Methionine is a nutritionally essential sulfur-containing amino acid found at low levels in plants and in their seeds. It often limits the nutritional value of crop plants as a source of dietary protein for humans and animals.  In plants, methionine plays key roles in protein synthesis and mRNA translation,…

The June 2017 issue of Plant Physiology is a Focus Issue on stomata; here is the editorial overview to this issue by Michael R. Blatt, Plant Physiology, Editor-in-Chief, and Tim J. Brodribb and Keiko U. Torii, Plant Physiology Editors. Small Pores with a Big Impact The guard cells surrounding stomatal…

Growth inhibition is one of the most consistent plant responses to Ultraviolet-B (UV-B) exposure; this radiation, both as part of the solar spectrum in the field and from UV-B lamps in controlled environments. In this work, Fina et al. (10.​1104/​pp.​17.​00365) demonstrate that the UV-B levels…

Vitamin B6 is synthesized de novo in plants, fungi, archeae, and most eubacteria, but not in animals, including humans, which have to obtain it from dietary sources. Vitamin B6 is an essential cofactor for a range of biochemical reactions and a potent antioxidant. In plants, it plays important roles…

Plant photosynthesis generally increases with irradiance until light saturation occurs. The directional quality of light, however, can affect its penetration and absorption within a leaf. For example, increasing the angle of incidence (from perpendicular) at which light intersects the leaf surface decreases…

Lignin, a ubiquitous phenylpropanoid polymer found in the cell walls of vascular plants, is derived primarily from oxidative couplings of monolignols (p-hydroxycinnamyl alcohols). By filling up spaces between cell wall polysaccharides (cellulose and hemicelluloses), lignin confers increased mechanical…

Tetrahydrofolate (THF) and its derivatives, collectively termed folates, are a group of essential B-complex vitamins that have long been recognized as necessary nutrients to support normal cell differentiation and growth. Folates function as co-enzymes in one-carbon transfer reactions and play a central…

Strigolactones Root parasitic weeds, such as broomrape (Orobanche spp.) and witchers weed (Striga spp.), are harmful plants in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and Asia that maintain seed dormancy in the absence of host plant. Both parasitic plant species require germination stimulants released from…