Genomes losing balance – what is the consequence?
Shi et al. (2021). Plant Cell. Gene expression in diploid aneuploids and polyploids. Plant Cell. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koab030
By Xiaowen Shi and James A. Birchler
Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211
Background: A change in the number of chromosomes…
Genomic imbalance: an extra chromosome arm can induce severe phenotypic and gene expression changes
Yang et al. use haploid induction, genomic and transcriptomic sequencing to explore gene expression changes across the genome when the chromosome arm was varied in haploid maize.
By Hua Yang, James Birchler, University of Missouri-Columbia
Background: The phenotypic consequences of the addition…
Unbalanced subgenome regulation in wheat
Meiyue Wang, Zijuan Li, Yu’e Zhang, Yuyun Zhang, et al. explore the differences in gene regulation in wheat subgenomes. Plant Cell. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koab028
by Meiyue Wang, Yijing Zhang
CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology…
Size no longer matters: Cloning algal genes just became easier
Emrich-Mills and Yates et al. develop a method for the large-scale cloning of Chlamydomonas genes without sequence length or complexity limits. The Plant Cell (2021) https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koab024
By Tom Z. Emrich-Mills, Gary Yates, and Luke C.M. Mackinder
Background: Chlamydomonas…
How algae adjust light harvesting efficiency to the prevailing supply of CO2
Olga Blifernez-Klassen and colleagues identify a minimal NAB1 promoter that confers responsiveness to low CO2 supply and the transcription factor LCRF that mediates NAB1 upregulation.
By Olga Blifernez-Klassen and Lutz Wobbe, Algae Biotechnology and Bioenergy, Bielefeld University, Faculty of Biology,…
Why does telomere length vary in plants?
Choi et al. uncover the association between telomere length and flowering time variation in Arabidopsis, rice, and maize. The Plant Cell (2021) https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koab022
Background: Telomeres are DNA-protein complexes found at the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes that protect the…
Molecular Mechanism for the CO-FT Module
Lv et al. investigate the molecular basis for the specific regulation of FT by CONSTANS. The Plant Cell (2021) https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koab016
By Xinchen Lv and Jiamu Du
Background: During the floral transition, plants perceive various environmental and endogenous signals to trigger…
The secret arsenal of phytopathogenic fungi
Martínez-Cruz et al. identify fungal effectors with chitinase activity, which suppress chitin-triggered immunity.
by Jesús Martínez-Cruza,b, Diego Romeroa,b, Jesús Hierrezueloa,b, Michael Thonc, Antonio de Vicentea,b and Alejandro Pérez-Garcíaa,b
aDepartamento de Microbiología, Facultad…
A New Tool for Visualizing Protein-Protein Interactions
Winkler et al. describe a tool to visualize and quantify protein-protein interactions inside Nicotiana benthamiana cells. The Plant Cell (2021) https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koab004
Background: Interactions between proteins (protein-protein interactions, PPIs) are an essential aspect of how life…