A new study shows that duplication events have been vitally important throughout the evolutionary history of gymnosperms, a diverse group of seed plants that includes pines, cypresses, sequoias, ginkgos and cycads. The research indicates that a genome duplication in the ancestor of modern gymnosperms might have directly contributed to the origin of the group over 350 million years ago.
As temperatures rise, the risk of devastating forest fires is increasing. Researchers are using artificial intelligence to estimate the long-term impact that an increased number of forest fires will have on forest ecosystems. Their simulations show how Yellowstone National Park in the USA could change by the end of the century.
Plant researchers have a potent new tool at disposal: Ia research team shows how to close the stomata of leaves using light pulses.
A research team has investigated how people in five different countries react to various usages of genome editing in agriculture. The researchers looked at which uses are accepted and how the risks and benefits of the new breeding technologies are rated by people.
Dehydrated plant seeds can lay dormant for long periods–over 1,000 years in some species–before the availability of water can trigger germination. This protects the embryonic plant inside from a variety of environmental stresses until conditions are favorable for growth and survival. However, the mechanism by which the baby plant senses water and reactivates cellular activity has remained a mystery until now.
Climate change is causing increased flooding and prolonged waterlogging in northern Europe, but also in many other parts of the world. This can damage meadow grasses, field crops or other plants – their leaves die, the roots rot. he damage is caused by a lack of oxygen and the accumulation of acids. How do plants perceive this over-acidification, how do they react to it?
Almost twenty years ago, the process of RNA silencing was discovered in plants, whereby small fragments of RNA inactivate a portion of a gene during protein synthesis. These fragments–called microRNAs (abbreviated as miRNAs)–have since been shown to be essential at nearly every stage of growth and development in plants, from the production of flowers, stems, and roots to the ways plants interact with their environment and ward off infection.
Scientists have discovered how plants manage to live alongside each other in places that are dark and shady. Moderate shade or even the threat of shade – detected by phytochrome photoreceptors – causes plants to elongate to try to outgrow the competition.
The Musa genus, which includes over 70 species and around 1,000 cultivars of bananas, represents a globally important source of food and livelihoods. MusaNet collects and shares global resources on banana (Musa) across the whole value chain – from collecting germplasm to post-harvest qualities.
As well as bright colours and subtle scents, flowers possess many invisible ways of attracting their pollinators, and a new study shows that bumblebees may use the humidity of a flower to tell them about the presence of nectar, according to recent research.
