Arabinogalactan proteins (AGPs) are a family of extracellular proteoglycans that existed in land plants and algae (Johnson et al., 2017). AGPs are part of the hydroxyproline-rich glycoprotein (HRGP) superfamily that also includes extensins and proline-rich proteins. Based on the protein sequence, a glycosylphosphatidylinositol…

Iwatate et al. demonstrate that SNAP-tag technology can be used to label plant cell proteins. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00439 By Ryu J. Iwatatea,b, Akira Yoshinaria, Noriyoshi Yagia, Wolf B. Frommera,c, and Masayoshi Nakamuraa a Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (WPI-ITbM),…

López-Hernández et al. reveal that arabinogalactans function in calcium signaling from outside to inside the cell. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00027 Federico López Hernández and Paul Dupree University of Cambridge, Department of Biochemistry, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge,…

Seedling growth and development rely on the successful integration of information from external signals, such as light and temperature, and endogenous processes, such as the rhythmic ticking of the circadian clock. Together, these signaling pathways tune hypocotyl elongation to allow seedlings to escape…

Rodrigues et al. found that the source and sink identities of sugar beet shoots vs. taproots are switched upon vernalization (chilling) due to a cold-induced reversal of the phloem stream. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00072 By Cristina Martins Rodriguesa, Christina Müdsamb and Benjamin…

Gamete formation in sexually reproducing plants begins with formation of a “mother cell” that undergoes meiosis to generate haploid spores. Haploid spores further develop into gametophytes within which gametes differentiate. In flowering plants (angiosperms), including crop systems, the female mother…

When we cut out cookies from rolled-out dough, we often end up with unwanted dough scraps, and sometimes the dough sticks to the cookie-cutter, resulting in misshapen cookies. Just like these misshapen cookies, faulty or aberrant RNAs can arise in cells due to mistakes during transcription, RNA processing,…

Liu et al. connect small RNA biogenesis and meiotic recombination by examining RNA-dependent RNA polymerase 6. The Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00213   By Changzhen Liu, Yi Shen and Zhukuan Cheng  Background: Meiosis is a specialized cell division that takes place in sexually…