One of the world’s rarest tree species (Macadamia jansenii) has been transformed into a sophisticated model that researchers say is the future of plant research.
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Beta-cyclocitral produced by plants after herbivore attack increases defense responses while inhibiting the production of metabolites for growth.
Spectacular fossil plants preserved within a volcanic ash fall in China have shed light on an evolutionary race 300 million years ago, which was eventually won by the seed-bearing plants that dominate so much of the Earth today.
In an broad and elaborate study, biologists investigated the biodiversity of flowering fields planted as part of agri-environmental schemes.
Researchers have revealed the response mechanism of rhizosphere microorganisms of deep-rooted leguminous plant to water and nitrogen changes in desert ecosystem.
An impressive body of evidence published this week reveals the answer to a mystery that has puzzled plant scientists for more than 30 years: the role of the molecule suberin in the leaves of some of our most productive crops. This discovery could be the key to engineering better crops and ensuring future food security.
Plants grow in two directions: the shoots of plants grow toward the light to make the best use of it, and the roots grow toward the center of the earth into the soil. A team has now been able to describe in detail how the molecular mechanisms work that control these processes.
Researchers find that plant root tips are constrained to a dome shape, similar to that of an arched bridge, because of one-directional and localized tissue growth.
Commentary on Gobert et al. The authors prove the feasibility of an idea through this proof-of-concept work. As they point out, plant antiviral treatments are usually virus-specific, unfortunately for the moment a ‘broad-spectrum’ plant antiviral does not exist.
Like other plants, mistletoe is capable of using sunlight to create its own food, a process called photosynthesis. However, it prefers to siphon water and nutrients from other trees and shrubs, using “false roots” to invade its hosts.
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