Some species are more studied than others, and it is common to assume that what happens in a model plant like Arabidopsis applies to all other plant species. This is far from true. Recently, Cheng et al. explored stomatal development in the CAM succulent Kalanchoë laxiflora. Stomata are epidermal pores…

Wood is a major source of biomass on Earth and is valuable feedstock for multiple industries. Wood formation includes vascular cambium cell division and the maturation of the resulting stem-differentiating xylem (SDX) cells into mature xylem. Zhao et al. furthers our understanding of these processes…

Community and ecosystem ecology are the main pillars of agroecology. Plants exude various chemicals from their roots to communicate with  belowground microorganisms to boost productivity. This article by Urcelay et al. offers a new perspective to understand the interaction between plants and arbuscular…

Review. Beyond elite crops: Designing resilient agriculture from wild plant diversity When looking at the foods that fill our supermarkets, it can be hard to imagine we are relying on just a handful of domesticated plant species. Thousands of wild plants, each with its own unique strengths, remain…

Although calcium ions are universal second messengers, plants employ both conserved and unique strategies to decode Ca²⁺ signals. In a new review in Cell, Sheng Luan reviews the molecular tools used to study calcium signaling in plants and the mechanisms that govern this process. Like other cells,…

Plants cannot escape a bite from herbivore or being cut by a lawn mower, but they can regrow new leaves or even entire stems after damage. From simple mosses to giant sequoia trees, the process of building a new organ after wounding may be more similar than we previously thought. Key players in this…

You ask a plant science specific question to a general-purpose large language model (LLM) and it puts out vague answers. Sometimes you wonder if the answer is valid or if the LLM is pulling you into a hallucination trap! Does this sound familiar?  To tackle this problem, PlantScience.ai, a virtual scientist…

Nanodomains, also known as lipid rafts, temporarily group proteins within the plasma membrane, to efficiently perform cellular processes such as extracellular sensing. This study examines the unclear association dynamic of a very important plant plasma membrane receptor family, the Leucine-Rich Repeat…