symbiosis improves amino acid and secondary metabolite biosynthesis of tungsten-stressed soybean ().

The industrially important transition metal tungsten (W) shares certain chemical properties with the essential plant micronutrient molybdenum and inhibits the activity of molybdoenzymes such as nitrate reductase, impacting plant growth. Furthermore, tungsten appears to interfere with metabolic processes on a much wider scale and to trigger common heavy metal stress response mechanisms. We have previously found evidence that the tungsten stress response of soybeans () grown with symbiotically associated N-fixing rhizobia () differs from that observed in nitrogen-fertilized soy plants.

Friction forces determine cytoplasmic reorganization and shape changes of ascidian oocytes upon fertilization.

Contraction and flow of the actin cell cortex have emerged as a common principle by which cells reorganize their cytoplasm and take shape. However, how these cortical flows interact with adjacent cytoplasmic components, changing their form and localization, and how this affects cytoplasmic organization and cell shape remains unclear. Here we show that in ascidian oocytes, the cooperative activities of cortical actomyosin flows and deformation of the adjacent mitochondria-rich myoplasm drive oocyte cytoplasmic reorganization and shape changes following fertilization.

Yolk granule fusion and microtubule aster formation regulate cortical granule translocation and exocytosis in zebrafish oocytes.

Dynamic reorganization of the cytoplasm is key to many core cellular processes, such as cell division, cell migration, and cell polarization. Cytoskeletal rearrangements are thought to constitute the main drivers of cytoplasmic flows and reorganization. In contrast, remarkably little is known about how dynamic changes in size and shape of cell organelles affect cytoplasmic organization.

Relative genome size variation in the African agroforestry tree (Fabaceae: Caesalpinioideae) and its relation to geography, population genetics, and morphology.

Variation in genome size and in chromosome number can be linked to genetic, morphological, and ecological characteristics, and thus be taxonomically significant. We screened the relative genome size (RGS) and counted the number of mitotic chromosomes in the African agroforestry tree , a widely distributed savannah species that shows conspicuous morphological clinal variation and strong genetic structure, and tested for linkage of RGS variation to geography, leaf morphology, and population genetic variation. An improved protocol for the preparation of chromosomes was developed.