A team of researchers has found a way to identify gene regulatory elements that could help produce “designer” plants and lead to improvements in food crops at a critical time.
Researchers have developed a set of tools that make it faster and easier to modify large segments of DNA. The new tools are for use in a technique called recombineering.
Citrus greening, a devastating disease, has reduced Florida citrus production by 70%, according to most accounts. Efforts to develop disease control methods have been stymied because scientists have been unable to culture the causal bacterial pathogen.
Contrary to the long-held belief that plants in the natural world are always in competition, new research has found that in harsh environments mature plants help smaller ones - and thrive as a result.
Scientists at the University of Oxford reveal that the sweet potato and its storage root originated at least 2 million years ago — that is, not only before agriculture but also long before modern humans appeared on Earth. The scientists'…