Review: Plant digital twins, the future of crop production
Plant Science Research WeeklyImagine how cool it would be if, just like we check weather apps before going out, we could “grow” a plant in our computer before planting it into our backyard, in order to predict its future success. Pauli et al. discuss this possibility through the use of Digital Twins (DTs), virtual plants that…
Feeling the heat: SP6A links heat tolerance and defense in potato
Plant Science Research WeeklyClimate change is a major threat to potato, as high temperatures inhibit tuberization and reduce yield. A recent study by Yeo and colleagues screened for heat-tolerance in offspring from one tolerant and one sensitive parent potato cultivar. SELF-PRUNING 6A (SP6A), encoding a phloem-mobile tuberization…
Review: Gene discovery, from Arabidopsis to crops
Plant Science Research WeeklyThis year marks the 25th anniversary of the publication of the first genome sequence of a plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, (see https://doi.org/10.1038/35048692). As this review by Bevan et al. observes, this exciting accomplishment was met with some skepticism by those who felt that it was not likely to…