The nuclear pore comes to the fore

The nuclear pore complex is the gateway of macromolecular trafficking between the nucleus and the cytoplasm. Although its composition is well characterized in yeast and mammalian systems, little is known about the plant nuclear pore. Several recent reports describe complex whole-organism phenotypes based on mutations in plant nucleoporins. The pathways affected include plant-microbe interactions, auxin response, cold-stress tolerance and flowering-time regulation. The effects are probably based, at least in part, on changes in protein import and/or RNA export (including regulatory small RNAs). Here, we review these new findings while comparing and contrasting them with what is known about nucleoporin functions from non-plant organisms, including nucleoporin activities not linked to nucleocytoplasmic transport.