Recent Posts

Conservation of Genomic Imprinting during Wheat Polyploidization

Yang et al. discover conservation of genomic imprinting between closely related Triticum and Aegilops species. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00837 By Guanghui Yang and Mingming Xin Background: Genomic imprinting causes genes to be differentially expressed depending on their parent-of-origin, which…

Combining Forces for Hypocotyl Elongation: Histone Modifications, GA, and the Circadian Clock

Zheng et al. discover proteins that mediate interactions between gibberellins and the circadian clock https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00830 By Han Zheng and Yong Ding Background: Hypocotyl elongation helps the shoot emerge from the soil surface. The gibberellin (GA) signaling protein RGA inhibits…

Wax Protects Rice from Drought Stress

Wang et al. investigate how two proteins work oppositely to regulate wax contents and drought stress response in rice https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00823 By Zhenyu Wang and Qingyun Bu Background: Rice is a staple food for world populations and its production is threatened by drought stress. Cuticular…

Changing Fates: Brassinosteroids Underlying Yield Potential in Millet

Yang et al. reveal a role for brassinosteroids in spikelet and floral meristem fate in Setaria viridis.  The Plant Cell (2017) https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00816 By Jiani Yang and Andrea L. Eveland Background: Grass inflorescences show extensive morphological diversity between species, due…

Roots Respond to Aboveground Far-Red Light

van Gelderen and Kang et al. investigate the root response to Far-Red light detection in the shoot. The Plant Cell (2017). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00771 By Kasper van Gelderen and Ronald Pierik Background: Sunlight is the energy source for plants, however, when plants grow closely together…

The Phytohormone Ethylene and Transcriptional Repression

Zhang et al. investigate histone deacetylase in the ethylene response. Plant Cell (2017). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00671 By Fan Zhang Background: Ethylene is the only gaseous hormone in plants, and is a key hormone controlling plant growth and resistance to stress. Epigenetic mechanisms are…

When Mini Protein Makes Big Fruit

Bollier et al. investigate locule number control in Arabidopsis thaliana and tomato. The Plant Cell 2018 https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00653. By N. Bollier and M. Hernould Background: During flower development, production of a defined number of floral organs is due to the determinate fate of floral…

Recruiter of Chromatin Regulators

Hohenstatt et al. describe a new recruiter of PcG chromatin regulators affecting flowering and meristem identity in Arabidopsis. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00117 By Pawel Mikulski 1) BACKGROUND: Polycomb group (PcG) proteins are key regulatory proteins involved in maintaining the ability (and…

Knock-down of rice microRNA166 confers drought resistance through changes in leaf morphology (Plant Physiol.)

Under drought conditions, moderate leaf rolling improves yield in rice by reducing water loss and allowing efficient photosynthesis (leaf upright position). In STTM166 transgenic rice plants,  miRNA166 is knocked down (STTM means "short tandem target mimic") and the plants constitutively exhibit the…