Category: The Plant Cell

Justine Sucher, first author of Phylotranscriptomics of the Pentapetalae reveals frequent regulatory variation in local plant responses to the fungal pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum Current Position: Post-doctoral Fellow in Syngenta Education: PhD in molecular biology at UZH (Zürich University),…

Plant cell walls are one of the great engineering feats of nature, providing immense structural strength and durability. The core components of plant cell walls (pectin, hemicellulose, and cellulose) can occur in different proportions and vary in their structure and assembly, thus allowing cell walls…

Liu et al. identify new connections between known regulators of seed dormancy, acting through modulation of ABA biosynthesis and signaling. The Plant Cell (2020) https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00026 By Fei Liu and Yong Xiang, Shenzhen Branch, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Genome…

Plants that fail to flower at the right time will lose out on seed production. Hence, the transition from vegetative growth to the reproductive phase depends strongly on environmental signals. Cold winter temperatures and long days are seasonal cues that stimulate flowering through vernalization and…

Sucher et al. reveal that regulatory divergence of conserved genes makes a major contribution during the response of Pentapetalae plants to a fungal pathogen. Plant Cell. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.19.00806 Background: Necrotrophic plant pathogens actively kill host cells to cause disease. This…

Many filamentous pathogens invade living plant cells with specialized intracellular infection structures (haustoria) that promote microbial growth. Cytological studies demonstrate that the haustoria of fungal and oomycete pathogens are separated from host cell cytoplasm by a highly differentiated and…

In the legume-rhizobium root nodule, nitrogen fixing rhizobia are accommodated inside plant cells. In the Medicago – Sinorhizobium model system, the internalization of rhizobia into the host plant is triggered by Nod factors secreted from the symbiotic bacteria. The signals are perceived by the host…

Xixi Zhang, first author of Arabidopsis Flippases Cooperate with ARF GTPase Exchange Factors to Regulate the Trafficking and Polarity of PIN Auxin Transporters Current Position: Predoctoral visiting scientist in Prof. Jiří Friml’s lab at Institute of Science and Technology, Austria (IST Austria);…