Tag: Cell Biology

Vesicle traffic to and from the plasma membrane plays an integral role in regulating protein localization and activity, membrane composition, and cell surface area. Clathrin is a structural protein that forms a lattice-like complex composed of two H chain subunits (CHC1 and CHC2) and two light chain…

Some plants are able to suppress inbreeding through a system called self-incompatibility, in which “self”-pollen is unable to reach “self” eggs. Self-incompatibility has evolved multiple times and takes several forms. Goring reviews the cellular processes of self-incompatibility that occur in…

Plasmodesmata are tiny channels between cells that allow intercellular movement of messages and metabolites as well as pathogens. They are structurally complex and usually have a central strand of endoplasmic-reticulum (the desmotubule) that passes between adjacent cells, connected by spoke-like elements…

Cell division in plants is a structurally beautiful process that involves striking and dynamic changes in the cytoskeleton, endomembranes, and nucleus. However, as authors Smertenko et al. observe, “Current plant cytokinesis terminology was developed using data generated by fluorescence microscopy…

Photosynthesis in aquatic organisms is made difficult due to the low solubility of CO2 in water. Algae such as Chlamydomonas rheinhardtii overcome this limitation through a carbon-concentrating organelle called a pyrenoid. Two papers in Cell redefine our understanding of the pyrenoid structure. Mackinder…

Aphids are major pests that damage plants by sucking out phloem sap and as by acting as vectors in transmission of more than 300 different viruses. Kloth et al. used a high-throughput method involving video-tracking of aphid behavior on leaf discs to score 350 Arabidopsis accessions for aphid resistance.…

Pathogenic microbes interfere with the host cellular and physiological processes to promote infection. This interaction is monitored by pathogen molecules called effectors that either act in intercellular space or enter the host cells. Mechanisms underlying the uptake of these effectors are not fully…

Pathogenic microbes manipulate host plants by secreting effector molecules that interfere with immunity. Bacterial phytopathogens achieve this using specialized secretion apparatuses that act as molecular ‘hypodermic needles’ to inject effector proteins directly into plant cells. In comparison, effector…