TYPHON proteins are RAB-dependent mediators of the trans-Golgi network secretory pathway.

The trans-Golgi network (TGN), a key compartment in endomembrane trafficking, participates in both secretion to and endocytosis from the plasma membrane. Consequently, the TGN plays a key role in plant growth and development. Understanding how proteins are sorted for secretion or endocytic recycling at the TGN is critical for elucidating mechanisms of plant development.

The TGN/EE SNARE protein SYP61 and the ubiquitin ligase ATL31 cooperatively regulate plant responses to carbon/nitrogen conditions in Arabidopsis.

Ubiquitination is a post-translational modification involving the reversible attachment of the small protein ubiquitin to a target protein. Ubiquitination is involved in numerous cellular processes, including the membrane trafficking of cargo proteins. However, the ubiquitination of the trafficking machinery components and their involvement in environmental responses are not well understood.

The mRNA-binding proteome of a critical phase transition during Arabidopsis seed germination.

Arabidopsis thaliana seed germination is marked by extensive translational control at two critical phase transitions. The first transition refers to the start of hydration, the hydration translational shift. The second shift, the germination translational shift (GTS) is the phase between testa rupture and radicle protrusion at which the seed makes the all or nothing decision to germinate.

External Mechanical Cues Reveal a Katanin-Independent Mechanism behind Auxin-Mediated Tissue Bending in Plants.

Tissue folding is a central building block of plant and animal morphogenesis. In dicotyledonous plants, hypocotyl folds to form hooks after seedling germination that protects their aerial stem cell niche during emergence from soil. Auxin response factors and auxin transport are reported to play a key role in this process.

Interplay between Cell Wall and Auxin Mediates the Control of Differential Cell Elongation during Apical Hook Development.

Differential growth plays a crucial role during morphogenesis [1-3]. In plants, development occurs within mechanically connected tissues, and local differences in cell expansion lead to deformations at the organ level, such as buckling or bending [4, 5]. During early seedling development, bending of hypocotyl by differential cell elongation results in apical hook structure that protects the shoot apical meristem from being damaged during emergence from the soil [6, 7].

A seaweed's response to a warming world.

For plants, climate change comes with more challenging facets than just increasing temperature. While terrestrial forests are suffering from erratic rainfall, drought and wildfires, marine vegetation is under a different kind of threat. Rapidly melting polar ice caps are causing a surge of freshwater in the seas, lowering the salinity near coastlines.

A step closer toward making many from the one.

Somatic embryogenesis (SE) is a key technique used in plant biotechnology. The complex molecular changes associated with SE are uncharacterized in many crop species, and therefore, logically, formulating the culture conditions that induce these changes is difficult. In a study published in this issue of Physiologia Plantarum, Marimuthu et al.

Strawberries under salt stress: ALA and ROS to the rescue.

Generating salt-tolerant plants that can cope with increasing soil salinity is a major goal of crop-breeding programs worldwide. Together with genetic approaches, research efforts are focusing on finding chemical modulators of salt tolerance. The exogenous application of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) has been shown to improve salt tolerance in diverse crop species, but its mechanism of action is not properly understood.

Finding the fragrance genes of wintersweet.

Fragrant flowers emit a complex mixture of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that we perceive as pleasant. While we know the chemical nature of these volatiles, the molecular traits that regulate their biosynthesis are poorly understood. In this issue, Tian et al.

Lazy rice in space: gravity regulates helical movement in plants.

Circumnutation, the helical movement of organs, has been observed in diverse species of land plants. Whether circumnutation arises purely from internal growth oscillations or as a response to exogenous forces such as gravity is a subject of active debate. By observing rice seedlings grown under microgravity at the International Space Station (ISS) and analyzing the agravitropic lazy1 mutant, Kobayashi et al.

Rho-of-plant activated root hair formation requires gene function.

Root hairs are protrusions from root epidermal cells with crucial roles in plant soil interactions. Although much is known about patterning, polarity and tip growth of root hairs, contributions of membrane trafficking to hair initiation remain poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that the trans-Golgi network-localized YPT-INTERACTING PROTEIN 4a and YPT-INTERACTING PROTEIN 4b (YIP4a/b) contribute to activation and plasma membrane accumulation of Rho-of-plant (ROP) small GTPases during hair initiation, identifying YIP4a/b as central trafficking components in ROP-dependent root hair formation.

Bananas tackling drought and heat - with DREBs and more.

With the changing climate, crops are facing mounting threats from multiple abiotic stresses, and studies that assess the response of plants to combinations, rather than to individual, abiotic stresses are becoming increasingly relevant. Bananas are one of the most globally important and popular food crops and their production is threatened by increasing heat and diminishing rainfall in tropical and subtropical regions. In pursuit of effective stress management strategies, Jangale et al.

Parasitic worms hijack key plant protein to build their nest.

Parasitic nematode worms infect a variety of crop plants worldwide. Roots infected by these worms start to look rather unsavory - with knot like tumors (galls) developing all over them. At the core of each gall, a worm matures and lays its eggs.

Vesicular trafficking and salinity responses in plants.

Research spanning three decades has demonstrated that vesicles pinch off from the plasma membrane and traffic through the cytoplasm of plant cells, much as previously reported in animal cells. Although the well-conserved clathrin-mediated mechanism of endocytosis has been well characterized, relatively little is known about clathrin-independent pathways in plants. Modulation of endocytosis by both physical stimuli and chemical ligands has been reported in plants.

Salt-induced remodeling of spatially restricted clathrin-independent endocytic pathways in Arabidopsis root.

Endocytosis is a ubiquitous cellular process that is characterized well in animal cells in culture but poorly across intact, functioning tissue. Here, we analyze endocytosis throughout the Arabidopsis thaliana root using three classes of probes: a lipophilic dye, tagged transmembrane proteins, and a lipid-anchored protein. We observe a stratified distribution of endocytic processes.