Scientists are studying how plants adapt to space environments. The NASA funded research aims to help us grow fresh produce beyond the planet Earth.

A protein that helps plants prepare for the cold also helps them beef up for bacterial attacks, as a precautionary measure.

The Nature Communications study shows how high temperature weakens plant defenses while, separately, strengthening bacterial attacks.

A peek into the logistics of how bacterial nanofactories move electrons, towards creating chemical products. Future apps include renewable energy and medical tools.

When engineers want to speed up a system, they look for the slowest steps and make them faster. In plants, this approach potentially does more harm than good, says the Kramer lab.

The new family of proteins protects cyanobacteria from sunlight damage, and they are interesting for use in synthetic medical or renewable energy applications.

Scientists show how the two OCP parts interact and also create new synthetic versions of that protein. The goal is to use it in synthetic healthcare systems, powered by light.

Plants, like us, don’t like too much sunlight. The Kramer lab has figured a way to better measure how plants respond to excessive exposure, and the information might help us create more resilient plants.

The Howe lab delves into how defense genes do more than just fight. They also tangle with growth functions.

The Kerfeld lab has analyzed over 200 sets of cyanobacteria DNA. This knowledge is getting us closer to understanding how to build synthetic factories that will someday produce green fuels or products used to diagnose diseases.

The Brandizzi lab is showing how extreme heat negatively impacts seed quality in plants targeted for producing biofuels.

The Hu lab has identified a new protein that helps control how little cellular factories, called peroxisomes, divide and proliferate.

The He lab has completed an unprecedented study of over 1000 plant varieties to tease out their major defense systems against bacteria.

The new compartment, widely spread among different kinds of bacteria, might be reassembled to someday sustainably produce “green” chemicals, medicines, and renewable energy.

The Brandizzi lab has demonstrated how one master gene fine-tunes how massive protein factories in plant cells allocate resources to growth and defense functions.

Changes in leaf cell wall make-up can dramatically affect how large or thick leaves grow. This knowledge may help improve how crops intercept light and exchange gas with the atmosphere.

The Walton lab has sequenced the genomes of two species of poisonous Amanita mushrooms, with an eye towards harnessing them for medicinal and biological uses.

The mechanism promotes cell division to ensure daughter cells are healthy and of equal size.