Research Blog

Climate change is certain to affect our ability to produce food crops and feed a growing global population in the twenty-first century.  Free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) experiments have shown that elevated CO2 (eCO2) levels, a major driver of climate change, have a consistently positive effect on the…

Cells have developed different mechanisms including control of ion and pH homeostasis to adapt to their constantly changing environment. Such adaption is accomplished by different ion transporters at the membranes. AtCHX17, AtCHX18 and AtCHX20 are members of the cation-H+ exchanger (CHX) family, which…

Hirooka et al. examined the genome of an acid-loving green alga, Chlamydomonas eustigma, to learn how it tolerates its low pH environment. Key differences between the acidophilic species and the neutrophilic species Chlamydomonas reinhardtii include: an increase in expression of genes encoding plasma…

Pathogenic microbes interfere with the host cellular and physiological processes to promote infection. This interaction is monitored by pathogen molecules called effectors that either act in intercellular space or enter the host cells. Mechanisms underlying the uptake of these effectors are not fully…

Pathogenic microbes manipulate host plants by secreting effector molecules that interfere with immunity. Bacterial phytopathogens achieve this using specialized secretion apparatuses that act as molecular ‘hypodermic needles’ to inject effector proteins directly into plant cells. In comparison, effector…

Plants can hear. We know plants respond to touch, can perceive day and night, and respond to volatile compounds, water and nutrients. Moreno et al. studied root phonotropism (not phototropism). They showed that roots of Arabidopsis plants can perceive and respond to sound waves. Arabidopsis roots grew…

Dodders (Cuscuta spp) are parasitic plants, which absorb water and nutrients from their host. Their vines can embrace, and in this way connect, more than one host. Hettenhausen et al. showed that in certain situations these connections serve as communication routes. In their experiment a pair of soybean…

The evolution of flowers solved one of the largest obstacles of plant reproduction, finding a compatible mate. Since plants are sedentary, they are unable to search for a compatible mate like other organisms. Instead they use pollinators to do the searching for them. Flowers use scent and color to attract…