Review: Emerging roles of long noncoding RNAs in the cytoplasmic milieu (non-coding RNA)
Plant Science Research WeeklyReview: Emerging roles of long noncoding RNAs in the cytoplasmic milieu
Note: This article focuses on work in mammalian systems but may be of interest to plant biologists. Long non-coding RNA (lncRNAs) are ³200nt RNAs and represent almost 0.2% of cellular RNA pool. Early work focused on their roles…
Cell wall remodeling and vesicle trafficking mediate the root clock in Arabidopsis (Science)
Plant Science Research WeeklyCell wall remodeling and vesicle trafficking mediate the root clock in Arabidopsis
Living organisms use biological clocks that are coordinated by temporal signals (time) and positional cues (space) during growth and development. In plants, the ‘root clock’ is generated by a mechanism involving…
Formation of flavone-based wooly fibres by glandular trichomes of Dionysia tapetodes (bioRxiv)
Plant Science Research Weekly
Many people are familiar with the popular houseplant Cephalocereus senilis, which also known as old man cactus because it is covered with long white hairs that are thought to protect it from frost and UV light. A similar function is described for the wooly fibers that cover the alpine plant Dionysia…
Functionally overlapping but molecularly distinct TGN subdomains of two Epsin-like proteins (PNAS)
Plant Science Research WeeklyThe trans-Golgi networks (TGN) is a major protein sorting station involved in trafficking or recycling of endosomal materials. This busiest hub in the cell has at least four important pathways including the anterograde routes of secretory, recycling, vacuolar transport and retrograde endocytic pathways.…
A cis-regulatory atlas in maize at single-cell resolution (bioRxiv)
Plant Science Research Weekly
Cis-regulatory elements (CREs) are DNA sequences found near or within genic regions that drive proper gene expression in time and space. Thus, CREs play essential roles in the diversification of spatially distinct cell-types with specialized function in multicellular organisms. To identify CREs underlying…
Go polar: Regulation of Rho GTPases by ARO proteins (Nature Plants)
Plant Science Research WeeklyPolar cell growth is a key feature in plant organs like root hairs, trichomes and pollen tubes. Kulich and co-workers have identified novel regulatory elements governing the polar growth of root hairs and trichomes in Arabidopsis thaliana. Studying a group of proteins named ARMADILLO REPEAT ONLY (ARO),…
Opposing, polarity-driven nuclear migrations underpin asymmetric divisions in stomatal patterning (Curr. Biol.)
Plant Science Research WeeklyAsymmetric cell divisions (ACDs) are often used by organisms to generate different cell sizes, each adopting a different cell fate. In plants, stomatal development provides an example of an ACD-derived patterning mechanism. Several proteins are known to be implicated in ACDs, like BREAKING OF ASYMMETRY…
SNAP ‘n’ Track: Protein localization using fluorescent dyes (Plant Cell)
Plant Science Research WeeklyProteins’ sub-cellular localizations provide a wealth of information regarding their functional attributes. Protein localization in plant cells is usually done through genetically combining fluorescent proteins to the protein-of-interest. Now, Iwatate and colleagues report the successful localization…
PlaCCI (Plant cell cycle indicator); fluorescent sensor for spatiotemporal cell cycle analysis (Nature Plants)
Plant Science Research WeeklyThe cell cycle requires a series of transitions from G1 to S, S to G2, G2 to M and M to G1 phases. Determining the cell cycle phase is critical for understanding the molecular events specific to a given stage of cell cycle. However, markers for identifying these cell cycle transitions in plants are not…