Researchers discover that the fungus Fusarium verticillioides uses volatile compounds to manipulate insects and plants, promoting its own dissemination.
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The enormous potential of Big Data has already been demonstrated in areas such as financial services and telecommunications. An international team of researchers has now tapped the potential of big data for the first time on a large scale for plant research. To this end, data from three projects were used to increase the predictive accuracy for yield in hybrid varieties of wheat.
The mystery of the formation of one of the most peculiar plant forms – the Romanesco cauliflower – has been solved by a team of international and multidisciplinar scientists.
Considering the importance of these nutritious small grain crops the U.N. General Assembly recently adopted a resolution, sponsored by India and supported by more than 70 countries, declaring year 2023 as the International Year of Millets. The resolution is meant to extend public awareness on the health edges of millets and their suitableness for cultivation beneath robust conditions marked by global climate change.
Researchers have re-animated specimens of a fungus that causes coffee wilt to discover how the disease evolved and how its spread can be prevented.
Scientists have discovered a single gene that simultaneously boosts plant growth and tolerance for stresses such as drought and salt, all while tackling the root cause of climate change by enabling plants to pull more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Nitrates are critical for the growth of plants, so plants have evolved sophisticated mechanisms to ensure sufficient nitrate uptake from their environments. In a new study, researchers have identified a plant enzyme that is key to activating a nitrate uptake mechanism in response to nitrogen starvation. This finding explains how plants meet their needs in challenging environments, opening doors to improving agriculture in such environments.
Scientists have used gene technology to understand more about the make-up of the evolution of brassicas – paving the way for bigger and more climate resilient yields from this group of crops that have been grown for thousands of years.
Wines and table grapes exist thanks to a genetic exchange so rare that it’s only happened twice in nature in the last 6 million years. And since the domestication of the grapevine 8,000 years ago, breeding has continued to be a gamble.
Traditional fertilization practices and over simplified nutrient recommendations are directly tied to Nepal’s declining rice yields; researchers have introduced a promising new tool that is bridging the productivity gap through a more precise, farmer-participatory approach.
