Category

Plant Science

What shedding light on plant growth could mean for cancer

By | News, Plant Science

Understanding how plants process light is key to improving crop yields. Light helps plants know when to grow and flower at the right time. Plants find light using proteins called photoreceptors. The research team uncovered how proteins called UBP12 and UBP13 help regulate a photoreceptor called CRY2. Their discovery might reveal new ways to control growth—which could have broad applications beyond agriculture.

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Gene Hunting Leads Researchers to Solve Mystery of Inhibition of Awn Elongation in Sorghum 

By | News, Plant Science

An awn is a needle-like structure seen in grass species, whose presence or absence in plants is controlled genetically. However, this mechanism is poorly understood in sorghum, a cereal widely consumed around the world. Now, researchers from Japan have identified the “DOMINANT AWN INHIBITOR” (or DAI) gene in sorghum to be responsible for inhibiting awn elongation. Their findings provide novel insights into common mechanisms of awn inhibition across various cereal crops.

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Indigenous Borneans knew a tree was two distinct species— genetic analysis confirms they were right

By | Botany, News, Plant Science

Over 200 years ago, a Spanish botanist described Artocarpus odoratissimus, a species of fruit-bearing tree found in Borneo and the Philippines. The Iban people, who are indigenous to Borneo, know the tree to have two different varieties, which they call lumok and pingan, distinguished by their fruit size and shape. Despite this knowledge, Western botanists have long considered the tree as a single species, but a genetic analysis confirms the Iban people were right all along.

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