Recent Posts

Rapid cytosolic calcium elevations in Arabidopsis during aphid feeding

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Calcium signaling is a common plant response to many different stimuli. Vincent et al. used a fluorescent calcium reporter, GCaMP3, to record calcium responses in Arabidopsis to feeding by aphids (specifically, the green peach aphid Myzus persicae). Through analysis of various mutants, key components…

Monoterpenes support systemic acquired resistance within and between plants ($)

Pathogen perception leads to local and systemic immune responses including systemic acquired resistance (SAR). The nature of the mobile signals and their movements remain uncertain. Riedlmeier et al. demonstrated that certain monoterpenes including α- and β-pinene accumulate in SAR-inducing conditions…

Wild tobacco genomes reveal the evolution of nicotine biosynthesis

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The genus Nicotiana encompasses several species and hybrids, the most famous being Nicotiana tabacum, cultivated for production of tobacco. Xu et al. sequenced the genome of Nicotiana attenuata and Nicotiana obtusifolia with an interest in identifying the origins of nicotine biosynthesis. Nicotine is…

Review: Ancestral alliances: Plant mutualistic symbioses with fungi and bacteria ($)

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Martin et al. have written a must-read review on the evolution of plant mutualistic symbioses and strategies through which hosts and microbes communicate and coordinate their activities. This review also covers the contributions of hormones in the formation of symbiotic tissues, and how the mutualistic…

Global translational reprogramming of plant immune response, and engineering of disease resistance through regulated translation ($)

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Plants fight back when pathogens attack, and in the first of a pair of papers Xu et al. have revealed a new insight into this response by demonstrating a significant translational upregulation of many defense-response mRNAs (10.1038/nature22371).  Previously, this group showed that the translation of…

The RxLR motif of the Phytophthora infestans effector AVR3a is cleaved before secretion ($)

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RxLR effectors are proteins secreted from pathogens that enter the cells of the host and support the effectiveness of the pathogen in various ways. Their name refers to the sequence RxLR (Arg-Xxx-Leu-Arg). Previously, this sequence has been thought to be involved the effector’s entry into the host…

Bacterial biosensors for in vivo spatiotemporal mapping of root secretion

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Biosensors are powerful tools that provide readouts for various small molecules so that they can be detected and located. Pini et al. have developed a set of biosensors for expression in bacteria (Rhizobium leguminosarum) that reveal  some of the small molecules (including key sugars, polyols, organic…

Striga hermonthica – a beautiful but devastating plant…

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This week’s post was written by Caroline Wood, a PhD candidate at the University of Sheffield. When it comes to crop diseases, insects, viruses, and fungi may get the media limelight but in certain regions it is actually other plants which are a farmer’s greatest enemy. In sub-Saharan Africa,…

The highly buffered Arabidopsis immune signaling network conceals the functions of its components

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Classic genetic approaches have been instrumental in identifying genes that control developmental and defense networks, but as Hillmer et al. point out, analysis of single mutants is complicated by network buffering. They describe network buffering as occurring when the effect of losing a gene’s function…