Tag: Transport and Transporters

Phloem has long been recognized as a tissue that transports carbohydrates and amino acids. In recent years, however, it has also been found that this tissue serves as a conduit for signals, e.g., mRNAs, small RNAs, proteins, small peptides, and hormones.  Several classical studies have shown that certain…

The one sure-fire way to get children excited about plants is to show them how a Venus flytrap works. But how does it work? We’ve all heard that the trap “counts” the number times it is triggered, and that it requires two or more touches in quick succession to close – but how does it count? Hedrich…

Iron is an essential micronutrient for plants but it is often not bioavailable in the soil. Thus, plants have evolved difference processes for iron sensing and iron uptake. OLIGOPEPTIDE TRANSPORTER 3 (OPT3) is an important iron transporter and is a component of the systemic network that mediates iron…

Plants need some but not too much iron, so the regulation of iron transporters is quite tight. IRT1 is a broad-spectrum metal transporter that is crucial for iron uptake (mutants can only be rescued by massive amounts of iron). IRT1 synthesis is transcriptionally upregulated by iron limitation, and although…

Iron, an essential nutrient for plants and symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria, needs to be complexed with organic chelators (i.e. citrate) for in planta transport. Kryvoruchko and colleagues have identified a nodule-specific citrate transporter of Medicago truncatula, MtMATE67 (Medicago truncatula Multidrug…

Abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, low temperature, and flooding usually lead to sugar accumulation. It has been reported that the accumulation of Glc, Suc, and Fru under high salinity plays an important role in carbon storage, osmotic regulation, and homeostasis, as well as scavenging of free…

The application of nitrogen-containing fertilizers is crucial for good yields of crops like rice but also is energy intensive and polluting, so many approaches are being explored to develop plants that are more efficient in their uptake and use of nitrogen. Previous studies identified a crucial role…

Approaches to improve final grain production must consider yield stability, that is ways to prevent yield losses. For example, flowering time affects yield and yield stability-- if grains mature late, they may be literally caught out in the cold, as late-season weather turns. Indeed, the application…