:…

Ramesh et al. discover a malate-GABA transporter that may play a role in signaling envioronmental condtions and metabolic status in plant cells. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00864 Background: Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a signaling molecule in mammalian nervous systems where it…

Rytz et al. investigate the selectivity of SUMOylation in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell (2018) https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00993 By Thérèse C. Rytz and Richard D. Vierstra Background: The covalent attachment of small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) to other intracellular proteins is an essential…

Zhou et al. demonstrate that a kinase STRK1 can phosphorylate CatC to enhance rice salt toterance. The Plant Cell (2018). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.01000 By Yan-Biao Zhou, Cong Liu, Jian-Zhong Lin and Xuan-Ming Liu Background: Salt stress can significantly affect plant growth and agricultural…

We can create the right kind of food plants to survive on Mars. Shutterstock/SergeyDV Briardo Llorente, Macquarie University Preparations are already underway for missions that will land humans on Mars in a decade or so. But what would people eat if these missions eventually lead to the permanent…

Keshav Dahal, first author of Growth at elevated CO2 requires acclimation of the respiratory chain to support photosynthesis Current Position: Research Scientist-Plant Stress Physiologist, Fredericton Research and Development Centre Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada / Government of Canada. Education:…

Vadir López-Salmerón, co-first author of A Comprehensive Toolkit for Inducible, Cell Type-Specific Gene Expression in Arabidopsis Current Position: Post-Doctoral Researcher, Developmental Physiology, Centre for Organismal Studies Heidelberg. Education: PhD (2013) in Plant Molecular Biology at Centro…