Organogenesis requires the coordination of many highly-regulated developmental processes, including cell fate determination, cell division and growth, and cell-cell communication. For tissue- and organ-scale coordination, a network of regulators enables molecular events in individual cells to translate into multicellular changes in structure and functional capacity. One recurrent theme in plant developmental networks is a central role for plant hormones, especially auxin.

In plants, small groups of pluripotent stem cells called axillary meristems are required for the formation of the branches and flowers that eventually establish shoot architecture and drive reproductive success. To ensure the proper formation of new axillary meristems, the specification of boundary regions is required for coordinating their development. We have identified two maize genes, BARREN INFLORESCENCE1 and BARREN INFLORESCENCE4 (BIF1 and BIF4), that regulate the early steps required for inflorescence formation.

Open access publishing has been proposed as one possible solution to the serials crisis—the rapidly growing subscription prices in scholarly journal publishing. However, open access publishing can present economic pitfalls as well, such as excessive article processing charges. We discuss the decision that an author faces when choosing to submit to an open access journal.

Microsoft Research hosted the 2016 WSDM Cup Challenge based on the Microsoft Academic Graph. The goal was to provide static rankings for the articles that make up the graph, with the rankings to be evaluated against those of human judges.