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photosynthesis

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Probing the evolution of photosynthetic life on the early Earth

In a famous cartoon, a fish morphs slowly into a human as it forsakes water for dry land. With sly humor, this doodle actually captures a pervasive narrative of evolutionary history: the oceans are life's cradle, with life gaining the continents only later. Seemingly, the... click to read more

  • Andrew H. Knoll | Professor at Harvard University, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
Views 6323
Reading time 3 min
published on Jun 19, 2018
How do plants breathe?

Whether or not you like your sprouts, plants will likely form a major component of your diet: cereals, bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, chips, etc. all come from plants. Rice, maize and wheat alone make up 60% of the world's food intake. Not only are plants... click to read more

  • Richard Morris | Professor at John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7UH, UK
  • Hugh Woolfenden | Postdoctoral Research Fellow at John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7UH, UK
Views 22141
Reading time 4 min
published on Nov 22, 2017
Cloudy days cost yield until scientists hacked photosynthesis

Throughout the growing season seemingly benign clouds pass over millions of acres of crops and inadvertently rob plants of their productivity, costing untold bushels of potential yield. Researchers recently reported in the journal Science that they have engineered a solution and increased the productivity of... click to read more

  • Stephen Long | Professor at Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at Illinois, USA
  • Katarzyna Głowacka | Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at Illinois, USA
  • Johannes Kromdijk | Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at Illinois
Views 6260
Reading time 3.5 min
published on Feb 2, 2017
Out of the darkness: how plants prepare for, and endure, life in the sun

All plants must sense, and respond to, their environment. This perception is of crucial importance to developing seedlings. Initially, they must grow in subterranean darkness in order to reach the surface - a process known as skotomorphogenesis (development in the dark). Once at the surface,... click to read more

  • Graham Robinson | Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Department of Botany and Plant Biology, University of Geneva, Switzerland
Views 4693
Reading time 3 min
published on Nov 28, 2016
Attractive in the dark — how petunias may help to feed humanity

Many plants, including staple crops, need insects to reproduce. Changing climate and human interference threaten the sensitive relationships between plants and their pollinators. Many aspects of these relationships are not well understood. However, this knowledge may be crucial to sustain and increase crop production to... click to read more

  • Graham Robinson | Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Department of Botany and Plant Biology, University of Geneva, Switzerland
Views 5980
Reading time 3 min
published on Apr 27, 2016