The Plant Cell: In Brief

Membrane vesicle trafficking is the process of moving and distributing signaling molecules from their place of synthesis or capture to target locations inside or outside the cell. Vesicles, mobile membrane compartments produced from the endoplasmic reticulum, carry proteins and other molecules to an…

By now, you would think we’d know everything about cellulose, given its status as the most abundant biopolymer on Earth and its simple chemical composition. Cellulose is composed of β-1,4-D-glucose units assembled into straight chain polymers. These rod-like molecules are packed into strong microfibrils…

During development, seeds pack away large amounts of storage nutrients in the form of starch, proteins, and lipids (typically triacylglycerides), but the ratios of these storage products vary tremendously between seed types. Because of the obvious agricultural implications, researchers have long sought…

Regulation of stomatal opening and closing in plants in response to environmental cues continues to be well studied (García-León et al., 2019; Li et al., 2020), as it is important for balancing the intake of carbon dioxide for photosynthesis (PS) with the release of water during transpiration. But…

MYB proteins are a group of transcription factors that are highly conserved in all vertebrates and were first implicated in avian myeloblastosis (leukemia). Subsequently, they were shown to be cellular proto-oncogenes that regulate production of blood cells in animals. MYB proteins contain a DNA-binding…

Translation of RNA information into protein is a fundamental process ensuring the production of functional proteins in cells. Transfer RNA (tRNA) is a vital component of the translation machinery as it delivers the correct amino acids to the elongating peptide chain based on codon-anticodon recognition.…

The root epidermis presents an elegant model to study cell differentiation. Based on positional cues, Arabidopsis distinguishes two epidermal cell types. Cells in the H position, adjacent to the junction of two cortex cells, have the capacity of developing root hair identity, whereas the non-hair cells…

Plant cell walls provide mechanical support to plant cells, determine their size and shape, and influence plant development and stress responses. The plant cell wall is composed mainly of polysaccharides, including cellulose, hemicellulose and pectins, with smaller amounts of phenolic polymers and proteins…