Plant Science Research Weekly

A weekly plant science research roundup curated and summarized by our Plantae Editors and Fellows

RECENT SUMMARIES

November 8, 2019/by Mary Williams

Review: Exchange of small regulatory RNAs between plants and their pests (Plant Physiol)

Trans-species small RNAs are the latest class in the family of signals that move between plants and their attackers. Hudzik et al. review this topic, covering small RNAs that move from plant to pest and from pest to plant. The transmitted RNAs function by interfering with gene expression in the recipient.…

November 8, 2019/by Mary Williams

Review: Mosses in biotechnology (Curr. Opin. Biotechnol.)

Plant biotechnology often refers to crops and, more recently, algae, but biotechnology also applies to…

November 8, 2019/by Mary Williams

Machine learning enables high-throughput phenotyping for analyses of the genetic architecture of bulliform cell patterning in maize (G3)

Bulliform cells lie in rows along the upper (adaxial) surface of the maize leaf, and through changes…

November 8, 2019/by Nanxun Qin

Synthetic biogenesis of chromoplasts from leaf chloroplasts (bioRxiv)

Chromoplasts are a type of plastid, usually found in fruits and flowers, that can accumulate large amounts…

November 8, 2019/by Alexander Bowles

Mesostigma viride genome and transcriptome provide insights into the origin and evolution of Streptophyta (Adv. Sci)

Multicellularity has arisen independently many times across the eukaryotic tree of life (e.g., in plants,…

November 8, 2019/by Mary Williams

A MYC-dependent transcription factor network regulates water spray-responsive gene expression and jasmonate levels ($) (PNAS)

Plants perceive and respond to touch and other physical contact including wounding. Van Moerkercke et…

November 8, 2019/by Mary Williams

Pathogen-induced activation of disease-suppressive functions in the endophytic root microbiome ($) (Science)

Disease-suppressive soils have long been known, although it hasn’t always been clear how they function.…

November 8, 2019/by Mary Williams

A mutualistic interaction between Streptomyces bacteria, strawberry plants and pollinating bees (Nature Comms)

Some species of Streptomyces bacteria produce antimicrobial compounds that have been shown to enhance…

November 8, 2019/by Francesca Resentini

Protocol for rapid clearing and staining of fixed Arabidopsis ovules for improved imaging by confocal laser scanning microscopy (Plant Methods)

This is a very interesting paper that provide a new, fast and easy protocol, with specific step-by-step…

November 8, 2019/by Nanxun Qin

Gene-editing in somatic cells can be achieved by spray-on of carbon dots (bioRxiv)

It’s known to all that plant biotechnology can enhance food security, but there are also inevitable…

November 8, 2019/by Mary Williams

The greenhouse gas impacts of converting food production in England and Wales to organic methods (Nature Comms)

Many discussions about organic food production are dominated by dogma rather than pragmatism. Nevertheless,…

November 1, 2019/by Mary Williams

Review: Celebrating 20 years of genetic discoveries in legume nodulation and symbiotic nitrogen fixation (Plant Cell)

Legumes are important crops because they are protein-rich, as a consequence of symbiotic nitrogen fixation…

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Each week, the Plantae editors select new plant science research articles to highlight. The short summaries describe the question addressed and key findings, with links to the article. Suggestions? Join/Sign-in to the community to participate in the discussion.

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Mary Williams, Editor

As Plantae Editor, Mary works tirelessly to ensure that our team is creating interesting and valuable content for the community. Mary pursued a traditional academic path (BS in Biochemistry at Berkeley, Ph.D. in Plant Molecular Biology at Rockefeller, Postdoc in Plant Science at Berkeley); her research focused on transcriptional regulation, root development, and phosphoinositide signaling.

Ideas? Sign-in to Plantae, then you can connect with Mary and send her a direct message.

Plant Science Research Weekly

RECENT SUMMARIES

Review: Exchange of small regulatory RNAs between plants and their pests (Plant Physiol)

Review: Mosses in biotechnology (Curr. Opin. Biotechnol.)

Machine learning enables high-throughput phenotyping for analyses of the genetic architecture of bulliform cell patterning in maize (G3)

Synthetic biogenesis of chromoplasts from leaf chloroplasts (bioRxiv)

Mesostigma viride genome and transcriptome provide insights into the origin and evolution of Streptophyta (Adv. Sci)

A MYC-dependent transcription factor network regulates water spray-responsive gene expression and jasmonate levels ($) (PNAS)

Pathogen-induced activation of disease-suppressive functions in the endophytic root microbiome ($) (Science)

A mutualistic interaction between Streptomyces bacteria, strawberry plants and pollinating bees (Nature Comms)

Protocol for rapid clearing and staining of fixed Arabidopsis ovules for improved imaging by confocal laser scanning microscopy (Plant Methods)

Gene-editing in somatic cells can be achieved by spray-on of carbon dots (bioRxiv)

The greenhouse gas impacts of converting food production in England and Wales to organic methods (Nature Comms)

Review: Celebrating 20 years of genetic discoveries in legume nodulation and symbiotic nitrogen fixation (Plant Cell)

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Mary Williams, Editor

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