Leyser summarizes our current understanding of the what, how and why of what auxin does (and doesn’t) do. For example, she points out that, “Auxin does not instruct cells to do anything in particular, but rather it influences the  behavior of cells according to their pre-existing identity.” She…

The October issue of Current Opinion in Plant Biology includes several articles that review various topics on the subject of plant nutrition. These span the spectrum of nutrients from trace and metal nutrients to macronutrients. The reviews also span topics such as membrane and tissue-level transport,…

Insects compete directly with people for the energy and nutrients contained in plant matter, so it’s crucial for future food security to develop safe, effective and inexpensive means to control insect pests on crop plants. Zhang et al. review progress in using plant-mediated RNA interference (RNAi)…

One of the challenges of future food security is to feed a growing population without further impinging on undisturbed ecosystems, which is a primary goal of efforts to increase yields. At the other end of the equation, Tripathi et al. address opportunities to recover degraded lands for sustainable development.…

De la Parra and Quave describe the fascinating intersection of ethnobotany and biotechnology, which they define as ethnophytotechnology: “the use of plant biotechnology to improve or enhance the inherent economic or culturally valuable traits of plants as described and influenced by ethnobotany". They…

Electricity-generating power plant produce CO2, and industrial and household waste water contains inorganic nutrients that can pollute waterways. What if both of these pollutants could be put to good use, for example in a growth medium for biofuel-producing algae? Ghosh and Kirin describe the feasibility…

Two of the key players in the plant-pathogen interaction are the effectors produced by pathogens (that “modulate plant physiology to favor host infection and colonization”) and the plant immune receptors (including NLR proteins: nucleotide-binding domain and leucine-rich repeatcontaining) that are…