Water capturing salt crystals Plants and animals that live in dry or salty environments often have ingenious ways for catching water. Like for example the athel tamarisk (Tamarix aphylla), a scrub that is growing in salty marshes. Now researchers report in PNAS how this scrub is cleverly using its salty environment to capture water. TheContinue reading “Water capturing salt crystals”
Category Archives: Paper highlight
Nighttime chills
Dampening the effects of nighttime chills Plants respond strongly to cold during the day. While night time chilling only gets a mild response. Now researchers from the University of Galsgow show in the New Phytologist how alternative splicing of REVEILLE2 dampens the effect of nighttime chill. The circadian clock regulates many aspects of a plantContinue reading “Nighttime chills”
Warning plants
Plants warning you for dangerous substances What if a plant can tell you that there are dangerous chemicals in the water or the ground? Not by dying but through simply changing its appearance. Now researchers from University of California – Riverside report in Nature Chemical Biology to have done just that. Organisms are full ofContinue reading “Warning plants”
Double break
Double break One of a seedlings first reactions to salt is stepping on the break. Now researchers from Scotland and Italia show in the New Phytologist how the protein HDC1 is regulating how hard the plant is pressing this break. To make sure that stress genes are not accidentally turned on they are decorated byContinue reading “Double break”