Plant cell biology articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Temperature modulates plant development and environmental responses. Here, the authors show that increasing ambient temperature reduces the number of sub-nuclear photobodies in Arabidopsis by promoting selective disassembly of thermo-unstable photobodies in a manner dependent on phytochrome B’s photosensory module.

    • Joseph Hahm
    • , Keunhwa Kim
    •  & Meng Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Assembling synthetic plant cell is difficult due to the presence of primary cell wall. Here, the authors describe the assembly of lipid-containing bodies that can be coated with cellulose and pectin, and show how these so-called plantosomes can be manipulated by changing surrounding milieu.

    • T. Paulraj
    • , S. Wennmalm
    •  & A. J. Svagan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In Arabidopsis, LZY proteins are involved in specifying the angle of root growth relative to the direction of gravity. Here the authors identify RLD1, a LZY-interacting protein that is recruited to the plasma membrane in a polar manner and is required to establish asymmetric auxin transport and set root angles.

    • Masahiko Furutani
    • , Yoshinori Hirano
    •  & Miyo Terao Morita

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Arabidopsis EH/Pan1 proteins are part of the TPLATE complex (TPC) that is required for endocytosis in plants. Here, the authors show AtEH/Pan1 proteins also act in actin-mediated autophagy, by interacting with VAP27-1 at ER-PM contact sites and recruiting TPLATE and AP-2 complex subunits, clathrin and ARP2/3/ proteins to autophagosomes.

    • Pengwei Wang
    • , Roman Pleskot
    •  & Patrick J. Hussey

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding the interactions between the constituents of the cell walls in wood is important for understanding the mechanical properties. Here, the authors report on a solid-state NMR study of never-dried softwood, noticing differences to previous reports and develop a model of softwood architecture.

    • Oliver M. Terrett
    • , Jan J. Lyczakowski
    •  & Paul Dupree

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Plant hypoxia responses are controlled by oxygen and nitric oxide (NO)-dependent proteolysis of ERFVII transcription factors. Here Hartman et al. show that passive ethylene entrapment during root submergence enhances NO-scavenger PHYTOGLOBIN1, ERFVII stability and promotes subsequent hypoxia tolerance.

    • Sjon Hartman
    • , Zeguang Liu
    •  & Laurentius A. C. J. Voesenek

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Glyphosate is the world’s most widely-used herbicide. Here, Belbin et al. show that plant responses to glyphosate, and therefore herbicide activity, depend on plant circadian rhythms suggesting that considering the time-of-day of application could lead to more efficient agrochemical use.

    • Fiona E. Belbin
    • , Gavin J. Hall
    •  & Antony N. Dodd

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Plasmodesmata channels connect neighbouring plant cells and respond to external stimuli via changes in permeability. Here Park et al. propose that mechanical forces can displace the dumbbell-shaped ER-desmotubule complex that spans the central plasmodesmatal cylinder leading to closure of the pore.

    • Keunhwan Park
    • , Jan Knoblauch
    •  & Kaare H. Jensen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The PIF4 transcription factor promotes adaptation to elevated temperature but is degraded under red light to trigger photomorphogenesis. Here Sun et al. show that the core circadian component CCA1 recruits SHB1 to sustain PIF4 expression after dawn to balance thermomorphogenesis and light responses.

    • Qingbin Sun
    • , Shulei Wang
    •  & Min Ni

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Many legumes accommodate rhizobial symbionts via transcellular infection threads. Here the authors show that in Medicago root hairs, polar growth of the infection thread requires a tip-localized protein complex consisting of VPY and VPY-like proteins that are stabilized by the E3 ligase LIN, as well as an exocyst complex subunit.

    • Cheng-Wu Liu
    • , Andrew Breakspear
    •  & Jeremy D. Murray

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Light initiates chloroplast biogenesis by controlling gene expression in plastids. Here Yoo et al. show that nuclear phytochrome signaling triggers plastid gene expression via a novel dual-localized protein necessary for nuclear phytochrome signaling and subsequent anterograde signaling to the plastid.

    • Chan Yul Yoo
    • , Elise K. Pasoreck
    •  & Meng Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Circadian control of plant defence likely reflects plants’ ability to coordinate development and defense. Here, Zhang et al. show that LUX regulates stomatal defense  and SA/JA signaling, leading to broad-spectrum disease resistance, and that JA signaling can, in turn, regulate clock activity.

