The starchy endosperm of wheat, Triticum aestivum, has three major components: protein, starch and cell wall polysaccharides, which are are not homogenously distributed across the tissue. Using antibodies for specific gluten protein types, Tosi et al. find that quantitative and qualitative gradients in gluten protein composition are established during grain development. These gradients may be [...]

Origin of triploid <i>Arachis</i> by autopolyploidy The origins of the economically important tetraploids in Arachis (including peanut) have largely been studied; however, the polyploidization pathway through which they arose still remains unknown. Lavia et al. make a detailed cytogenetic analysis of the recent, spontaneously originated triploid cytotype of A. pintoi and find that this cytotype [...]

I’ve learned a lot from a new article in AoB PLANTS, the Open Access sister Journal to Annals of Botany. It’s Green love talks; Cell-cell communication during double-fertilization in flowering plants by Tomokazu Kawashima and Frederic Berger and it shows how things get really interesting when simple analogies break down. The paper is a review [...]

Plants are people too? Well, before you put in the call to have me taken me away, let me explain where I’m coming from. Way back in 2003, when I was an undergraduate in plant science at the University of Edinburgh, one of our Professors, Tony Trewavas, published a paper in Annals of Botany titled [...]

There is considerable discord among treatments of the Velloziaceae despite the large amount of data that exists for this family. Mello-Silva et al. undertake analyses of 48 species representing all ten genera, including data on DNA sequences from the atpB-rbcL spacer, trnL-trnF spacer, trnL intron, trnH-psbA spacer, ITS ribosomal DNA spacers and morphology. The results [...]

The bacterium Xylella fastidiosa, responsible for Pierce’s disease of grapevine, colonizes the xylem conduits of vines. Chatelet et al. examine the xylem structure of several varieties of grapevine, Vitis vinifera, and other plants to determine if anatomical differences might explain some of the differences in susceptibility to infection. They find that tolerant vines have narrower [...]

Polyploidy is a major evolutionary force generating new plant species. Hunt et al. explore the dynamics of allopolyploid speciation in the western Mediterranean rock fern Asplenium majoricum at a site where it occurs sympatrically with its diploid parents and their diploid hybrid. Analysis of genetic diversity in allotetraploid and progenitor populations shows recurrent formation of [...]