Tag: Gene Regulation

Dixon et al. (2018) investigate the regulation of wheat inflorescence architecture by TEOSINTE BRANCHED1. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00961 Background: Grass inflorescences are composed of many seed-producing flowers (or florets) that are arranged on branches called spikelets. The number…

Auxin Response Factors (ARFs) are transcription factors that bind to ARF binding sites (ARFbs) to mediate auxin responses. Stigliani et al. analzyed experimentally determined DNA interactions of two ARFs, the repressor ARF2 and the activator MP.  They found that the binding site data are best interpreted…

Here’s a fascinating story; starting with an association study, Xie et al. found that a protein previously identified as an enzyme involved in phenylpropanoid metabolism (specifically, 5-enolpyruvylshikimate 3-phosphate synthase, EPSP) also acts as a transcriptional regulator of this pathway, not only…

Plant Physiol. Nicotine is a NAD-related secondary alkaloid found in high concentration in the leaves of the tetraploid tobacco plant (Nicotiana tabacum). The recent sequencing of the N. tabacum genome allowed a comprehensive analysis of genes involved in NAD and nicotine biosynthesis. The analysis…

One of the most exciting findings in the past few decades is the discovery that individual mRNAs and noncoding RNAs can act as long-distance signaling messengers traveling cell to cell to distant sites in the plant. Numerous examples unveiled the involvement of endogenous RNAs as non-cell-autonomous…

Boron is an essential plant micronutrient with the narrowest optimal range in the soil of any micronutrient. At neutral pH, boron is present as uncharged boric acid, B(OH)3, which can freely penetrate membranes. Boron plays an important role in cross-linking cell wall components, but boron starvation…

The three-dimensional arrangement of DNA within the nucleus clearly affects gene expression, but its contribution remains relatively unexplored as compared to other factors. Sotelo-Silveira et al. review new chromosome conformation capture (3C) and derived techniques for assessing genomes in 3D, as well…

Napoli et al. show that mRNA splicing variants have tissue- and developmental stage-specific activity in flower development https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00840. By Roberta Ghelli and Patrizia Brunetti Background: Plants that are self-pollinating contain both male (stamen) and female (pistil)…