Conservation of Genomic Imprinting during Wheat Polyploidization
Research, The Plant Cell, The Plant Cell: In a NutshellYang et al. discover conservation of genomic imprinting between closely related Triticum and Aegilops species. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00837
By Guanghui Yang and Mingming Xin
Background: Genomic imprinting causes genes to be differentially expressed depending on their parent-of-origin, which…
Wax Protects Rice from Drought Stress
Research, The Plant Cell, The Plant Cell: In a NutshellWang et al. investigate how two proteins work oppositely to regulate wax contents and drought stress response in rice https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00823
By Zhenyu Wang and Qingyun Bu
Background: Rice is a staple food for world populations and its production is threatened by drought stress. Cuticular…
Changing Fates: Brassinosteroids Underlying Yield Potential in Millet
Research, The Plant Cell, The Plant Cell: In a NutshellYang et al. reveal a role for brassinosteroids in spikelet and floral meristem fate in Setaria viridis. The Plant Cell (2017) https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00816
By Jiani Yang and Andrea L. Eveland
Background: Grass inflorescences show extensive morphological diversity between species, due…
Ribosomes Meet Epigenetics
Research, The Plant Cell, The Plant Cell: In a NutshellChen et al. link chromatin modifying machinery with ribosome biogenesis. The Plant Cell (2018). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00626
by Xiangsong Chen and Xuehua Zhong
Background: All cells need to make proteins to function properly. Ribosomes are the protein production factories consisting of…
Hold Me Closer: Meiotic Crossover Formation and FANCD2
Blog, The Plant Cell, The Plant Cell: In BriefMeiosis takes a single, diploid cell and turns it into four haploid spores. The equal distribution of genetic material is critical for genome stability across generations, and relies heavily on proper pairing of chromosomes and their timely release. During the first meiotic division, crossovers (COs)…
Transposon-derived small RNAs triggered by miR845 mediate genome dosage response in Arabidopsis
Blog, Plant Science Research Weekly, Research, Research BlogNat. Genet. Silencing of transposable elements (TEs) is mediated epigenetically by DNA methylation, relying partially on RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM). RdDM-induced DNA methylation undergoes a global reprogramming in the male germline, allowing expression of imprinted genes regulating fertility…
Duplicate Genomes Evolved Differently in Maize and Soybean
Research, The Plant Cell, The Plant Cell: In a NutshellZhao et al. demonstrate that duplicated genomes in maize and soybean followed distinct trajectories over millions of years https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00595
By Meixia Zhao, Biao Zhang, Damon Lisch, and Jianxin Ma
Background: Over evolutionary time, many organisms, particularly plants, have periodically…
Epigenetic Divergence Associated with Heterosis
Blog, Plant Physiology, Plant Physiology: On The Inside, Research, Research BlogHeterosis refers to the tendency of a crossbred individual to show qualities superior to those of both parents. The phenomenon has been exploited extensively in agricultural breeding for decades and has improved crop performance enormously. Despite its commercial impact, knowledge of the molecular basis…
MutS-Homolog2 silencing generates tetraploid meiocytes in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)
Blog, Plant Science Research Weekly, Research, Research BlogPlant Direct. DNA repair occurs by several independent mechanisms, one of which is the mismatch repair (MMR) pathway. In prokayotes, MutS is a component of the mismatch repair pathway; homologous proteins in eukaryotes are known as MSH (MutS homologs). Sarma et al. set out to develop a hypermutable tomato…