Новости науки и практики // Ноябрь 2018

Plant polymers do not always act together to make beautiful shapes
Researchers at the Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST) show in mutant plant cells that three polymers, cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, are deposited at the secondary cell wall independent of each other. The discovery challenges a long-held consensus that assumed their deposition must occur in order. The discovery is expected to aid in the generation of plants that can acclimatize to extreme weather or increase their production of bioresources.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181026102720.htm

Local hormone production is root of issue for plant development
Plant roots rely on local production of a key hormone that controls many aspects of development and response to environmental changes, according to new research. Specifically, local auxin production is required to keep plants healthy.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181025142015.htm

Overspending on defense arsenal bankrupts a plant's economy
Scientists have genetically tuned a plant to become highly resistant to insect attacks. But becoming such a fortress compromises its growth and procreative capabilities
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181022150941.htm

Goldilocks principle in biology: Fine-tuning the 'just right' signal load
In 'Goldilock and the Three Bears', Goldilock finds that only one bowl of porridge has the ''just right'' temperature, and in the same way within biology, you can find the 'just right' conditions -- called the Goldilocks principle. This a research team has done by demonstrating that in order to get the 'just right' amount of signalling for symbiosis in the roots of legumes, a specific enzyme called chitinase (CHIT5) must be present.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181012110155.htm

Getting to the root of lavender's secrets
A team of researchers has identified the complete genetic makeup of the lavender plant, Lavandula angustifolia.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181011143153.htm

Blue roses could be coming soon to a garden near you
For centuries, gardeners have attempted to breed blue roses with no success. But now, thanks to modern biotechnology, the elusive blue rose may finally be attainable. Researchers have found a way to express pigment-producing enzymes from bacteria in the petals of a white rose, tinting the flowers blue.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181010111946.htm

Protein dynamics: Molecular machines at work
Researchers have used a special fluorescence-based imaging technique to track the shape changes that occur when pore proteins in the cell membrane export molecules into the extracellular medium.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181005111444.htm

A central signal sorting hub in plants
Seasonal signals are sorted by a central hub in plants, a new study reveals.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181002113950.htm

This wild plant could be the next strawberry
By combining genomics and gene editing, researchers have figured out how to rapidly bring a plant known as the groundcherry toward domestication.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181001114243.htm

Large cells for tiny leaves
Scientists identify protein that controls leaf growth and shape
Scientists identify protein that controls leaf growth and shape.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181026102552.htm

Bioactive novel compounds from endangered tropical plant species
Biologists have isolated 17 secondary metabolites, including three novel compounds from the valuable endangered tropical plant species Alangium longiflorum. A newly isolated compound, 8-hydroxytubulosine, showed growth inhibitory effects at submicromolar levels against several human tumor cell lines except for drug transporter-overexpressing cells. Compound 1 caused accumulation of sub-G1 cells with no effect on cell cycle progression, suggesting that this substance is an apoptosis inducer.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181026102611.htm

How plants cope with stress
Plants respond to environmental stress by 'tagging' RNA molecules they need to withstand the difficult conditions, according to a new study by University of Pennsylvania biologists.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-10/uop-hpc103018.php    

How chloroplasts maintain energy efficiency
An international team of researchers developed an approach to visualize ATP in living plants and observed that mature plant chloroplasts manage their ATP largely in isolation from other cellular spaces.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-10/tuoh-hcm102318.php    

New CO₂ microsensor reveals old secrets of plants
Researchers constructed a new CO2 microsensor with a tip diameter as small as the thinnest of human hairs. This new microsensor can be positioned in plant tissues in controlled laboratory experiments as well as in the field, and has already revealed some old secrets of submerged aquatic plants.
https://www.botany.one/2018/10/new-co2-microsensor-reveals-old-secrets-of-plants/

The responses of root morphology and phosphorus-mobilizing exudations in wheat to increasing shoot phosphorus concentration
A recent study by Shen et al. and published in AoBP investigated responses of root morphology and P-mobilizing exudation to increasing shoot P concentration.
https://www.botany.one/2018/10/the-responses-of-root-morphology-and-phosphorus-mobilizing-exudations-in-wheat-to-increasing-shoot-phosphorus-concentration/

A histidine kinase gene is required for large radius root tip circumnutation and surface exploration in rice
Here we show that mutations in a gene encoding a histidine kinase abolish large radius root tip circumnutation in rice.
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/10/07/437012

Going with the flow: multiscale insights into the composite nature of water transport in roots
Here, we developed MECHA, a mathematical model that computes the flow of water across the root at the scale of walls, membranes, and plasmodesmata of individual cells, and used it to test hypotheses related to root water transport in maize (Zea mays).
http://www.plantphysiol.org/content/early/2018/10/26/pp.18.01006

Photosynthesis like a moss
Berkeley Lab researchers advance understanding of key protein in photosynthesis.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-10/dbnl-pla102918.php