Recent Posts

A RopGEF regulates asexual reproduction in the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha

Complex developmental programs regulate tissue and organ formation throughout the green plant lineage, from early diverging non-vascular lineages (bryophytes) to vascular flowering (angiosperm) plants. In the model liverwort Marchantia polymorpha, epidermal patterning gives rise to surface structures…

The fate of scent in insect- vs. wind-pollinated flowers ($) (Ann. Bot)

Flower traits (mainly flower colour, position, shape, size, reward and scent) in present-day plants are the result of past selection pressures. Among these traits, scent is a crucial component mediating pollinator attraction, and is often greatly reduced in abiotic-pollinated plants. Wang et al. characterize…

Expression of FLOWERING LOCUS C differentiates summer and winter biotypes of Camelina sativa (Plant Direct)

Camelina sativa is a member of the Brassicaceae family that is grown as an oilseed crop. It has summer and winter flowering biotypes, the latter of which requires vernalization to induce flowering.  These two biotypes allow for double-cropping, and the winter-flowering biotype can also be used as a…

Rice Panicle Morphogenesis: Intercommunication Between Grain Number and Size

Guo et al. investigate the trade-off between seed number and seed size of rice. Plant Cell (2018) https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00959. By Tao Guo, Ke Chen, Nai-Qian Dong, Chuan-Lin Shi, Wang-Wei Ye, Ji-Ping Gao, Jun-Xiang Shan, Hong-Xuan Lin Background: Rice is one of the main staple cereal crops…

miRNA-Mediated Regulation of Germination

Guo et al. show that miR9678 affects seed germination in wheat by generating phased siRNAs and modulating abscisic acid/gibberellin signaling. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00842 By Guanghui Guo and Yingyin Yao Background:  Seed germination is important for grain yield and quality…

Gender Identity in Kiwifruit

Akagi et al. identify a gender determining gene in kiwifruit. The Plant Cell (2018). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00787 By T. Akagi, I. M. Henry, H. Ohtani, T. Morimoto, K. Beppu, I. Kataoka, and R. Tao Background: In flowering plants, hermaphroditism, or the presence of both male and female…

Feedback regulation of COOLAIR expression controls seed dormancy and flowering time ($)

FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) and FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) are proteins required for seasonal sensing in plants. Specifically, FLC and FT control seed dormancy and flowering time. In the control of flowering time, FLC expression is regulated by the prolonged-cold induction of antisense transcripts at FLC known…

PLANT PROTEIN MEETS HOMER´S TROJAN HORSE

By Karina van der Linde and Virginia Walbot  Background: In contrast to animals in which meiotically competent cells develop in embryos, plants switch from vegetative to reproductive growth only during flowering. In maize, the most productive cereal crop, the tassel contains male flowers in which…

Open Access Shy Girl Gives Kiwifruit Male Flowers

From the human perspective, separate sexes are the norm while hermaphroditism is an exotic concept. For plants, hermaphroditism is the norm. Dioecy, separate male and female individuals, is rare and dispersed in the angiosperm phylogeny (Käfer et al 2017, Renner 2014). In fact, dioecy is rare enough…