Recent Posts

Plant Metabolic Redox Dynamics–Live!

Steinbeck et al. investigate in vivo NAD redox dynamics in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00241 By Janina Steinbeck and Markus Schwarzländer Background: All organisms rely on their cellular metabolism to live, develop, grow, and procreate. Metabolism provides the energy,…

A Geminivirus Exploits the Host Machinery to Inhibit Methylation-mediated Defense Responses

Chen et al. uncover a strategy used by a DNA geminivirus to exploit the host machinery in order to inhibit methylation-mediated defense responses when establishing infection. The Plant Cell (2020) https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00249.  Background: Geminiviruses belong to one of the largest and most…

Chemical labeling of proteins in live plant cells

Iwatate et al. demonstrate that SNAP-tag technology can be used to label plant cell proteins. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00439 By Ryu J. Iwatatea,b, Akira Yoshinaria, Noriyoshi Yagia, Wolf B. Frommera,c, and Masayoshi Nakamuraa a Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (WPI-ITbM),…

The role of arabinogalactans in plant development

López-Hernández et al. reveal that arabinogalactans function in calcium signaling from outside to inside the cell. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00027 Federico López Hernández and Paul Dupree University of Cambridge, Department of Biochemistry, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge,…

Chilling Lessons from Sugar Beets: Switching Sources

Rodrigues et al. found that the source and sink identities of sugar beet shoots vs. taproots are switched upon vernalization (chilling) due to a cold-induced reversal of the phloem stream. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00072 By Cristina Martins Rodriguesa, Christina Müdsamb and Benjamin…

Oryza sativa RNA-dependent RNA polymerase 6 modulates rice meiosis

Liu et al. connect small RNA biogenesis and meiotic recombination by examining RNA-dependent RNA polymerase 6. The Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00213   By Changzhen Liu, Yi Shen and Zhukuan Cheng  Background: Meiosis is a specialized cell division that takes place in sexually…

Back to the Roots of Plant Immunity

Rich-Griffin et al. uncover cell type-specific gene networks that function in plant immunity in Arabidopsis roots. The Plant Cell (2020) https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00154   By Charlotte Rich-Griffin1, Ruth Eichmann1,2, Sascha Ott3,4,5 & Patrick Schäfer1,2  1School of Life Sciences,…

In the Cold of the Night: how COR27 Regulates HY5 Activity and Integrates Light and Circadian Signals

Zhu et al. discover that the COR27 protein interacts with the central regulators of light-mediated development COP1 and HY5 and plays a critical role in hypocotyl elongation. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00192 By Wei Zhu (Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China)…

Towards Uncovering the Developmental Mechanisms of Elaborate Petals: Nigella damascena as a Beginning

Zhang et al. explore the mechanisms underlying elaborate petal development and specialized character formation in Nigella damascena. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00330 By Rui Zhang, Xuehao Fu, Caiyao Zhao, Jie Cheng, Hongyan Shan, and Hongzhi Kong Background: Petals can be simple or…