A large range of microorganisms can associate with plants, resulting in neutral, friendly or hostile interactions. The ability of plants to recognize compatible and incompatible microorganisms and to limit or promote their colonization is therefore crucial for their survival. Elaborated communication networks determine the degree of association between the host plant and the invading microorgan...

Myco-heterotrophy is one of the longest-studied aspects of the mycorrhizal symbiosis, but there remain many critical, unanswered questions regarding the ecology and physiology of myco-heterotrophic plants and their associated fungi. The vast majority of all myco-heterotrophs studied to date have exhibited specificity towards narrow lineages of fungi, but it is unclear whether the loss of photos...

During photosynthesis, two photoreaction centers located in the thylakoid membranes of the chloroplast, photosystems I and II (PSI and PSII), use light energy to mobilize electrons to generate ATP and NADPH. Different modes of electron flow exist, of which the linear electron flow is driven by PSI and PSII, generating ATP and NADPH, whereas the cyclic electron flow (CEF) only generates ATP and ...

We used Agrobacterium T-DNA nuclear transport to examine the specificity of nuclear targeting between plants and animals and the nuclear import of DNA by a specialized transport protein. Two karyophilic Agrobacterium virulence (Vir) proteins, VirD2 and VirE2, which presumably associate with the transported T-DNA and function in many plant species, were microinjected into Drosophila embryos and ...

Light harvested by plants is essential for the survival of most life forms. This light perception ability requires the activities of proteins termed photoreceptors. We report a function for photoreceptors in mediating resistance (R) protein-derived plant defense. The bluelight photoreceptors, cryptochrome (CRY) 2 and phototropin (PHOT) 2, are required for the stability of the R protein HRT, and...