Regulation of Photosynthesis: Shedding Light on Protein Acetylation
Research, The Plant Cell, The Plant Cell: In a NutshellKoskela and Brünje et al. identified a chloroplast protein acetyltransferase, which is required for the regulation of light harvesting in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell (2018) https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00155.
by Minna M. Koskela, Annika Brünje, Iris Finkemeier, Paula Mulo
Background: Plants…
Enzyme helps as a transcription factor in lignin production
Blog, The Plant Cell, The Plant Cell: NewsArjen Dijkgraaf | Wednesday, July 4, 2018 (Originally published in C2W Boeken. Translation by Google Translate)
In poplars a protein appears to have a bizarre double function: it makes building blocks for amino acids but also regulates the production of lignin. It could be a new way to create…
NLR mutations suppressing immune hybrid incompatibility (Plant Physiol)
Plant Science Research WeeklyHybrid incompatibility (HI) is effectively the opposite of hybrid vigor, and indicates a deleterious effect arising from the combination of two genomes. Because of reduced fitness of the hybrids, HI can be considered as contributing towards speciation. In Arabidopsis thaliana, HI has been recognized…
A Tale of Three Studies: Uncovering the Crucial Roles of m6A Readers
Blog, Research, The Plant Cell, The Plant Cell: In BriefThe story behind m6A (methylation of the N6 position of adenosine), the most common internal mRNA modification in eukaryotes, has long been a source of intrigue. This epitranscriptomic mark is deposited at specific mRNA sequences by m6A writers and removed by m6A erasers. The m6A marks recruit and anchor…
Divide and Conquer: High-Throughput Screening of Chlamydomonas Cell Cycle Mutants
Blog, The Plant Cell, The Plant Cell: In BriefCell division is essential for growth and reproduction. The cell cycle machinery is well conserved between yeast and animals, but whether this conservation extends to the plant lineage is not clear, having diverged over two billion years ago: ample time and opportunity for divergence in sequence and…
CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene targeting in Arabidopsis using sequential transformation (Nature Comms)
Plant Science Research WeeklyGenome modification is a powerful tool, yet precise genome engineering in plants remains challenging. Miki et al. report on the sequential transformation method for gene targeting in Arabidopsis. The parental plants expressing CRISPR/Cas9 under the egg cell- and early embryo-specific DD45 promoter were…
The Long and the Short of It: GA 2-oxidaseA9 Regulates Plant Height in Wheat
Blog, Plant Physiology: News and Views, ResearchThe discovery of semidwarfing genes in wheat and rice was a crucial turning point of the Green Revolution in the late 1960s. The Green Revolution aimed to maintain per capita food supplies worldwide despite the projected doubling of global population by the end of the 20th century. Its main features…
A Kinesin-14 motor activates neocentromeres to promote meiotic drive in maize
Plant Science Research WeeklyMeiotic drive is essentially a subversion of meiosis such that particular regions or alleles are preferentially favored for transmission to the progeny. Abnormal chromosome 10 (Ab10) is a classic example of meiotic drive in maize that converts heterochromatic chromosomal knobs into motile ‘neocentromeres’.…
Review: Heat and drought tolerance in wheat – now and for the future (J Exp Bot)
Plant Science Research WeeklyStress due to high heat and drought causes losses in wheat production all over the world. While genetic variation and quantitative trait loci for drought and heat tolerance are known, the genetic loci that underlie tolerance to these combined stress are likely different from those that underlie each…