Category: The Plant Cell

Cell walls are complex mixtures of cellulose microfibrils, proteins and other materials. Their mechanical properties can be measured and modeled, but it is not always simple to translate these measurements to changes at the molecular level. Zhang et al. used atomic force microscopy to provide an unprecedented…

Ping Wang, first author of Cotton wall-associated kinase GhWAK7A mediates responses to fungal wilt pathogens by complexing with the chitin sensory receptors Current Position: Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Texas A&M University, College Station,…

Protein analysis relies heavily on the production of ‘tagged’ proteins, i.e. recombinant proteins that contain both a functional peptide sequence and a peptide or chemical label (the ‘tag’). Common tags include fluorescent proteins (FPs), which make tagged proteins easier to detect, as well as…

Du et al. explore how pectins interact with cellulose in the plant cell wall. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00252 By Juan Du1 and Charles T. Anderson2,3 1Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu…

AuBuchon-Elder and Coneva et al. reveal an important function for apparently non-functional floral structures. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.004242 By Taylor AuBuchon-Elder1,*, Viktoriya Coneva1,2*, Doug K. Allen1,3†, and Elizabeth A. Kellogg1† 1Donald Danforth Plant Science…

Jing Liu, first author of SPIKE1 Activates the GTPase ROP6 to Guide the Polarized Growth of Infection Threads in Lotus japonicus Current Position: Ph.D. candidate, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences/Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology Education: Ph.D. in Genetics, CAS Center…

Andan Zhu, co-first author of Temporal regulation of metabolome and proteome in photosynthetic and photorespiratory pathways contributes to maize heterosis Current Position: Professor, Germplasm Bank of Wild Species, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences Education: Ph. D. from…

Zhi Li, co-first author of Temporal regulation of metabolome and proteome in photosynthetic and photorespiratory pathways contributes to maize heterosis Current Position: Postdoc in Dr. Z. Jeffrey Chen’s lab at The University of Texas at Austin Education: Ph.D. from China Agricultural University Non-scientific…

Liang et al. demonstrate that auxin modulates sucrose transport to repress petal abscission in rose. The Plant Cell (2020).  https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.19.00695 By Yue Liang, Chuyan Jiang, Yang Liu, Yuerong Gao, Jingyun Lu, Palinuer Aiwail, Zhangjun Fei, Cai-Zhong Jiang, Bo Hong, Chao Ma and Junping…