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No Time To Read podcast S4E4 Phase separation in plants       Guest: Heather Meyer, Assistant Professor of Biology, Syracuse University X:  @Dr_Heatherini Host: Arif Ashraf, Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia  X: @aribidopsis BlueSky: @aribidopsis.bsky.social

No Time To Read podcast S4E3 FERONIA & cell wall integrity       Guest: Ajeet Chaudhary, Postdoc, Wang and Xu lab, Carnegie Institute for Plant Science, Stanford  X:  @Ajt_chaudhary BlueSky: @ajeetchaudhary.bsky.social     Host: Arif Ashraf, Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia  X: @aribidopsis BlueSky: @aribidopsis.bsky.social

No Time To Read podcast S4E2 CLE peptide and symbiosis       Guest: Sagar Bashyal, Müller lab, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies  X:  @SagarBashyal11 BlueSky: @sagarbashyal.bsky.social    Host: Arif Ashraf, Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia  X: @aribidopsis BlueSky: @aribidopsis.bsky.social

No Time To Read podcast S4E1 Drought Recovery-Induced Immunity (DRII)      Guest: Natanella Illouz-Eliaz, Ecker lab, Salk Institute for Biological Studies X: @NatanellaE BlueSky: @natanellae.bsky.social   Host: Arif Ashraf, Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia  X/BlueSky: @aribidopsis

Season 4 of the No Time To Read podcast is starting soon. Thanks for your support as an audience.

No Time To Read podcast S3E7 Translational landscape in a maize microRNA biogenesis mutant      Guest: Hailong Yang, Bartlett lab, University of Massachusetts Amherst Previously at Beth Thompson’s lab, East Carolina University    Twitter/X: @hailongcorn   Host: Arif Ashraf, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Howard University  Twitter/X: @aribidopsis

No Time To Read podcast S3E6 Cell wall integrity and endomembrane trafficking      Guest: Natalie Hoffmann, McFarlane lab, University of Toronto     Host: Arif Ashraf, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Howard University  Twitter/X: @aribidopsis

No Time To Read podcast  S3E5  GRASSY TILLERS1 (GT1) and SIX-ROWED SPIKE1 (VRS1) homologs share conserved roles in growth repression       Guest: Joseph Gallagher, US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS)    Twitter/X: @Joe_P_Gallagher      Host: Arif Ashraf, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Howard University   Twitter/X: @aribidopsis 

No Time To Read podcast S3E4 Combined plant stress database Guest: Muthappa Senthil-Kumar, Principal Investigator, National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR), India Twitter/X: @SCIPdatabase Host: Arif Ashraf, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Howard University Twitter/X: @aribidopsis

No Time To Read podcast S3E3 SHR and SCR coordinate root patterning and growth early in the cell cycle Guest: Cara Winter, Associate Research Professor, Duke University Pablo Szekely, Postdoc, Benfey Lab, Duke University Host: Arif Ashraf, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Howard University Twitter/X: @aribidopsis

No Time To Read podcast S3E2 The peptide GOLVEN10 alters root development and noduletaxis in Medicago truncatula Guest: Sonali Roy, Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Tennessee State University Twitter/X: @SonaliRoy_ Host: Arif Ashraf, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Howard University Twitter/X: @aribidopsis

No Time To Read podcast S3E1 Plant carbonic anhydrase-like enzymes in neuroactive alkaloid biosynthesis Guest: Ryan Nett, Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular and cellular Biology, Harvard University Twitter/X: @rnett42 Host: Arif Ashraf, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Howard University Twitter/X: @aribidopsis

Season 3 of the No Time To Read podcast is starting soon. Thanks for your support as an audience.

Article: DNA methylation signatures of duplicate gene evolution in angiosperms Journal: Plant Physiology Year: 2023 Guest: Sunil Kenchanmane Raju Host: Arif Ashraf Abstract Gene duplication is a source of evolutionary novelty. DNA methylation may play a role in the evolution of duplicate genes (paralogs) through its association with gene expression. While this relationship has been examined to varying extents in a few individual species, the generalizability of these results at either a broad phylogenetic scale with species of differing duplication histories or across a population remains unknown. We applied a comparative epigenomic approach to 43 angiosperm species across the phylogeny and a population of 928 Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) accessions, examining the association of DNA methylation with paralog evolution. Genic DNA methylation was differentially associated with duplication type, the age of duplication, sequence evolution, and gene expression. Whole-genome duplicates were typically enriched for CG-only gene body methylated or unmethylated genes, while single-gene duplications were typically enriched for non-CG methylated or unmethylated genes. Non-CG methylation, in particular, was a characteristic of more recent single-gene duplicates. Core angiosperm gene families were differentiated into those which preferentially retain paralogs and “duplication-resistant” families, which convergently reverted to singletons following duplication. Duplication-resistant families that still have paralogous copies were, uncharacteristically for core angiosperm genes, enriched for non-CG methylation. Non-CG methylated paralogs had higher rates of sequence evolution, higher frequency of presence–absence variation, and more limited expression. This suggests that silencing by non-CG methylation may be important to maintaining dosage following duplication and be a precursor to fractionation. Our results indicate that genic methylation marks differing evolutionary trajectories and fates between paralogous genes and have a role in maintaining dosage following duplication. Cover art design and audio editing: Ragib Anjum

Article: Extensive embryonic patterning without cellular differentiation primes the plant epidermis for efficient post-embryonic stomatal activities Journal: Developmental Cell Year: 2023 Guest: Margot Smit Host: Arif Ashraf Abstract Plant leaves feature epidermal stomata that are organized in stereotyped patterns. How does the pattern originate? We provide transcriptomic, imaging, and genetic evidence that Arabidopsis embryos engage known stomatal fate and patterning factors to create regularly spaced stomatal precursor cells. Analysis of embryos from 36 plant species indicates that this trait is widespread among angiosperms. Embryonic stomatal patterning in Arabidopsis is established in three stages: first, broad SPEECHLESS (SPCH) expression; second, coalescence of SPCH and its targets into discrete domains; and third, one round of asymmetric division to create stomatal precursors. Lineage progression is then halted until after germination. We show that the embryonic stomatal pattern enables fast stomatal differentiation and photosynthetic activity upon germination, but it also guides the formation of additional stomata as the leaf expands. In addition, key stomatal regulators are prevented from driving the fate transitions they can induce after germination, identifying stage-specific layers of regulation that control lineage progression during embryogenesis. Cover art design and audio editing: Ragib Anjum