Publications by authors named "Shuyao Kong"

Cells display striking stochasticity in gene expression, which plays an important role in development, disease, and regeneration. Previous studies have found stochastic gene expression in bacteria, yeast, and from constitutive promoters in Arabidopsis. However, most promoters are non-constitutive.

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Robustness is the invariant development of phenotype despite environmental changes and genetic perturbations. In the Arabidopsis flower bud, four sepals robustly initiate and grow to a constant size to enclose and protect the inner floral organs. We previously characterized the mutant development-related myb-like 1 (drmy1), where 3-5 sepals initiate variably and grow to different sizes, compromising their protective function.

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Robustness is the reproducible development of a phenotype despite stochastic noise. It often involves tradeoffs with other performance metrics, but the mechanisms underlying such tradeoffs were largely unknown. An Arabidopsis flower robustly develops four sepals from four precisely positioned auxin maxima.

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Article Synopsis
  • Development is a complex, self-organizing process that relies on the diverse interactions of cells, which vary significantly in their gene expression, growth, and division rates.
  • Recent studies show how developmental robustness—its ability to maintain function despite variability—is achieved through various mechanisms that help counteract this cellular noise.
  • The review emphasizes the importance of understanding both the sources of heterogeneity and the ways in which it can be buffered or even leveraged during development, while also suggesting avenues for future research in this area.
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Robustness is the reproducible development of a phenotype despite stochastic noise. It often involves tradeoffs with other performance metrics, but the mechanisms underlying such tradeoffs were largely unknown. An flower robustly develops four sepals from four precisely positioned auxin maxima.

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Article Synopsis
  • Inorganic phosphate is super important for plants to grow and stay healthy, but they sometimes struggle when there isn't enough of it.
  • When too much phosphate fertilizer is used, it can harm the environment, so we need to find a balance.
  • In a study, researchers found that a wild tomato, Solanum pennellii, handles low phosphate better than regular tomatoes by using special hormones and adjusting its root growth.
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Robustness is the invariant development of phenotype despite environmental changes and genetic perturbations. In the Arabidopsis flower bud, four sepals robustly initiate and grow to constant size to enclose and protect the inner floral organs. We previously characterized the mutant ( ), where 3-5 sepals initiate variably and grow to different sizes, compromising their protective function.

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To sustain growth when facing phosphate (Pi) starvation, plants trigger an array of adaptive responses that are largely controlled at transcriptional levels. In Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), the four transcription factors of the PHOSPHATE RESPONSE 1 (PHR1) family, PHR1 and its homologs PHR1-like 1 (PHL1), PHL2, and PHL3 form the central regulatory system that controls the expression of Pi starvation-responsive (PSR) genes. However, how each of these four proteins function in regulating the transcription of PSR genes remains largely unknown.

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The Solanaceae or "nightshade" family is an economically important group with remarkable diversity. To gain a better understanding of how the unique biology of the Solanaceae relates to the family's small RNA (sRNA) genomic landscape, we downloaded over 255 publicly available sRNA data sets that comprise over 2.6 billion reads of sequence data.

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