Superfast plant breeding slashes production times, research finds

(Phys.org) —Many plant breeding projects - such as those aiming to increase food production - depend on getting 'pure lines' of plants but this can take a lot of time as, up until now, it depended on self-pollination for ...

Mechanism for regulating plant oil production identified

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have identified key elements in the biochemical mechanism plants use to limit the production of fatty acids. The results suggest ways scientists ...

Short-lived seed of alpine plants

Scientists from the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership have found that the seeds of alpine plants are shorter lived than their lowland relatives. This will have implications for seed conservation strategies for alpine species.

Oldest pregnant lizard fossil discovered

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new paper published in Naturwissenschaft reveals a fossil from 120 million years ago that proves that some lizards were not laying eggs but rather giving birth to live young.

Pushy neighbour sends several messages

How does a plant ensure that one cell remains responsible for making root cells for the rest of its life? The plant embryo contains the transcription factor MONOPTEROS. This tells its neighbouring cell to become a centre ...

How plants put down roots

In the beginning is the fertilized egg cell. Following numerous cell divisions, it then develops into a complex organism with different organs and tissues. The largely unexplained process whereby the cells simply "know" the ...

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