https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Tea (Camellia sinensis) is one of the world's most widely consumed beverages, and the size of young buds directly influences both yield and quality. Larger buds can increase leaf mass, while different tea types require specific bud-to-leaf ratios to meet processing standards. However, the genetic regulators controlling bud size have remained poorly understood, limiting breeding progress. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-gene-tea.html Molecular & Computational biology Sat, 15 Nov 2025 01:30:02 EST news682349332 Huanglongbing (HLB), caused by Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CaLas), is the No. 1 killer of citrus trees worldwide. HLB causes billions of dollars in annual economic losses to the global citrus industry. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-bacterial-suicide-gene-citrus-huanglongbing.html Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 28 Aug 2023 17:06:03 EDT news612461161 Recently, a team led by Professor Dong Zhang from the College of Horticulture, Northwest A&F University, published a research article entitled "Transcriptome analysis reveals the regulatory mechanism by which MdWOX11 suppresses adventitious shoot formation in apple" in Horticulture Research. https://phys.org/news/2022-08-transcriptome-analysis-reveals-regulatory-mechanism.html Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 19 Aug 2022 11:44:02 EDT news580128241 Iron (Fe) deficiency has become one of the factors limiting plant quality and productivity around the world. IMA (IRONMAN), a family of small peptides, has been recently reported to play a positive role in the Fe deficiency response in Arabidopsis and rice (Oryza sativa). Two OsIMA genes were identified in rice. However, it was still unclear how OsIMA1 and OsIMA2 activate the Fe deficiency response in rice. https://phys.org/news/2022-07-strategy-iron-fortification-rice.html Biotechnology Fri, 22 Jul 2022 11:29:02 EDT news577708141 SEPALLATA (SEP) genes are the plant-specific MIKC-type MADS-box genes, belonging to the class E genes in the ABCE model of flower organ development. https://phys.org/news/2022-06-jcsep3-stamen-jatropha-curcas.html Plants & Animals Wed, 08 Jun 2022 13:27:13 EDT news573913630 Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) in Japan have developed a way to improve crop quality without needing to create special genetically modified plants. Rather that changing plant genomes, the new technique relies on a spray that introduces bioactive molecules into plant cells through their leaves. The new technology could be used to help crops resist pests or become more resistant to drought—in less time and at less cost than making lines of genetically modified crops. The study was reported in the scientific journal ACS Nano. https://phys.org/news/2022-02-nanocarrier-crops-genetic-modification.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 23 Feb 2022 09:48:15 EST news564832091 KODA, an agrochemical produced in extremely low amounts, which helps plants cope with environmental stressors, has been the subject of extensive research. To bolster KODA production, researchers from Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) developed a novel plant-based platform. Using biotechnology tools, they successfully expressed external genes that facilitate KODA production in test plant species, and further improved KODA yield through incubation over time. https://phys.org/news/2022-02-decoding-koda-production-augment-stress.html Plants & Animals Tue, 15 Feb 2022 15:58:41 EST news564163118 Scientists at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science in Japan have found that the protein NGA1 is critical for plants to have normal responses to dehydration. Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study shows how NGA1 controls transcription of a key gene that ultimately allows plants to survive after periods of drought. https://phys.org/news/2018-11-scientists-gene-rehydration-drought.html Plants & Animals Tue, 06 Nov 2018 06:55:09 EST news460709700 An international research team has found they can increase corn productivity by targeting the enzyme in charge of capturing CO2 from the atmosphere. https://phys.org/news/2018-10-productive-corn-cope-future-climates.html Biotechnology Mon, 01 Oct 2018 11:00:07 EDT news457595889 Soil salinity poses a major threat to food security, greatly reducing the yield of agricultural crops. Rising global temperatures are expected to accelerate the buildup of salt in soil, placing an increasing