News tagged with plant genetics

EU food agency rejects France ban on Monsanto GM maize

Europe's food safety agency EFSA on Monday rejected the grounds for a temporary French ban on a genetically modified strain of maize made by US company Monsanto.

Biology / Biotechnology

created May 21, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Plant growth without light control: Synthetic photoreceptor stimulates germination and development

Plants are dependent on the sun. Sunlight does not only supply them with energy, but also controls their development steps. So-called photoreceptors activate the processes of germination, leaf development, ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created May 16, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1

Tiny plants could cut costs, shrink environmental footprint

Tall, waving corn fields that line Midwestern roads may one day be replaced by dwarfed versions that require less water, fertilizer and other inputs, thanks to a fungicide commonly used on golf courses.

Biology / Biotechnology

created May 15, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (6) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Barley takes a leaf out of reindeer's book in the land of the midnight sun

Barley grown in Scandinavian countries is adapted in a similar way to reindeer to cope with the extremes of day length at high latitudes. Researchers have found a genetic mutation in some Scandinavian barley ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 11, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Crop root study to boost Australian grain production

Researchers at The University of Western Australia say that "next frontier" of agricultural science is understanding the root system and function of crop plants to significantly increase Australian grain production, ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created May 09, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Breeder works to reduce aluminum toxicity in rice

(Phys.org) -- As rice farmers around the world begin to turn from wet paddies to dry fields in an attempt to conserve water and mitigate climate change, they are facing a new foe: aluminum.

Biology / Biotechnology

created May 08, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Starch-controlling gene fuels protein

Researchers from Iowa State University (ISU) have introduced a newly discovered gene, found only in Arabidopsis thaliana plants, into soybean plants and increased the amount of protein in the soybean seeds ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created May 04, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

FANCM plays key role in inheritance

Scientists of KIT and the University of Birmingham have identified relevant new functions of a gene that plays a crucial role in Fanconi anemia, a life-threatening disease.

Biology / Biotechnology

created Apr 30, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Genetic markers for tracking species

At the supermarket checkout, hardly anybody enters prices manually anymore. Using scanners that can read the barcodes is much faster. Biologists now want to use a similar procedure for identifying domestic animal and plant ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Apr 25, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Precise molecular surgery in the plant genome

Crop plants have always been adapted to the needs of man by breeding for them to carry more fruit, survive droughts, or resist pests. Green biotechnology now adds new tools to the classical breeding methods ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Apr 24, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

A new approach to molecular plant breeding

(Phys.org) -- A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientist has shown researchers and plant breeders a better way to handle the massive amounts of data being generated by plant molecular studies, using ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Apr 18, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Scientists discover 'switch' in plants to create flowers

Flowering is the most crucial act that plants undergo, as the fruits of such labor include crops on which the world depends, and seeds from which the next generation grows.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Apr 17, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 2

Licorice root found to contain anti-diabetic substance

It provides the raw material for liquorice candy, calms the stomach and alleviates diseases of the airways: liquorice root. Chosen as the "Medicinal plant 2012", the root has been treasured in traditional healing since ancient ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Apr 17, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Using math to feed the world

In the race to breed better crops to feed the increasing world population, scientists at The University of Nottingham are using maths to find out how a vital plant hormone affects growth.

Other Sciences / Mathematics

created Apr 17, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Plants and animals under greater threat due to climate change

Plant and animal species can lose their ability to adapt as a result of climate change. This is shown by research performed by Marleen Cobben with which she hopes to obtain her doctorate at Wageningen University on April ...

Biology / Ecology

created Apr 16, 2012 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (3) | comments 2