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 …
A team of researchers from the University of British Columbia (UBC) Okanagan Campus has sequenced the genome of lavender. Lavender has many uses, from essential oils to fragrances, personal hygiene, and pharmaceutical industries. This is the reason why scientists want to get to the root of lavender’s secrets. Lavender is …
Artemisinin is a potent antimalarial compound produced naturally by the Chinese shrub Artemisia annua, commonly known as sweet wormwood. Currently, however, the low amount of artemisinin produced in the leaves of this plant does not meet the global demand. In a study published by April 24 in the journal Molecular …
The most popular varieties of tea—including black tea, green tea, Oolong tea, white tea, and chai—all come from the leaves of the evergreen shrub Camellia sinensis, otherwise known as the tea tree. Despite tea’s immense cultural and economic significance, relatively little is known about the shrub behind the tea leaves. …
At the end of March, an international team of scientists, including researchers from the Center for Research in Agricultural Genomics, Barcelona, Spain, Sequentia Biotech SL, Spain, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China and the University of Linnaeus, Kalmar , Sweden, published an article in Plant Journal regarding the role of the …
