Transposable elements mobilize within and occasionally between genomes, including from host to virus. We identified two insertions of the human BC200 noncoding RNA gene in the poxvirus molluscum conta...

Abstract. Membraneless organelles (MLOs) in eukaryotic cells, such as the nuclear Cajal body (CB), have been notoriously difficult to biochemically isolate

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) can deliver RNA and proteins into host cells to manipulate immunity; but how EVs transverse the cell wall is unknown. Using the fungal pathogen Botrytis cinerea that induc...

Herbivore insects are on an evolutionary tug-of-war with plants. An important part of the plant-herbivore insect interaction is the exchange of molecules, in particular proteins (in the form of effect...

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Climate warming poses increasing thermal challenges to plants, yet how plasma membrane biophysics contributes to heat adaptation remains poorly understood. In this work, we showed that the malectin-li...

A fungal long non-coding RNA from Magnaporthe oryzae translocates into rice cells to sequester a host microRNA that normally represses PKR1, a negative immunity regulator, thereby facilitating infection and revealing a widespread RNA-based pathogen–host interaction mechanism.

The isolation of single plant cells from complex tissues is prone to selective enrichment and sampling biases, which complicates accurate profiling of the large diversity in cell types. Optimizing methodologies for cell enrichment and single-cell transcriptomics is therefore critical for single-cell studies addressing plant cell heterogeneity. Here, we systematically compared protoplast enrichment technologies (including conventional and image-based flow cytometry, as well as magnetic cell sorting) and single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) platforms (10X Genomics Chromium, BD Rhapsody) using Arabidopsis roots. Image-based flow cytometry offered increased precision due to customizable gating strategies, while magnetic sorting provided faster processing and enhanced representation of cell size heterogeneity. Both scRNA-seq platforms captured root cell heterogeneity and yielded reproducible gene expression profiles, but showed platform-associated differences in cell type composition. Notably, single-nucleotide polymorphism analysis of a mixed ecotype sample revealed that, among cells identified as doublets by computational algorithms, two-thirds were likely to have been misclassified. These insights identify key biases in plant cell purification and scRNA-seq workflows and provide practical guidance for improving data quality across plant species.

Move comes after Roger Innes complained about the government’s prosecution of Chinese postdocs

A pooled, cell-based, genetic screening platform in plants is used for the functional analysis of cytokinin signaling proteins.

Antiphage defense systems protect bacteria from viral infection and have inspired important biotechnologies such as CRISPR-Cas9 while also revealing the evolutionary roots of eukaryotic innate immunit...

There was a discussion recently on Bluesky about reproducible data analysis pipelines.

Schultz et al. show that polar algae harbor extensive endogenous giant virus elements that are transcriptionally active, stress responsive, and integrated into host regulatory networks, highlighting v...

Anfang et al. present a tissue-specific, multiplexed CRISPR toolbox for plants that uses paired sgRNAs and barcoded libraries to target redundant gene families. Applied to Arabidopsis nutrient transporters, it boosts editing efficiency and gene coverage, enabling spatially precise screens that uncover phenotypes hidden by functional redundancy.

Abstract. Alternative splicing (AS) has emerged as a regulatory layer in plant adaptation to the environment. In particular, biotic stresses trigger a dras

The arrest and prosecution of Chinese researcher Youhuang Xiang, announced December 19 by FBI Director Kash Patel, is the latest episode in an FBI/Department of Justice campaign to criminalize scienti...

How plant viruses are restricted to the phloem are long-standing questions in plant virology. The paper shows PENETRATION3 activity and callose deposition confine plant viruses to the phloem, which fa...

Plant cell walls harbor vast carbohydrate reserves, yet how pathogens unlock them remains unclear. We show that the citrus canker pathogen Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri (Xcc) mobilizes cell wall suga...

The plant cell wall regulates development through spatiotemporal modulation of its chemical and mechanical properties. Pectin methylesterification is recognized as a rheological switch controlling wal...