Few fruits have a more distinctive color than strawberry (Fragaria spp). Anthocyanins are responsible for strawberry’s characteristic red pigmentation with variations in receptacle color caused by altered anthocyanin levels. While the flavonoid synthesis pathway accountable for anthocyanin accumulation…

While ammonium ions (NH4+) serve as important sources of nitrogen nutrition, higher concentrations are toxic and inhibit plant growth and development. In an attempt to understand how roots of rice plant adapt to high concentrations of NH4+, Jia and colleagues found the roots coil and adopt a helical…

Review: Organelles-nucleus-plasmodesmata signaling, and roles in plant physiology, metabolism and stress responses Plasmodesmata (PD) are pores that connect plant cells and allow the flow of small molecules and information but also viruses. This traffic is tightly regulated, in large part by the deposition…

Review: Emerging roles of long noncoding RNAs in the cytoplasmic milieu Note: This article focuses on work in mammalian systems but may be of interest to plant biologists. Long non-coding RNA (lncRNAs) are ³200nt RNAs and represent almost 0.2% of cellular RNA pool. Early work focused on their roles…

ConnecTF: A platform to integrate transcription factor-gene interactions and validate regulatory networks Gene regulatory networks (GFNs) are complex beasts, integrating multiple components of transcription factors (TFs), regulatory loci, and function -- not to mention the myriad datasets and methodologies…

A network of transcriptional repressors modulates auxin responses Untangling developmental programs and their methods of regulation are key to understanding the lives of all organisms. In plants, auxin is a hormone essential for plant growth and development. The class A AUSIN RESPONSE FACTOR…

The canonical RdDM pathway mediates the control of seed germination timing under salinity ($) Epigenetic regulation can ensure that plant developmental programs and stress responses are tightly coordinated so that environmental changes do not compromise plant fitness. One of the mechanisms to achieve…

CLE40 induces localized root Ca2+ transients through CNGC9 Growth and differentiation of cells in the meristematic region are tightly regulated by different signaling pathways. In the root meristem, the small peptide CLE40 acts as a ligand that binds to cell surface receptors and regulates cellular…