Tag: Stomata

Plants need to develop and grow within their environment whilst defending themselves against potential external threats. There are limited resources for these energy-intensive processes and so cross-talk is common between the signalling pathways to find balance between growth and defence. Hermann et…

Sydney Brenner famously said, “Progress in science depends on new techniques, new discoveries and new ideas, probably in that order.” Right now, we’re seeing how advancements and new techniques in artificial intelligence and deep learning are being applied in plant sciences, including in the analysis…

Stomata are pores on leaves which enable gas exchange. In grasses, stomata are surrounded by dumbbell-shaped guard cells that are flanked by subsidiary cells. However, the role of the subsidiary cells in stomatal closure is not fully understood. Here, Liu et al. investigated this using two maize (Zea…

Stomata are pores on the surface of leaves essential for gas exchange. In grasses, stomatal aperture is controlled by pairs of dumbbell shaped guard cells, with each guard cell surrounded by a subsidiary cell. Despite cell geometry being well described, it was unclear how it influences stomata function.…

Author et al. explore the genes involved in making stomata in a temperate grass. Katelyn Hansen-McKown and Dominique Bergmann, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford University and Howard Hughes Medical Institution. Background: Plants are essential players in global carbon and water…

Wang et al. investigate the function of SPR1 in ABA-induced stomatal closure By Pan Wang and Sijia Qi State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry; Department of Plant Sciences, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China Background: Drought…

Nan et al. examine the localization of key factors in maize stomatal development. Qiong Nan and Michelle Facette Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA Background: Stomata are small pores on the plant surface that open and close to allow gas exchange––allowing…

Guard cells are responsible for the opening and closing of stomata through changes in osmotic content and turgor pressure. These changes occur in response to activation or inactivation of ion transport proteins that are in turn regulated by protein kinase and phosphatase networks. The kinase network…