Researchers describe mechanisms relating to the development of the tomato plant (Solanum lycopersicum) and point to ways of creating novel technologies for tomato yield improvement.
Regardless of how one says “tomato,” they all contain tomatine, a toxin in the plant’s green fruit, leaves, and roots. Tomatoes produce the bitter-tasting compound—a major plant-specialized metabolite secreted from the roots—to defend against pathogens and foragers.
Rising sea levels due to climate change and artificial irrigation cause soil salinity to increase. This has a negative impact on agriculture, including viticulture. The plants die, yields decrease. Researchers have therefore studied a wild grapevine of higher salt tolerance. Their goal is to identify the genetic factors that make the grapevine resilient. They can then be inserted into commercial varieties, thus securing viticulture.
Biologists have found evidence for evolutionary “syndromes”—sets of traits that occur together—that help to explain how tomatoes first evolved their distinctive blend of color, sweetness, acidity and aroma. The research, not only shines a light on how fruits evolve in the wild, but will also be valuable to crop-improvement efforts aimed at breeding more nutritious and appealing varieties of fruits.
Farmers usually plant so-called cover crops after harvesting their main crop in the Fall. This prevents erosion of the soil and nutrient leaching. The roots of these crops also stabilize the structure of the soil. It had been assumed up to now that a mixture of different cover crops would result in particularly intensive rooting. However, a recent study found only limited evidence that this is the case. Instead, mixed cover crops grow thinner roots than when just one single type of cover crop is planted. This result was unexpected. It documents how little is currently understood about the interactions between plant roots.
Researchers inoculated oilseed rape plants with a species of fungus that is known for its ability to combat pest insects. Utilising the relationship between beneficial fungi and crop plants may introduce a new era of agriculture where the plant resilience is improved and the ecological footprint of traditional/chemical pesticides is minimised.
Researchers have discovered a new species of Artemisia — Artemisia qingheensisin – in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
Developing disease-resistant, high-quality improved crop varieties to benefit agricultural producers and consumers may seem like a “hairy” task, but scientists may have gotten to the root of the issue.
Researchers create double-haploid watermelon plants via in vivo, seed-based haploid induction system
Generating haploid plants for the purpose of obtaining pure double haploid lines is widely recognized as one of the most efficient breeding strategies in modern agriculture. Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus), an important fruit crop known for its nutritional value and flavor, has undergone long-term artificial selection resulting in genetic narrowing. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a haploid induction system to enhance traditional breeding methods and facilitate the development of valuable lines.
Comparing with allopolyploid speciation, there are fewer cases of homoploid hybrid speciation. Although transient homoploid hybridization events have been detected in many plant genera, solid evidence from genomic data is scare.