For many years, biologists argued about whether plants have peptide hormones like animals have, and ever since it was first shown that plant peptides do have hormone-like functions, I’ve said a little cheer as new functions are discovered (Yay plants!). A few years ago, Sonali Roy and colleagues wrote…

Intercropping, the system of growing at least two crops simultaneously, increases crop productivity and ecological sustainability. An intercropping system of peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) and maize (Zea mays) has been previously found to improve the yield of peanut, specifically its iron nutrition and…

Silicon (Si) plays a significant role in helping plants to mitigate biotic and abiotic stress. Previous studies have shown that the application of Si also influences the microbial communities in the rhizosphere. However, the extent to which Si shapes the dynamics of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria…

Yu et al. conducted a meta-analysis of published 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequenced soil samples to compare the effects of plant-based fertilizers (e.g. compost, seaweed fertilizer) versus animal-based fertilizers (e.g., dung, manure) versus control, unfertilized samples on soil microbial diversity and…

Review: SynBio takes on roots and the rhizosphere This is an excellent introduction to how synthetic biology can be used to program plants for climate resilience by engineering them to respond predictably and in ways beyond those that evolution has explored, through the use of controllable synthetic…

Paffrath et al. explore the main physiological roles of coumarins released in response to iron deficiency under different environmental pHs.   https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koad279 By Ricardo F. H. Giehl, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics & Crop Plant Research (IPK), Germany.  Background:…

Wang et al. reveal that MYB110 serves as a phosphate-dependent negative regulator of plant height that could be manipulated to boost lodging resistance and yield. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koad268 Tingting Wang,1 Ming Yan,2 Mian Gu,1 Guohua Xu1 1 National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics…

Behind the manuscripts are researchers, professors, professionals and students dedicated to advancing the field of plant science. You’ve seen our First Authors on Twitter and Facebook— now, read more about why they chose to pursue plant sciences and click on the links to read their articles.   Kaiwei…