For a plant, form is function. Despite the diversity of forms that exist in nature, plant root diversity is notoriously understudied compared to their aerial counterpart. This review by Ramachandran and Ramirez et al. aims to revitalize the field of root form-function research by accentuating the vast…

Anthropogenic climate change has introduced tremendous uncertainty about the future of all life on Earth. As primary producers, threats to plants are transduced up the food chain to their consumers, including people, which is why there is a great need to develop resilient plants that are able to sustain…

Plasmodesmata are important for intercellular communication in plants. They are formed through incomplete cytokinesis during which there is no “final cut” of the communication between daughter cells. Unlike animal cells that have a single bridge between cells, plants create several hundreds of plasmodesmata…

Light is both a source of energy for photosynthesis and a key environmental signal that regulates plant growth. Seedlings grown in darkness exhibit elongated hypocotyls and shorter roots, while light promotes shorter hypocotyls and longer roots. Cryptochromes (CRYs), as blue-light receptors, mediate…

The vascular cambium, a bifacial stem cell niche, generates xylem on one side and phloem on the other, driving wood formation—the largest reservoir of terrestrial biomass. This developmental system must balance producing two distinct cell types while maintaining a reservoir of stem cells. Key questions…

The endodermal Casparian strip (CS) is a conserved lignin-based barrier in plant roots that seals the endodermal apoplastic space. Most angiosperms possess an additional root cell type, the exodermis, which also forms a barrier. However, its regulation remains poorly understood as this cell type is absent…

Thanks to the continued shedding and renewal of root cap cells, plant roots are able to extend into further reaches within the soil column overcoming physical barriers and potential microbial attacks, or so we assumed. Charura et al. explored the latter hypothesis showing that timely programmed cell…

While flowers are typically associated with pleasant fragrances, every few years a certain part of the rainforests of Sumatra is filled with the pungent odor of rotting flesh. This smell emanates from the inflorescence of the titan arum, or corpse plant, which heats up during flowering in a process known…