Recent Posts

Secret Talents: STARCH SYNTHASE 5—Not an Enzyme, but Very Active!

Abt et al. found that Arabidopsis SS5, a protein homologous to typical starch-synthesizing enzymes, is itself enzymatically inactive, but rather has an important role in the starch granule initiation process. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.19.00946 By Melanie R. Abt and Samuel C. Zeeman, Institute…

Lipid kinases in signaling and metabolism

Angkawijaya et al. investigate diacylglycerol kinase function in Arabidopsis phospholipid signaling and metabolism. The Plant Cell (2020) https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00251 By Artik Elisa Angkawijaya, Van C. Nguyen, Farrel Gunawan, and Yuki Nakamura, Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, Academia…

An optimized high-throughput assay for the identification of enhancers in plant genomes

Jores et al. adapt STARR-seq for identifying enhancers in tobacco leaves. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00155 By Tobias Joresa, Jackson Tonniesa,b, Michael W Dorritya, Josh T Cuperusa, Stanley Fieldsa,c and Christine Queitscha a Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington,…

Comparing genomes of diverse plants reveals new candidate genetic components for plant disease resistance

Baggs et al. look for key immune genes bases on their presence/absence patterns in different plant species. The Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.19.00903 by Erin Baggs, University of California, Berkeley, USA Ruby O’Grady, The John Innes Centre and The Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich, UK…

Cellular plasticity in protein re-balancing

Rolletschek et al. examine the role of cellular plasticity in oil-protein balancing. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.19.00879 By Hardy Rolletschek and Ljudmilla Borisjuk Leibniz Inst Plant Genet & Crop Plant Res (IPK) Gatersleben, Germany Background: Seeds of some crops like…

Guard cell starch-derived glucose drives fast stomatal opening kinetics

Flütsch et al. examine how starch degradation and light-regulated membrane transport control stomatal opening kinetics. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00802 By Sabrina Flütsch and Diana Santelia Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland Background: Stomatal…

MYB30 Promotes PIF4 and PIF5 Accumulation in the Light

Yan et al. discovered that MYB30, an R2R3-MYB family transcription factor, is a negative regulator of Arabidopsis photomorphogenic development and promotes PIF4 and PIF5 accumulation under prolonged red light irradiation. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.19.00645 By Yan Yan and Jigang Li, China…

Control of Arabidopsis Hypocotyl Growth by Strigolactone and Karrikin Signaling

Descriptive paragraph. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00140 By Bing Wang and Qian Xu, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Background: Strigolactones (SLs) are carotenoid-derived plant hormones that control many aspects of plant development, such…

XOAT1- At the heart of plant polysaccharide acetylation

Lunin et al. describe a structural and biochemical analysis of the enzyme XOAT1, responsible for the acetylation of the cell wall component xylan, with potential applications in cell wall modification for better biomass valorization. The Plant Cell (2020) https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00028 By Vivek…