A new method for quantifying plant evolution reveals that after the onset of early seed plants, complexity halted for 250 million years until the diversification of flowering plants about 100 million years ago.
Researchers have successfully developed plants that can be used to detect organic pollutants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls and endocrine-disrupting chemicals, which contaminate soil and water.
Invasive shrubs in Northeastern forests that sprout leaves earlier in the spring and keep them longer in the fall not only absorb more sunlight than native shrubs, but their foliage lowers air temperatures on the forest floor, likely giving them another competitive advantage.
Scientists discover endophytic bacteria that can survive the unfavorable interior of passion fruit seeds and get transmitted to the seedlings on germination
A study into the energy-making process in plants could help engineer crops more resistant to stress or bacteria that produce pharmaceuticals.
How flowers form properly within a limited time frame has been a mystery. Now researchers have found that KNUCKLES, a small multi-functional protein, supports the correct timing of floral development for the proper formation of flower reproductive organs
Velloziaceae is a monocot family that is made up of five genera and c. 250 species with a disjunct distribution in Africa mainland, Madagascar, Arabian Peninsula, China and South America. They are recognized as the largest lineage of vascular plants that can tolerate desiccation, hence are resurrection plants.
European old-growth forests are estimated to occupy only 0.7% of the total forested area; they are of prime ecological value, representing small vestiges of how Europe’s past primeval forest may have looked. In addition, old-growth forests provide various and important ecosystem services, such as biodiversity maintenance, long-term carbon storage, and landscape uniqueness. Therefore, old-growth forests represent valuable natural laboratories for evaluating how trees of different dimensions and ages respond to global change drivers, including climate warming and land-use changes. Although there is increasing attention on these ecosystems, knowledge of the long-term impacts of climate change in the Mediterranean environment is still limited. A recent study found that in Mediterranean mountainous area old-growth forests show remarkable resistance to climate warning.
This is the third post of the series, celebrating the brilliant winners of the #plantscistory2021 contest and their stories. Maria Park is a PhD Student at the University of Minnesota. Her interests are forest biodiversity loss, plant ecophysiology, climate change, plant-soil interactions, remote sensing/spectral biology, and art-based science communication.
Many important crop plants can be devastated by pathogens including bacteria, fungi and viruses. Knowing exactly how some plants respond could give researchers the information to breed crops with the best disease-fighting power or even design new and improved immune sensors in genetically modified plants.
