Plant Science

Flowering, a critical developmental phase in a plant’s life, signifies its transition to reproductive maturity. The timing of flowering crucially impacts the plant’s reproductive period and adaptability to the environment. Achieving the correct flowering time is essential for successful fruit reproduction, regulated by both environmental cues and internal signals. Vernalization and photoperiod pathways orchestrate numerous floral signals, with methylation (histone, DNA, and RNA) emerging as a key epigenetic player in regulating plant growth and development, especially in flowering. Despite progress, understanding regulatory factors in vernalization and photoperiod pathways, as well as responses to internal and external signals, remains an ongoing challenge.

Maize plants form special compounds derived from indole, the so-called benzoxazinoids. They are considered ecologically important because they act against a wide range of herbivores and reduce their feeding. Benzoxazinoids also exhibit antimicrobial properties and are thought to be involved in mediating plant-plant interactions.

Grasses transfer genes from their neighbours in the same way genetically modified crops are made, a new study has revealed. 

Scientists have revealed new plant cell walls can have significantly different mechanical properties compared to surrounding parental cell walls, enabling cells to change their local shape and influence the growth of plant organs.

Plants that rely on animal pollinators, such as insects or birds, have evolved distinctive suites of flower characteristics—known as “pollination syndromes”—that are tailored to the pollinator. Large differences in flower characteristics between wildflowers with different pollinators are achieved by a few key genetic differences, according to a new study.