    • Chong Zhang
    • , Min Gao
    •  & Hua Lu

  • Perspective
    | Open Access

    Cellular mechanical stress is a key determinant of cell shape and function, but how the cell senses stress direction is unclear. In this Perspective the authors propose that microtubules autonomously sense stress directions in plant cells, where tensile stresses are higher than in animal cells.

    • Olivier Hamant
    • , Daisuke Inoue
    •  & Eric Mjolsness

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantitative study of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) structure and dynamics has been a challenge. Here, the authors introduce software to automatically extract ER network elements from multi-dimensional fluorescence images of plant ER and to quantify structure, topology, protein localization and dynamics.

    • Charlotte Pain
    • , Verena Kriechbaumer
    •  & Mark Fricker

  • Perspective
    | Open Access

    Biological circadian rhythms maintain a period close to 24 h in coordination with the Earth’s fixed rotational period. Here Webb et al. discuss how external cues continuously adjust phase and period, viewing the oscillator as a dynamically-adjusted plastic system rather than tightly-coupled cogs in a mechanical clock.

    • Alex A. R. Webb
    • , Motohide Seki
    •  & Camila Caldana

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cell wall pits allow movement of water between xylem vessels and are formed via Rho-GTPase mediated signaling that leads to local microtubule disassembly. Here, Sugiyama et al. show that an additional Rho-GTPase pathway controls cell wall deposition and actin dynamics to form pit boundaries.

    • Yuki Sugiyama
    • , Yoshinobu Nagashima
    •  & Yoshihisa Oda

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The interactions of lignin with polysaccharides in plant secondary cell walls are not well understood. Here the authors employ solid-state NMR measurements to analyse intact stems of maize, Arabidopsis, switchgrass and rice and observe that lignin self-aggregates and forms highly hydrophobic microdomains that make extensive surface contacts to xylan.

    • Xue Kang
    • , Alex Kirui
    •  & Tuo Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    VRN2 is a Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 subunit, best known as a regulator of vernalization that accumulates during prolonged cold. Here Gibbs et al. show that VRN2 is degraded via the N-end rule pathway, which  prevents ectopic accumulation of VRN2 in the absence of appropriate environmental stimuli.

    • Daniel J. Gibbs
    • , Hannah M. Tedds
    •  & Michael J. Holdsworth

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Despite their importance in plant development and defence the properties of (1,3)-β-glucan remain largely unknown. Here, the authors find that addition of (1,3)-β-glucans increases the flexibility of cellulose and its resilience to high strain, an effect originating in molecular level interactions.

    • Radwa H. Abou-Saleh
    • , Mercedes C. Hernandez-Gomez
    •  & Yoselin Benitez-Alfonso

  • Article
    | Open Access

    MEcPP is an evolutionarily conserved plastidial metabolite functioning as a retrograde signal to the nucleus in response to environmental stresses. Here Jiang et al. show that MEcPP can reduce the abundance of auxin and an auxin transporter, providing a mechanistic link between plastids and adaptive growth responses.

    • Jishan Jiang
    • , Cecilia Rodriguez-Furlan
    •  & Katayoon Dehesh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Vacuolar sorting receptors (VSRs) are suggested to efficiently transport hydrolases by continuous cycling. Here, the authors use a nanobody-epitope interaction-based labeling approach to trace VSR recycling from the TGN/EE to the cis-Golgi and reveal ligand reloading of recycled VSRs.

    • Simone Früholz
    • , Florian Fäßler
    •  & Peter Pimpl

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The plastid-encoded RNA polymerase PEP is regulated according to plastid redox state. Here, the authors show that the redox-regulated PRIN2 protein is reduced to monomeric form in a thiol-dependent manner in response to light and that PRIN2 monomers are required for PEP activity and retrograde signaling.

    • Manuel Guinea Díaz
    • , Tamara Hernández-Verdeja
    •  & Åsa Strand

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tip-growing cells can find their growing path toward the source of attractive signals. Here, using experimental data and mathematical modeling, Luo et al. demonstrate that tip-localized exocytosis can integrate guidance cues with Rho GTPase signaling to control cell wall mechanics and direct tip growth in Arabidopsis pollen tubes.

