The hydrolysis of proteins into smaller polypeptides and/or amino acids by cleavage of their peptide bonds.

Reactions triggered in response to the presence of a fungus that act to protect the cell or organism.

The process whose specific outcome is the progression of the pollen grain over time, from its formation to the mature structure. The process begins with the meiosis of the microsporocyte to form four haploid microspores. The nucleus of each microspore then divides by mitosis to form a two-celled organism, the pollen grain, that contains a tube cell as well as a smaller generative cell. The pollen grain is surrounded by an elaborate cell wall. In some species, the generative cell immediately divides again to give a pair of sperm cells. In most flowering plants, however this division takes place later, in the tube that develops when a pollen grain germinates.

Any process that results in a change in state or activity of a cell or an organism (in terms of movement, secretion, enzyme production, gene expression, etc.) as a result of a stimulus indicating an increase or decrease in the concentration of salt (particularly but not exclusively sodium and chloride ions) in the environment.

A closed structure, found only in eukaryotic cells, that is completely surrounded by unit membrane and contains liquid material. Cells contain one or several vacuoles, that may have different functions from each other. Vacuoles have a diverse array of functions. They can act as a storage organelle for nutrients or waste products, as a degradative compartment, as a cost-effective way of increasing cell size, and as a homeostatic regulator controlling both turgor pressure and pH of the cytosol.

A focus in the cytoplasm where mRNAs may become inactivated by decapping or some other mechanism. Protein and RNA localized to these foci are involved in mRNA degradation, nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD), translational repression, and RNA-mediated gene silencing.

A fine cytoplasmic channel, found in all higher plants, that connects the cytoplasm of one cell to that of an adjacent cell.

A chlorophyll-containing plastid with thylakoids organized into grana and frets, or stroma thylakoids, and embedded in a stroma.

A dense aggregation in the cytosol composed of proteins and RNAs that appear when the cell is under stress.

The cell membranes and intracellular regions in a plant are connected through plasmodesmata, and plants may be described as having two major compartments: the living symplast and the non-living apoplast. The apoplast is external to the plasma membrane and includes cell walls, intercellular spaces and the lumen of dead structures such as xylem vessels. Water and solutes pass freely through it.

The irregular network of unit membranes, visible only by electron microscopy, that occurs in the cytoplasm of many eukaryotic cells. The membranes form a complex meshwork of tubular channels, which are often expanded into slitlike cavities called cisternae. The ER takes two forms, rough (or granular), with ribosomes adhering to the outer surface, and smooth (with no ribosomes attached).

The part of the cytoplasm that does not contain organelles but which does contain other particulate matter, such as protein complexes.