Tag: Genetics

For crop breeders, the deceptively simple question “is it better?” hides a web of consequences when extra chromosome sets are added (polyploidy), and this perspective pulls those pieces together. What, exactly, do additional gene copies and larger cells buy in terms of yield, quality, and resilience?…

This is an interesting and engaging review article, written by a team from Bayer US Crop Science, on how mutations (broadly defined) have benefited plant domestication and breeding. While it briefly covers the basics, such as population genetics, it really focuses on demystifying and normalizing the…

Plastids are more than photosynthetic compartments, they also are responsible for the biosynthesis of nine proteinogenic amino acids (which explains why animals, lacking plastids, must obtain these amino acids through their diet). In a new paper, Kuhnert et al. have identified a critical amino-acid…

As rice has expanded northwards from its center of origin, it has been exposed to deeper and longer periods of cold. Male fertility is particularly sensitive to cold. Song et al. designed a clever strategy to study mechanisms of cold tolerance. They subjected meiotic-stage cold-sensitive rice varieties…

The May 2025 issue of The Plant Cell has a focus on Arabidopsis and how this simple model plant has had an outsized impact on our understanding of pretty much everything botanical (and beyond). Alongside several articles highlighting this impact, this review by Roeder et al. features eight short vignettes…

We can be assured that every biology student is exposed to plants at least once, when they learn about the genetic laws that Mendel formulated from his studies on peas. His classic work focused on seven traits that exhibited simple dominant-recessive characteristics, such as seed color and shape and…

The first known report of an Arabidopsis thaliana mutant appeared approximately 150 years ago (1873). In the intervening years, Arabidopsis has become an essential model for plant genetic research, driving groundbreaking discoveries across multiple disciplines. In a recent review, Yaschenko et al. provide…

Heterosis, the phenomenon where hybrid plants outperform their genetically distinct parents, is a cornerstone of modern agriculture. This review by Hochholdinger and Yu explores the molecular mechanisms behind heterosis. The review traces the history of heterosis, from its early discovery in tobacco…