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A Breakthrough in Monocot Transformation Methods

IN BRIEF by Nancy Hofmann nhoffman@aspb.org The ability to generate transgenic plants without regard to cultivar or genotype can be considered a holy grail of cereal crop transformation. Despite years of effort, it has been remarkably difficult to develop efficient methods for transformation of…

Shape-Shifters: How Strigolactone Signaling Helps Shape the Shoot

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IN BRIEF by Jennifer Lockhart jlockhart@aspb.org When a deer eats the primary shoot of a plant, this can activate a nearby dormant axillary bud, causing it to form a secondary shoot. Genetic and environmental factors also affect shoot architecture, which strongly influences crop productivity. Changes…

Thinking Outside the Plant: Exploring Phloem Development Using VISUAL

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IN BRIEF by Jennifer Lockhart  jlockhart@aspb.org Investigating how plants grow and develop often requires a bit of creativity. For example, deep within the plant, the vascular cambium, a layer of embryonic, highly cytoplasmic cells, gives rise to xylem and phloem tissue, which must expand throughout…