Plant in Biological News

'Green' energy from algae

... "Every alga sees a little bit less light, but the plant is operated at increased efficiency", emphasizes ... Division, has studied the decomposition of plant cells of olives, grapes, apples, sugar beets, and ... be used for energy production", says Mller. "The plant cells are exposed to a high electric field for a ...

Understanding how weeds are resistant to herbicides

... and then we started crossing a resistant plant with a sensitive plant. We look at its progeny to ... pressure -- you're selecting for that rare plant or mutation that will survive. When you do that, ... such as: Why are some plants weeds? What makes a plant a weed? Is it certain genes? Is it the way the ...

Restoring a natural root signal helps to fight a major corn pest

... first: the successful manipulation of a crop plant to emit a signal that attracts beneficial ... National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR plant Survival). ( Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci . USA, Early ... defense is an attractive strategy to increase plant resistance against herbivores and to reduce the ...

MU researchers create drought conditions to unearth solutions

... assistant professor in CAFNR's Division of plant Sciences, who leads the effort. Funded by a ... be placed on efficient use of water resources for plant production. The drought simulators will provide ... Robert Sharp, co-investigator and professor of plant sciences. "The ability to manage the timing, ...

Leicester research paves way for first use in Europe of an insect to fight invasive plant

... of an insect (biocontrol) to combat an invasive plant species in Britain. University of Leicester ... never been a release of a biocontrol agent for a plant species in Europe, extreme caution is being ... was probably introduced from Japan as a garden plant by PF von Siebold from his nursery in Leiden in ...

University of Toronto helps to 'barcode' the world's plants

... of Toronto and the head of the Canadian plant barcoding working group. "This discovery is ... was delayed because of the complex nature of plant genetics and disagreements over the appropriate ... amounts of tissue and can be used on fragments of plant material, small seedlings, and in some cases ...

Researchers team up to provide new hope for childhood hunger

... MO, July 28, 2009 A St. Louis-based team of plant and physician-scientists with a vision of ... Louis Children's Hospital, The Donald Danforth plant Science Center and Washington University School ... School of Medicine; and member, Donald Danforth plant Science Center. Manary has a successful track ...

UBC researchers help push for standard DNA barcodes for plants

... groups. However, because DNA varies less between plant species, determining which portions of plant DNA to use as a unique identifier has been a ... information. The researchers used 400 land plant samples to test the two-site solution. In 72% of ...

High construction cost for cycads

... with an excess in food synthesis to support plant growth. "These phenomena are understood using ... leaves are eaten. As the process is repeated the plant effectively starves to death. This work ... limitation to our understanding of this important plant group. Every comprehensive written text on Cycas ...

Stunting plants' skyward reach could lead to improved yields

... start to encroach. Michigan State University plant scientist Beronda Montgomery seeks the key to ... of biochemistry and molecular biology with the plant Research Laboratory at MSU, Montgomery in July ... Arabidopsis thaliana common mustard weed as a plant model. The ...

IOS Press announces launch of Journal of Berry Research

... Professor, Horticultural Sciences Department, plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, ... evaluation; nursery productions systems and plant quality control; plant physiology, biochemistry and molecular biology ...

Iowa State University researchers develop process for 'surgical' genetic changes

... led by scientists at Iowa State University's plant Sciences Institute has resulted in a process that will make genetic changes in plant genes much more efficient, practical and safe. ... and allows targeted genetic manipulations in plant DNA, which could have a huge impact ...

Reviews of microbial gene language published in special issue of Trends in Microbiology

... of the PAMGO project was the realization that plant pathogenesis is only one possible outcome along a ... have common needs in approaching a host, be it plant or animal, we initially crafted broad terms for ... terms to identify common elements in both plant and animal disease. One research area that ...

Smaller plants punch above their weight in the forest, say Queen's biologists

... Queen's University biologists show that in the plant world, bigger isn't necessarily better. ... around." Previous studies revealed that larger plant species monopolize sunlight, water and other resources, limiting the number of smaller plant species that can exist around them. But new ...

K-State plant pathologists develop online teaching modules used globally

... Managing plant diseases that threaten the food supply and ... native languages are barriers to training plant pathologists in resource-poor regions. But the ... Karen Garrett, K-State associate professor of plant pathology, and Lorena Gomez, a master's student ...

Sex involved in plant defense

... might be due to whether they're getting any plant love. In research published in Proceedings of ... from plant-eaters like caterpillars better than plant relatives that reproduce by themselves. The ... says Dr. Marc Johnson, assistant professor of plant biology at NC State and the lead author of the ...

New technique can fast-track better ionic liquids for biomass pre-treatments

... second generation biofuels made from inedible plant material, including fast-growing weeds, ... Lab). Based on the natural auto-fluorescence of plant cell walls, this technique enables researchers ... we observed a rapid swelling of the secondary plant cell walls within three hours of exposure at ...

Plant protein 'doorkeepers' block invading microbes, study finds

... A group of plant proteins that "shut the door" on bacteria that ... and productivity," said Gitta Coaker, a UC Davis plant pathologist and lead author on the study. "In ... a complex of proteins in the common research plant Arabidopsis that appear to play important roles ...

Scientists closer to developing salt-tolerant crops

... new GM technique to contain salt in parts of the plant where it does less damage. Salinity affects ... led by researchers from the Australian Centre for plant Functional Genomics and the University of ... with scientists from the Department of plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge, UK. ...

Hormone clue to root growth

... plant roots provide the crops we eat with water, ... group of scientists, led by the Centre for plant Integrative Biology at The University of Nottingham, has shed light on how a plant hormone is crucial in controlling the growth ...

