Researchers at VIB-UGent have unraveled how the opening and closing of stomata - tiny pores on leaves – is regulated in response to high temperatures and drought.

Professors Wout Boerjan (VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology) and John Ralph (University of Wisconsin-Madison, US) have been awarded the 2024 Marcus Wallenberg Prize for their pioneering contributions to understanding lignin biosynthesis and its structural diversity. The prize was presented by King Carl XVI Gustaf in Stockholm on November 11.

Research by Prof. Bert De Rybel’s team (VIB-UGent), in collaboration with the VIB Screening Core and Ghent University, uncovers how roots go through a puberty phase, which could have important implications for developing climate-resilient agriculture. Their work appears in Science.

Nitrogen (N) is essential for plant growth and development. Numerous studies have demonstrated that N signaling is closely intertwined with carbon (C) levels. However, the relationship between C/N metabolism and plant growth remains largely elusive. Two highly conserved metabolic regulators across all eukaryotic lines—the protein kinases sucrose non-fermenting 1 (SNF1)-related kinase 1 (SnRK1) and target of rapamycin (TOR)— are emerging as key integrators that connect C/N status with growth, underscoring their crucial roles in cellular metabolism.

Did you know that engineering plant cell walls might be the key to a sustainable, plant-based future? In our latest Scientist on Stage blog, Lennart Hoengenaert, a postdoctoral researcher at the VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology, tells you all about it!