Launching Botany Live! for Fascination of Plants Day
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May 18th is the Fascination of Plants Day, and we want to help in this international effort to highlight the importance of plants and plant science. Therefore, we’re supporting the #BotanyLive e-event! In a nutshell, we’re asking planty folks (curious, enthusiasts, professionals) to share something…
Genomic inferences of domestication events are corroborated by written records in Brassica rapa ($)
Plant Science Research Weekly, ResearchThere are many subspecies of Brassica rapa [including turnip (subsp. rapa) pak choi (subsp. chinensis) and Chinese cabbage (subsp. pekinensis)] but the relationships between the subspecies has remained uncertain. Qi et al. sequenced 143 accessions, including some subspecies for the first time. They then…
Long-term trends in the intensity and relative toxicity of herbicide use
Plant Science Research Weekly, Research“Weeds are a fact of life for farmers around the world,” writes Kniss in this analysis of herbicide-use trends. He stresses the limitation of reports that measure only the weight of herbicides used, as there is tremendous variation in the toxicity of different herbicides. He shows that although herbicide…
Rapid breeding of parthenocarpic tomato plants using CRISPR/Cas9
Plant Science Research Weekly, ResearchMost fruits form after pollination, making their production vulnerable to pollinator presence. Parthenocarpy is the development of fruit that occurs in the absence of pollination. Genes that enable parthenocarpy have been identified, including a tomato gene involved in auxin responses SlIAA9. Ueta et…
Arabidopsis leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinase NILR1 is required for induction of innate immunity to parasitic nematodes
Plant Science Research Weekly, ResearchPlant parasitic nematodes, including root-knot nematodes and cyst nematodes, cause extensive damage and loss to many crops. Nematodes elicit a pathogen-triggered immunity (PTI) defense response, but the molecular basis for this response has not been previously characterized. Mendy et al. identified a…
Regulation of strigolactone biosynthesis by gibberellin signaling
Plant Science Research Weekly, ResearchIn a screen for chemicals that regulate strigolactone (SL) levels in rice, Ito et al. found that gibberellins suppress SL biosynthesis. This effect depends on the gibberellin signaling module, and involve a decrease in expression level of SL-biosynthetic genes. Furthermore, GA treated rice exuded less…
Mutation in sorghum LOW GERMINATION STIMULANT 1 alters strigolactones and causes Striga resistance
Plant Science Research Weekly, ResearchStrigolactones are both hormones that control shoot architecture and signals that promote interactions with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and promote germination of detrimental parasitic weeds such as Striga asiatica and Striga hermonthica. Gobena et al. mapped and cloned a sorghum gene, LOW GERMINATION…
Malate-dependent Fe accumulation is a critical checkpoint in the root developmental response to low phosphate
Plant Science Research Weekly, ResearchPhosphate is a limiting nutrient in soil and not very mobile, so roots respond strongly to low Pi soils by the cessation of elongation of the primary root with accompanying stimulation of lateral root and root hair production. Previously, the accumulation of iron (Fe3+) in the apoplast of root meristem…
Sugar suppression of aquaporin expression and leaf hydraulics ($)
Plant Science Research Weekly, ResearchSugar is a signal as well as an energy source, and plants monitor sugar levels to maintain an appropriate growth rate and rate of photosynthesis. A new study by Kelly et al. points to a role for sugars in the expression and activity of plasma-membrane (PIP) aquaporins. Aquaporins (AQP) are membrane channels…