Divergent mating systems and parental conflict as a barrier to hybridization in flowering plants
Sexual reproduction can be thought of as a cooperative process in which two individuals come together to produce a new individual. It can also be viewed as a process in which two parties with differing interests, investment, and background interact to produce a new individual. From the former perspective, parental interests are unified (both wish to produce vigorous offspring), while the latter s...South Pacific plant may be missing link in evolution of flowering plants
Bottlenose dolphins that reside in designated Special Areas of Conservation throughout the UK, including Dorset, Anglesey and Cornwall, might be at risk from pile driving. The frequency range of pile driving noise could interfere with their ability to communicate, find food and avoid predators. This has the potential to affect their behaviour, health and their ability to breed successfully. Lacta...Massive duplication of genes may solve Darwin's 'abominable mystery' about flowering plants
Researchers from the Floral Genome Project at Penn State University, with an international team of collaborators, have proposed an answer to Charles Darwin's "abominable mystery:" the inexplicably rapid evolution of flowering plants immediately after their first appearance some 140 million years ago. By developing new statistical methods to analyze incomplete DNA sequences from thirteen strategi...Scientists discover that ancient genes dictate flowering, fall bud set
It often requires many years of growth before a tree is ready to flower -- a delay that makes tree breeders impatient. Now, scientists at universities in Sweden and the United States have discovered genes that are responsible for initiation of flowering. In the annual plant Arabidopsis, the first plant to have its genome sequenced, the genes Constans (CO) and Flowering Locus T (FT) induce...Research identifies protein that signals flowering in squash plants
The length of the day relative to night, or photoperiod, is a strong determining factor for the induction of flowering in many plant species. Short day (SD) plants require a short day length (or more precisely, a long night) in order to flower. These are plants that flower...