Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology of Plants

A high content of sodium-containing salts in the soil is a problem for many plants: as a result, they grow less well, or not at all. Soil salinisation is seen as one of the greatest threats to being able to feed the world’s population because it makes soils increasingly infertile, especially in dry regions. A team of Chinese, German and Spanish researchers, including Prof Jörg Kudla and his team from the University of Münster, has now found a mechanism in thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) which enables plants to provide protection against salt stress for their sensitive stem cells in the meristem at the root tip.

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Researchers show for the first time: a specific group of cells in the tip of plant roots reacts to a manganese deficiency.
The team of German and Chinese researchers are the first to demonstrate, how plants sense manganese deficiency and which processes then take place in the plant at the molecular level. The researchers have shown, that a hitherto undetected group of cells in the plant root plays a decisive role. The researchers hope that these results will in the future lead to methods for making plants more resistant to manganese deficiency – a condition which often occurs in alkaline and calcareous soils.

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Unfavourable environmental conditions represent considerable stress for plants. A high level of salt content (sodium chloride, NaCl) in the soil is just such a stressor which has a negative impact on plants. Salinization is a serious problem in agriculture especially in dry regions of the world.We have now discovered, for the first time, that salt stress triggers calcium signals in a special group of cells in plant roots, and that these signals form a “sodium-sensing niche”. We also identified a calcium-binding protein (CBL8) which contributes to salt tolerance specifically under severe salt stress conditions.

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Organismal homeostasis of the essential ion K+ requires sensing of its availability, efficient uptake, and defined distribution. Understanding plant K+ nutrition is essential to advance sustainable agriculture, but the mechanisms underlying K+ sensing and the orchestration of downstream responses have remained largely elusive. Here, we report where plants sense K+ deprivation and how this translates into spatially defined ROS signals to govern specific downstream responses.

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In 2020, again five scientists from the University of Münster are among the world's most cited researchers: According to the annual citation ranking of Clarivate Analytics, Jörg Kudla is again among these top cited researchers.
Congratulations to all awardees from Münster!

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New insights in plant ABA signaling pathways: In this work we reconstructed single ABA signaling pathways in yeast for combinatorial analysis of ABA receptors and coreceptors, downstream-acting SnRK2 protein kinases and regulated transcription factors. The study establishes the suitability of the yeast system for the dissection of core signaling cascades and opens up future avenues of research on ligand-receptor regulation.

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Until now, it was difficult to directly measure the occurrence of the signaling molecule phosphatidic acid (PA) in a certain tissues or organisms. Therefore, it remained unclear in which cells or in which parts of cells the substance was active and why its concentration is changing. The newly developed Sensor "PAleon" is able to change its fluorescent properties upon binding of bioactive PA and allows determination of cellular changes in phosphatidic acid concentration and distribution.

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High salt levels in the soil harm plant growth and limit crop yields. A salt-binding membrane lipid has been identified as being essential for salt perception and for triggering calcium signals that lead to salt tolerance.

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One year ago, the Court of Justice of the European Union issued a ruling on genetic methods in plant breeding: on 25 July 2018, the judges ruled that plants bred using modern molecular biological methods (CRISPR-Cas genome editing) fall into the category of genetically modified organisms. According to current EU legislation, these plants are to be strictly regulated - in contrast to plants that have been genetically modified using conventional methods, called mutagenesis.

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International honour for Prof. Dr. Jörg Kudla: The plant biologist at Münster University has been awarded by the Chinese Academy of Sciences as an outstanding scientist. Once a year, the Academy awards the title "Distinguished Scientist" to leading international researchers from a wide variety of disciplines and selects around 30 prize winners from more than 200 nominees.

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Research groups from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) and the University of Münster have discovered a new switch that plants use to control their responses to iron deficiency. The findings from their research on the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana is published in the journal "Developmental Cell".

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Plant biologists, including Prof. Jörg Kudla from the WWU Münster have shown: A mechanical injury of plant leaves causes rapid stomatal closure. This closure process is initiated by the plant hormone jasmonic acid.

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Among the most cited researchers worldwide are three professors from WWU: According to the current citation ranking of the U.S. company "Clarivate Analytics," Frank Baumgartner, Frank Glorius and Jörg Kudla are honoured as "highly Cited Researcher"

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For the first time, researchers have created, within a single generation, a new crop from a wild plant – the progenitor of our modern tomato – by using a modern process of genome editing. Participating in the study was a team led by Prof. Jörg Kudla from the Institute of Plant Biology and Biotechnology at the University of Münster.

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Further reading:
Nature
EurekAlert!
Spiegel online
ntv-News
Süddeutsche Zeitung