A weekly plant science research roundup curated and summarized by our Plantae Editors and Fellows
This interesting article by Cathie Martin and Eugenio Butelli describes the process through which purple, anthocyanin-accumulating tomatoes were brought to the US market, from idea to business plan to…
Non-invasive imaging technologies like computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have revolutionized medicine by improving diagnostics and guiding treatment. Due to its versatility, MRI…
Osmosis, driving water uptake and transport, is crucial for plants. It supports nutrient uptake, turgidity, and overall plant health. In hyperosmotic conditions, caused by drought, salinity, and cold stress,…
The regulated expression of genes is fundamental to all biological processes, including development, cell growth, and responses to environmental signals. Transcription factors (TFs) are sequence-specific…
In most land plants, carbon fixation into a three-carbon compound by the enzyme Rubisco takes place in the leaf mesophyll cells; these are called C3 plants. However, a different and more efficient pathway…
Strigolactones (SLs), a group of carotenoid-derived small signaling molecules and a class of phytohormones, play key roles in regulating various growth and developmental processes in plants. Additionally,…
What if plants could teach us about aging? Understanding how and why living organisms age is a fundamental question in biology and medicine. While most research focuses on humans, the model plant Arabidopsis…
Inositol pyrophosphates (PP-InsP) are plant signaling molecules that regulate phosphate homeostasis and related metabolic processes. But a global phosphate crisis, due to resource depletion and environmental…
The reduction in crop yields caused by pathogens and pests poses a significant challenge to global food security. Genetic engineering, aimed at strengthening plant defense mechanisms, offers a cost-effective…
I suspect if we asked someone to describe a fossil we’d hear a lot about dinosaur bones. Certainly, science museums are full of fossilized animal remains, which have greatly informed our understanding…
This article poses the interesting question of whether we can use our knowledge of plant cell wall-modifying, carbohydrate-active enzymes to produce biobased materials. Specifically, the authors point…
Many studies have demonstrated the importance of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in communication between plants. VOCs emitted by a plant damaged by herbivory promote defenses in nearby plants. It is…
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.
