Review: Imaging technologies to uncover the role of Ca2+ signaling in plant nutrient homeostasis (Plant Cell Environ)
Plant Science Research WeeklyMaintaining nutrient homeostasis is ridiculously challenging, in large part due to the tremendous effects individual nutrients have on other nutrients’ uptake and action, as well as the interactions between nutrient homeostasis and environmental conditions. In order to maintain the “right” amount…
SPX4 acts on PHR1-dependent and -independent regulation of shoot phosphorus status (Plant Physiol)
Plant Science Research WeeklyPlant phosphorus homeostasis is important to understand as humans seek to increase food production while also reducing the amount of agricultural inputs and environmental pollution. In their recent paper, Osorio and colleagues expand our current understanding of phosphorus homeostasis in Arabidopsis…
Review: Combinatorial nutrient stresses reveal emergent properties ($) (TIPS)
Plant Science Research WeeklyPlants require at least 14 mineral nutrients to complete their life cycle. These mineral nutrients are unevenly distributed within the soil, and plants have evolved physiological adaptations (changes in root growth, exudation, symbiotic relationships with soil organisms, etc.). to address these nutrient…
Nitrate–NRT1.1B–SPX4 cascade integrates N and P signaling networks (Nature Plants)
Plant Science Research WeeklyPlants need several mineral nutrients for their optimal growth and development. This is contingent on a proper nutrient balance particularly between the two most required essential elements, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus. Even though considerable success has been achieved in understanding the molecular…
Calcium-promoted interaction between EHB1 and IRT1 inhibits iron acquisition (Plant Phys)
Plant Science Research WeeklyIron uptake is tightly controlled so that the plant takes up not too much but not too little. Khan et al. used a yeast two-hybrid screen to search for proteins that interact with the iron transporter IRT1. They identified a protein previously shown to be involved in the hypocotyl bending response, EHB1…
NRT1.1B is associated with root microbiota composition and nitrogen use in rice ($) (Nature Biotechnol)
Plant Science Research WeeklyAvailability of nitrogen has always been a limiting factor for rice production. Different soil inhabitants and root-associated bacterial populations are involved in making nitrogen available to plants in organic as well as in inorganic forms. However, plant absorption of nitrogen is selective and affects…
Network paths for nitrogen response in Arabidopsis (Nature Comms)
Plant Science Research WeeklyA goal of systems biology is to study how transcription factors participate in gene regulatory networks (GRN) underlying biological processes. In a recent report, Brooks et al. used network science to uncover how transcription factors mediate the early response to nitrogen (N). Authors identified the…
Review: Tackling plant phosphate starvation by the roots (Devel. Cell)
Plant Science Research WeeklyThe root is remarkably responsive to nutrient status of both the local environment and the whole plant. These external and internal factors affect the expression of transporters, interactions with mycorrhizal symbionts and also the overall pattern of growth and development of the root system. In this…
Antagonistic responses to ‘symbiotic’ AM fungi in the non-host Arabidopsis thaliana ($) (New Phytol)
Plant Science Research WeeklyA strikingly vast array of phylogenetically distant plants are able to form intimate interactions with symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi for the mutually beneficial exchange of nutrients. Several years of intensive research have revealed the complex regulatory networks and genetic ‘toolkits’…