A recent paper published in Science by the Bomblies group (IMPB), shows that newly formed polyploids suffer a severe defect in polar cell growth, which is essential for fertility in plants as it allows sperm to reach ovules, and provides insight into a naturally evolved solution to this challenge.
A recent article published in PNAS by the Zeeman Group (IMPB) sheds light on how starch granules initiate within the chloroplast of leaf tissue. The study identifies a key protein, 'MFP1,' as the determinant of the site of starch granule formation.
A Science Advances article, published by the Zeeman group (IMPB) in collaboration with Prof. Coralie Bompard (University Lille), shifts a long-standing paradigm: That starch crystallization is a spontaneous physical process. The work provides compelling evidence for protein factors being involved.
In a recent The Plant Cell publication of the Zeeman lab (IMPB), Deslandes-Hérold and colleagues study the influence of a light-dependent biochemical pathway on seed oil accumulation using the Arabidopsis thaliana model system. They find a larger-than-anticipated effect of this pathway on the amount of oil accumulated and provide new insight into the metabolic partitioning of resources between seed storage compounds.