Recent Posts

Anthers Crave Copper

Yan et al. searched for proteins that regulate the delivery of the micronutrient copper to flowers to ensure successful reproduction https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00363 By Jiapei Yan, Ju-Chen Chia, and Olena Vatamaniuk Background: Global food security and the demand for high-yielding grain crops…

Transcriptional Switching Makes New Messages

Fukudome et al. explore the significance of Pol II C-terminal phosphorylation https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00331 By Akihito Fukudome and Hisashi Koiwa Background: In animals and plants, gene expression begins with an enzyme called RNA polymerase II (Pol II), which produces ribonucleic acid (RNA)…

Multiple Mediator Subunits Impact Metabolism

Dolan et al. examine how a complex that regulates gene expression alters the production of phenylpropanoids  https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00282 By Whitney Dolan and Clint Chapple Background: Plants produce a vast array of compounds known as phenylpropanoids from the amino acid phenylalanine.…

Protection Against Reactive Carbonyl Species

Schmitz et al. investigate the physiological significance of the glyoxylase system  in Arabidopsis https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00258 By Jessica Schmitz and Veronica G. Maurino BACKGROUND: In every living cell, side reactions of enzymes and spontaneous reactions of metabolites inevitably…

OnGuard2 Computational Platform Tracks Guard Cell Processes

Wang et al. discover unexpected connections between humidity and ion transport using a model that bridges guard cell-to-leaf scales https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00694 By Maria Papanatsiou Background: Plants rely on stomata on the leaf epidermis for their survival. Stomata are small pores formed…

How Signals in Plant Leaves Influence Flowering

Brambilla et al. describe antagonistic signals in rice leaves that control flowering https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00645 By Vittoria Brambilla Background: A plant’s lifecycle is marked by a major switch occurring when the plant stops producing leaves and starts to make flowers. This switch is…

How Plants Clear Toxic Proteins

Gil et al. explore ZTL-mediated protein quality control https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00612 By Kyung-Eun Gil Background: As sessile organisms, plants have evolved various mechanisms to adapt to environmental changes. Under stressful conditions such as high temperatures, proteins are misfolded…

Broad-Spectrum Disease Resistance in Tomato

Broad-Spectrum Disease Resistance in Tomato Zhu et al. examine how a plant receptor protein confers broad-spectrum resistance to various tospovirus pathogens https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00180 By Min Zhu, Savithramma P. Dinesh-Kumar, and Xiaorong Tao Background: Highly evolved microbes cause…

How Plants Keep Troublemakers Out and Water In

Kaundal et al. examine how a protein keeps plants safe from invading pathogens and dehydration http://www.plantcell.org/content/29/9/2233 By Amita Kaundal, Vemanna S. Ramu, Kirankumar S. Mysore Background: To cause disease in plants, bacteria must enter plant tissue and multiply. Bacteria and…