Plants have fascinating genomes, complex with many multiplicated genes. It is one of the reasons they can produce many complex compounds. So, when I heard that they have those so-called extracellular circular DNA I was hooked.
Tag Archives: gene regulation
Shifting DNA markings
Markings on the DNA help plant cells ‘remember’. Who they are. In what developmental stage they are. Their environment. Now a new study in Communications Biology by Chinese researchers shows that during the early stages of embryo development these DNA marks shift frequently.
A new regulatory element enables bacterial uptake by plant cells
Plants take up nitrogen fixing bacteria when they start a symbiosis with them. Now new research shows that it is not a specific gene, but a regulatory element of genes that allows plant to do this.
Hijacking flower genes to make galls
You have likely come across them, galls, deformities on leaves or stems. The larvae of various insects induce galls, varying from simple tissue deformities to complex structures. A new paper shows how the larvae inside hijack the plant genes to make those structures.
Plant en Zo 