High Fiber Research: A Moss Arabinoglucan Synthase
Research, The Plant Cell, The Plant Cell: In a NutshellRoberts et al. investigate cell wall synthesis in Physcomitrella patens. The Plant Cell (2018). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00082.
By Alison Roberts and Eric Roberts
Background: The health-promoting soluble fiber in whole grains is rich in mixed-linkage glucan (MLG), so called because it consists…
Essential Cell Cycle Pathways in Chlamydomonas
Research, The Plant Cell, The Plant Cell: In a NutshellBreker et al. provide a large collection of mutants in cell-cycle-essential pathways in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00071.
By Michal Breker
Background: The cell division cycle is a set of tightly regulated and orchestrated events that lead to accurate…
trans-Zeatin in Shoots Drives Nitrate Systemic Signaling
Research, The Plant Cell, The Plant Cell: In a NutshellPoitout et al. study how plants forage for nutrients in the soil https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00011.
By Arthur Poitout and Sandrine Ruffel
Background: Nitrate, NO3- (the preferential nitrogen [N] source for most of higher plants) is spread unevenly in the soil due to its high mobile property,…
Understanding Starch Granule Initiation
Research, The Plant Cell, The Plant Cell: In a NutshellSeung et al. identify two plastidial coiled-coil proteins that play an important role in initiating starch granules in Arabidopsis chloroplasts https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00219
By David Seung, Tina B. Schreier, Léo Bürgy, Simona Eicke and Samuel C. Zeeman.
Background: Starch is the…
Role of the Actin Cytoskeleton in Self-Incompatibility
Research, The Plant Cell, The Plant Cell: In a NutshellChen et.al. demonstrate that phosphatidic acid mitigates S-RNase signaling in pollen by stabilizing the actin cytoskeleton. Plant Cell (2018). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00021
By Jianqing Chen, Peng Wang, Shaoling Zhang, and Juyou Wu
Background: The success of sexual reproduction in flowering…
All Roads Lead to Rome: Multiple Pathways Close Stomata in Plant Defense
Research, The Plant Cell, The Plant Cell: In a NutshellZheng et al. reveal that plant endogenous peptides and their receptors initiate stomatal closure to prevent microbes’ entry, thus enhancing plant immunity. The Plant Cell (2018) https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00701.
By Xiaojiang Zheng and Sheng Luan.
Background: Unlike animals, plants can’t…
Diterpenoid Defense in Host- and Non-host Disease Resistance in Rice
Research, The Plant Cell, The Plant Cell: In a NutshellLu et al. show that diterpenoids contribute to disease resistance in rice. Plant Cell. (2018). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00205
Background: Rice (Oryza sativa) is an important food crop. Diseases caused by the fungal blast pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae and bacterial leaf blight pathogen Xanthomonas…
Maintaining Cellular Phosphate
Research, The Plant Cell, The Plant Cell: In a NutshellSegami et al. investigate cellular phosphate homeostasis in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00911
Background: Many biological reactions, including the biosynthesis of DNA, RNA, proteins, and polysaccharides, produce inorganic pyrophosphate (PPi). However, accumulation of PPi…
When Lipids Meet Hormones: Plants’ Answer to Complex Stresses
Research, The Plant Cell, The Plant Cell: In a NutshellWang et al. show that abscisic acid-inducible genes encode lipid degrading enzymes that release polyunsaturated fatty acids from chloroplast lipids as precursors for jasmonic acid production leading to biotic defenses in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00250
By Kun Wang and Igor Houwat
Background:…