Recent Posts

We’re just not compatible…. Plant species with different parenting strategies can’t quite coordinate in rearing hybrid babies

Kinser and colleagues explore the transcriptomic, genomic and epigenomic consequences of mixing two genomes with the same number or twice as many chromosomes in monkeyflower.  By Taliesin Kinser (University of Florida) and Joshua Puzey (College of William and Mary) Background: Flowering plants…

PIFs link environmental changes with chromatin dynamics (Nature Genetics)

PHYTOCHROME INTERACTING FACTORS (PIFs) play a pivotal role in mediating the responses of plants to various environmental stimuli. Although the importance of PIFs in shade avoidance response is well known, the relative contributions of different PIFs have not been discretely determined. In a recent study,…

Review:  Postzygotic reproductive isolation established in the endosperm: mechanisms, drivers and relevance ($) (Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B)

In this fascinating review, Köhler and colleagues show us that the seed endosperm is not only a nutritive tissue that supports embryo growth, it also nourishes the course of plant evolution. When closely related species or species with different ploidy levels hybridize, endosperm development deviates…

Review: Time to wake up: Epigenetic and small-RNA-mediated regulation during seed germination (Plants)

Seed germination is a crucial step in plants' life cycle and has critical implications in ecological and agronomic contexts. Therefore, there has been an increasing interest in understanding the mechanisms that prevent or trigger this process. Here, Luján-Soto and Dinkova provide a thorough review of…

Combinations of maternal-specific repressive epigenetic marks in the endosperm control seed dormancy (bioRxiv.)

H3K27me3 [K27 (Lysine 27) trimethylation on histone H3] and H3K9me2 are two epigenetic modifications that repress gene activity in plants. While they are typically present in different genomic regions, both marks are found in the seed endosperm. Here, Sato and colleagues show that this histone modification…

The canonical RdDM pathway mediates the control of seed germination timing under salinity ($) (Plant J.)

The canonical RdDM pathway mediates the control of seed germination timing under salinity ($) Epigenetic regulation can ensure that plant developmental programs and stress responses are tightly coordinated so that environmental changes do not compromise plant fitness. One of the mechanisms to achieve…

A DNA Methylation Reader with an Affinity for Salt Stress

High levels of soil salinity lead to toxic accumulation of sodium (Na+) and chloride (Cl-) ions in plants, which adversely affect plant growth and yield. Plants use several strategies to cope with salt stress. These include removal and compartmentalization of toxic ions, and maintenance of growth and…

Active DNA demethylation controls defense gene regulation and antibacterial resistance (bioRxiv)

Epigenetic reprogramming, such as DNA methylation changes, has emerged as a crucial regulator of plant defense responses. Homeostasis of DNA methylation is controlled by a balance between methylation and demethylation. ROS1 (Repressor Of Silencing 1) is an Arabidopsis demethylases that is known to…

Single nucleus analysis of Arabidopsis seeds reveals new cell types and imprinting dynamics (bioRxiv)

Arabidopsis seeds consist of various tissue like seed coat, embryo, and endosperm. The endosperm provides the nutrient supplies to the growing embryo and has three domains namely, micropylar (surrounding embryo), chalazal (opposite end of the seed), and peripheral (in between micropylar and chalazal)…