Category: The Plant Cell: In a Nutshell

Xing et al. investigate the link between chloroplast import and quality control in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac180 By Jiale Xing, Junting Pan and Wenqiang Yang Background: The chloroplast is an important bioreactor as well as a photosynthetic site. Approximately…

Ding et al. explore how MAP kinases affect virus propagation in plants and animal hosts.  Zhi-Hang Ding, Xian-Bing Wang, State Key Laboratory of Agro-Biotechnology, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China Background: Mitogen-activated protein kinase…

Procko et al. investigate the molecular identities of specialized photosynthetic cell types in leaves. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac167 By Carl Procko and Travis Lee. Salk Institute for Biological Studies, CA Background: Photosynthesis is arguably the most important biochemical process…

An et al. identify the regulatory pathways that affect heading in lettuce.  Background: The formation of leafy heads is an important agronomic trait in some vegetable crops, such as lettuce, cabbage, and mustard. Having leafy heads facilitates harvesting and transportation, extends shelf life, and…

Lu et al. unravel a mechanism by which reactive oxygen species modulate brassinosteroid signaling through the GSK3-like kinase BIN2 Qing Lua,b, Eugenia Russinovaa,b a Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, 9052 Ghent, Belgium b Center for Plant Systems Biology,…

Li et al. discover a cold-tolerance allele that was not selected during maize domestication.   Background: Cold stress is an important environmental factor that limits plant growth, development, and geographical distribution. Maize originated in Mexico and is sensitive to low temperatures. Cold stress…

By Xiayan Liu and Fei Yu Chen et al. explore the relationship between the microtubule-associated protein MOR1 and the microtubule-severing protein KATANIN1.  Background: Microtubules (MTs) are highly dynamic cytoskeletal structures with essential functions in cell morphogenesis and cell division.…

Yang et al. identify a maize Nitrate Transporter 1/Peptide Transporter family protein that functions as a sugar transporter in grain filling. By Bo Yang and Jinsheng Lai, State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry (SKLPPB) & National Maize Improvement Center, Department of Plant…