Tag: Metabolism

Biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) are groups of genes physically located in close proximity in a genomic region and can be thought of as a close-knit genomic orchestra. While these BGCs were thought to be rare in plants, unlike bacteria, Peng et al. takes the story a step ahead with the discovery of…

Plants store glucose polymers in semicrystalline starch granules. Starch debranching enzymes, including isoamylases (ISAs), are involved in maintaining starch’s crystalline organization. In maize, sugary1 (su1) mutants with impaired ISA1 enzymatic activity accumulate soluble polyglucan chains (phytoglycogen).…

Plant metabolism varies substantially between developmental stages, cell types, and intracellular environments. Similarly, biochemical responses to abiotic stress often deviate between neighboring cell types, but discerning what is changing where becomes more challenging in smaller and more fragile sub-compartments. …

Plant biologists are critical players in the pursuit of crop enhancement and other real-world solutions to today’s pressing problems, yet few of us know how to translate our research into tangible economic or social benefits. This useful and engaging article by Jonathan Napier walks us through the…

C4 photosynthesis, an adaptive mechanism to spatially concentrate CO2 around Rubisco to enhance carbon fixation, has evolved independently at least 60 times in plants. This process spatially separates the initial carbon fixation by PEPC and carbon reduction by Rubisco, which requires that compounds move…

Imagine you’re on a quest to deliver a package, racing against the competition. How do you prepare? Pollen grains and the pollen tubes that they form are essentially package-delivery systems. Their purpose is to deliver genetic information (sperm cell nuclei) to the ovule. Once the task is completed,…

Starch is the major storage carbohydrate in plants, and in Arabidopsis leaves it forms granules in the chloroplasts to supply energy during the night when photosynthesis is inactive. These semicrystalline granules are made of glucose chains, which can be mostly unbranched (amylose) or highly branched…

Cholesterol, an essential structural component of membranes and a precursor for steroid hormones, serves as a key metabolite at the interface of primary and secondary metabolism. However, the mechanisms regulating the balance between its diverse downstream metabolic pathways remain poorly understood.…