The Plant Journal最新文献

{"title":"Efficient photoproduction of a high-value sesquiterpene pentalenene from the green microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii","authors":"Mengjie Li,&nbsp;Songlin Ma,&nbsp;Jilong Zhao,&nbsp;Xiaotan Dou,&nbsp;Keqing Liu,&nbsp;Gerui Yin,&nbsp;Yuxue Chen,&nbsp;Song Xue,&nbsp;Fantao Kong","doi":"10.1111/tpj.70354","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.70354","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Microalgae can convert CO₂ into energy-rich bioproducts through photosynthesis, emerging as promising platforms for sustainable and light-driven terpenoid production. Pentalenene, a tricyclic sesquiterpene originally identified as an antibiotic metabolite in <i>Streptomyces</i> species, has recently emerged as a promising candidate for advanced aviation fuels. However, pentalenene biosynthesis does not naturally occur in photosynthetic microorganisms, limiting its cost-effective production. In this study, we established a photosynthetic platform for pentalenene production by expressing a heterologous pentalenene synthase (<i>penA</i>) in the microalga <i>Chlamydomonas reinhardtii</i>. To enhance pentalenene production, we engineered the methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway by overexpressing rate-limiting enzymes deoxyxylulose 5-phosphate synthase (DXS) and 4-hydroxy-3-methylbut-2-enyl-diphosphate reductase (HDR). We also introduced isopentenyl diphosphate isomerase (IDI) to improve the equilibrium between the precursors isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) and dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP). The engineered <i>penA</i>-<i>DXS-HDR-IDI</i> strain achieved a titer of 2.86 mg/L, which is a 10.2-fold increase compared with the parental strain expressing <i>penA</i> alone. The <i>penA-DXS-HDR-IDI</i> strain achieved a pentalenene titer of 13.65 mg/L under photomixotrophic conditions in photobioreactors. In addition, metabolite profiling revealed elevated levels of MEP pathway intermediates (DXP, MEP, ME-cPP) and precursors glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate (G3P) and farnesyl diphosphate (FPP) as critical drivers of high pentalenene yields. Notably, the engineered pentalenene-producing strains exhibited cell growth and photosynthetic activity comparable to the untransformed strain. This study represents the first successful attempt to produce pentalenene in a photosynthetic host and provides a rational engineering strategy for the production of other sesquiterpenes in microalgae and other industrial microorganisms.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":233,"journal":{"name":"The Plant Journal","volume":"123 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144657668","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The occupancy of Ghd7 to the transcriptional activation domain of Hd1 leads to functional conversion of Hd1 from promoting to suppressing heading under long-day conditions in rice","authors":"Qian Liu,&nbsp;Xin Zhou,&nbsp;Xiao Tan,&nbsp;Qingli Wen,&nbsp;Guibi Liu,&nbsp;Shuangle Li,&nbsp;Bo Zhang,&nbsp;Zhanyi Zhang,&nbsp;Bi Wu,&nbsp;Lei Wang,&nbsp;Haiyang Liu,&nbsp;Yongzhong Xing","doi":"10.1111/tpj.70301","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.70301","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Hd1 alone constantly promotes heading both under LD and SD conditions in rice. But it suppresses heading in the presence of Ghd7 under LD conditions. It is not clear how Ghd7 makes Hd1 function conversion. To address this question, both Hd1 and Ghd7 were truncated for protein interaction analysis. Ghd7-TS (the terminal amino acids 243–257 of Ghd7) and Hd1-ZN (the zinc finger domain of Hd1) were verified as the interaction domains between Hd1 and Ghd7. Moreover, Hd1(243–337) was demonstrated as the primary transcriptional activation domain of Hd1. The interaction domain edited alleles <i>Hd1</i>^▵ZN and <i>Ghd7</i>^▵T<i>S</i> kept a partial function in regulating heading date but lost the interaction ability. The mutants <i>Hd1</i>^▵ZN<i>Ghd7</i> or <i>Hd1Ghd7</i>^▵T<i>S</i> showed a much earlier heading date than the wildtype <i>Hd1Ghd7</i> mainly due to the elimination of interaction effect. The length of non-specific amino acids appended near the Ghd7-TS region is highly correlated with Hd1 transcriptional repression, suggesting that Ghd7 inhibits Hd1 transcriptional activity probably through a steric hindrance effect by targeting its activation domain, in turn reducing the expression of <i>Ehd1</i>, <i>Hd3a</i>, and <i>RFT1</i>, and ultimately delaying heading. These findings provide new insights into the photoperiodic flowering mechanism and the flexibility to breed varieties with fine differences in heading date by utilizing the edited <i>Hd1</i>^▵ZN or <i>Ghd7</i>^▵T<i>S</i> alleles.