In this week, the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) highlighted our recent Trends in Plant Science paper in their Plant Science Research Weekly series.

(https://plantae.org/opinion-burning-lignin-overlooked-cues-for-post-fire-seed-germination/)

In cooperation with our German colleagues, we recently found syringaldehyde is a novel smoke cue for post-fire seed germination, which provided new evidence that plants respond to smoke-derived active compounds other than the known karrikins. Considering the close association between lignin evolution and terrestrial vascular plant expansion and fire events, we highlighted the overlooked lignin-derived smoke cues for post-fire regeneration and proposed potential directions for future researches in this area. Our new opinion about the lignin-derived smoke cues has so far generated wide spread interest and discussion among scientists over the world.

(From www. plantae.org)

Associated papers:

Cao Dechang, Baskin Jerry M., Baskin Carol C., Li De-Zhu. 2023 Burning lignin: overlooked cues for post-fire seed germination. Trends in Plant Science, 28. DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2023.01.011 (For 50-days free access: https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1gcdS4rGdjWZtm)

Cao Dechang, Schöttner Matthias, Halitschke Rayko, Li Dapeng, Baldwin Gundega, Rocha Catarina, Baldwin Ian T. 2021 Syringaldehyde is a novel smoke-derived germination cue for the native fire-chasing tobacco, Nicotiana attenuata. Seed Science Research, 31: 292-299.