Botany News

September 30, 2016

Good Food Puts Bees in Good Mood

Flies Are Key Pollinators of the High Arctic

Marsh Erosion from Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

Plants: Let There Be (More) Light

Latest Headlines

updated 5:56pm EDT

Lake Brownification, Eutrophication Decrease the Content of Essential Fatty Acids in Fish Used in Human Diets

Sep. 30, 2016 — Eutrophication and brownification change phytoplankton community structure and decrease the production of essential omega-3 fatty acids in lakes. ... read more

Plants: Defying Frost and the Cold With Hormones

Sep. 28, 2016 — Plants cannot simply relocate to better surroundings when their environmental conditions are no longer suitable. Instead, they have developed sophisticated molecular adaptation mechanisms. Scientists ... read more

Consumption of a Bioactive Compound from Neem Plant Could Significantly Suppress Development of Prostate Cancer

Sep. 29, 2016 — Oral administration of nimbolide, over 12 weeks shows reduction of prostate tumor size by up to 70 per cent and decrease in ... read more

Researchers Modify Yeast to Show How Plants Respond to a Key Hormone

Sep. 27, 2016 — Researchers have developed a novel toolkit based on modified yeast cells to tease out how plant genes and proteins respond to auxin, the most ubiquitous plant hormone. Their ... read more

New Discovery May Benefit Farmers Worldwide

Sep. 26, 2016 — Plant scientists have shown for the first time how an ancient crop teams up with a beneficial microbe to protect against a devastating fungal infection, a discovery that may ... read more

Shrubs More Expansive Than Trees

Sep. 26, 2016 — Shrubs are more widespread than trees in nature and on Earth. A new study explains their global success. It turns out that the multiple stems of shrubs are of key importance. This feature contributes ... read more

How Plants Grow New Lateral Roots: New Method Uses 3D Live Imaging

Sep. 26, 2016 — Researchers have used 3D live imaging to observe the formation process of lateral roots in plants, and clarified part of the mechanism that creates new meristematic tissue. ... read more

Peeling Back the Layers: Scientists Use New Techniques to Uncover Hidden Secrets of Plant Stem Development

Sep. 22, 2016 — Innovative new cell imaging techniques have now been pioneered to shed light on cells hidden deep inside the meristem. This ... read more

Different Tree Species Use the Same Genes to Adapt to Climate Change, Researchers Find

Sep. 22, 2016 — Both pine and spruce use the same suite of 47 genes to adapt to geographic variation in temperature, and to appropriately time acquisition of cold ... read more

New Study of CRISPR-Cas9 Technology Shows Potential to Improve Crop Efficiency

Sep. 22, 2016 — A team's finding that CRISPR-Cas9 is a reliable method for multi-gene editing of this particular plant species has been ... read more

Red Tide Brings Algae Worries to Texas Coast

Violent Coral Bleaching Caught on Camera

Rare 'corpse Flower' Blooms Again in New York After 80 Years

Group Clones Giant Trees to Fight Climate Change

Blue Stoplight to Prevent Runaway Photosynthesis

Sep. 27, 2016 — An international team using the green alga Chlamydomonas as a model has found a switch that triggers the suppression mechanism to prevent runaway photosynthesis. The switch is a blue light ... read more

Popeye Was Right: There’s Energy in That Spinach

Sep. 22, 2016 — Using a simple membrane extract from spinach leaves, researchers have developed a cell that produces electricity and hydrogen from water using sunlight. Based on photosynthesis, and technology paves ... read more

Feeding a Mars Mission: The Challenges of Growing Plants in Space

Sep. 21, 2016 — Plants will play a critical role in the survival of human beings on long-duration space missions, such as a mission to Mars. However, as a new paper shows, many challenges need to be addressed if ... read more

New Insights Into 'Plant Memories'

Sep. 21, 2016 — A special stretch of ribonucleic acid (RNA) called COOLAIR is revealing its inner structure and function to scientists, displaying a striking resemblance to an RNA molecular machine, territory ... read more

Intercropping: Intersection of Soil Health, Production

Sep. 21, 2016 — Plant diversity in intercropping leads to more diversity below ground too. Researchers are working to find the right combination for optimal crop and soil ... read more

Chinese Elm Trees Linked to Increased Fall Pollen Counts in Atlanta

Sep. 20, 2016 — An increasing pollen count during the fall pollen bloom may correspond with a growing presence of Ulmus parvifolia or Chinese Elm trees, according to a study focused on changing pollen trends in ... read more

Breakthrough in Salt-Tolerance in Plants Research

Sep. 20, 2016 — A breakthrough has been made in investigating salt tolerance in plants which could lead to new salt tolerant varieties of crops, and also answer unresolved questions in plant ... read more

Plant Diversity Alleviates the Effects of Flooding on Crops

Sep. 20, 2016 — In grasslands, growing plants in higher diversity fields may help alleviate the negative impacts of flooding. This finding may extend to how we grow important food crops. In a long-term biodiversity ... read more

Plants Take It All in to Deal With Bacteria

Sep. 19, 2016 — Plants have specialized immune receptor proteins on the surface of their cells, which detect specific molecular patterns, or ligands, on harmful bacteria. New research now reveals that these immune ... read more

Scientist Helps to Reach Back Through Centuries of Cultivation to Track How Corn Adapted to Different Elevations, Environments

Sep. 19, 2016 — A scientist is exploring the adaptations that have allowed corn to be cultivated in a wide range of elevations and environments across the Americas. Comparing corn varieties adapted to low elevations ... read more