The apoplast is a primary location for interactions between plants and invasive pathogens and is the site where many pathogen-secreted effectors are perceived by cell surface immune receptors to activ...

Genetically encoded biosensors are central to plant cell biology, but low reporter signal can limit their use. Here, we developed modular intronised fluorophores to improve reporter output in transien...

Heat stress is a primary environmental constraint on chili pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) productivity and fruit quality across global agricultural systems. Elevated temperatures adversely affect plant g...

Nature Plants - Col-0 genetic divergence

A mechanistic basis for how the hormone salicylic acid promotes transcriptional activation during plant immune responses is described.

Potential PhD project A

Abstract. Transcriptome analysis via RNA sequencing (RNAseq) has become a ubiquitous method of molecular characterization from whole organisms, dissected t

🤍🕊️ Last week, my team members and I were excited to attend the latest International Symposium on Plant Photobiology in beautiful Les Diablerets, Switzerland. We shared our science and learned a lot ...

DGPs award: Manuel Spitschan and Marie Luise Schreiter recognized for their science communication project on the body's internal clock. Mobile lab: Visitors get hands-on experience with how light affe...

Nature Medicine

Auxin and calcium (Ca2+) are central plant signals that coordinate growth, development, and responses to environmental cues. Typically studied as largely parallel pathways, they are now increasingly recognized as interconnected networks whose activities converge at multiple regulatory levels. Recent advances in live imaging, biosensors, optogenetics, and structural approaches have revealed that auxin can rapidly trigger Ca2+ influx from the apoplast via TRANSPORT INHIBITOR RESPONSE1 (TIR1)/AUXIN-SIGNALING F-BOX (AFB)-dependent signaling mechanisms and Ca2+ channels, presumably involving cyclic nucleotides produced by TIR1/AFB auxin receptors. Conversely, Ca2+ signals arising from mechanosensing, wounding, and environmental stress can modulate auxin transport, signaling, and transcriptional outputs. Together, these discoveries highlight a dynamic, reciprocal signaling axis where Ca2+ acts both downstream and upstream of auxin to shape growth, development, tropisms, and regeneration.

This review integrates recent advances in genomics, multi-omics, and biotechnology with a critical assessment of key challenges, providing a roadmap for ac

Potassium ion (K+) is essential for plant growth and development. Despite decades of study, the Shaker-type K+ channel AKT5 has remained functionally unassigned. Here, we report that AKT5 functions as...

Many flowering plants rely on seeds for reproduction and dispersal. To maximize the next generation's chances of survival, seed set and germination must be

Drought-induced Ca2+ signals activate CPK8, which phosphorylates AHA1 at Ser-899 to inhibit its H+-ATPase activity, thereby enhancing plant drought toleran

Abstract. Plants use light both as a resource for photosynthesis and as a signal about their environment. In response to light cues, plants can move their

The model plant Arabidopsis thaliana has been a workhorse of plant biology since the 1950s, when the Columbia-0 (Col-0) accession was widely adopted by the research community as a reference genotype. ...

Agrobacterium -mediated transformation is the dominant method for plant transgenesis, yet it frequently produces multi-copy, structurally complex T-DNA insertions associated with transgene silencing, ...

The circadian clock integrates photoperiodic and temperature cues by RNA splicing to promote seasonal plasticity.

The very first drawing of the microscopic "water bear" by a theologian turned microscope explorer.

The naturally selected extreme traits of zinc/cadmium hyperaccumulation and hypertolerance in Arabidopsis halleri depend on strongly elevated HEAVY ME…

Light-responsive transcription factors mediate tomato responses to shade, shaping plant architecture and modulating fruit production and seed dormancy.

Repressive PER2:CRY1:CK1δ complexes assembling in the cytosol enter the nucleus, where PER2 hyperphosphorylation eventually disrupts the complex, causing PER2 to relocalize to the cytoplasm, allowing ...

The molecular mechanisms that produce cell structure are poorly understood. The giant ciliate Stentor coeruleus is a unicellular model organism who...

First evidence for tool use in cattle includes a skill previously seen only in humans and chimpanzees

The functioning of complex systems depends on the coordination of diverse components, often supported by regulatory structures that incur costs. In...