burden on agricultural production. In a new study published in The Plant Cell, a team of researchers identified a gene that limits yield losses in rice plants exposed to salt stress and deciphered the underlying mechanism. https://phys.org/news/2018-03-gene-boosts-rice-growth-yield.html Biotechnology Fri, 23 Mar 2018 14:33:38 EDT news441034400 Three years ago, biotechnologists demonstrated in field trials that they could increase the productivity of maize by introducing a rice gene into the plant that regulated the accumulation of sucrose in kernels and led to more kernels per maize plant. https://phys.org/news/2018-02-sweet-route-greater-yields.html Biotechnology Wed, 07 Feb 2018 16:52:05 EST news437244714 A study led by researchers at Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) has found that two key enzymes in plants called PAH1 and PAH2 are critical for survival and growth under nitrogen-depleted conditions. The study sheds new light on how plants could be modified in future to boost tolerance to nutrient-poor environments. https://phys.org/news/2017-11-uncovering-essential-enzymes-growth-nitrogen.html Biotechnology Mon, 20 Nov 2017 10:07:35 EST news430394842 Although the commercialization of transgenic, or "genetically modified", plants has stirred widespread controversy, much research remains focused on improving techniques to create such plants. As people familiar with the controversy likely know, transgenic technology allows breeders to add genes for desirable traits to valuable breeding materials. However, transgenic plants are also widely used in basic scientific research. The ability to add a single gene to a plant allows researchers to explore what that gene does, for instance. https://phys.org/news/2016-09-breakthrough-genetic-modification-grains.html Biotechnology Mon, 12 Sep 2016 16:47:33 EDT news392917644 Transgenic crops expressing resistance to the herbicide glyphosate (GR) have been commercialized and planted widely across the U.S. for two decades. The majority of transgenic corn (Bt) also has been engineered to produce toxins effective against certain corn insect pests. In recent years, claims have been made that glyphosate and transgenic traits result in corn plants that are more susceptible to crop diseases. https://phys.org/news/2016-02-transgenic-sweet-corn-susceptible-goss.html Biotechnology Wed, 17 Feb 2016 17:40:51 EST news374953237 Dicamba herbicide drift onto plants growing adjacent to farm fields causes significant delays in flowering, as well as reduced flowering, of those plants, and results in decreased visitation by honey bees, according to researchers at Penn State and the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture. https://phys.org/news/2015-12-dicamba-drift-affects-non-target-pollinators.html Ecology Thu, 03 Dec 2015 16:17:27 EST news368381846 The current dilemma of inorganic phosphorus depletion and pollution caused by excess phytate levels in the soil poses a long-term risk for sustainable agriculture. https://phys.org/news/2015-10-indigestible-phosphorus.html Biotechnology Fri, 16 Oct 2015 05:36:46 EDT news364192597 Researchers at the University of Georgia have discovered that manipulation of a specific gene in a hardwood tree species not only makes it easier to break down the wood into fuel, but also significantly increases tree growth. https://phys.org/news/2015-03-fast-growing-trees-easier-fuel.html Biotechnology Thu, 19 Mar 2015 07:10:01 EDT news345966098 Genetically modified crops have long drawn fire from opponents worried about potential contamination of conventional crops and other plants. Now a plant gene discovered by University of Guelph scientists might help farmers reduce the risk of GM contamination and quell arguments against the use of transgenic food crops, says Sherif Sherif, lead author of a new research paper describing the findings. https://phys.org/news/2015-02-gene-gm-contamination.html Biotechnology Thu, 19 Feb 2015 15:42:00 EST news343582840 Scientists using a microbe that occurs naturally in eastern cottonwood trees have boosted the ability of two other plants - willow and lawn grass - to withstand the withering effects of the nasty industrial pollutant phenanthrene and take up 25 to 40 percent more of the pollutant than untreated plants. https://phys.org/news/2014-11-probiotics-boost-detox-abilities-untreated.html Biotechnology Mon, 17 Nov 2014 12:35:24 EST news335450115 Lowering temperatures for two hours each day reduces the height of corn without affecting its seed yield, a Purdue study shows, a technique that could be used to grow