Space-Time Continuum of Gene Expression in Lateral Root Development
Walker et al. explore how the environment shapes root architecture. The Plant Cell 2017. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.16.00961
By Liam Walker
Background: To acquire nutrients and anchor themselves, plant roots spread both vertically and horizontally in soil. Plants typically have a primary root…
A Plant Protein That Foils Aphid Feeding
Kloth et al. probe aphid feeding behavior. The Plant Cell 2017 doi: 10.1105/tpc.16.00424
By Karen Kloth
Background: Aphids are phloem-feeding insects. They penetrate plants with a piercing-sucking mouth. Once they reach a tube where the plant transports its sugar-rich phloem sap, they can take…
Flowering Versus Runnering: A Very Important Decision in Strawberry
Tenreira et al. find a gene responsible for the differentiation of the stolon in strawberry. The Plant Cell 2017. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.16.00949
Asexual reproduction produces offspring that are genetically identical to the parents. This process takes many forms in flowering plants, including…
Light Helps Plants Cope with Phosphate Starvation
Liu et al. focus on transcriptional regulation of PHR1 expression. The Plant Cell 2017. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00268
Phosphorus (P) is an essential micronutrient for plant growth, development, and metabolism. Phosphate (Pi), the major form of P used by plants, is highly immobile in most soils,…
How Does Histone Phosphorylation Affect Flowering Time?
Su et al. look at chromatin modifications that affect flowering. The Plant Cell 2017. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00266
Plants, unlike animals, begin their lives as seeds that – in flowering plants – develop from flowers. This depends upon proper regulation of flowering time, to ensure pollination,…
Getting It Done On Time: How Maize Orders DNA Replication
Wear et al. examine replication programs in plants. The Plant Cell 2017. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00037
By William Thompson, Emily Wear, and Linda Hanley-Bowdoin
DNA replication is fundamental to all life, as it is the process by which genetic material is duplicated so it can be passed from…
Tiny Mutation Linked to Tastier Tomatoes
Ye et al. discover a gene affecting tomato flavor. The Plant Cell 2017. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00211
By Jie Ye
Malate—a widely occurring organic acid in plants—is an important contributor to taste. Variation in acid content has a much greater impact on flavor than does the limited…
Translating to beat the heat
Zhang et al. investigate protein translation under heat stresss http://www.plantcell.org/content/29/8/1952
By Elizabeth Vierling
Plants can’t move to avoid unfavorable growth conditions, such as insufficient water availability or extremes of temperature. When plants are confronted with stressful…
From Light to Food – Organization of Photosynthetic Complexes
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MacGregor-Chatwin et al. map the cellular organization of photosynthetic protein complexes http://www.plantcell.org/content/29/5/1119
Life on Earth depends on photosynthesis, the source of all of our food, oxygen, and most of our energy. Two pigment-protein complexes called Photosystems I and II…