Recent Posts

A New Look at Virus Movement: An Unexpected Role of dsRNA-Induced Immunity

Huang 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

Gabriel 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

Climate 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)

Plasmodesmata, 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)

Perhaps, 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…