Green revolution varieties of rice and wheat are dwarfed, making them resistant to lodging, and DELLA proteins contribute to this dwarfing. At the same time, green-revolution varieties are not very good at taking up nitrogen, so much of the applied fertilizer is wasted (and polluting). Li et al. have identified and tweaked a control system […]
Introducing DNA or RNA into plant cells remains a challenge. Demirer et al. describe a new method for transient expression studies through delivery of DNA or RNA via carbon nanotubes (CNTs); the size of the nanoparticles is smaller than the exclusion limit for plant cell walls. The authors show that circular or linear DNA or […]
Perspective: The multiplanetary future of plant synthetic biology The exploration of space is one of the most inspiring areas of scientific research and a major driver of technological innovation. One of the major factors limiting human expansion trough space is the immensely high cost of resupplying resources from Earth. Mars is the closest neighbor to […]
Plant Cell Editor Zach Lippman and his work are featured in this National Geographic article, “Why Gene Editing Is the Next Food Revolution” Tucked into a suburban Long Island neighborhood, a 12-acre plot may be growing the future. Under a blistering July sun, Zachary Lippman bends over a row of foot-high plum tomato plants to […]
Press release from The World of Seeds, translated by Google Translate Rice and upland rice are two ecological types of Asian cultivated rice that are differentiated under different water conditions, and their drought resistance is significantly different. Therefore, mining the drought-resistant genes of upland rice cultivars and studying their molecular mechanisms is of great significance […]
Source: SeedQuest Some plants like the giant sequoia trees can grow into the “Largest Living Things on Earth”. Ironically, most of a tree’s biomass is actually not alive, but is formed by persistent cell corpses that are collectively called wood. Wood development is terminated by a tightly controlled cell death process of the individual cell […]
Peter M Kopittke, first author of Synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence microscopy as a technique for imaging of elements in plants Current Position: Associate Professor in Soil and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia Education: PhD in Soil Science, Graduate Certificate in Education Non-scientific Interests: Nil Brief bio: After graduating from my PhD, I was […]
Eigo Ando, first author of Red light-induced phosphorylation of PM H+-ATPase in stomatal guard cells of Arabidopsis thaliana Current position: Ph.D. Student, graduating in October 2018 Education: B.S. (2012): Division of Biological Science, School of Science, Nagoya University, Japan; M.S. (2014): Division of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Japan Non-scientific interests: Reading, […]
Pilostyles are only visible when their fruit and flowers erupt out of their host plants. The Conversation/Wikipedia Steve Wylie; Jen Mccomb, and Kevin Thiele, University of Western Australia In 1946, forestry officer Charles Hamilton found something unusual on a shrubby native pea plant growing in Mundaring, near Perth. The pea had strange knobs on […]