Endoplasmic reticulum-anchored proteins in control of AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR condensation.

Sequestration of AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR (ARF) transcription factors in cytoplasmic condensates represents a specialized mechanism for modulating cellular auxin responsiveness. In this issue of Developmental Cell, Xuan et al. show that MULTIPLE C2-DOMAIN AND TRANSMEMBRANE REGION PROTEIN (MCTP) proteins stimulate lateral root development by antagonizing ARF7 and ARF19 condensation.

A word of caution: T-DNA-associated mutagenesis in plant reproduction research.

T-DNA transformation is prevalent in Arabidopsis research and has expanded to a broad range of crops and model plants. While major progress has been made in optimizing the Agrobacterium-mediated transformation process for various species, a variety of pitfalls associated with the T-DNA insertion may lead to the misinterpretation of T-DNA mutant analysis. Indeed, secondary mutagenesis either on the integration site or elsewhere in the genome, together with epigenetic interactions between T-DNA inserts or frequent genomic rearrangements, can be tricky to differentiate from the effect of the knockout of the gene of interest.

Asynapsis and meiotic restitution in tomato male meiosis induced by heat stress.

Susceptibility of the reproductive system to temperature fluctuations is a recurrent problem for crop production under a changing climate. The damage is complex as multiple processes in male and female gamete formation are affected, but in general, particularly pollen production is impaired. Here, the impact of short periods of elevated temperature on male meiosis of tomato ( L.

Loss of obligate crossovers, defective cytokinesis and male sterility in barley caused by short-term heat stress.

Short-term heat stress during male meiosis causes defects in crossover formation, meiotic progression and cell wall formation in the monocot barley, ultimately leading to pollen abortion. High temperature conditions cause a reduction of fertility due to alterations in meiotic processes and gametogenesis. The male gametophyte development has been shown to be particularly sensitive to heat stress, and even short-term and modest temperature shifts cause alterations in crossover formation.

A Hypomorphic Mutant of PHD Domain Protein Male Meiocytes Death 1.

Meiosis drives reciprocal genetic exchanges and produces gametes with halved chromosome number, which is important for the genetic diversity, plant viability, and ploidy consistency of flowering plants. Alterations in chromosome dynamics and/or cytokinesis during meiosis may lead to meiotic restitution and the formation of unreduced microspores. In this study, we isolated an mutant (), which produces a small subpopulation of diploid or polyploid pollen grains.