How can biodiversity be preserved whilst securing the economic livelihood of smallholder farmers growing vanilla in Madagascar? There is a way, according to a study that shows that vanilla plantations established on fallow land do not differ in terms of yield from those established in the forest. Cultivation on fallow land also increases biodiversity there.
Biologist has discovered a previously unknown orchid species of the genus Rhipidoglossum in northeastern Tanzania. The new species was named Rhipidoglossum pareense, in keeping with its location in the South Pare Mountains.
The fungus Ustilago maydis attacks corn and can cause significant damage to its host. To do this, it first ensures that the plant offers little resistance to the infection. The surgical precision it applies is shown by a new study.
Although some researchers have identified peptides through multiple methods, as in Arabidopsis and maize, the biological functions of most NCPs remain to be demonstrated. NCPs function by modulating larger regulatory proteins, and their functions can therefore be predicted from the proteins on which they act.
In multicellular organisms, distinct cell types are produced and maintained through the coordination of several progenitor lineages. How is this information stored in the transcriptome? Do these cells’ behaviors reflect their lineage history or their current biological surroundings?
Researchers have discovered a previously unknown mechanism that is responsible for reprogramming gene expression in plants during the transition period when one cell differentiates into another one. The mechanism occurs at the end of meiosis, a specialized cell division essential for sexual reproduction, and enables the differentiation of germ cells and pollen.
Phenotypic plasticity in plants occurs at all biological scales in every organism. Phenotypic plasticity is defined as the physical and/or metabolic responses of organisms to their environment. Some plastic responses may be strategies that enhance fitness in specific environments. In contrast, other forms of plasticity may be symptoms of stress or pathology, all of which may develop at different time scales. A recent review highlights the characterization, costs, cues, and future perspectives of phenotypic plasticity.
How do plants regulate their sugar metabolism? The protein SPL7 regulates nutrient uptake from the soil, as known before. Now it emerges that this protein also plays a role in a completely different context.
A team of scientists developed a theory that thylakoids, membrane networks key to plant photosynthesis, also function as a defense mechanism to harsh growing conditions, which could aid the development of hardier plants.
Botanists suggest that the frilly lip of the white egret orchid evolved as a stabilizer for the hawkmoth while it pollinates the plant, resulting in better seed production.
