Similar but Different: A Functionally Conserved of COI1 Receptor Recognizes Jasmonate Precursors in the Liverwort Marchantia polymorpha ($)
Plant Science Research Weekly, Research BlogLand plants evolved from freshwater charophyte algae over 450 million years ago and have since diverged into the multitude of plant lineages observed today. The extent to which prominent plant hormones and cognate receptor proteins, which play essential roles in evolutionarily young angiosperms, are…
Translational coincidence in Arabidopsis (Mol Syst Biol)
Plant Science Research WeeklyChanges in photoperiod affect metabolism and development, as well as flowering time, hypocotyl elongation, freezing tolerance, stomatal opening, C-allocation and growth. Seaton and collaborators measured the Arabidopsis proteome under four photoperiods: 6h, 8h, 12h and 18 hours. At longer photoperiods,…
Crosstalk between PTGS and TGS pathways in natural antiviral immunity and disease recovery (Nature Plants)
Plant Science Research WeeklyViruses are significant pathogens of plants, and we know that plants defend themselves in part through the production of small RNAs (sRNAs) that suppress the virus. The viral pathogens in turn can produce viral supressors of RNA silencing (VSR). Kørner et al. investigated the role of gene silencing…
MAC3 Proteins Regulate MicroRNA Biogenesis
Research, The Plant Cell, The Plant Cell: In a NutshellLi et al. uncovered the roles of MAC3 in miRNA biogenesis in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell (2018).
By Shengjun Li and Bin Yu
Background: microRNAs (miRNAs) are tiny RNA molecules that regulate gene expression. Plants use miRNAs to control development and physiology. Consequently, understanding of the…
Underground Functions of GIF Genes
Research, The Plant Cell, The Plant Cell: In a NutshellErcoli et al. investigate how GIF genes control root development https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00856
By María Florencia Ercoli and Javier Palatnik
Background: Plants, unlike animals, have the ability to generate new organs throughout their life cycle. This capacity relies on meristems, which…
Maize Tassel Architecture
Research, The Plant Cell, The Plant Cell: In a NutshellZhang et al. show that GIF1 regulates the determinacy of meristems and controls tassel architecture in maize. The Plant Cell (2018). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00791
Background: Plant architecture results from a balance of indeterminate and determinate cell fates. Cells with indeterminate fates…
Gene Expression Study Reveals Distinct Virulence Modules of Corn Smut Fungus
Research, The Plant Cell, The Plant Cell: In a NutshellLanver et al. investigate fungal gene expression during corn infection by Ustilago maydis. The Plant Cell (2018) https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00764
By Daniel Lanver and Regine Kahmann
Background: The corn smut fungus Ustilago maydis is a model organism for studying how fungi can colonize living…
A Unified Maize Endosperm Regulatory Network
Research, The Plant Cell, The Plant Cell: In a NutshellFeng et al. show that the transcription factor O11 is a master regulatory protein in endosperm development. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00616.
By Fan Feng and Rentao Song
Background: Maize is one of the most important crops both for food and industry. The main nutrients of maize…
Systemic RNA Silencing in Tobacco
Plant Physiology, Plant Physiology: On The Insidegene RNA silencing is a cellular gene regulatory mechanism that is conserved across fungal, plant, and animal kingdoms. Through sequence-specific targeting, RNA silencing can degrade mRNA for posttranscriptional gene silencing (PTGS) or modify related DNA for transcriptional gene silencing. RNA silencing…