Journal Club

Highlighting recently published papers selected by Academy members

Category Archives: Plant Biology

Journal Club: Understanding how a plant makes a hook could someday improve crops

Posted on April 12, 2019 by Amber Dance

This spring, as the first shoots of new plants emerge from the soil, many are bent over in a hook. This simple act protects the fragile stem tip and leaves as the sprout pokes up through the dirt. But how … Continue reading →

Journal club: A simple model to help identify which species might become invasive

Posted on March 11, 2019 by Natasha Gilbert

Invasive species are a major driver of global biodiversity loss. Now researchers have developed a simple model that can quickly predict which species are likely to become established outside their native environment. The team recently reported in the Proceedings of … Continue reading →

Journal Club: Plants load extracellular vesicles with a new class of RNAs

Posted on February 19, 2019 by Jyoti Madhusoodanan

A recent study in The Plant Cell found that plants release extracellular vesicles carrying a new class of RNA molecules, named “tiny RNAs.” The findings are among the first to reveal the contents of these vesicles, and may hint at … Continue reading →

Journal Club: Single gene mutation may boost recombination and help produce better crops

Posted on December 7, 2018 by Jessica P. Johnson

As climate change and population growth threaten to destabilize global food security, plant breeders are ramping up efforts to create better, more productive crops. But in order to introduce new traits, breeding techniques typically rely on rare genetic recombination events … Continue reading →

Journal Club: Wheat’s molecular response to full sun exposure could suggest ways to increase yield

Posted on August 25, 2017 by Carrie Arnold

A recent study points to novel ways of improving crop yields and food production by elucidating how long it takes for wheat to return to full photosynthesis when making the transition from shade to sun exposure. The Green Revolution in … Continue reading →

Journal Club: Insights from 3-D images defy assumptions about how plant cells communicate

Posted on June 23, 2017 by Carolyn Beans

When plant cells communicate, plasmodesmata serve as crucial conduits. These channels cross cell walls, linking one cell to its neighbor. If a plant needs to grow larger or fight off a pathogen, molecular signals pass through plasmodesmata to keep cells … Continue reading →

Categories: Cell Biology | Journal Club | Plant Biology | Tagged Arabidopsis, cell communication, electron microscopy, plant cell, plasmodesmata | Leave a comment

Journal Club: Virus-infected plants create buzz among bees

Posted on August 29, 2016 by Jyoti Madhusoodanan

A bout of a viral infection can leave tomato plants stunted and their leaves sickly. But it might offer a surprising reproductive boost: infected plants release a different smell than healthy ones, and that unique aroma can draw more bees … Continue reading →

Categories: Journal Club | Plant Biology | Tagged bees, cmv, cucumber mosaic virus | Leave a comment

Journal Club: Ancient Chinese may have cultivated grass seeds 30,000 years ago

Posted on March 9, 2016 by Charles Choi

Typically, archaeological research into the origins of agriculture has focused on western Asia, in areas such as the Fertile Crescent (the present-day Middle East). Now scientists report that intentional collection of grass seeds may be traced back about 30,000 years … Continue reading →

Categories: Agriculture | Journal Club | Plant Biology | Tagged agriculture, archaeobotany, China, millet, rice, seeds | Leave a comment

Journal Club: Why do trees fix nitrogen in certain forests and not others? Model offers insights with big implications for the biosphere

Posted on December 14, 2015 by Charles Choi

Many trees can generate their own fertilizer from nitrogen in the air. But it remains a mystery as to why they grow where they do – for example, few grow in the nitrogen-poor soils of temperate forests but many thrive … Continue reading →

Journal Club: Cultivated sweet potatoes were genetically modified — naturally

Posted on April 23, 2015 by Charles Choi

The first genetically modified foods were not human creations. Scientists have now found that sweet potatoes all over the world naturally contain bacterial genes that the microbes introduced. Such transgenes may have provided attractive traits for domestication, researchers added. The … Continue reading →