Plant hormones influence growth and development by acting on specific cells and tissues. However, determining precisely where and when a hormone needs to act has been challenging because conventional hormone treatment generally ...
Molecular & Computational biology
10 hours ago
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9
Scientists have discovered a hidden layer of identity in plant root cells: an "environmental mode" that switches on in some cells and becomes more common when water is scarce. The study, led by Dr. Marina Oliva and professor ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 22, 2026
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53
Most plants do not gather nutrients from the soil entirely on their own. Many form partnerships with microscopic fungi that grow inside their roots and extend into the surrounding soil. These partnerships, known as arbuscular ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Oct 21, 2026
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12
Reindeer grazing changes the vegetation of northern pine forests below ground as well as above it. In a recent study in Finland, trees and understory vegetation in grazed forests had nearly 30% less shallow-root biomass than ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 21, 2026
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10
A plant's roots do much of their work out of sight, pulling in water and nutrients and holding the plant in place. That makes it hard to see how plants respond when conditions underground change, and how a warming climate ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 16, 2026
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26
Arabidopsis thaliana, a small flowering mustard plant used worldwide as the primary genetic model in plant biology, was long believed incapable of forming relationships with underground fungal networks. New research published ...
Ecology
Oct 16, 2026
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156
A new study led by Paul Schulze-Lefert from the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne, in collaboration with Ricardo F.H. Giehl at the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research in Gatersleben, ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 9, 2026
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72
When plant roots are injured—by insects, for example—the pressure inside the root drops, and a pressure wave spreads rapidly throughout the root system. In neighboring roots, tiny proteins that act as mechanical pressure ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 25, 2026
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41
Research scientist Ashish Rajurkar kneels in the dirt, lifting a large clod of soil tangled around a soybean plant. He knocks away pieces of earth from the plant's roots, which slope straight down instead of out to the side ...
Agriculture
Sep 18, 2026
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49
Scientists have identified the mechanisms that allow plants to change their root anatomy to maximize survival when nutrients are scarce. The findings could pave the way for developing new ways to improve beneficial plant-microbe ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 11, 2026
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