The exponentially rising global population calls for us to improve crop productivity. Plants face a number of biotic stresses in nature, which can lead to huge crop losses. While a number of crop protection technologies have been introduced in agriculture to date, each of them... click to read more

Imagine you are driving in the Hengduan Mountains. The wind from the valley mixed with the sunshine comfort you. You see some plants by the road. They are short, the leaves are pinnate and nothing special. But the flowers are lovely, light, with long and... click to read more

Negative human impacts on nature have resulted in what some have come to call a new mass extinction event. The effects of direct processes such as habitat destruction and poaching are relatively easy to understand. The results of more gradual, indirect factors like climate change... click to read more

Global warming represents a growing threat for plants and other organisms, while if and how these will survive is currently an open question. Plants have their own ingenious ways to defend themselves under such stress. They can either genetically adapt to a changing environment by... click to read more

Cultivated plants are the core of human nutrition. To ensure our food supply, plant breeders are in an ongoing race with newly emerging pests and diseases. Deterioration of growing conditions due to climate change and ever-increasing demand provide further challenges. Traditionally, plant breeders wait an... click to read more