Entries by Hao Chen

Perspective: Breeding polyploid crops, or not? Insights for yield, resilience, and bioenergy futures

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For crop breeders, the deceptively simple question “is it better?” hides a web of consequences when extra chromosome sets are added (polyploidy), and this perspective pulls those pieces together. What, exactly, do additional gene copies and larger cells buy in terms of yield, quality, and resilience? When does it make sense to push a diploid […]

Review. When water runs short: How plant hydraulic traits function and matter most

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Long-standing puzzles have perplexed scientists about the physiological tradeoff between drought resistance and crop production, and this review brings the pieces together. What, exactly, allows a crop to keep producing when water runs short? Should breeding focus on early stomatal closure and limited transpiration? Does stronger sensitivity to high vapor pressure deficit conserve soil water […]