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54 articles
Usually, we identify plants by their showy and delicate flowers. Because flowers are selected to be more attractive compared with leaves, stems, or the hidden...
One of the major challenges we face today is making sure there's enough food for everyone in the world. Crop diseases are making it difficult to grow enough...
Current agricultural practices heavily depend on harmful pesticides to protect crops against deadly pests and diseases. But what if plants could protect...
A new nucleic acid sequencing technology can determine changes in the way RNA is modified, a process known as epitranscriptomics. When observed in maritime...
While exploring the root cause of trees' gravity sensing, the Morita lab stumbled upon proteins called ‘LAZY’ and dissected their association with the...
Do plants have a memory? Surprisingly enough, they do. But this is not the type of memory that we share. In plants, it serves more as a tool for survival when...
We researched how logging activities impact the ability of a tropical forest to absorb and store carbon. Over a 7-year period in Malaysian Borneo, we found...
Human-induced (anthropogenic) climate change is exposing forests to a growing risk of drought-induced tree mortality. Replacement patterns following drought...
The common perception of cacti as heat- and drought-loving desert plants causes climate change to be overlooked as a potential threat to their conservation....
Salt stress triggers a series of responses in plants that are necessary to resist this life-threatening condition. We found that one of these responses...
Cassava is an important food crop in sub-Saharan Africa, but contains relatively small amounts of essential vitamins and minerals. The addition of just two...
Authorities have promoted conservation agriculture as a panacea for sustainable intensification of food production in Africa. Yet, claims that it increases...
Fig trees (Ficus carica) produce furanocoumarins, a class of small organic molecules with various medicinal and agricultural applications. Villard et al....
Coffee is a globally significant commodity and the source of livliehoods for millions of farmers worldwide. Our coffee crop plants, represent very recent...
Amur honeysuckle, an invasive plant in the United States, is able to cause drastic changes within invaded ecosystems. Management practices might reduce these...
We have seen in recent years a massive leap forward in plant genetic engineering which holds great promise for future plant breeding. However, the genes that...
Each leaf of the carnivorous Venus flytrap plant ends in a jaw-like trap which imprisons unsuspecting insect prey. The traps are electrically active and...
During domestication humans select and maintain plants that have higher yield and better quality. Until recently, we were unaware of the genetic causes...
From flowers to leaves and carnivorous plant traps, humble mounds of cells generate remarkably diverse plant organ shapes. How do plants coordinate growth to...
To improve the protection of species, we developed a machine-learning method that lets us successfully identify plant species that are likely at risk. This...
Crop diseases are currently on the rise worldwide due to changes in global climate and farming techniques. We have discovered what is hidden in the cereal...
We have learned how the wheat crop has changed through time, thousands of years back to when it was a wild grass. Equipped with this new knowledge, wheat...
New research demonstrates that coating native plant seeds with chili powder can prevent rodent seed predation and improve native plant restoration, while also...
Hidden from the eye, plant roots interact with a diverse community of microorganisms living around them. These interactions can have a considerable effect on...
A continuous protective cuticle formed around the embryo is a prerequisite for plant survival in dry environment. We show that a molecular dialogue between the...
Jackfruit is the world’s largest edible single fruit but short growing periods and cross-pollination restrict the commercialization of the its cultivation....
A newly discovered protein helps plants to defend themselves against aphids. It restricts these stealthy insects from draining sugar-rich sap from the plant....
Roses smell like red, and violets smell like blue: Can flower colors be linked to their scents? In a Mediterranean scrubland, specific combinations of floral...
The taste of a fruit is largely determined by its sugar composition. Understanding the mechanisms responsible for the accumulation of different sugars will...
Stings from Australia’s Dendrocnide species of plants cause pain lasting for months. In a new study, Gilding and colleagues have now found out how – these...
Plants need gravity as a constant landmark for shoots to grow upward and roots downward. We have identified a novel mechanism allowing plants to partially defy...
Modern tomatoes are very different from the original tomatoes from South America. Breeding has caused the loss of many essential genes, including those for...
More often than previously thought, fungi are able to infect seeds…what are the consequences? Seeds of tropical trees interact with a wide variety of fungal...
The plant catmint can send your cat into a state of frenzy. It generates a cat-tempting chemical, unlike other members of the mint family. This study has...
Wondering why modern tomatoes are often so tasteless? New insights on their DNA offer a roadmap to bring back their tasty flavor.
Due to their static nature, plants must adapt to their surrounding environment. Among other challenges, resisting to the sun-heat is a major one. How do they...
Obtaining the right daily amount of fresh food is a challenge in many countries. This study improved the dietary value of tomato, by enhancing the content of a...
Compacted, hard soil is a major threat to modern farming as it blocks plant roots growth and restricts water and nutrient acquisition. Engineered crop roots...
Plants are able to gather energy from the sun thanks to an evolutionary partnership between photosynthetic bacteria and early living organisms. It is commonly...
A recent molecular study of the sweet potato and its wild relatives, the most comprehensive study of this group of plants to date, provides important...
Gene therapy is at the forefront of medical research, but...can it help us save a beloved fruit?
We have genetically engineered tobacco plants capable of producing their own light, a phenomenon never described in any plants in nature. In addition to its...
