Mycorrhizal symbiosis helps plants expand their root surface area, giving plants greater access to nutrients and water. Although the first and foremost role of mycorrhizal symbiosis is to facilitate plant nutrition, how mycorrhizal types mediate the nutrient acquisition and interactions of coexisting trees in forests has not been clear to scientists.
A team of scientists discovered the gene in agave that governs when the plant goes dormant and used it to create poplar trees that nearly doubled in size, increasing biomass yield for biofuels production and carbon sequestration.
An internal circadian clock controls the distinctive concentric rings of flowering in sunflowers, maximizing visits from pollinators, a new study from plant biologists shows.
Researchers have been able to show which genes inhibit self-fertilisation in grasses. Plant scientists can now use this mechanism in a more targeted way to breed new varieties of forage grasses as well as rice or barley.
Following a year when temperature records have been smashed, research, offers much-needed hope for improving crop resilience and food security in the face of climate change.
Researchers surveyed more than 2,800 people to assess how accepting they might be of gene-edited table grapes, even though none are yet on the market. Most participants cared more about the grapes’ taste, followed by their appearance, than how the grapes were bred.
In the far north of the planet, climate change is clearly noticeable. A new study in Finland now shows that in parallel there have been dramatic changes in pollinating insects. Researchers have discovered that the network of plants and their pollinators there has changed considerably since the end of the 19th century. As the scientists warn in an article, this could lead to plants being pollinated less effectively. This, in turn, would adversely affect their reproduction.
A ground-breaking twist to the CRISPR tool – aka “genetic scissors” – is being put to use to edit plant genomes by scientists, signalling a methodology change. The discovery could simplify and speed up the development of novel, genetically stable commercial crop varieties by combining grafting with a ‘mobile’ CRISPR tool.
Ghostly-looking Monotropastrum humile that is widely found across East and Southeast Asia. It often grows in woodlands where there is little sunlight, obtaining the nutrients it needs by feeding off the hyphae of fungi. Despite its wide distribution, it was previously believed that only one species of this plant existed in the world.
For research, plants are frequently grown under stable lighting, which does not reflect natural conditions. In a series of experiments with changing light conditions, simulating the natural interplay of light and shadow, researchers reveal the importance of two key proteins for the dynamic control of photosynthesis.