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":233,"journal":{"name":"The Plant Journal","volume":"123 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144647528","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Through the lens of bioenergy crops: advances, bottlenecks, and promises of plant engineering","authors":"Angel Indibi,&nbsp;Pengfei Cao,&nbsp;Federica Brandizzi,&nbsp;Jenny Mortimer,&nbsp;Kankshita Swaminathan,&nbsp;Chung-Jui Tsai,&nbsp;Bjoern Hamberger","doi":"10.1111/tpj.70294","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.70294","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Advances in engineering of bioenergy crops were driven over the past years by adapting technological breakthroughs and accelerating conventional applications but also exposed intriguing challenges. New tools revealed rich interconnectivity in the exponentially growing and dynamic ‘big' omics data’ of metabolomes, transcriptomes, and genomes at previously inaccessible magnitude (global, cross-species, meta-) and resolution (single cell). Insights enabled fresh hypotheses and stimulated disciplines such as functional genomics with discovery of broad regulatory networks and their determinants, that is, DNA parts, including promoters, regulatory elements, and transcription factors. Their rational design, assembly into increasingly complex blueprints, and installation into diverse chassis is an existing frontier that may benefit from emerging technologies to address bottlenecks. Interweaving nature-inspired to fully synthetic parts has already allowed building of fine-tuned regulatory circuits, or new-to-nature metabolic routes insulated from the biological context of the chassis species. Similarly, developments and the evolving need for unifying principles in plant transformation and species-agnostic technologies highlight future opportunities for engineering the next generation of bioenergy plants.</p>","PeriodicalId":233,"journal":{"name":"The Plant Journal","volume":"123 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/tpj.70294","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144647529","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The three cellulose synthase isoforms for secondary cell wall make specific contributions to microfibril synthesis","authors":"Joseph L. Hill Jr.,&nbsp;Daniel A. Russo,&nbsp;Daisuke Sawada,&nbsp;Sai Venkatesh Pingali,&nbsp;Malgorzata Kowalik,&nbsp;Sarah N. Kiemle,&nbsp;Hugh O'Neill,&nbsp;Tobias I. Baskin","doi":"10.1111/tpj.70344","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.70344","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Cellulose is synthesized at the plasma membrane by the cellulose synthase complex, a structure that contains three distinct isoforms of the catalytic subunit, cellulose synthase A (CESA). The division into three subunits appears early in land plant evolution and is highly conserved, particularly for the secondary cell wall. However, what if any unique roles each isoform plays in the complex remain unclear. Here, we assessed the contributions of specific isoforms to microfibril synthesis. First, we expressed CESA isoforms of the primary cell wall or the moss <i>Physcomitrium patens</i> in <i>Arabidopsis thaliana</i> backgrounds missing a secondary cell wall CESA. While the primary cell wall isoforms rescued the <i>cesa</i> knockout phenotype with partial isoform specificity, those from the moss rescued with fewer restrictions. Then, we recreated various CESA missense mutations in all three of the secondary cell wall isoforms; while results are consistent with isoform specificity, they are difficult to interpret further without molecular structures. Finally, we show that catalytically inactive CESA isoforms restore growth and cellulose content in the corresponding knockout in an isoform-specific manner; along with partial rescue of the growth and cellulose content of the inflorescence stem, the replacement lines have fiber cells with partially disorganized microfibrils and secondary cell wall cellulose with narrow crystal width. Generally, effects were more pronounced in lines where CESA8 was inactivated compared with inactivating CESA4 or 7, which tended to have similar phenotypes to each other. We account for these results with a model for cellulose synthase structure with the isoforms assigned specific localization within the cellulose synthase complex.