Rice (Oryza sativa L) is the world’s most widely used cereal for human consumption and the second most produced in the world after maize. However, rice production is seriously threatened by rice blast, a fungal disease that has been reported in more than 80 countries on all continents, including the growing areas of almost all rice-producing regions in Spain (Andalusia, Extremadura, Catalonia, Valencia, etc.).
High-order chromatin structure is a prerequisite for the function of cis-regulatory elements in the genome, which plays an important role in gene regulation. In eukaryotes, the organization of three-dimensional (3D) genome presents a hierarchical pattern, where chromatin can be divided into different structural domains, such as chromosome territory, A/B compartment, topologically associated domain (TAD) and chromatin loop.
Cassava is one of the most important crops in the tropics, feeding half a billion people in more than 80 countries. Cassava bacterial blight (CBB) is a devastating disease that causes crop losses worldwide. Research demonstrated that a new technology, epigenome editing, can reduce CBB symptoms in cassava plants while maintaining normal growth and development.
A gene discovered could help fortify the defenses of sorghum to anthracnose, a disease of the cereal grain crop that can inflict yield losses of up to 50 percent.
A machine vision system capable of locating and identifying apple king flowers within clusters of blossoms on trees in orchards was devised by researchers — a critical early step in the development of a robotic pollination system — in a first-of-its-kind study.
Researchers have traced the evolution of mint genomes for potential future applications that range from medicines to pesticides to antimicrobials.
Researchers have now investigated how a mixture of crops of faba beans (broad beans) and wheat affects the number of pollinating insects. They found that areas of mixed crops compared with areas of single crops are visited equally often by foraging bees.
Despite not being an essential element for plant growth, silicon increases plants’ tolerance of biotic stresses, such as pests and diseases; and abiotic ones, such as drought and salinity. The effects of this element, the second most abundant in the planet’s crust, have not been widely studied, in general, and with regard to olive trees knowledge has been even scarcer.
An internal circadian clock controls the distinctive concentric rings of flowering in sunflowers, maximizing visits from pollinators, a new study from plant biologists shows.
Researchers have been able to show which genes inhibit self-fertilisation in grasses. Plant scientists can now use this mechanism in a more targeted way to breed new varieties of forage grasses as well as rice or barley.
