Plants have developed a complex defense system against diverse pests and pathogens.
Once pathogens overcome mechanical barriers to infection, plant receptors initiate signaling …

Grain size is one of the most important factors determining rice yield. As a quantitative trait,
grain size is predominantly and tightly controlled by genetic factors. Several quantitative trait …

Melatonin has been detected in plants in 1995; however, the function and signaling pathway
of this putative phytohormone are largely undetermined due to a lack of knowledge about its …

Manipulating grain size is an effective strategy for increasing cereal yields. Here we identify
a pathway composed of five subunits of the heterotrimeric G proteins that regulate grain …

Mathematical modeling of biological processes provides deep insights into complex cellular
systems. While quantitative and continuous models such as differential equations have been …

Plants are under the continual threat of changing climatic conditions that are associated with
various types of abiotic stresses. In particular, heavy metal contamination is a major …

Stomata can be regarded as hydraulically driven valves in the leaf surface, which open to
allow CO2 uptake and close to prevent excessive loss of water. Movement of these …

In animals, heterotrimeric G proteins, comprising α-, β-and γ-subunits, perceive extracellular
stimuli through cell surface receptors, and transmit signals to ion channels, enzymes and …

In plants, G proteins modulate signaling by the stress hormone, abscisic acid (ABA). We
identify and characterize two novel Arabidopsis proteins that show homology to an orphan …

The phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) plays a central role in plant development and in
plant adaptation to both biotic and abiotic stressors. In recent years, knowledge of ABA …