Recent Posts

GWAS and the fight against darkness-induced starvation

Feng Zhu and colleagues investigate the time-resolved mGWAS of dark-induced senescence.  https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koab251 By Feng Zhu and Alisdair R. Fernie Background: In cellular circumstances under which nutrients are scarce, plants must degrade polymers to recycle carbon (C) and nitrogen…

Swapping citrate for malate by plant mitochondria

Lee et al. unravel a mitochondrial transporter responsible for selectively exporting citrate in exchange for malate. Plant Cell (2021) By Chun Pong Leea, Marlene Elsässerb, Philippe Fuchsb,c, Ricarda Fenskea, Markus Schwarzländerb, A. Harvey Millara aARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology,…

Dual benefits of STOP1-NRT1.1 in response to acidic stress

Ye et al. investigate H+ tolerance mechanisms in Arabidopsis The Plant Cell (2021) Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koab226 By Jia Yuan Ye and Chong Wei Jin Background: Acid soils cover nearly half of the world's arable lands. Application of urea-N and ammonium-N fertilizers markedly…

The queen’s crown: Team-building the stigma at the top of the pistil

Ballester et al. reveal how stigma development in Arabidopsis requires the formation of different higher-order transcription factor complexes of increasing complexity. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koab236  By Cristina Ferrándiz Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas, CSIC-UPV Background:…

Linking low energy sensing to chromatin modification and gene activity in rice

Wang and colleagues investigated the starvation response of rice seedlings. By Wentao Wang and Yue Lu Background: For survival and growth, cells of all living organisms must balance their energy consumption and supply. Although energetically autonomous (through photosynthesis), plants are continuously…

VDAL transgenic cotton exhibits tolerance to Verticillium wilt caused by Verticillium dahliae

Ma et al. investigate a VDAL protein from Verticillium dahliae that can enhance plant disease. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koab221 By Aifang Ma, Zhizhong Gong and Junsheng Qi Background: Verticillium wilt, also called a plant cancer disease, causes massive losses in multiple crops…

Fishing out virus replication complexes

Incarbone et al. use an epitope-tagged protein that binds double-stranded RNAs to fish out viral replication complexes and identify the associated proteins. Plant Cell. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koab214 Marco Incarbone (GMI, Vienna) and Christophe Ritzenthaler (IBMP, Strasbourg) Background:…

Winter is coming: It’s time to “CRY”

Li et al. reveal how the cryptochrome CRY2 regulates freezing tolerance in Arabidopsis. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koab215  By Youping Li Background: Cold acclimation via exposure to non-lethal low temperatures enhances frost resistance in plants. This process requires light; however, we know…

An E3 ubiquitin ligase modulates brassinosteroid signaling by targeting the transcription factor BES1 to selective autophagy under sucrose starvation

Wang et al. identify a mechanism by which plants reduce growth under sucrose starvation conditions. Plant Cell. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koab210 by Ping Wang and Yanhai Yin (Iowa State University)  Background: Plants fine-tune their growth and stress-response programs to adapt to the environment.…