
Update: Diurnal variation in gas exchange: the balance between carbon fixation and water loss
Plant Physiology, Plant Physiology: Updates0 Comments
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Stomatal control of transpiration is critical for maintaining important processes, such as plant water status, leaf temperature, as well as permitting sufficient CO2 diffusion into the leaf to maintain photosynthetic rates (A). Stomatal conductance (gs) often closely correlates with A and is thought…

Recognizing featured Plant Cell first authors, February 2017
The Plant Cell: Author Profiles
Masanori Izumi, featured first author of Entire Photodamaged Chloroplasts Are Transported to the Central Vacuole by Autophagy
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Frontier Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Tohoku University.
Education: Ph.D. (2012), Graduate School of Agricultural…

Meristem Doming and the Transition to Reproductive Development in Tomato
Research, The Plant Cell: In BriefDuring vegetative growth, the shoot apical meristem (SAM) produces lateral organ primordia but remains roughly the same size, as WUSCHEL–CLAVATA signaling modulates the balance between cell division and differentiation. During the transition to reproductive growth in many species, the SAM expands in…

What We’re Reading: April 14
Blog, Research, Research Blog
Note: Read Why We’re Writing “What We’re Reading”
Review: Ion transport at the vacuole during stomatal movement
Gas exchange and transpiration are regulated by the stomatal aperture, which is itself regulated by the changes in volume of the guard cells that overlie the stomatal pore.…

CrowdCurio: an online crowdsourcing platform for climate change studies using herbarium specimens ($)
Education, Plant Science Research Weekly, ResearchCrowdsourcing leverages the inputs, ideas and talents of many people in parallel to achieve a goal. Crowdsourcing or “citizen science” can also be an effective approach for science outreach that engages the public by enabling them to collect and analyze data. Willis et al. have developed and assessed…

Signatures of adaptation in the weedy rice genome
Plant Science Research Weekly, ResearchCrop domestication has been accompanied by the evolution of aggressive weedy crop relatives that compete for resources and make weed management a challenge. By using whole-genome sequencing of the two most commonly found weedy rice strains in the US (SH and BHA), and comparing them with the genomes of…

MtLAX2, a functional homologue of the auxin influx transporter AUX1, is required for nodule organogenesis
Plant Science Research Weekly, ResearchNodules are specialized structures that form symbiotic, nitrogen-fixing associations with rhizobia on some plants including Medicago truncatula. Previous work has shown that auxin signalling is involved in nodule formation. Roy et al. extend this knowledge through the identification of a Medicago gene…

Strigolactone- and karrikin-independent SMXL proteins are central regulators of phloem formation
Plant Science Research Weekly, ResearchSMAX1 (SUPPRESSOR OF MAX2 1) was identified genetically as a suppressor of the enhanced seed dormancy phenotype of the max2 mutant, which is affected in both strigolactone (SL) and karrikin (KAR) responses (karrikins are smoke-derived germination promoters). SMAX1 is the founding member of an eight-member…

KNOTTED1 cofactors, BLH12 and BLH14, regulate internode patterning and vein anastomosis in maize
Plant Science Research Weekly, ResearchThe maize shoot comprises modular domains of leaf, subtending shoot tissue, and an intercalary meristem that sits just above the next leaf down. By contrast to eudicot shoots that form a ring of vascular bundles, maize shoot vascular bundles remain as separate bundles, forming a “disordered” atactostele.…