Translocation of a chloride channel from the Golgi to the plasma membrane helps plants adapt to salt stress
Plant Science Research WeeklyPlants adapt to salt stress by maintaining ion balance using ion transporters. While much is known about cation transporters, the role of anion transporters is less clear. Rajappa et al. focus on the chloride channel gene AtCLCf in Arabidopsis thaliana, controlled by the transcription factor WRKY9 under…
How do plants export brassinosteroids?
Plant Science Research WeeklyIf you’ve ever wondered how plants grow, survive, and adapt to their dynamic environment, the secret lies in their vast array of chemical messengers, also called phytohormones. Brassinosteroids are important hormones that are crucial for plant development and defense against environmental stresses.…
UMAMIT44 exports plastidial glutamate and is essential for plant growth
Plant Science Research WeeklyAmino acids (AA) are fundamental components of peptides, proteins, and enzymes that play a critical role in plant growth, cellular metabolism, and stress response. Plants synthesize most AA within chloroplasts and require membrane transporters to transfer them from stroma to cytosol. Cytosolic AA are…
Increading Fe and Zn concentrations in wheat flour
Plant Science Research WeeklyHuman malnutrition results from the lack of essential mineral micronutrients. In particular, iron deficiency might cause anaemia and stunted development in children, while zinc deficiency might reduce immunity to infectious diseases. In bread wheat, iron and zinc are located in the embryo and aleurone.…
The vacuolar H+/Ca transporter CAX1 participates in submergence and anoxia stress responses (Plant Physiol)
Plant Science Research WeeklyCalcium (Ca) signaling is one of the primary plant responses to confront abiotic stresses. To coordinate Ca levels in the different compartments of the cell, several transporters are needed including the H+/Ca exchangers (CAXs) in the tonoplast (vacuolar membrane). While the role of calcium signaling…
ABA-INSENSITIVE1 activates ammonium transporter AMT1 in an ABA dependent manner (Plant Physiol)
Plant Science Research WeeklyTo avoid ammonium toxicity, the ammonium transporters (AMTs) are tightly regulated by phosphorylation-dependent inactivation. The multifunctional kinase CIPK23 inactivates the AMT1s by phosphorylating conserved threonine residues (T460 in AMT1;1 and T472 in AMT1;2). ABA-INSENSITIVE1 (ABI1) and ABI2…
Nitrate transporter NPF7.9 is a regulator nitrogen use efficiency and stress-induced nitrate allocation to roots in rice (Plant Physiol)
Plant Science Research WeeklyIn addition to its role as a nutrient and a developmental signal, nitrate regulates stress responses in plants. By homology to nitrate transporters previously identified in Arabidopsis as contributing to stress induced-nitrate allocation to roots (SINAR) and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), Guan et al.…
Review. Auxin canalization: From speculative models toward molecular players (Curr Opin Plant Biol)
Plant Science Research WeeklyThe versatility of roles that the hormone auxin plays led Paque and Weijers to suggest a new meaning to the acronym IAA (originally- Indole Acetic Acid)- ‘Influences Almost Anything’. It is known that PIN-FORMED (PIN) auxin exporters are responsible for cell-to-cell directional auxin flow and auxin…
Flavodiiron proteins enhance the rate of CO2 assimilation in Arabidopsis under fluctuating light intensity (Plant Physiol)
Plant Science Research WeeklyPlants must adjust to varying levels of light in order to optimize photosynthetic rates; too little electron transport and plants will incur an energetic penalty, while excessive excitation of photosystem I leads to photodamage. During high light conditions, the increase in DpH acts as a brake on electron…