Oleic-acid-rich Sunflowers Give Trans-fat Alternative - Study

Oil from genetically modified sunflowers has increased stability against oxidation, giving them a longer shelf life, as well as having// an improved health profile, suggests new research. However, while the news of another potential trans-fat replacement oil will be readily accepted in the US...

Sunflowers Could Hold the Key to New Class of AIDS Drugs

... drug. They have found that a substance present in sunflowers prevents // the AIDS virus from replicating in cel...arlier costs. The attempt to find the substance in sunflowers started with a mould called sclerotinia sclerotior...olate the substance that confers protection on the sunflowers that are resistant to this fungal disease. The sub...

Sunflowers in Biological News

Silicon's effect on sunflowers studied

STILLWATER, OK -- Vibrant, showy sunflowers are revered worldwide for their beauty and versatility. While many varieties of sunflower are grown specifically for their nutritional benefits, ornamental sunflowers have become standards for commercial growers and everyday gardeners. As sunflowers' pop...

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

...cts against the native species of Phragmites , which is becoming increasingly endangered in the United States. Walnut trees, pine trees, ferns and sunflowers are among the plants that release harmful chemicals to prevent other plants from growing too close to them. However, Phragmites uses this strateg...

A big bunch of tomatoes?

... Why do poppies and sunflowers grow as a single flower per stalk while each stem of a tomato plant has several branches, each carrying flowers? In a new study, published in this wee...

Sunflower debate ends in Mexico, researchers say

... TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Ancient farmers were growing sunflowers in Mexico more than 4,000 years before the Spaniar...their evidence confirms that farmers began growing sunflowers in Mexico by 2600 B.C. The paper is in response to scientists who still believe that sunflowers were first domesticated as an agricultural crop in...

Ancient sunflower fuels debate about agriculture in the Americas

...hat site were also well preserved. Using accelerator mass spectrometry, the sunflowers at San Andrs were found to be older than 2600 B.C. The researchers also...ering to the Sun God, 'Huitzilopochtli.'" The researchers point out, the sunflowers association with solar worship and warfare in Mexico may have led to its su...

Kansas state flower receives scientific attention

...ummer to early fall can attest to the abundance of sunflowers decorating fields and lining roadways, giving Kans...reviewed the genetic data from all five species of sunflowers he noticed something weird. The two parental speci...nsposons to become active and proliferate in these sunflowers and the evolutionary and ecological consequences o...

Warmer springs mean less snow, fewer flowers in the Rockies

...fleabane (Erigeron speciosus) is one of the most common asters to the region, and its small, purple daisy-like flowers have yellow centers. And aspen sunflowers (Helianthella quinquenervis) are well known for their startlingly bright yellow flowers which are often found in open, grassy areas. Winter snow ...

Iowa Staters talk biofuels, healthy oils and 'pharma crops' at AAAS meeting

...ing can be a tool to improve human health. Plant breeders, for example, have been able to reduce some of the problems with oils from soybeans, canola, sunflowers and corn. She said plant breeders have developed soybeans with lower levels of fatty acids to help reduce trans fats after processing. Breeders have a...

Tree of life for flowering plants reveals relationships among major groups

...my of Sciences this week online, found that the two largest groups of flowering plants, monocots (grasses and their relatives) and eudicots (including sunflowers and tomatoes), are more closely related to each other than to any of the other major lineages. The analyses also confirmed that a unique species o...

UF botanists: Flowering plants evolved very quickly into 5 groups

...to each other than any of the other major lineages. These are the monocots, which include grasses and their relatives, and the eudicots, which include sunflowers and tomatoes. Doug and Pam Soltis, a UF professor of botany and curator at UFs Florida Museum of Natural History, respectively, also showed that a ...