Recent Posts

Lignin Bioengineering in Poplar

Lignified cell walls constitute an important renewable and sustainable feedstock for the production of fermentable sugars, biochemicals, and biomaterials.  In biorefineries, plant cell wall polysaccharides are depolymerized into simple monomeric sugars, a process called saccharification. These sugars…

Flavonols Modulate ROS in Tomato Guard Cells

Although reactive oxygen species (ROS) have historically been considered damaging agents within cells, recent studies have demonstrated that these molecules also serve as second messengers in signaling pathways. The reactive nature of ROS allows these compounds to function as signaling molecules by reversibly…

Arabidopsis DNA Methylome Stability under Stress

It has been speculated that DNA methylation could complement genetic variation, as a mode for transferring heritable information, to contribute to phenotypic variation. Indeed, DNA methylation states can be maintained faithfully over both mitotic and meiotic cell division. According to this view, any…

Resistance to Wheat Stripe Rust

Wheat (Triticum aestivum) yields can be severely reduced by the obligate biotrophic pathogen Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst).  Currently, approaches to manage this disease rely on cultivar resistance coupled with fungicide application. However, driven by a greater need for wheat production,…

Origin and Role of ABA in Stomatal Regulation

When the vapor pressure difference (VPD) between a leaf and the atmosphere increases (i.e., when air humidity decreases), guard cells lose turgor, thereby leading to stomatal closure. The evolution of this mechanism was an important step in the colonization of land by plants, since it enabled plants…

GA Signaling Increases Cytosolic Calcium

Gibberellins (GAs) regulate many aspects of plant development, including seed germination, stem elongation, flower induction, and anther development. DELLA proteins, of which there are 5 in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), play a central role in GA signaling. GA triggers DELLA degradation via the…

The Small Secreted Peptides of Legumes

Small secreted peptides (SSPs) are peptides of 5 to 50 amino acid residues that are secreted into the apoplast. SSPs are critical regulators of a diverse array of growth and developmental processes in plants, including root growth, nutrient homeostasis, meristem maintenance, stress acclimation, pathogen…

Protoplast Swelling Requires AUXIN BINDING PROTEIN1

Convincing molecular and biochemical evidence exists that members of the TRANSPORT INHIBITOR RESPONSE1/AUXIN SIGNALING F-BOX PROTEIN (TIR1/AFB) receptor family are auxin receptors that trigger auxin-induced gene expression and hypocotyl growth through enhanced expression of SMALL AUXIN UP RNA genes.…

LAZY Genes Control Gravity Responses

Plant architecture is shaped by innate developmental programs as well as by adaptive responses to environmental cues. For example, the primary growth axis of shoots and roots is vertical, with lateral branches adopting some characteristic angle with respect to the main axis. If the main axis is tipped…