Recent Posts

A hair-raising story: EXO70 and MLO proteins jointly mediate secretion

Huebbers, Caldarescu, et al. examine how the EXO70 and MLO proteins cooperate in targeted deposition of cell wall components in trichomes. By Jan W. Huebbers1 and George A. Caldarescu2 1 Unit of Plant Molecular Cell Biology, Institute for Biology I, RWTH Aachen University, Worringerweg 1, 52056…

Conjugation of ATG8 to vacuolar membranes as a response to cell wall damage

ATG8 is a well-characterized protein involved in autophagy that binds to the double-membrane enclosed phagophore. In a new preprint, Julian et al. explore their finding that ATG8 binds to the single-membrane enclosed vacuolar membrane (tonoplast). They observed that this binding is enhanced by treatments…

Maintaining pollen tube integrity in maize

Zhou et al. investigated pollen tube integrity maintenance mechanisms in maize. The Plant Cell (2023) https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koad324 By Liang-Zi Zhou and Thomas Dresselhaus Background: As sperm cell transporting vehicles, pollen tubes of flowering plants grow through the transmitting tissues…

Cell wall-loosening agents control fruit softening in tomato

Su et al. identify two cell wall-loosening agents that synergistically regulate tomato fruit softening. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koad291 By Guanqing Su1, Yanna Shi1, 2, 3 1College of Agriculture & Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Zijingang Campus, Hangzhou 310058, China 2Zhejiang…

Signaling secrets: FERONIA´s dynamic interplay with interactors at the cell surface

Named after the Etruscan goddess of fertility, the receptor-like kinase FERONIA (FER) is involved in more than fertility. A recent paper by Liu, Yeh et al. sheds light on the intricate signaling processes taking place on the cell surface in response to environmental signals regulating growth and development…

Point mutations in the catalytic domain disrupt cellulose synthase vesicle trafficking and protein dynamics

Cellulose is an important and useful biopolymer, present in plant cell walls and synthesized at the plasma membrane by protein complexes called cellulose synthase complexes (CSCs) composed of multimers of cellulose synthase (CESA). CESAs are embedded in the membrane and move along the membrane as they…

GPI lipid remodeling endows proteins with cell surface anchoring and affects cell wall biosynthesis

Xu et al. discover BRITTLE CULM16, which is involved in GPI anchor lipid remodeling and regulates cell wall biomechanics  Zuopeng Xu1, Yihua Zhou2, Baocai Zhang2 1 College of Agriculture, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225009, China 2 Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, The Innovative…

Sweet revenge: a fungal oligosaccharide takes on plant defense responses

Chandrasekar, Wanke, Wawra and co-workers discover how fungal cell surface polysaccharides assist in evading hostile plant immune responses. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac114 By Alan Wanke1 and Pia Saake2 Alga Zuccaro2 1 Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United…

Under Pressure: The cell wall of sieve elements is critical for sugar transport

Julius, McCubbin, and Mertz, et al. explore the connection between cell wall synthesis and sugar transport. Tyler J. McCubbin1,4, Benjamin T. Julius1, and David M. Braun1 1Divisions of Plant and Biological Sciences, Interdisciplinary Plant Group, and the Missouri Maize Center, University of Missouri,…