Endangered Plants News

June 2, 2024

Top Headlines

Researchers Expose New Symbiosis Origin Theories, Identify Experimental Systems for Plant Life

May 29, 2024 — Research work on symbiosis -- a mutually beneficial relationship between living organisms -- is pushing back against the newer theory of a 'single-origin' of root nodule symbiosis (RNS) -- that all ...

Scientists Identify Gene That Could Lead to Resilient 'Pixie' Corn

May 28, 2024 — A widely found gene in plants has been newly identified as a key transporter of a hormone that influences the size of corn. The discovery offers plant breeders a new tool to develop desirable dwarf varieties that could enhance the crop's resilience ...

What Makes Some Plant Groups So Successful?

May 29, 2024 — Researchers involved in cataloguing the world's plant species are hunting for answers as to what makes some groups of plants so successful. One of their major goals is to predict more accurately which lineages of flowering plants -- some of which ...

Orchids Support Seedlings Through 'Parental Nurture' Via Shared Underground Fungal Networks

May 29, 2024 — Orchid plants nurture their seedlings via an underground fungal network, new research has ...

Latest Headlines

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Tracing the Evolution of Ferns' Surprisingly Sweet Defense Strategy

May 30, 2024 — Plants and the animals that eat them have evolved together in fascinating ways, creating a dynamic interplay of survival strategies. Many plants have developed physical and chemical defenses to fend ...

Harnessing Green Energy from Plants Depends on Their Circadian Rhythms

May 28, 2024 — Plant hydraulics drive the biological process that moves fluids from roots to plant stems and leaves, creating streaming electric potential, or voltage, in the process. A study closely examined the ...

Transgenic Expression of Rubisco Factors Increases Photosynthesis and Chilling Tolerance in Maize

May 28, 2024 — Maize is one of the world's most widely grown crops and is essential to global food security. But like other plants, its growth and productivity can ...

Key Role of Plant-Bacteria Communication for the Assembly of a Healthy Plant Microbiome Supporting Sustainable Plant Nutrition

May 23, 2024 — In an interdisciplinary study, researchers discovered that symbiotic bacteria communicate with legume plants through specific molecules and that this ...

Escaped GMO Canola Plants Persist Long-Term, but May Be Losing Their Extra Genes

May 22, 2024 — Populations of canola plants genetically engineered to be resistant to herbicides can survive outside of farms, but may be gradually losing their ...

Roots Are a Key to Drought-Tolerant Maize

May 22, 2024 — Maize can grow successfully in very different local conditions. An international study has now demonstrated the important role of the plant root system. The researchers analyzed more than 9,000 ...

The Impacts of Climate Change on Food Production

May 20, 2024 — A new study shows that climate change has led to decreased pollen production from plants and less pollen diversity than previously thought, which could have a significant impact on food ...

How Plants 'Mate' for Life and Repel Other Suitors

May 21, 2024 — Researchers have used a unique microscopic technique to examine the dynamics of pollen tubes in the Arabidopsis plant. They were able to observe the mechanism of one-to-one pollen tube guidance, a ...

Scientists Discover Mechanism of Sugar Signaling in Plants

May 17, 2024 — A paper describes how the moving parts of a particular plant protein control whether plants can grow and make energy-intensive products such as oil -- or instead put in place a series of steps to ...

Access to Gardens and Citizen Science Helps Encourage Conservation Among Children, Study Shows

May 15, 2024 — Access to gardens and citizen science projects at school can help promote pro-conservation behaviour among pupils, a new study ...

Modern Plant Enzyme Partners With Surprisingly Ancient Protein

May 17, 2024 — Scientists have discovered that a protein responsible for the synthesis of a key plant material evolved much earlier than suspected. This new research explored the origin and evolution of the ...

Bioengineered Enzyme Creates Natural Vanillin from Plants in One Step

May 16, 2024 — Vanilla, the most widely used flavoring compound in confectionaries and cosmetics, gets its sweet flavor and aroma from the chemical compound -- 'vanillin'. However, the large-scale ...

From Roots to Resilience: Investigating the Vital Role of Microbes in Coastal Plant Health

May 15, 2024 — Understanding how salt marsh grass stays healthy is of crucial ecological importance, and studying the ways bacteria interact with these plants is key. Thanks to recent advances in genomic ...

