Cell communication lockdown: How plants close plasmodesmata in MAMP immune response
Plant Science Research WeeklyHow do plants protect themselves from microbial invaders? One response is the closure of plasmodesmata to stop the spread of microbial effector proteins that help pathogens evade the immune response, protecting neighboring uninfected cells. While the phenomenon of plasmodesmata closure in response of…
Plasmodesmata: A new frontier for membrane contact site intercellular communication
Plant Science Research WeeklyMembrane contact sites (MCSs) serve a critical role in intracellular communication, particularly between organelle membranes, enabling direct molecular transfer. Less clear is the role MCSs play in intercellular communication. New evidence from Pérez-Sancho et al. implicates plasmodesmata in this function…
Formation of plasmodesmata bridges through ER-dependent incomplete cytokinesis
Plant Science Research WeeklyPlasmodesmata are important for intercellular communication in plants. They are formed through incomplete cytokinesis during which there is no “final cut” of the communication between daughter cells. Unlike animal cells that have a single bridge between cells, plants create several hundreds of plasmodesmata…
Plant cell-to-cell communication constrains viroid quasispecies
The Plant Cell: In a NutshellWu and Bisaro study the sequence structure of viroid quasispecies in plant cells.
https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koae012
Jian Wu1,2,3 and David M. Bisaro3
1State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agroproducts, Institute of Plant Virology,…
A New Look at Virus Movement: An Unexpected Role of dsRNA-Induced Immunity
The Plant Cell: In a NutshellHuang et al. investigate the mechanisms of dsRNA-induced pattern-triggered immunity against viruses.
https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koad176
Manfred Heinlein (Institut de biologie moléculaire des plantes, CNRS, Université de Strasbourg, 67000 Strasbourg, France)
Background: Plants use different…
Targeting of plasmodesmal proteins requires unconventional signals
The Plant Cell: In a NutshellGabriel Robles Luna, Jung-Youn Lee and colleagues discover that proteins carry targeting signals that send them to plasmodesmata, but these signals show no sequence conservation.
https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koad152
Gabriel Robles Luna1, Jiefu Li3, Xu Wang1, Li Liao2,3, and Jung-Youn Lee1,2,4* …
Hormone distribution via hydraulic flux determines root branching
Plant Science Research WeeklyClimate change affects rain patterns and hydrological cycles all over the world, exacerbating water scarcity issues. Root branching is altered by local spatial differences in soil moisture. Indeed, when root tips temporarily lose contact with moisture, root branching stops until the appropriate moisture…
Review: Auxin fluxes through plasmodesmata (New Phytol)
Plant Science Research WeeklyPlasmodesmata, the tubular connections that form continua between neighboring cells in plants, play vital roles in long-distance transport of ions, RNA, proteins, and small molecules. While it is known that plasmodesmata are permeable to phytohormones, including auxin, the physiological significance…
Review. Under siege: virus control in plant meristems and progeny (Plant Cell)
Plant Science Research WeeklyPerhaps, when our lives have been turned upside down by a human pathogenic virus, it’s easy to overlook the fact that plants too suffer from viral infections; but of course, they do. (And of course, famously, viruses were first discovered in plants). Although it is difficult to cure a plant of a virus…