Plants, just like us, need oxygen, but their growth centre, there where the leaves and stems emerge, is surprisingly low on oxygen. There, there is four to six times less than in the air outside the plant. Now a group of international researchers show in Molecular Plant how a plant establishes and maintains this low oxygen niche.
Tag Archives: Paper review
Seed banks shape gene drive outcomes
Seeds have this amazing ability to lay dormant in the soil for many years. As such, although genes are transferred from one generation to the next, that next generation isn’t always directly following the previous one. This makes studying the outcome of plant reproduction more complex. Now a new paper in Nature Plants shows how seed dormancy influences the success of gene drives.
Stomata done differently
Stomata are the pores formed by kidney shaped cells. But in some plants like succulents, they look a little bit different and have these accompanying “wingmen” cells. Now a new study in Science Advances found clues for their function and how they are formed.
Rescued by wild genes
In the ever-ongoing arms race between crops and their pest scientist are kept busy by identifying new resistance mechanisms against new pests. Now a new study by Israeli scientists illustrates that looking at the genomes of those contributing wild relatives might help.
Plant en Zo 