Category

Plant Science

Engineering seeds to resist drought

By | Climate change, News, Plant Science

As the world continues to warm, many arid regions that already have marginal conditions for agriculture will be increasingly under stress, potentially leading to severe food shortages. Now, researchers have come up with a promising process for protecting seeds from the stress of water shortage during their crucial germination phase, and even providing the plants with extra nutrition at the same time.

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How seeds know it’s a good time to germinate

By | News, Plant Science

Dehydrated plant seeds can lay dormant for long periods–over 1,000 years in some species–before the availability of water can trigger germination. This protects the embryonic plant inside from a variety of environmental stresses until conditions are favorable for growth and survival. However, the mechanism by which the baby plant senses water and reactivates cellular activity has remained a mystery until now. 

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Arabidopsis thaliana flower

Acid sensor discovered in plants

By | News, Plant Science

Climate change is causing increased flooding and prolonged waterlogging in northern Europe, but also in many other parts of the world. This can damage meadow grasses, field crops or other plants – their leaves die, the roots rot. he damage is caused by a lack of oxygen and the accumulation of acids. How do plants perceive this over-acidification, how do they react to it?

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Researchers hone in on the best software for detecting microRNAs in plants

By | News, Plant Science

Almost twenty years ago, the process of RNA silencing was discovered in plants, whereby small fragments of RNA inactivate a portion of a gene during protein synthesis. These fragments–called microRNAs (abbreviated as miRNAs)–have since been shown to be essential at nearly every stage of growth and development in plants, from the production of flowers, stems, and roots to the ways plants interact with their environment and ward off infection. 

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