Plants rely on light for photosynthesis. As a consequence, plant growth is strongly shaped by light availability, to optimize photon absorbance in the green tissues. Seedlings that germinated underground grow quickly to escape from the darkness, while plants that are threatened to be overgrown by neighbors…

Charlotte Volpe, co-first author of Loss of ALBINO3b insertase results in a truncated light-harvesting antenna in diatoms Current Position: PhD candidate at the Department of Biotechnology and Food Science - Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) – Trondheim, Norway Education: PhD…

Marianne Nymark, co-first author of Loss of ALBINO3b insertase results in a truncated light-harvesting antenna in diatoms Current Position: Research scientist at the Cell, Molecular Biology and Genomics group at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) Education: PhD in Biology from…

Plants emit scented volatile compounds to attract pollinators, or alternatively, as direct or indirect plant defense mechanisms. Direct defense involves compounds that are toxic, whereas an indirect defense uses volatiles to attract parasitoids of insect herbivores (Unsicker et al., 2009; Maag et al.,…

Turnip Mosaic Virus (TuMV) is a +RNA virus that belongs to the order Picornavirales. +RNA viruses reorganize the endomembrane system to generate quasi-organelle structures called “viral factories”. In the case of TuMV, these factories are motile vesicles of ~100 nm in diameter that contain the TuMV…

The seeds of flowering plants consist of three genetically distinct components: the diploid embryo with one genome copy from each of the parents, the triploid endosperm with two maternal copies and one paternal copy, and the seed coat having the same genotype as the diploid mother plant. Balanced parental…

High exogenous concentrations (>50 µM) of salicylic acid (SA) stimulate systemic acquired resistance (SAR), a vitally important adaptive immunity response that protects against a broad spectrum of pathogens. The transcription of PATHOGENESIS-RELATED GENE 1 (PR1) is rapidly induced in leaves upon…

The biochemistry of photosynthesis and biophysical processes that constrain it are intrinsically linked within the landscape of the inner leaf. Because leaf tissue is heterogeneous in structure as well as photosynthetic capacity, it follows that chlorophyll may also be spatially heterogeneous. Yet, while…