You have likely come across them, galls, deformities on leaves or stems. The larvae of various insects induce galls, varying from simple tissue deformities to complex structures. A new paper shows how the larvae inside hijack the plant genes to make those structures.
Category Archives: Science
Digesting your prey
Venus flytraps are one of the speediest plants around. But have you ever wondered what happens after a fly or cricket is trapped between those two big trap-leaves? This new study called “Venus flytraps’ metabolome analysis discloses the metabolic fate of prey animal foodstock” shows what happens next.
Regulation from a distance
Plant genomes in contrast to animal genomes don’t contain regulatory elements, or so was I led to believe. Now a new study “Two deeply conserved non-coding sequences control PLETHORA1/2 expression and coordinate embryo and root development” shows that plants also have those gene regulatory elements.
How plants make aspirin
In 2001 the starting point for a brassica specific pathway for salicylic acid production was found. Now not one but three research groups out of China, with some collaboration with US and Canadian researchers, found out how the rest of the plants make salicylic acid.
Plant en Zo 