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Image: tomato plant. credit: 1195798 / Pixabay

Agriculture News Plant Science

New tomato, potato family tree shows that fruit color and size evolved together

Researchers have created an improved family tree for Solanum plants, revealing that fruit color and size evolved together, challenging previous theories that fruit-eating animals were the primary drivers. This study offers insights for breeding better crops.

Isabel22/07/2024

Cold-air pooling is a phenomenon where cold air drops from mountaintops into valleys below. Photo: Melissa Pastore, U.S. Forest Service

Climate change Forestry News

Scientists Discover Forests That May Resist Climate Change

Researchers discovered forests with cold-air pooling, where colder air settles in valleys, reversing typical temperature patterns. These areas could protect cold-adapted species from climate change, serving as refuges and aiding conservation efforts. The study emphasizes the importance of such forests…

Isabel19/07/2024

Image: Plant defense priming in response to herbivory. Primer stimuli are environmental cues (e.g. volatile organic compounds from damaged neighboring plants, direct herbivore damage, spectral and chemical information) that elicit plant endogenous signaling and so ready plants for faster and stronger responses when additional attacks by herbivores occur (trigger stimulus). Intensity of the priming stimulus and the plant’s inherit sensitivity determine how strongly the plant is responding to a stimulus, reaching from alterations in endogenous signaling that may not significantly affect metabolism to a direct induction of defense metabolism. If the endogenous signal intensity elicit by environmental stimuli ranges within a critical signal intensity, a subsequent trigger stimulus (e.g. direct damage by a herbivore) will result in a faster and stronger expression of the plant defense metabolism. The reliability of a priming stimulus as a predictor of subsequent fitness-affecting damage will affect endogenous signal intensity and retention and thus if the priming information is stored in short- (e.g. transient, transcript and phytohormone accumulation) or long-term memory (e.g. epigenetic alterations). Defense priming allows the integration of environmental information to optimize plant responses while minimizing the costs associated with unreliable (false) environmental information. Credit: Plant Signaling & Behavior

News Plant Science

Are plants intelligent? It depends on the definition

Goldenrod plants exhibit adaptive responses to environmental cues, such as perceiving nearby plants through far-red light and changing behavior when attacked by herbivores. This ability to solve problems and adjust based on environmental information is argued to fit a very…

Isabel18/07/2024

Image credit: Amalophyllon miraculum leaf. Credit: Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0)

Botany News

A tiny new plant species reaffirms the “miraculous” survival of Western Ecuador’s ravished biodiversity

A new 5 cm-high plant species discovered in western Ecuador reaffirms the region's surprising biodiversity. Found in a farmer's backyard, this tiny plant, named Amalophyllon miraculum, highlights the importance of preserving small forest fragments. The discovery challenges assumptions of widespread…

Isabel16/07/2024

Image: Plant breeders play a crucial role in ensuring the long-term success of crops. Credit: CSIRO

News Plant Science

Shortage of skilled plant breeders could impact global food security

A global shortage of skilled plant breeders threatens food security. With many specialists nearing retirement and fewer graduates entering the field, urgent action is needed to bolster training and ensure the sustainability of agricultural production worldwide.

Isabel15/07/2024

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New tomato, potato family tree shows that fruit color and size evolved together

Scientists Discover Forests That May Resist Climate Change

Are plants intelligent? It depends on the definition

A tiny new plant species reaffirms the “miraculous” survival of Western Ecuador’s ravished biodiversity

Shortage of skilled plant breeders could impact global food security

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