Now We Know, What Gets Roots to Grow: Can Help in Future Droughts

May 15, 2024 — A biological mechanism familiar to people who fast helps plant roots grow strong. The discovery provides an answer to a long-unanswered question and a deeper understanding of the 'mouths' ...

Climate Change Is Most Prominent Threat to Pollinators

May 15, 2024 — A new article has found that climate change is the most prominent threat to pollinators -- such as bumblebees, wasps, and butterflies -- who are essential for biodiversity conservation, crop yields ...

Like Dad and Like Mum...all in One Plant

May 13, 2024 — Scientists have established a system to generate clonal sex cells in tomato plants and used them to design the genomes of offspring. The fertilization of a clonal egg from one parent by a clonal ...

New Record Holder for Smallest Dispersers of Ingested Seeds: Woodlice

May 8, 2024 — Even bugs as small as woodlice can disperse seeds they eat, setting a new record for smallest animal recorded to do so. The discovery underscores the crucial yet often overlooked role that small ...

Free-Forming Organelles Help Plants Adapt to Climate Change

May 7, 2024 — Plants' ability to sense light and temperature, and their ability to adapt to climate change, hinges on free-forming structures in their cells whose function was, until now, a mystery. ...

Genomes of 'Star Algae' Shed Light on Origin of Plants

May 3, 2024 — Land plants cover the surface of our planet and often tower over us. They form complex bodies with multiple organs that consist of a broad range of cell types. Developing this morphological ...

Plants Utilize Drought Stress Hormone to Block Snacking Spider Mites

May 3, 2024 — Recent findings that plants employ a drought-survival mechanism to also defend against nutrient-sucking pests could inform future crop breeding programs aimed at achieving better broadscale pest ...

Calcium Can Protect Potato Plants from Bacterial Wilt

May 1, 2024 — Scientists have discovered that calcium plays a significant role in enhancing the resistance of potato plants to bacterial ...

New Japanese Lily Species Identified, 1st Addition to Sukashiyuri Group in 110 Years

May 1, 2024 — For the first time since 1914, a new species of the Japanese lily known as sukashiyuri has been identified. A research team analyzed the morphology and DNA of these lilies and has revised the ...

Novel Genetic Plant Regeneration Approach Without the Application of Phytohormones

May 1, 2024 — Conventional plant regeneration approaches by cell culture require the external application of plant growth regulators, including hormones. However, optimizing culture conditions can be laborious. ...

Discovery of Mechanism Plants Use to Change Seed Oil Could Impact Industrial, Food Oils

Apr. 30, 2024 — Researchers have discovered a new mechanism of oil biosynthesis and found a way to genetically engineer a type of test plant to more efficiently produce different kinds of seed oil that it otherwise ...

Unlocking the Genetic Mysteries Behind Plant Adaptation: New Insights Into the Evolution of a Water-Saving Trait in the Pineapple Family (Bromeliaceae)

Apr. 30, 2024 — Researchers have achieved a breakthrough in understanding how genetic drivers influence the evolution of a specific photosynthesis mechanism in Tillandsia (air plants). This sheds light on the ...

Ancient Maya Blessed Their Ballcourts

Apr. 26, 2024 — Using environmental DNA analysis, an international team of researchers identified a collection of plants used in ceremonial rituals in the ancient Maya city of Yaxnohcah in Mexico. The plants, known ...

Barley Plants Fine-Tune Their Root Microbial Communities Through Sugary Secretions

Apr. 25, 2024 — Different types of barley recruit distinct communities of soil microbes to grow around their roots by releasing a custom mix of sugars and other compounds, according to a new ...

Artificial Intelligence Helps Scientists Engineer Plants to Fight Climate Change

Apr. 24, 2024 — Scientists are using artificial intelligence software to analyze plant root systems, laying out a protocol that can be applied to gather data on crop and model plant phenotypes (physical ...

The Spiciness of Mustard May Depend on Soil Microbes

Apr. 22, 2024 — New study finds microbes may influence the taste of mustard ...

Plant Sensors Could Act as an Early Warning System for Farmers

Apr. 17, 2024 — Using a pair of sensors made from carbon nanotubes, researchers discovered signals that help plants respond to stresses such as heat, light, or attack from insects or bacteria. Farmers could use ...