For years, scientists and online databases presumed the presence of clubroot—one of the main diseases on cruciferous crops (such as broccoli, cabbage, and kale)—in Mexico. However, no evidence to support this supposition existed until a team of researchers donned their detective caps to pinpoint the clubroot pathogen.
New research sheds new light on how plants, however rarely, experience mutations in their mitochondrial genomes. Unlike humans, plants are able to quickly fix these mutations, and more importantly, not pass them on to their progeny.
How can biodiversity be preserved whilst securing the economic livelihood of smallholder farmers growing vanilla in Madagascar? There is a way, according to a study that shows that vanilla plantations established on fallow land do not differ in terms of yield from those established in the forest. Cultivation on fallow land also increases biodiversity there.
Biologist has discovered a previously unknown orchid species of the genus Rhipidoglossum in northeastern Tanzania. The new species was named Rhipidoglossum pareense, in keeping with its location in the South Pare Mountains.
The fungus Ustilago maydis attacks corn and can cause significant damage to its host. To do this, it first ensures that the plant offers little resistance to the infection. The surgical precision it applies is shown by a new study.
Although some researchers have identified peptides through multiple methods, as in Arabidopsis and maize, the biological functions of most NCPs remain to be demonstrated. NCPs function by modulating larger regulatory proteins, and their functions can therefore be predicted from the proteins on which they act.
A multi-channel approach to extension reaps greater benefits for smallholder farmers fighting the fall armyworm pest in Eastern Rwanda according to new research published. The team found that exposure to a combined mass extension campaign consisting of plant health rallies, radio dramas and SMS all contributed to better identification of fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) as well as more environmentally-friendly ways of managing the pest.
Researchers have discovered a previously unknown mechanism that is responsible for reprogramming gene expression in plants during the transition period when one cell differentiates into another one. The mechanism occurs at the end of meiosis, a specialized cell division essential for sexual reproduction, and enables the differentiation of germ cells and pollen.
How do plants regulate their sugar metabolism? The protein SPL7 regulates nutrient uptake from the soil, as known before. Now it emerges that this protein also plays a role in a completely different context.
A team of scientists developed a theory that thylakoids, membrane networks key to plant photosynthesis, also function as a defense mechanism to harsh growing conditions, which could aid the development of hardier plants.
