Tales from the underground: molecular plant-rhizobacteria interactions

Plant Signaling: Notes from the Underground

New studies combining genetic and grafting approaches in Arabidopsis provide evidence that a carotenoid derivative is a novel plant signaling molecule through which roots can influence shoot branching and leaf development.

Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions

Plant Evolution: TALES of Development

TALE homeodomain proteins regulate development in many eukaryotes. Now, Lee et al. (2008) report that two TALE homeodomain proteins control zygote development of the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas. This implicates TALE gene loss and diversification in the evolution of new diploid body plans that appeared when land plants evolved from algal ancestors over 450 million years ago.

Molecular Parasitic Plant–Host Interactions

Throughout evolution, a wide number of organisms specialized in parasitizing plants. Plants are not exceptions; certain plant species evolved as parasites of their own kind. Parasitic angiosperms evolved at least 12 times and show various lifestyles. For example, facultative parasitic plants can complete their life cycle and produce seeds without hosts, whereas obligate parasitic plants totally...

Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions MPMI