Research Blog

Nitrogen (N) is an essential nutrient that plants require in large amounts for growth and development. In industrial countries, high N fertilization enables maximum crop yields, and in the last 50 years, the use of synthetic N fertilizers has increased dramatically to meet food demands. Improving the…

Land plants lose vast quantities of water to the atmosphere during photosynthetic gas exchange. To supply this high demand for water an internal transport system comprised of xylem conduits irrigates the leaf. Selection for greater rates of photosynthesis and increased productivity is believed to have…

The plastid genome of higher plants encodes about 100 genes, the products of which assemble with approximately 3,000 nucleus-encoded proteins to form the plastid transcription and translation machinery and carry out complex metabolic functions, including photosynthesis and fatty acid and amino acid biosynthesis.…

Increasing photosynthetic capacity appears to be a viable route towards increasing crop yields. An endogenous target identified for manipulation toward this goal is the cytochrome b6f (cyt b6f) complex that is located in the thylakoid membrane and which functions in both linear and cyclic electron transport,…

J. Exp. Bot. reviews auxin ($) The Journal of Experimental Botany is publishing a good collection of review articles on auxin. Topics include ARF transcription factors, Auxin’s role in lateral root formation, Auxin research in rice and implications for crop improvement, Integration of multiple auxin…

The Journal of Experimental Botany is publishing a good collection of review articles on auxin. Topics include ARF transcription factors, Auxin’s role in lateral root formation, Auxin research in rice and implications for crop improvement, Integration of multiple auxin signaling pathways, Evolution…

New reviews cover the hot topic of membrane and vesicle trafficking in plant immunity.  Gu et al. (Mol. Plant 10.1016/j.molp.2017.07.001) provide an overview of the two membrane trafficking pathways: the secretory pathway involved in movement of antimicrobials, defense proteins and cell wall components…

In 2016, Rangan et al. reported on “New evidence for grain specific C4 photosynthesis in wheat,” but later that year Busch and Farquhar responded with “Poor evidence for C4 photosynthesis in the wheat grain.” Now these two groups continue their arguments for and against wheat seed C4 photosynthesis,…