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Image: In black and white: three fossil flowers from the Cretaceous (Glandulocalyx, Normanthus,Platydiscus; enlarged). In colour: four present-day species (Cymbidium, Primula,Hyacinthoides, and Passiflora). Credit: Julia Asenbaum.

Floral Time Travel: Flowers Were More Diverse 100 Million Years Ago Than They Are Today

By | Botany, News

An team botanists has analyzed the morphological diversity of fossilized flowers and compared it with the diversity of living species. Their results were quite exciting: Flowering plants had already produced a large number of different flower types shortly after their emergence in the Cretaceous period, and this earliest floral diversity was greater than that today.

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Arabidopsis_thaliana_root_growth_in_vitro Credit: Alena Kravchenko / Wikimedia

Plants recruit distinct chemical activities of coumarins under different soil pHs

By | News, Plant Science

Iron is an essential micronutrient for plants and is generally found in large quantities in the Earth’s crust. However, its availability to plants is highly dependent on the pH value of the soil. When suffering from iron deficiency, certain plant species release coumarins. Which type of these small secondary metabolites is mainly released depends on the pH value of the soil. Now, a research team has shown how different coumarins are used to maximize iron uptake under acidic and alkaline conditions.

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Researchers fill new final gaps in the Arabidopsis genome sequence

By | News, Plant Science

A new study unveils the intricate organization and regulation of ribosomal RNA genes within the complete nucleolus organizer regions (NORs) of Arabidopsis, the first plant with a fully sequenced genome. The research identifies over 70 gene subtypes distributed between NOR2 and NOR4, shedding light on their activation and silencing patterns. The findings, crucial for comprehending NOR epigenetic control, hold broad biomedical relevance and offer a platform for future investigations into NOR evolution.

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Image: Native Eucalyptus forest growing in the field site located in Cleland Conservation Park - the largest conservation reserve used in the study (1027.47 ha). Credit: A Blackall (Flinders)

Night study of native plant survival

By | Botany, News

With land clearance, bushfires, weeds and climate change, small pockets of native vegetation are important for future plant and animal conservation – but do plants in small reserves struggle with reduced habitat for both plants and their pollinators?

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