Recent Posts

Chloroplast biogenesis controlled by DELLA-TOC159 interaction in early plant development (Curr. Biol.)

Plant photosynthesis occurs in the chloroplast, the green organelles that are the most famous members of the plastid family. Chloroplast biogenesis starts with illumination at germination, when the colorles, non-photosynthetic proplastid acquires photosynthetic activity as it greens. Gaining photosynthetic…

Receptor kinase THESEUS1 is a RALF 34 receptor with roles in lateral root development (Curr. Biol.)

RALF peptides were identified nearly 20 years ago, as small peptides that induce rapid alkalinisation of the culture medium when added to cell suspension cultures.  Previously, members of the receptor-like kinase  (RLK) family including FERONIA (FER) have been identified as RALF receptors.  A related…

Role of the Actin Cytoskeleton in Self-Incompatibility

Chen et.al. demonstrate that phosphatidic acid mitigates S-RNase signaling in pollen by stabilizing the actin cytoskeleton. Plant Cell (2018). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00021 By Jianqing Chen, Peng Wang, Shaoling Zhang, and Juyou Wu Background: The success of sexual reproduction in flowering…

Maintaining Cellular Phosphate

Segami et al. investigate cellular phosphate homeostasis in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00911 Background: Many biological reactions, including the biosynthesis of DNA, RNA, proteins, and polysaccharides, produce inorganic pyrophosphate (PPi). However, accumulation of PPi…

Auxin regulates shoot stem cells

Auxin and cytokinin play critical roles in determination of cell fate in the shoot apical meristem (SAM). Until now auxin's role was thought to be confined to the peripheral zone (PZ), promoting cell differentiation and organogenesis, mediated by AR5/MP. However, studies using GC-MS have shown the presence…

Co-expression networks for strawberry flower and fruit development

The diploid strawberry (Fragaria vesca) is a useful model system for understanding non-climacteric ripening and seed-to-fruit cross-tissues communication. Previously, spatial and temporal transcriptome data from the strawberry fruit and flowers was generated. Shahan and colleagues combine the transcriptome…

Function of m6A in Arabidopsis

Wei et al. Study m6A binding protein ECT2 in Arabidopsis. The Plant Cell (2018). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00934 By Lian-Huan Wei Background: N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most abundant chemical modification of eukaryotic messenger RNA (mRNA). The regulation of m6A modification plays important…

Decoding RNA Methylation Regulates Trichome Branching

Scutenaire et al. show that a YTH domain protein acts as a reader of m6A mRNA modifications, thereby playing crucial roles in trichome branching, likely by acting on mRNAs in the cytosol. Plant Cell (2018). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00854 By J. Scutenaire and C. Bousquet-Antonelli Background:…

Digging into the Big Family of Plant m6A Readers

Arribas-Hernández et al. find that the N6-methyladenosine RNA binding proteins ECT2, ECT3, and ECT4 are required for the correct timing of leaf formation and correct leaf and trichome morphogenesis. Plant Cell (2018). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00833. By Laura Arribas-Hernández Background:…