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":233,"journal":{"name":"The Plant Journal","volume":"123 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144647503","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"CEPR1 regulates Arabidopsis thaliana root architecture by modulating auxin production via NIT1","authors":"Austin A. Frisbey,&nbsp;Tara E. Nash,&nbsp;Michael B. Goshe,&nbsp;Steven D. Clouse,&nbsp;Christopher J. Frost,&nbsp;Frans E. Tax","doi":"10.1111/tpj.70331","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.70331","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Like all organisms, plants must make decisions about growth that ultimately lead to their conservation or expenditure of energy. Carbon and nitrogen are both critical macronutrients required for growth and survival, and plants must be able to sense the internal abundance of both to ensure that there is enough to either commit to growth or avoid wasting resources on growth when environmental conditions are suboptimal. In <i>Arabidopsis thaliana</i>, the receptor-like kinase CEPR1 is involved in a regulatory pathway that comprises a systemic signaling network that can influence root system architecture depending on the availability of both carbon and nitrogen. Here, we present evidence that CEPR1 can integrate nitrogen and carbon status to influence lateral root growth through genetic interactions with the auxin biosynthetic enzyme, NITRILASE 1 (NIT1), and that genetic interactions between <i>CEPR1</i> and <i>NIT1</i> can affect auxin levels in the primary root and in inflorescence stems. Additionally, we show that mutations in <i>NIT1</i> can suppress an infertility phenotype associated with <i>CEPR1</i> mutations. Overall, our results suggest a model that CEPR1 regulates development under different amounts of carbon and nitrogen by modulating auxin production via NIT1.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":233,"journal":{"name":"The Plant Journal","volume":"123 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144635385","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Guiding gravitropism: root coiling in response to growth-promoting bacteria is mediated by root cap transcription factors","authors":"Gwendolyn K. Kirschner","doi":"10.1111/tpj.70338","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.70338","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;Darwin showed that the root cap was important for sensing gravity (Darwin, &lt;span&gt;1881&lt;/span&gt;). Today, we know that starch-filled granules in the root cap cells act as statoliths that sink in response to gravity. This triggers a signaling process leading to differential cell elongation in the root elongation zone to adapt root growth to the direction of gravity (Su et al., &lt;span&gt;2017&lt;/span&gt;). The root cap is not only involved in gravitropism, but also in many other processes, including sensing nutrients, salt, water, and modulating rhizosphere microbiota (Ganesh et al., &lt;span&gt;2022&lt;/span&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the highlighted publication, Kirán Rubí Jiménez-Vázquez and colleagues show how two root cap transcription factors could act to integrate contact with rhizosphere microbes with root gravitropism. For his PhD project, Jiménez-Vázquez was involved in a biodiversity study of bacteria that inhabited an exceptional ecosystem, a salty pool in the middle of the Chihuahua desert. The researchers were surprised that some grasses could grow well despite the high salt content, amidst a film of salt crystals, and they also saw some mesquite trees that looked healthy. Therefore, they sampled the rhizosphere of a mesquite tree and built a collection of culturable bacteria. They then inoculated &lt;i&gt;Arabidopsis thaliana&lt;/i&gt; seedlings with the pure cultures to analyze the root phenotype and biomass production (Jiménez-Vázquez et al., &lt;span&gt;2020&lt;/span&gt;). Interestingly, the rhizobacterium &lt;i&gt;Achromobacter&lt;/i&gt; sp. 5B1 not only promoted primary root growth and lateral root formation in Arabidopsis but also induced root waving and coiling once the bacteria spread over the primary root (Figure 1). This caught the attention of the researchers because it was the only reported bacterium that caused disruption of the gravitropic response (Jiménez-Vázquez et al., &lt;span&gt;2020&lt;/span&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;They wondered how &lt;i&gt;Achromobacter&lt;/i&gt; sp. 5B1 modifies developmental processes in the roots, in particular gravitropism (Jiménez-Vázquez et al., &lt;span&gt;2025&lt;/span&gt;). They analyzed primary root growth on agar plates under different conditions: (1) roots in direct contact with the bacterial streak; (2) roots and bacteria on opposite sides of divided Petri dishes, allowing only volatile compounds to be sensed; and (3) the bacterial streak placed near, but not touching, the root cap, enabling interaction through diffusible molecules like metabolites and phytohormones. In all cases, the bacterium promoted primary and lateral root growth, but the roots only coiled and showed disrupted gravitropism when the root was in direct contact with the inoculum. This reaction was specific to &lt;i&gt;Achromobacter&lt;/i&gt; sp. 5B1 and was not observed for other plant growth-promoting bacteria (i.e., &lt;i&gt;Bacillus&lt;/i&gt; sp. LC390B or &lt;i&gt;Micrococcus luteus&lt;/i&gt; LS570). Roots with no root cap did not coil after contact with the bacterium, suggesting that the root cap is responsible for sensing the bacterium and directing the root","PeriodicalId":233,"journal":{"name":"The Plant Journal","volume":"123 