Recent Posts

From East Asia to South Asia, via Mexico: How One Gene Changed the Course of History (CIMMYT blog)

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In 1935, Japanese scientist Gonjoro Inazuka crossed a semi-dwarf Japanese wheat landrace with two American varieties resulting in an improved variety, known as Norin 10. Norin 10 derived varieties eventually ended up in the hands of Norman Borlaug, beginning one of the most extraordinary agricultural…

Intensification of phosphorus cycling in China since the 1600s (PNAS 2016)

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Useful article for Plant Nutrition lessons - how P use has changed over the past 400 years in China. "The biogeochemical cycle of phosphorus (P) has been massively altered in China, challenging its food security and causing eutrophication of freshwaters. This study shows, for the first time to our knowledge,…

Holding Their Ground (The Scientist, Feb 2016)

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Useful article for Plant Pathology lessons - an in-depth look at our current understanding of plant-pathogen interactions, including interviews from leaders in the field. "Just like animals, plants have to fight off pathogens looking for an unsuspecting cell to prey on. Unlike animals, however, plants…

Environmental Control of Root System Biology (Annu Rev Plant Biology 2016)

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Useful for Plant Development and Plant Physiology lessons. By Ruben Rellan-Alvarez, Guillaume Lobet, and Jose R. Dinneny An Open Access review article from Annual Reviews in Plant Biology, describing current research and models for root development.   Abstract The plant root system traverses…

Primers & Special Dialogues - clear & humorous insight on plants

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The Geitmann Lab is here to help... Are you (or students) not quite sure what the term "cytomechanics" means? Or what beasts "pollen tubes" are? Use the Geitmann Lab Primers to get oriented to plant reproduction, pollen tubes and cytomechanics. Include plant lore in your celebrations of Valentine's…

Genetic and Genomic Toolbox of Zea mays

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An Open Access review article posted in the journal Genetics that provides an excellent overview of maize as a genetic and genomic system for study. Published March 2015, by Natalie J. Nannas and R. Kelly Dawe. View resource

LearnGenetics:Epigenetics (Genetic Science Learning Center, University of Utah)

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Excellent set of educational resources from Learn.Genetics including activities and videos. The video "Epigenetics of Identical Twins" is an extremely clear explanations of epigenetics. View resource

MYCORRHIZAL ASSOCIATIONS: The Web Resource

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Supplemental resources for TTPB "Plants and their microsymbionts" - Incredibly comprehensive web resource on the biology and study of mycorrhizal associations, © Mark Brundrett, CSIRO 2008. View resource

Scientific American: All 2.3 Million Species Are Mapped into a Single Circle of Life

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"Researchers from a dozen institutions recently completed a three-year effort to combine tens of thousands of trees into one diagram, most readable as a circle. The lines inside the circle represent all 2.3 million species that have been named. Biologists have genetic sequences for only about 5 percent…