Recent Posts

Benjamin Julius: The Plant Cell First Author

Benjamin Julius, first author of "Maize Brittle Stalk2-Like3, encoding a COBRA protein, functions in cell wall formation and carbohydrate partitioning" Current Position: Scientist I – Bayer Crop Science Education: Ph.D. Biological Sciences University of Missouri-Columbia, B.S. Biology from Truman…

A New Interaction Between Myosin XI and Exocyst in Plant Secretion

Zhang et al. explore the role of myosin XI in exocytosis. Plant Cell Weiwei Zhang and Christopher J. Staiger Purdue University Background: Living organisms secrete molecules from their cells to allow growth and survival in various environments. Materials destined for secretion are often…

Youngwoo Lee: The Plant Cell First Author

Youngwoo Lee, first author of "A co-fractionation mass spectrometry-based prediction of protein complex assemblies in the developing rice aleurone-subaleurone" Current Position: Postdoc in Szymanski Lab at Department of Botany and Plant Pathology and Center for Plant Biology in Purdue University Education: PhD…

Lele Shang: The Plant Cell First Author

Lele Shang, co-first author of ''A mutation in a C2H2-type zinc finger transcription factor contributed to the transition towards self-pollination in cultivated tomatoes'' Current Position: Ph.D. Candidate, Huazhong Agricultural University Education: B.S. in Shandong Agricultural University Non-scientific…

Repeat yourself: A new way to self-express

Reinar et al. uncover the effects of allelic variation in short tandem repeats across natural populations of Arabidopsis thaliana on gene expression.  By Kjetill Jakobsen1, Melinka Butenko2, and William Reinar1 1Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), University of Oslo, Department…

Kenneth Acosta: The Plant Cell First Author

Kenneth Acosta, first author of "Return of the Lemnaceae: Duckweed as a model plant system in the genomics and post-genomics era" Current Position: PhD student, Department of Plant Biology, Rutgers University - New Brunswick, NJ Education: A.A. in Biology, Union County College - Cranford,…

Psst! Pass it on: How the message to make a new root alters gene expression

Gala et al. perform single cell RNA sequencing to reveal molecular details about lateral root initiation.  By Amy Lanctot, Hardik Gala, Jennifer Nemhauser University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 Background: Roots anchor the plant in place and allow it take up needed water and nutrients.…

We’re just not compatible…. Plant species with different parenting strategies can’t quite coordinate in rearing hybrid babies

Kinser and colleagues explore the transcriptomic, genomic and epigenomic consequences of mixing two genomes with the same number or twice as many chromosomes in monkeyflower.  By Taliesin Kinser (University of Florida) and Joshua Puzey (College of William and Mary) Background: Flowering plants…

Exploring the parental origin of potato dihaploid DNA

Amundson et al. investigate the fate of parental DNA in crosses that produce uniparental dihaploids  By Kirk Amundson and Luca Comai  Background: Plants carrying only the chromosomes of one parent, i.e. haploids, are very useful for research and breeding. Certain crosses are known to yield haploid…