Development of a Versatile Plant-Derived Mitochondrial Targeting Sequence Based on a Reporter Protein Sorting Analysis and Biological Information.

Methods for the delivery of exogenous substances to specific organelles are important because each organelle functions according to its own role. Specifically, mitochondria play an important role in energy production. Recently, plant mitochondrial transformation via delivery methods to mitochondria has been actively researched.

Genetic Evidence for the Role of a Rice Vacuolar Invertase as a Molecular Sink Strength Determinant.

Background: Rice is a major crop feeding the majority of the global population, and increasing its sink strength is one of the modes to alleviate the declining availability of food for the rapidly growing world population. We demonstrate a role for an important rice vacuolar invertase isoform, OsINV3, in sink strength determination.

Results: OsINV3 mutants showed shorter panicles with lighter and smaller grains, owing to a smaller cell size on the outer and inner surfaces of the palea and lemma as observed by scanning electron microscopy.