Nitrogen research shows how some plants invade, take over others

... cycling" to gain nitrogen and how this allows plant species to invade and take over native plants. ... "Jean" Knops demonstrates why one invasive plant species is replacing native species -- it's ... Biologists know that nitrogen is crucial to plant growth that invasive species often grow better ...

Desert rhubarb -- a self-irrigating plant

... the amount of water than otherwise expected for a plant in this region based on the quantities of rain in ... This is the first example of a self-irrigating plant worldwide. The desert rhubarb grows in the ... (75 mm per year). Unlike most of the other desert plant species, which have small leaves so as to ...

Ecological Society of America announces 2009 award recipients

... the fields of geobotany, physiographic ecology, plant succession or the distribution of plants along ... maintain both genetic and species diversity in a plant community," published in Science in 2007. The ... show that changes in a physical trait of a plant can affect ...

Plant protein 'doorkeepers' block invading microbes, study finds

... A group of plant proteins that "shut the door" on bacteria that ... and productivity," said Gitta Coaker, a UC Davis plant pathologist and lead author on the study. "In ... a complex of proteins in the common research plant Arabidopsis that appear to play important roles ...

Computers aid in cracking deception in plants

... to the study of molecular mimicry in an important plant pathogen, the soybean cyst nematode. The ... work with Melissa Mitchum, assistant professor of plant sciences in MU's Interdisciplinary plant Group (IPG), to verify them experimentally. ...

Waste water treatment plant mud used as 'green' fuel

... out the first study into this method at a cement plant in Vallcarca (Catalonia), which has been ... 20% of the fossil fuel energy used at the Catalan plant has now been substituted for the fuel from waste water treatment plant mud. From an economic point of view, the ...

Midget plant gets makeover

... Palo Alto, CAA tiny plant with a long name ( Arabidopsis thaliana ) helps ... other traits of this fast-growing, tiny mustard plant reside in a vast database dubbed the Arabidopsis ... by Dr. Eva Huala at Carnegie's Department of plant Biology, just released a new version of the ...

An easy way to find a needle in a haystack by removing the haystack

... amino acids and other organic substances from plant or animal tissue samples. One drop of blood -- ... samples. "The analysis of a very small plant leaf sample from Arabidopsis thaliana , in fact ... biological and medical materials. Apart from plant and insect samples the scientists also studied a ...

Protecting the food crops of the future

... predicted changes in the climate. Professor of plant Development at the University, Brendan Davies, says: "Flowers are vital to the plant reproduction process as pollination leads to the ... Working with computer modelling experts, the plant scientists will build a digital model that ...

Plant microbe shares features with drug-resistant pathogen

... between the opportunistic pathogen and the common plant bacterium," said Brookhaven Lab microbiologist ... or biofilms, which allow them to adhere to plant roots, in one case, and medical devices such as ... have shown promise. These include: stimulating plant growth and protecting plants against pathogens; ...

Advance in understanding cellulose synthesis

... CACellulose is a fibrous molecule that makes up plant cell walls, gives plants shape and form and is a ... at the Carnegie Institution's Department of plant Biology has discovered that the underlying ... how the enzymes that make cellulose and determine plant cell shape arrive at the appropriate location in ...

Protein that triggers plant cell division revealed by researchers

... Now Stanford biologists have found a plant protein that appears to play a key role in this ... BASL, is vital to asymmetric cell division. In plant cells where it was absent, the cells did not ... BASL in epidermal cells of Arabidopsis, a small plant used for genetic studies. The epidermis of ...

Newly discovered snow roots are 'evolutionary phenomenon'

... a previously unknown and entirely unique form of plant root has been discovered. Lead Scientist ... Letters . The root belongs to the small alpine plant Corydalis conorhiza and unlike normal roots, ... also possesses normal roots which anchor the plant to the ground and take up nutrients such as ...

Global warming increasing the dispersal of flora in Northern forests

... of plants in Northern forests and the spread of plant species into forest clearings after felling or ... global warming would accelerate the dispersal of plant populations in forests. The research group ... affects the dynamics and genetic variation of plant populations. Spreading into more favourable areas ...

Is this the beginning of the end of plant breeding?

... two different types of cell division by showing a plant where three specific mutations are experimentally ... now much closer to being po ssible to reproduce a plant that produces perfect potatoes, maize or rice, ... into the second meiotic divisionin the sexual plant Arabidopsis thaliana. By combining a mutation in ...

Natural seed treatment could drastically cut pesticide use

... company Becker Underwood in collaboration with plant Bioscience Limited. Scientists have long ... jasmonic acid - a chemical naturally produced by plant leaves when attacked by insects - reduces pest ... yield improvement due to the lessening of plant damage caused by pests is very exciting,' says ...

Changing climate likely to make 'super weed' even more powerful

... first to report the effects of UV-B radiation on plant allelopathy, the production of toxins by a plant to ward off encroachment by neighboring plants. ... Company; Harsh Bais, assistant professor of plant and soil sciences; Yong Seok Choi, postdoctoral ...

DOE JGI releases expanded version of Phytozome.net

... of Phytozome.net, a web portal for comparative plant genomics geared to advance biofuel, food, feed, ... for web access to a rapidly growing number of plant genomes, and includes tools for visualization of plant genomes and associated annotations, sequence ...

NASA satellite detects red glow to map global ocean plant health

... chlorophyll, an indicator of the amount of plant life in the ocean. But with the Moderate ... not constant; it changes with the health of the plant life in the ocean," said Behrenfeld. "The ... in iron influence plankton. The iron needed for plant growth reaches the sea surface on winds blowing ...

Shatter-resistant brassicas

... stopped the fruit opening in the related model plant Arabidopsis , completely sealing the seeds ... open the pod. It is already known that proper plant development, such as organ growth and patterning, ... other crops. It retains characteristics of a wild plant including maximising seed dispersal. JIC ...