New research reveals that human crop domestication alters plant-associated microorganism communities, with similar impacts across independently domesticated crops. The study suggests engineered plant microbiomes could enhance growth, stress tolerance, and disease resistance. Understanding these dynamics may improve crop yields and food security by leveraging beneficial microorganisms.
A major international collaboration of 356 scientists has found almost identical patterns of tree diversity across the world’s tropical forests.
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.
A network of scientists across the globe have identified more than 700 plant genera named for women. This is a nearly 20-fold increase in the number of genera linked to women before the group started working on the list.
A multidisciplinary approach has enabled researchers to quantitatively define the relative positioning and arrangement of the polymers in Populus wood and to create a computer model that details the findings. The research into solving this macromolecular puzzle may hold the key to efficiently disentangle and deconstruct biomass for conversion to fuels, chemicals, and materials.
Desiccation is typically fatal for plant vegetative tissues, but a small number of land plants have evolved vegetative desiccation tolerance (VDT), allowing them to dry without dying through a process called anhydrobiosis. Recently, a research group established a genome database, “Drying without Dying,” for desiccation-tolerant plants.
Gene-editing techniques have helped to identify a temperature tolerance factor that may protect wheat from the increasingly unpredictable challenges of climate change.
Farmers in sub-Saharan Africa need to diversify away from growing maize and switch to crops that are resilient to climate change and supply key micronutrients for the population, say researchers.
Scientists have discovered a stealth molecular weapon that plants use to attack the cells of invading gray mold: plant RNA defense systems hidden in unassuming “bubbles”.
Scientists are utilizing environmental DNA (eDNA) shed by living organisms to study biodiversity. EU-funded LeDNA project collects eDNA from lakes to assess and discover species, aiding global biodiversity preservation efforts. On World Biodiversity Day, May 22, 2024, a citizen science survey will test the method’s scalability, involving people worldwide in lake eDNA sampling using a specially designed device. Similarly, the BIOSPACE project explores eDNA in forests, predicting microbial biodiversity with satellite imagery, offering systematic and unbiased insights into lesser-known species for comprehensive biodiversity conservation.
