Some parasitic plants steal genetic material from their host plants and use the stolen genes to more effectively siphon off the host's nutrients. A new study led by researchers at Penn State and Virginia Tech reveals that ...
Biotechnology
Jul 22, 2019
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(Phys.org)—In sub-Saharan Africa, few agricultural parasites are as devastating to a wide variety of crops as Striga hermonthica, commonly known as witchweed. It chokes out such staple crops as sorghum, millet and rice, ...
A Virginia Tech scientist has discovered a potentially new form of plant communication, one that allows them to share an extraordinary amount of genetic information with one another.
Biotechnology
Aug 14, 2014
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(Phys.org) —Forget popular video game Plants Vs. Zombies, some plants are zombies and scientists have uncovered how bacterial parasites turn them into the living dead.
Biotechnology
Apr 9, 2014
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Powdery mildew is one of the most dreaded plant diseases: The parasitic fungus afflicts crops such as wheat and barley and is responsible for large harvest shortfalls every year. Beat Keller and Thomas Wicker, both plant ...
Biotechnology
Jul 14, 2013
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Bacteria that could help one of Africa's staple crops resist a major pest have been identified by researchers at the University of California, Davis. Their findings, published in Cell Reports, could improve yields of sorghum, ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 27, 2024
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If you happen to come across plants of the Balanophoraceae family in a corner of a forest, you might easily mistake them for fungi growing around tree roots. Their mushroom-like structures are actually inflorescences, composed ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 21, 2023
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271
Did you know one of the oldest life forms on Earth can be found in your backyard? Soil nematodes have been thriving in habitats around the world for at least 400 million years. Even though they are only 1/500th of an inch ...
Ecology
Sep 13, 2022
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71
Oregon State University fossil research has revealed an exquisite merger of art and science: a long-stemmed flower of a newly described plant species encased in a 30-million-year-old tomb together with a parasitic wasp.
Paleontology & Fossils
Jul 11, 2022
0
157
The sex and sexual characteristics constitute key aspects of an organism's life and are determined by a biological process known as sex determination. These ever-evolving mechanisms are broadly classified based on the type ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 21, 2022
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