Plants hold extraordinary communication devices enabling them to interact with other species: the flowers. The dazzling palettes and the tantalizing floral scents function as complex signals that mediate the interactions among plants and other organisms, primarily with their animal pollinators. The language that plants use... click to read more

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

It’s got to be one of the most popular fruits around: the banana. Although there are over a 1000 varieties, few people realize that almost the whole banana export is dependent on one type of banana, the Cavendish. This banana - cultivated by the personal... click to read more

One of the most seemingly boring aspects of plants is perhaps the most exciting. Plants are sessile organisms, which means that they do not move. In order to respond to environmental stresses and to interact with other organisms, plants instead rely on a chemical language. Volatiles,... click to read more

While many people remember the wonderful flavor of a garden-grown heirloom tomato, this flavor is not found in modern commercial tomatoes. Modern tomato breeding has focused on disease resistance, yield, shelf-life and firmness for shipping. While these traits are essential for large scale year-round production... click to read more