Asexual propagation of crop plants gets closer with new study

When the female gametes in plants become fertilized, a signal from the sperm activates cell division, leading to the formation of new plant seeds. This activation can also be deliberately triggered without fertilization, ...

Plant biologists shed light on 144-year-old seedy mystery

In April 2021, four Michigan State University plant scientists met at an undisclosed area on campus to dig up a bottle containing seeds buried more than 144 years ago by MSU botanist William J. Beal.

Gene that confers seed tolerance to salinity identified

Seeds only germinate when a series of internal and environmental needs are met. Otherwise, they get stuck in a state of dormancy. Researchers from the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC) led by Paula Duque just revealed ...

Rice breeding breakthrough could feed billions

An international team has succeeded in propagating a commercial hybrid rice strain as a clone through seeds with 95 percent efficiency. This could lower the cost of hybrid rice seed, making high-yielding, disease resistant ...

Plant hormones to help prevent Striga invasion

As part of a multipronged approach to prevent infestations by the parasitic plant Striga hermonthica, researchers are unraveling the role of plant hormones, known as strigolactones (SLs). Their latest research is published ...

The missing links: Finding function in lincRNAs

Genomes contain regions between protein-coding genes that produce lengthy RNA molecules that never give rise to a protein. These long intergenic non-coding RNAs (lincRNAs) are thought to have important functions, such as ...

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