Tag: Environmental Plant Biology

Kaundal et al. examine how a protein keeps plants safe from invading pathogens and dehydration http://www.plantcell.org/content/29/9/2233 By Amita Kaundal, Vemanna S. Ramu, Kirankumar S. Mysore Background: To cause disease in plants, bacteria must enter plant tissue and multiply. Bacteria and…

Botanical gardens are sanctuaries where plant diversity is celebrated, conserved, studied, and shared. As more species are put under pressure from anthropogenic activities, the importance of botanical gardens in preserving and protecting threatened species is increasing. A recent study on the role of…

Boxall et al. investigate CAM photosynthesis in Kalanchoë fedtschenkoi The Plant Cell (2017). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00301 Background: During photosynthesis, most plants use the enzyme Rubisco to capture CO2 during the day. Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) plants such as prickly pears,…

Walker et al. explore how the environment shapes root architecture. The Plant Cell 2017.  https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.16.00961 By Liam Walker Background: To acquire nutrients and anchor themselves, plant roots spread both vertically and horizontally in soil. Plants typically have a primary root…

Many of the plastic consumables we have at home contain synthetic chemical BPA (Bisphenol A). In 1930, a UK scientist discovered that BPA weakly mimics the human hormone estrogen. It has also been found that tiny amount of BPA can leach out of plastic (Stanford University). Thus, there has been a heightened…

Cadmium is a toxic metal in our environment. Bruno et al. explored cadmium-mediated root-growth inhibition using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Cadmium affects root growth longitudinally by reducing root meristem cell number and radially by controlling the number and width of stele cells. The…

Nuclear accidents in recent years such as the Fukushima incident during the tsunami in 2011 revealed the detrimental effects of leaked radioactive cesium (Cs) in environmental soil and water. Due to Cs's chemical similarity with potassium, an essential macronutrient for plants, cesium is taken up by…

Although future negative impacts on crop yields expected from rising temperature are well known to plant scientists, there are still some members of the broader public that need to be made aware of this problem. Zhao et al. combined four different methods of assessing the impact of increasing temperatures…