crops in controlled-environment facilities in caves and former mines. https://phys.org/news/2014-05-corn-dwarfed-temperature-dip-suitable.html Biotechnology Mon, 12 May 2014 15:55:26 EDT news319128902 Plants have a love-hate relationship with sunlight. While some wavelengths are indispensable to them for performing photosynthesis, others, such as UV-B, are deleterious. Therefore, plants are equipped to detect these highly toxic rays and mount their defences. A team led by Roman Ulm, Professor at the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, has generated a transgenic plant which acclimatises constitutively, regardless of the level of UV-B. https://phys.org/news/2013-11-acclimatizes-exterior.html Biotechnology Mon, 25 Nov 2013 15:01:05 EST news304614054 Seeds of the model cereal plant Brachypodium distachyon are now available at the RIKEN BioResource Center (BRC) in Japan, the second bioresource facility to provide seeds of this important model plant to the international scientific community. https://phys.org/news/2013-04-riken-bioresource-center-seeds-cereal.html Biotechnology Fri, 05 Apr 2013 11:13:29 EDT news284379195 Smoking tobacco might be bad for your health, but a genetically altered version of the plant might provide a relatively inexpensive cure for the deadly rabies virus. In a new research report appearing in The FASEB Journal, scientists produced a monoclonal antibody in transgenic tobacco plants that was shown to neutralize the rabies virus. This new antibody works by preventing the virus from attaching to nerve endings around the bite site and keeps the virus from traveling to the brain. https://phys.org/news/2013-02-genetically-tobacco-antibodies-rabies.html Biotechnology Fri, 01 Feb 2013 10:29:54 EST news278936903 Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) has reacted very sceptically to the "alarming" results of a health study into the consequences of genetically modified maize. https://phys.org/news/2012-09-flanders-biotechnology-exceptionally-sceptical-seralini.html Biotechnology Thu, 20 Sep 2012 11:45:08 EDT news267360294 (Phys.org)—A gene that keeps switchgrass forever young could have far-reaching implications for the development of the plant as a biofuel crop, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists. https://phys.org/news/2012-09-immature-switchgrass-cellulosic-ethanol-industry.html Biotechnology Fri, 07 Sep 2012 06:20:01 EDT news266216717 New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Plant Biology shows how targeting two bacterial genes into an ornamental plant (Pelargonium), can produce long-lived and pollen-free plants. https://phys.org/news/2012-08-allergen-free-house.html Biotechnology Fri, 31 Aug 2012 02:41:42 EDT news265599690 (Phys.org)—Polyamines are widespread and important organic compounds involved in multiple cellular processes in living organisms. Their levels are highly regulated through a combination of processes including synthesis, breakdown and transport. However, the mechanisms of polyamine transport are still largely unknown. https://phys.org/news/2012-08-lessons-herbicide-tolerance.html Biotechnology Fri, 24 Aug 2012 08:20:02 EDT news265014725 Following herbivory, plants produce jasmonic acid, a hormone which activates several plant defense reactions. Scientists found that leafhoppers can evaluate whether tobacco plants are ready for defense when attacked. If jasmonate-signaling is activated, leafhoppers desist from feeding and test other plants. If the hormonal signaling system is dysfunctional, the herbivores start their attack. In field experiments, the leafhoppers proved as "bloodhounds" to locate plants hidden in natural populations which are naturally defective in jasmonate signaling. https://phys.org/news/2012-05-deterring-tobacco-advertise-defensive-readiness.html Biotechnology Wed, 23 May 2012 11:50:59 EDT news256992650 Researchers in Argentina have isolated a drought-resistant sunflower gene and spliced it into soy, bolstering hopes for improved yields as the South American agricultural powerhouse grapples with global warming. https://phys.org/news/2012-04-drought-resistant-argentine-soy.html Biotechnology Fri, 27 Apr 2012 04:50:01 EDT news254720110 (PhysOrg.com) -- Wheat's genetic resistance to Hessian flies has been failing, but a group of Purdue University and U.S. Department of Agriculture scientists believe that other plants may soon be able to come to the rescue. https://phys.org/news/2011-12-wheat-hessian-flies-scientists.html Biotechnology Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:23:24 EST news242929396