Recent Posts

How Rice Fights Salinity

Wang et al. demonstrate how rice alters the expression of a sodium transporter gene under salinity stress. The Plant Cell (2020). Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00301 By Jie Wang, Nan Nan, Ning Li, Yutong Liu, Tian-Jing Wang, Inhwan Hwang, Bao Liu and Zheng-Yi Xu Background: Excessive…

Balancing phosphorus and nitrogen during phosphate starvation

Wang et al. explore how plants increase Pi uptake and reduce nitrate uptake during Pi starvation. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00361 By Xue Wang and Yi-Fang Chen State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University,…

Mapping the Routes of Systemic Signaling in Arabidopsis

Zandalinas et al. identify the plant tissues that mediate systemic reactive oxygen signaling in response to high-light stress in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00453 By Sara I Zandalinas and Ron Mittler University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA  Background: Plants constantly…

To form a more perfect union – Auxin orchestrates corolla tube fusion

Ding et al. investigate the developmental genetics of corolla tube formation in monkeyflowers (Mimulus). The Plant Cell (2020). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00471   By Baoqing Ding and Yao-Wu Yuan, University of Connecticut Background: About one third of all angiosperm species produce…

Plant Polarity at the Single Cell and Tissue Levels

Cheng et al. demonstrate that a fully functional ROP fluorescent fusion protein marks future polarity sites 1–2 cell cycles ahead of growth. The Plant Cell (2020) https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00440.  By Xiaohang Cheng and Magdalena Bezanilla  Background: Unlike animals, plants can’t simply…

Gains in Grain Yield: A Pair of Spikelets Makes All the Difference, Even When One is Sterile

Mother Nature has a way of keeping seemingly useless structures around millions of years. Such structures are likely to have a use that is not obvious, although they could also be remnants of the evolutionary past without extant function, or non-functional but harmless byproducts of a different adaptive…

Exploring variation in a key maize regulator of floral form

María Jazmín Abraham-Juárez, Amanda Schrager-Lavelle et. al. explore how variation in a key floral regulator affects floral development, downstream gene expression and protein complex assembly in maize. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00300  by Jazmin Abraham-Juarez, Biology Department,…

Sometimes “jammed paper” can be a good thing: functional interactions between pectins and cellulose in the plant cell wall

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…

Useless no more: infertile spikelets contribute to grain yield in a major food crop and its relatives

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…