Tag: Genomics

In maize, it has long been known that the crossing of two inbred lines can produce a hybrid offspring with higher yield than the parents. Baldauf and collaborators have studied the gene expression of 6 hybrid lines coming from 7 distantly related inbred lines. One line, B73, was chosen as the common…

In order to use wild rice relatives for future crop improvement, the differences and similarities between wild and domesticated genomes need to be understood. Stein and colleagues sequenced the genomes of two domesticated varieties and seven wild species, unraveling 15 million years of evolutionary history…

Nat. 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…

BioRxiv. Transcriptomic changes at the cellular level are of key importance in specialized cellular types. Therefore, transcriptome analysis at a cell-specific resolution is a powerful tool to learn about biological processes. This analysis is however limited by technological boundaries of microdissection…

Cell. In a very interesting report, Salem et al., showed evidence of an alternative mechanism supporting how the degradation of pectin, a very hard to metabolize component of the cell wall, has directed the evolution of herbivory in insects and arthropods. Recent reports have indicated that horizontally…

PLOS Biol. Guard cell size is, in general, inversely related to stomatal density. It is advantageous for plants to maximize their photosynthetic capabilities by generating higher rates of gas exchange, thereby incorporating more CO2 to help drive this pathway. However, the number of cells that can occupy…

Godfroy et al investigate basal cell fate determination in the brown alga Ectocarpus https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00440 BACKGROUND: Brown algae are multicellular photosynthetic marine organisms living on rocky shores across the globe and representing one of the most developmentally complex groups…

Zhao 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…