Plasmodesmata are contiguous cell-cell junctions that provide an avenue for intracellular (symplastic) communication between neighboring plant cells. In recent years, researchers have unravelled key aspects of plasmodesmata development and function in cell-cell signalling during a multitude of responses…

Auxin is an endogenous plant hormone that orchestrates complex tissue development across diverse green plant lineages. In a recent article, Mutte et al. performed a deep phylogenomics analysis of known and predicted auxin signalling mechanisms present in green plants and their algal predecessors. This…

Review: The origin and evolution of mycorrhizal symbioses Many fungi are pathogens that kill or weaken their plant hosts. However, there are also many species that form beneficial relationships with plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. One of these mutualisms is the mycorrhizal association between a…

André N. Müller, featured first author of The Biotrophic Development of Ustilago maydis Studied by RNA-Seq Analysis Current Position: Project Manager, GSK Vaccines GmbH, Marburg Education: PhD in Molecular Phytopathology, Department of Organismic Interactions, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial…

Determining the function of a gene often relies on transgenic plants with altered transcriptional or translational levels. This is usually achieved through overexpression, knockout, or knockdown. However, each of these approaches has specific advantages and drawbacks. For instance, knockouts, which…

By Johanna Krahmer, Ashwin Ganpudi, Ammad Abbas, Andrés Romanowski, and Karen J. Halliday Plants continuously monitor fluctuations in their environment and actively adjust their metabolism to cope with variations in light and carbon resource availability. However, the links between photoreceptor signaling…

By Daniel Cosgrove The primary wall of a growing cell is a versatile, subtle, and dynamic structure, with unique properties and functions in the life of the plant (Burton et al., 2010). When a cell grows, its wall stretches irreversibly as the cell enlarges in volume. Cells can start and stop this…

By Matthew J. Paul, Asier Gonzalez-Uriarte, Cara A. Griffiths, and Keywan Hassani-Pak Significant increases in global food security require improving crop yields in favourable and poor conditions alike. However, it is challenging to increase both the crop yield potential and yield resilience simultaneously,…