Review: More than a pinch of salt: How plants tolerate salty conditions (Annu. Rev. Plant Biol.)
Plant Science Research WeeklyHigh soil salinity has implications greater than what meets the eye; in addition to the apparent ‘ionic’ stress caused by the toxic sodium (Na+) and chloride (Cl-) ions, it causes osmotic stress (drought-like condition), altered potassium (K+) homeostasis, inhibition of photosynthesis and a plethora…
Meltome atlas: revealing protein thermal stability across the tree of life (Nature Methods)
Plant Science Research WeeklyEnvironmental cues can affect the structure and function of proteins. To get broad empirical information about the effect of temperature on protein stability, Jarzab, Kurzawa, Hopf et al. generated an atlas of proteome thermal stability across 13 model organisms, including bacteria, yeast, worm, fish,…
Mars1 kinase signaling in the chloroplast unfolded protein response (eLIFE)
Plant Science Research WeeklyIn stressful situations, such as high light and nutrient scarcity, the chloroplast may experience increased proteotoxicity due to a surge in damaging reactive oxygen species. In response, a signal is sent to the nucleus to increase production of many proteins, including proteases and chaperones to help…
Update: How plants sense and respond to stressful environments (Plant Phys)
Plant Science Research WeeklyA longstanding question in plant science is how plants “know” that they are under threat. The identification of cell-surface receptors that identify conserved pathogen patterns sheds some light on biotic stress perception, but what about abiotic stresses such as excessive heat or drought? Lamers…
Transcription factor NF‐YB21 positively regulate the root growth in Populus (New Phytol)
Plant Science Research WeeklyNuclear factor Y (NF-Y) proteins are heterotrimeric transcription factors made up of A, B and C subunits that exist in higher eukaryotes. Previous work has implicated NF-Ys in root growth. Recently, Zhou et al. isolated a root-specific NF-Y family transcription factor in Populus designated as PdNF-YB21.…
Heat tolerance regulated by an ancient jasmonate signaling pathway (Curr. Biol)
Plant Science Research WeeklyJasmonate responses are regulated not only by the well-studied pair of the bioactive hormone jasmonoyl-isoleucine (JA-Ile) and the receptor COI1, but also the cyclopentenone OPDA and the JA-Ile precursor dn-OPDA can activate jasmonate signaling. However, the OPDA/dn-OPDA signaling and their physiological…
Hydrogen peroxide sensor HPCA1 is an LRR receptor kinase in Arabidopsis (Nature)
Plant Science Research WeeklyHydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is an important signal involved in diverse stress responses both intracellularly and extracellularly, but until now it hasn’t been clear how the plant recognizes it. Wu et al. used a genetic screen to search for plants that fail to produce a calcium influx response in the presence…
Does ICE1 participate in cold responses?
Plant Science Research WeeklyFor many years, the Arabidopsis transgenic allele ice1-1 was used to demonstrate the role of the transcription factor ICE1 in freezing and cold tolerance. This gene was first identified in a screening strategy using a luciferase reporter for DREB1A expression, another TF involved in downstream signaling.…
High productivity in hybrid-poplar plantations without isoprene emission to the atmosphere ($) (PNAS)
Plant Science Research WeeklyMany trees emit isoprene (C5H8, a small volatile carbon compound) during hot weather, and isoprenes have been shown to help trees tolerate short bursts of high temperatures (heat flecks). Isoprenes are not themselves harmful, but are reactive and can lead to the production of high levels of ground-level…