Recent Posts

Review: N-degron pathway-mediated proteostasis in stress physiology (Annu Rev Plant Biol)

The rate of most biological processes is ultimately determined by protein activity levels, which of course are determined by rate of degradation or inactivation as well as production. Dissmeyer reviews the Cys/Arg branch of the N-degron pathway (previously called the N-end rule pathway) that contributes…

Review: Plant immunity, refining the model (Trends in Plant Sci and Curr Opin Plant Biol)

Interactions between plants and microorganisms occur in many different ways and on many different levels. Scientists have been attracted to this field of research because of the need to identify the agents causing infectious diseases in economically important crops. Models have been developed to describe…

Transport protein particles contribute to endosomal organization and function (Plant Cell)

Transport protein particles (TRAPPs) are multisubunit complexes that regulate intracellular trafficking, but haven’t yet been well characterized in plant cells. The authors previously identified AtTRAPPC11 as an abundant protein in the SYP61 vesicle proteome, with homology to mammalian TRAPPC11. Here,…

Genetic and Molecular analysis of trichome development in Arabis alpina $ (PNAS)

Trichomes (plant hairs), arise from epidermal cells of plants. The molecular mechanism involved in the development of trichomes of plants has been well studied in Arabidopsis thaliana. In this paper, Chopra et al.  have identified key regulators of leaf trichome development in Arabis alpina, a species…

Reflections on Classics: Plant Cell‘s 30th anniversary

“The 1980s were an exciting and revolutionary time for biology, and plant molecular biology in particular,” begins an editorial by Bob Goldberg, Brian Larkins, and Ralph Quatrano, the three Founding Editors of The Plant Cell. They describe why the American Society of Plant Physiologists (ASPP; later,…

Arabidopsis FLL2 promotes liquid–liquid phase separation of polyadenylation complexes ($) (Nature)

The nucleus of plants cells, like other eukaryotes, is full of non-membranous compartments separated by liquid-liquid phases. These complexes are often called nuclear bodies and concentrate proteins and nucleic acids. Disordered protein domains play a critical in their formation. Here, Fang et al. aimed…

Review: Exchanges at the plant-oomycete interface that influence disease (Plant Physiol)

This is a great review by Judelson and Ah-Fong on the diverse signals that occur between plants and their oomycete pathogens. The authors start by describing the life- and infectivity-cycles of disease-causing oomycetes, including the familiar plant pathogens, "aggressive" Pythium and "stealthy" Phytophthora.…

A jasmonate signaling network activates root stem cells and promotes regeneration ($) (Cell)

Plants possess plasticity for regeneration of organs after damage by physical, biotic or abiotic stress. The mitotically less-active organizer cells, quiescent center (QC) and surrounding initials form the stem cell niche, which is known to play a very important role in activation of the regeneration…

EXPANSIN A1-mediated radial swelling of pericycle cells positions anticlinal cell divisions during lateral root initiation ($) (PNAS)

Lateral root development helps plants explore the soil for mineral nutrients and water, and there are environmental and internal cues that precede the formation of lateral root primordia. In Arabidopsis thaliana, some of these internal cues include increased auxin concentrations around lateral root founder…