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/tpj.70338","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144624415","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"GT1 regulates maize sex determination by affecting the jasmonate pathway","authors":"Zhen Lin,&nbsp;Jing Yang,&nbsp;Shengnan Liu,&nbsp;Yan Bai,&nbsp;Weihang Li,&nbsp;Jinsheng Lai,&nbsp;Weibin Song,&nbsp;Haiming Zhao,&nbsp;Qiujie Liu","doi":"10.1111/tpj.70306","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.70306","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Maize (<i>Zea mays</i> L.) is a monoecious plant with male and female flowers physically separated on different inflorescences—the tassel and the ear. Maize sex determination is controlled by a series of complicated developmental signals. Here, we characterized an EMS-induced maize feminized tassel mutant,<i>tasselsilk1</i> (<i>tsk1</i>), and identified <i>GRASSY TILLERS1</i> (<i>GT1</i>) as the causative gene. Phenotypic analysis of <i>tsk1</i> mutants revealed that pistils fail to abort in both the tassel and ear, resulting in long sterile silks in the tassel and the development of an extra small kernel from the lower floret in the ear. RNA-seq and CUT&amp;Tag analysis indicated that GT1 functioned as a repressor for flower organ development by regulating the JA biosynthesis and signaling pathways, specifically by directly promoting the expression of <i>TASSELSEED1</i> (<i>TS1</i>), <i>ZmMYC2A</i>, <i>ZmMYC2B.</i> Together, we identified a new allele of <i>GT1</i> and proposed that GT1 functions through JA biosynthesis and signaling pathways to regulate sex determination in maize.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":233,"journal":{"name":"The Plant Journal","volume":"123 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144615070","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The B-BOX protein BBX21 suppresses thermosensory growth under short- and long-day photoperiods by distinct mechanisms","authors":"Bidhan Chandra Malakar,&nbsp;Rajanesh Chandramohan,&nbsp;Vishmita Sethi,&nbsp;Sreeramaiah N. Gangappa","doi":"10.1111/tpj.70345","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.70345","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Thermomorphogenesis is a plant adaptive response, enabling morphological adjustments to fluctuating ambient temperatures. In <i>Arabidopsis</i>, the bHLH family of transcription factor PHYTOCHROME-INTERACTING FACTOR 4 (PIF4) plays a central role in promoting thermomorphogenesis, whose activity is negatively regulated by thermosensors EARLY FLOWERING 3 (ELF3) and PHYTOCHROME B (phyB). In response to warm temperatures, PIF4 transcript and protein levels increase to facilitate thermosensory growth. However, the regulatory mechanisms governing PIF4-mediated thermosensory growth remain partially elusive. Here, we demonstrate the role of a B-BOX protein, BBX21, in suppressing thermomorphogenesis through the PIF4 pathway. A mutation in <i>BBX21</i> (<i>bbx21</i>) results in a longer hypocotyl phenotype accompanied by upregulation in thermoresponsive gene expression, whereas overexpression of <i>BBX21</i> (<i>BBX21-OE</i>) results in an extremely short hypocotyl phenotype with dampened expression of temperature-responsive genes. Genetic analysis reveals that BBX21 acts upstream of PIF4 to regulate warm temperature-mediated hypocotyl growth. To limit excessive thermomorphogenesis, BBX21 inhibits PIF4 protein accumulation by repressing its transcript accumulation by directly binding to its promoter. Furthermore, our genetic and biochemical data show that the short hypocotyl phenotype of the <i>BBX21-OE</i> line is dependent on ELF3 and phyB. BBX21 enhances the ELF3 and phyB-mediated inhibition of PIF4 activity in SD and LD conditions, respectively, by enhancing their protein activity. Thus, this study elucidates the novel role of BBX21 in suppressing thermomorphogenesis, providing new insights into the molecular mechanism of PIF4-mediated regulation of hypocotyl growth in response to warm temperatures.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":233,"journal":{"name":"The Plant Journal","volume":"123 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144615069","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"In conversation with Dr. Alisdair Fernie","authors":"Luis De Luna Valdez","doi":"10.1111/tpj.70351","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.70351","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;In this interview, Dr. Fernie reflects on his journey into plant biology—a path initially dominated by mammalian biochemistry but forever altered by a set of inspirational lectures and a timely opportunity at Oxford. He shares insights into the development of cutting-edge techniques to study protein–protein interactions (PPIs), the scientific motivations behind his publication ‘Investigating the dynamics of protein–protein interactions in plants’ which was awarded TPJ's Outstanding Technical Advance Prize, and the broader goals of his laboratory in decoding metabolic function and its genetic regulation. Beyond science, he opens up about the challenges of maintaining work–life balance, the joy of mentorship, and the importance of loving what you do.