The Plant Cell: In a Nutshell

Nonis et al. explore the circular permutation of the common sugar-binding protein ConA https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koab130  by Samuel Nonis and Joshua Mylne* (The University of Western Australia; *,current address, Curtin University)  Background: Jack bean concanavalin A (conA) is a sugar-binding…

Stuart et al. identify the barley Viridis-k gene and assign a specific function for a C-type ferredoxin as the long-sought electron donor for the cyclase enzyme in chlorophyll biosynthesis. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koab150 Background: Chlorophyll is the green color of plants. It is made in several…

Pedroza-Garcia report that the necessity for DNA damage response kinases under non-stress conditions is higher in maize than in Arabidopsis, indicating that the mechanisms maintaining genome integrity may be more important for vegetative and reproductive development than previously thought. Plant Cell…

Zupok et al. demonstrate that photosynthesis genes encoded on the chloroplast genome can establish hybridization barriers. Plant Cell. (2021)  https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koab155 By Arkadiusz Zupok, Danijela Kozul and Stephan Greiner, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Potsdam/Golm,…

Furuya et al. identify BEH3 as a stabilizer in the cambium in Arabidopsis thaliana By Tomoyuki Furuyaa,b  and Yuki Kondoa,b. a Graduate School of Science, Kobe University, Japan b Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Japan. Background: Just like trees, plants like Arabidopsis…

Le et al. demonstrate that mitochondria get pyruvate three different ways. Plant Cell By X.H. Le, C.P. Lee and A.H. Millar The University of Western Australia Perth, Australia Background: Plants photosynthesise and make starch in the day so that at night they can extract energy from…

Zhang et al. show that a transcription factor module modulates TCA cycle strength and thus reactive oxygen species homeostasis in rose petals. Plant Cell. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koab152  Background: Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are by-products of several primary metabolic pathways and high…

Baile et al. discover how EAR domain-containing transcription factors recruit the polycomb group complex PRC2 to mediate gene repression in Arabidopsis. The Plant Cell (2021) https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koab139  By Fernando Baile and Myriam Calonje Institute of Plant Biochemistry and Photosynthesis…