    • Nan Luo
    • , An Yan
    •  & Zhenbiao Yang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A rise in cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration is a well-described response of plant cells to mechanical stimulation. Here the authors show that the DEK1 protein, which is essential for epidermis specification and development in plants, is required for triggering a mechanically-activated Ca2+ channel.

    • Daniel Tran
    • , Roberta Galletti
    •  & Gwyneth C. Ingram

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Designer organelles could allow the isolation of synthetic biological pathways from endogenous components of the host cell. Here the authors engineer a peroxisomal protein import pathway orthogonal to the naturally occurring system.

    • Laura L. Cross
    • , Rupesh Paudyal
    •  & Stuart L. Warriner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Single fluorescent protein biosensors are susceptible to expression and instrumental artifacts. Here Ast et al. describe a dual fluorescent protein design whereby a reference fluorescent protein is nested within a reporter fluorescent protein to control for such artifacts while preserving sensitivity and dynamic range.

    • Cindy Ast
    • , Jessica Foret
    •  & Wolf B. Frommer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The plant circadian clock regulates numerous developmental processes such as seasonal growth and flowering time. Here Ritteret al. identify two transcription factors, FRS7 and FRS12, which interact to form a repressor complex that regulates clock output partially by controlling the expression of GIGANTEA and PIF4.

    • Andrés Ritter
    • , Sabrina Iñigo
    •  & Alain Goossens

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The mechanistic coupling of cell growth and cell cycle control with cell size regulation in tissues is not well understood. Here, the authors show that within the shoot apical meristem of Arabidopsis cell size depends on developmental stage, genotype and environmental signals; however cell growth and cell division are cell-autonomously coordinated.

    • Angharad R. Jones
    • , Manuel Forero-Vargas
    •  & James A. H. Murray

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The polysaccharide xylan binds to cellulose microfibrils in the plant cell wall, but the nature of this interaction remains unclear. Here Simmonset al. show that while xylan forms a threefold helical screw in solution it forms a twofold screw to bind cellulose microfibrils in the plant cell wall.

    • Thomas J. Simmons
    • , Jenny C. Mortimer
    •  & Paul Dupree

  • Article
    | Open Access

    SWEET proteins are known to function as sugar transporters. Here, Kannoet al. show that Arabidopsis SWEET13 and SWEET14 are also able to transport the plant hormone gibberellin (GA) in heterologous systems and that sweetmutants display phenotypes consistent with altered GA response.

    • Yuri Kanno
    • , Takaya Oikawa
    •  & Mitsunori Seo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    TheArabidopsisCCA1 transcription factor is a core regulator of the circadian clock. Here, the authors show that the LWD1 protein, in complex with the TCP20 or TCP22 transcription factors, acts as a co-activator of CCA1 expression contributing to elevated CCA1 expression at dawn.

    • Jing-Fen Wu
    • , Huang-Lung Tsai
    •  & Shu-Hsing Wu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sphingolipids in the trans-Golgi network have been implicated in polar trafficking. Here Wattelet-Boyer et al. show that hydroxylated C24- and C26-acyl-chain sphingolipids are enriched in trans-Golgi network subdomains that are critical for polar sorting of the PIN2 auxin carrier in plant cells.

    • Valérie Wattelet-Boyer
    • , Lysiane Brocard
    •  & Yohann Boutté

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nucleotide sugars are transported from the cytoplasm to the Golgi lumen where they are incorporated into cell wall polysaccharides and used for glycosylation of proteins and lipids. Here the authors identify GFT1, an ArabidopsisGolgi-localized GDP-fucose transporter that is required for plant growth and development

    • Carsten Rautengarten
    • , Berit Ebert
    •  & Joshua L. Heazlewood

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cellulose is produced in plants by cellulose synthase complexes (CSCs) that are assembled in the endomembrane system and then trafficked to the plasma membrane. Here Zhang et al. show that the Golgi-localized STELLO1 and 2 proteins are required for the proper assembly and distribution of CSCs in plant cells.

    • Yi Zhang
    • , Nino Nikolovski
    •  & Paul Dupree

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