Compounds produced by sorghum plants to defend against insect feeding could be isolated, synthesized and used as a targeted, nontoxic insect deterrent, according to researchers who studied plant-insect interactions that included field, greenhouse and laboratory components. The researchers examined the role of sorghum chemicals called flavonoids —specifically 3-deoxyflavonoid and 3-deoxyanthocyanidins—in …
In a new study, a team of scientists at the University of California, Davis, and USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) used a unique approach to sequence the genomes of the English walnut and its wild North American relative by tapping into the capabilities of two state-of-the-art technologies: long-read DNA sequencing …
An international team of scientists led by the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), and Michigan State University (MSU) has released the genetic sequence of the cultivated strawberry. These data will provide a genetic roadmap for more precisely selection of desired traits. Whereas most species are diploid, strawberry is an …
Citrus fruits have always been known for their sour, zesty taste. With a little help from science, researches have finally identified what gives the lemon, orange, grapefruit, and other similar fruits their particular tangy flavour. Scientists from the University of Amsterdam found out that the sour taste of citrus fruits …
Тwo laboratories, leaders in different scientific fields – Prof. Dr Roumiana Tsenkova (Kobe University, Japan) performing in-vivo non-destructive near infrared (NIR) spectral monitoring of living systems and Prof. Dr Dimitar Djilianov (Agrobioinsitute, Sofia, Bulgaria) working on resurrection plants, especially H. rhodopensis joined their efforts to uncover the mechanisms of extreme …
New research has discovered how plant roots sense the availability of moisture in soil and then adapt their shape to optimise acquisition of water. The discovery could enable crops to be bred which are more adaptive to changes in climate conditions, such as water scarcity, and help ensure food security …
The Earth is now greener than it was two decades ago, according to the satellites of US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Data from NASA satellites revealed that China and India are the leading countries in terms of increased greening on lands. This is attributed to the ambitious tree …
Water shortages are the main limiting factor for global agriculture and ecosystems in general. During the evolution, different plants have developed the ability to survive relatively short periods of weaker or more severe water shortages. The so-called resurrection plants are, however, the only ones capable of surviving complete dehydration of …
An article published recently in the Open-Access journal GigaScience provides data that effectively triples the number of plant species with available genome data. This mammoth amount of work comes on the back of the growing efforts of the scientific community to sequence more plant genomes to aid in understanding their …
Tomato plants emit an aroma in order to ward off bacterial attacks. This volatile compound is hexenyl butyrate (HB), and according to testing by researchers at the Institute for Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology, Spain, it has great potential for protecting crops from infections, drought, etc. The finding has been …
