The endodermis—development and differentiation of the plant's inner skin

Controlling external compound entrance is essential for plant survival. To set up an efficient and selective sorting of nutrients, free diffusion via the apoplast in vascular plants is blocked at the level of the endodermis. Although we have learned a lot about endodermal specification in the last years, information regarding its differentiation is still very limited. A differentiated endodermal cell can be defined by the presence of the "Casparian strip” (CS), a cell wall modification described first by Robert Caspary in 1865. While the anatomical description of CS in many vascular plants has been very detailed, we still lack molecular information about the establishment of the Casparian strips and their actual function in roots. The recent isolation of a novel protein family, the CASPs, that localizes precisely to a domain of the plasma membrane underneath the CS represents an excellent point of entry to explore CS function and formation. In addition, it has been shown that the endodermis contains transporters that are localized to either the central (stele-facing) or peripheral (soil-facing) plasma membranes. These features suggest that the endodermis functions as a polar plant epitheliu

A receptor-like kinase mutant with absent endodermal diffusion barrier displays selective nutrient homeostasis defects

We thank the Genomic Technologies Facility (GTF) and the Central Imaging Facility (CIF) of the University of Lausanne for expert technical support. We thank Valérie Dénervaud Tendon, Guillaume Germion, Deborah Mühlemann, and Kayo Konishi for technical assistance and John Danku and Véronique Vacchina for ICP-MS analysis. This work was funded by grants from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), the European Research Council (ERC) to NG and a Human Frontiers Science Program (HFSP) grant to JT and NG. GL and CM were supported by the Agropolis foundation (Rhizopolis) and the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (HydroRoot; ANR-11-BSV6-018). MB was supported by a EMBO long-term postdoctoral fellowship, JEMV by a Marie Curie IEF fellowship and TK by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Sciences (JSPS).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Projection of the Gruneberg ganglion to the mouse olfactory bulb

In mammals, sensory neurons from the main olfactory and vomeronasal systems project their axons to the olfactory bulbs in the brain. We here report that a cluster of neurons, distinct from these two systems, located at the very tip of the mouse nose and called the Gruneberg ganglion expresses the mature olfactory-sensory neuron-specific marker olfactory marker protein (OMP), but is unlikely to express known odorant or pheromone receptors. The ganglion is present at birth and maintained during adult life. Tracing experiments indicate that these neurons target ipsilaterally to a specific set of glomeruli located on the caudal part of the olfactory bulb, and that this connection is necessary for the survival of the ganglion. The glomerular targets are structures previously proposed to be associated with suckling behaviour. These observations strongly suggest that this peculiar olfactory neuronal population plays a sensory role, possibly linked to chemoperception