Plant growth-promoting microbes - an industry view.

Plant growth-promoting microbes can affect the plant microbiome, improving different properties of the plant such as yield and health. Many companies are commercializing these microbes as products called biologicals. Defining the product concept is one of the first and most important steps in making a biological product.

The GRAS-type SCL28 transcription factor controls the mitotic cell cycle and division plane orientation.

Gene expression is reconfigured rapidly during the cell cycle to execute the cellular functions specific to each phase. Studies conducted with synchronized plant cell suspension cultures have identified hundreds of genes with periodic expression patterns across the phases of the cell cycle, but these results may differ from expression occurring in the context of intact organs. Here, we describe the use of fluorescence-activated cell sorting to analyze the gene expression profile of G2/M cells in the growing root.

Root microbiota drive direct integration of phosphate stress and immunity.

Plants live in biogeochemically diverse soils with diverse microbiota. Plant organs associate intimately with a subset of these microbes, and the structure of the microbial community can be altered by soil nutrient content. Plant-associated microbes can compete with the plant and with each other for nutrients, but may also carry traits that increase the productivity of the plant.

Unique cell-type-specific patterns of DNA methylation in the root meristem.

DNA methylation is an epigenetic modification that differs between plant organs and tissues, but the extent of variation between cell types is not known. Here, we report single-base-resolution whole-genome DNA methylomes, mRNA transcriptomes and small RNA transcriptomes for six cell populations covering the major cell types of the Arabidopsis root meristem. We identify widespread cell-type-specific patterns of DNA methylation, especially in the CHH sequence context, where H is A, C or T.

MicroRNA miR396 Regulates the Switch between Stem Cells and Transit-Amplifying Cells in Arabidopsis Roots.

To ensure an adequate organ mass, the daughters of stem cells progress through a transit-amplifying phase displaying rapid cell division cycles before differentiating. Here, we show that Arabidopsis thaliana microRNA miR396 regulates the transition of root stem cells into transit-amplifying cells by interacting with GROWTH-REGULATING FACTORs (GRFs). The GRFs are expressed in transit-amplifying cells but are excluded from the stem cells through inhibition by miR396.