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;1. Can you tell us about you, your childhood, and your educational background? Anything that you're comfortable sharing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I was born just outside of Cambridge and lived near Leicester and in Hong Kong before settling in Maidenhead, a small town west of London. In secondary school, I developed early interests in various scientific disciplines and geography, alongside a passion for running.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;2. How did you become interested in plant biology? Were you into plants growing up or DID that COME later in life?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;My interest in plant biology came later. Having studied and greatly enjoyed Biology, Chemistry, and Geography as A-levels, I chose to stick with two of these and study Biochemistry at the University of Sheffield. The course I took was very much dominated by mammalian research, but I quickly realized that many of the practical studies were not for me and ended up doing a computational undergraduate project in protein structural biology in the laboratory of Dr. Peter Artymiuk, which yielded my first ever publication (Hempstead et al., &lt;span&gt;1997&lt;/span&gt;). Around this time, I also had my first plant lectures at Sheffield with Drs. Neil Hunter and Prof. Paul Horton, both of whom were very inspirational teachers and had a profound influence on my choice to switch to plants. When the opportunity to do a Ph.D. in Metabolic Regulation at the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Oxford arose, my path was set. As I have discussed elsewhere (Fernie, &lt;span&gt;2014&lt;/span&gt;), on leaving Nick Kruger's Lab following my studies, the predominant advice I had was to change subject dramatically and take a post-doc in developmental biology or genetics. I ignored this advice and headed off to the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology to work with Lothar Willmitzer in 1999. In a relatively short time, I was given my own group and remained there to this day.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u0000 \u0000 &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;3. Would you summarize the main problem you and your team are tackling in this paper? What are the main differences between the different methods (BiFC, FRET, BiFC-FRET, BRET) you used to investigate PPIs? What are the advant","PeriodicalId":233,"journal":{"name":"The Plant Journal","volume":"123 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/tpj.70351","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144615351","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A biphasic trajectory for maize stalk mechanics shaped by genetic, environmental, and biotic factors","authors":"Irene I. Ikiriko,&nbsp;Ashley N. Hostetler,&nbsp;Jonathan W. Reneau,&nbsp;Alyssa K. Betts,&nbsp;Erin E. Sparks","doi":"10.1111/tpj.70342","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.70342","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Stalk mechanical properties impact plant stability and interactions with pathogenic microorganisms. The evaluation of stalk mechanics has focused primarily on the end-of-season outcomes and defined differences among inbred and hybrid maize genotypes. However, there is a gap in understanding how these different end-of-season outcomes are achieved. This study measured stalk flexural stiffness in maize inbred genotypes across multiple environments and in maize commercial hybrid genotypes under different disease states. Under all conditions, stalk flexural stiffness followed a biphasic trajectory, characterized by a linear increase phase and a sustained phase. Within a genotype, the environment or disease state altered the rate of increase in the linear phase but did not impact the timing of transition to the sustained phase. Whereas between genotypes, the timing of transition between phases varied. Destructive 3-point bend tests of inbred stalks showed that the trajectory of stalk mechanics is defined by the bending modulus, not the geometry. Together, these results define a biphasic trajectory of maize stalk mechanics that can be modulated by internal and external factors. This work provides a foundation for breeding programs to make informed decisions when selecting for optimized stalk mechanical trajectories, which are necessary for enhancing resilience to environmental stresses.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":233,"journal":{"name":"The Plant Journal","volume":"123 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144615065","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}