Poaceae is a large monocotyledonous plant family encompassing the true grasses, characterized by herbaceous, often culm-forming stems with hollow internodes, leaves composed of sheaths, ligules, and linear blades, and a distinctive inflorescence of spikelets bearing reduced, wind-pollinated florets. Flowers are typically subtended by glumes and lemmas, with lodicules facilitating anthesis, and produce single-seeded dry fruits (caryopses) in which the seed coat is fused to the pericarp. Poaceae exhibits C3, C4, and intermediate photosynthetic pathways, occupies diverse terrestrial habitats worldwide, and plays central roles in primary productivity, biogeochemical cycling, and the evolution of grass-dominated ecosystems.
A team of international scientists, including researchers at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, reports a major advance in sorghum genomics: a powerful new resource designed to speed discovery of traits that help crops ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Mar 12, 2026
0
17
An international team of researchers has uncovered a remarkable molecular trick used by a unique group of land plants, one that could eventually be engineered into crops like wheat and rice to dramatically boost how efficiently ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Mar 5, 2026
1
102
Due to climate change, agriculture is facing an unprecedented transformation. While Germany was hardly affected by massive crop failures for decades, the picture has changed drastically since 2015. Since then, heat waves ...
Ecology
Mar 5, 2026
0
12
A new study suggests that decades of reported gains in crop yields from plant breeding may be significantly overstated, challenging a common method used worldwide to measure genetic progress. The international research team ...
Ecology
Mar 4, 2026
0
16
For vegans and people who are allergic to dairy, nuts or gluten, rice is a surprising source to make a hypoallergenic alternative cheese. As a bonus, the protein sources in rice are considered byproducts of white rice processing, ...
Biotechnology
Mar 4, 2026
0
15
Native forest restoration usually starts with faster growing "nurse plants" that provide shelter under which to plant bigger trees—but new research suggests some big canopy trees can be planted early too. Scientists monitored ...
Ecology
Mar 3, 2026
0
86
Almost all plants live in close symbiosis with so-called mycorrhizal fungi—an important symbiosis for absorbing essential nutrients. In their new study, a team led by ecologist Christina Kaiser from the Center for Microbiology ...
Ecology
Mar 3, 2026
0
99
Plants are fast-tracking their own evolution by "plugging in" genetic code stolen from their neighbors, according to new research that reveals the secret to their own successful genetic engineering. The study, led by Catherine ...
Evolution
Mar 2, 2026
0
15
A new accounting of nitrogen pollution in the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin (MARB) reveals a significant decline in recent decades, suggesting positive momentum for water quality goals in local watersheds and the Gulf ...
Ecology
Mar 2, 2026
0
10
In the search for climate-friendly foods, scientists have spent decades reimagining what grows in the field. But a quieter question has lingered in the background: Will anyone actually want to eat it? A new study in the journal ...
Agriculture
Feb 26, 2026
0
17
