Category

Plant Science

The dual face of photoreceptors during seed germination

By | News, Plant Science

Seed germination depends on light in many plants. But not always: Aethionema arabicum, a plant adapted to challenging environmental conditions, does it its own way. Here, the phytochromes, the receptors for red and far-red light, play an unexpected role in seed germination and time this process to the optimal season. These findings are a compelling example of the evolutionary rewiring of signaling modules that help plants adapt to their habitats.

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International Agreements and the Plant Genetics Research Community: A Guide to Practice

By | Blog, DSI, Plant Science, Policy

Plant Genetic Resources underpin not only the future of agriculture and food security, but are increasingly being re-evaluated to address issues such as climate adaptation, nutrition and the wider bio-economy. This week a prominent ‘perspective’ paper provides an excellent overview and explanation of the international agreements that govern use of Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) as well as best practices for complying with the agreements.

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Symbiosis between trees and fungi: Exploring the role of epigenetic regulation

By | News, Plant Science

Tree roots commonly associate with fungi to exchange nutrients and improve their adaptation to changes in their environment. However, the biological processes at work in this mutually beneficial relationship (namely ectomycorrhizae) have not yet been fully explored. Now, researcher have demonstrated for the first time that the establishment of the symbiotic relationship between the model tree poplar and an ectomycorrhizal fungus is controlled by epigenetics.

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Documenting plant organ development

By | News, Plant Science

Delving deeper into organ development requires long-term monitoring of organ growth. Researchers have designed a novel approach that they employed to characterise growing leaves. Over several weeks scientists photographed more than 1,000 leaves at varying developmental stages. By applying targeted algorithms, they were able to reconstruct the complete story of leaf development.

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