Scientists have known about a particular organelle in plant cells for over a century.
Scientists have known about a particular organelle in plant cells for over a century. However, UC Riverside scientists have only now discovered that organelle’s key role in aging.
The researchers initially set out to understand more generally which parts of plant cells control plant responses to stress from things like infections, too much salt, or too little light. Serendipitously, they found this organelle, and a protein responsible for maintaining the organelle, control whether plants survive being left too often in the dark.
Because they had not expected this discovery, which is described in a Nature Plants journal article, the research team was thrilled.
“For us, this finding is a big deal. For the first time, we have defined the profound importance of an organelle in the cell that was not previously implicated in the process of aging,” said Katie Dehesh, distinguished professor of molecular biochemistry at UCR, and co-author of the new article.
Read more at University of California - Riverside
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