Recent Posts

Coordinated evolution of plant immune receptor repertoires (bioRxiv)

In plants, immune signalling and the corresponding defence responses are initiated by direct or indirect recognition of pathogen molecules via immune receptors. In the plasma membrane, pattern-recognition-receptors (PRRs) recognize signs of invasion and pattern-triggered immunity (PTI) is initiated.…

Not PTI or ETI: PTI and ETI (Nature)

Two very exciting papers have come out this week in Nature that address a long-standing question about the relative contributions of two different plant immunity pathways. PTI (pathogen-triggered immunity) recognizes conserved pathogen signatures at the plant cell surface; a model system for PTI is the…

A role for melatonin in the defence of sweet oranges against citrus greening disease

If you regularly enjoy a cold glass of orange (Citrus × sinensis) juice, freshly squeezed or store-bought (who has time for the former, really?), then you should know that the future of this drink is at stake. Citrus greening disease or Huánglóngbìng (HLB) has been wreaking havoc on the citrus industry…

More Than Just a FAD(5): Unsaturated Fatty Acids in Chloroplasts Elicit Protective Autoimmunity

Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) chloroplast-division mutants that have abnormally large chloroplasts have been around for quite some time, not only because they can be identified relatively easily through screening (Pyke & Leech 1991) and because their spectacular morphology sparks intrigue, but…

The Meaning of an End: N-terminal Acetyltransferase NAA50 Controls Plant Growth and Stress Responses

Author: Sjon Hartman ORCID: 0000-0002-6709-6436 Plant Ecophysiology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH, Utrecht, The Netherlands  At least 80% of eukaryotic proteins are estimated to undergo N-terminal acetylation (NTA), making it likely that your…

A novel regulator of stomatal immunity in tomato

By Marcelo Lattarulo Campos Integrative Plant Research Laboratory, Departamento de Botânica e Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Cuiabá/MT, Brazil. ORCID ID: 0000-0001-6235-5120 marcelolattarulo@ufmt.br   The ability of a pathogen to successfully…

Back to the Roots of Plant Immunity

Rich-Griffin et al. uncover cell type-specific gene networks that function in plant immunity in Arabidopsis roots. The Plant Cell (2020) https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.20.00154   By Charlotte Rich-Griffin1, Ruth Eichmann1,2, Sascha Ott3,4,5 & Patrick Schäfer1,2  1School of Life Sciences,…

It takes two to be you: promoter motif pairs keep immune responses within cell identity boundaries

Being a multicellular organism is not an easy task. Proper functioning of individual cell types with different functions requires coordination of gene expression to determine cell identity, but also regulatory mechanisms to respond to environmental cues. The root may appear simple at first sight, but…

OsGSK2 integrates jasmonic acid and brassinosteroid signalling in rice

Plant defenses against herbivore or pathogen attack involve the coordination of multiple hormone-mediated signalling networks, including the jasmonate (JA) and brassinosteroid (BR) pathways. Jasmonate is an oxylipin phytohormone that triggers the transcription of defence-related proteins and secondary…