An international team of researchers has sequenced the genome of the tobacco hornworm—a caterpillar species used in many research laboratories for studies of insect biology.
Biotechnology
Aug 15, 2016
0
458
In a significant advancement in the field of biochemistry, scientists at the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) and Cornell University have uncovered new insights into a family of metabolites, acylspermidines, that could change ...
Biochemistry
Jan 2, 2024
0
92
Thousands of years ago, people in South America began domesticating Solanum pimpinellifolium, a weedy plant with small, intensely flavored fruit. Over time, the plant evolved into S. lycopersicum—the modern cultivated tomato.
Ecology
Dec 1, 2020
1
805
Researchers at the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) and Virginia Tech have discovered a new mechanism in the continual arms race between plants and pathogenic bacteria, which tomatoes use to detect the causal agent of bacterial ...
Biotechnology
Sep 1, 2016
0
318
Some 500 million years ago—when our continents were likely connected in a single land mass and most life existed underwater—hornworts were one of the first groups of plants to colonize land. But biologists have never ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 13, 2020
0
390
Imagine a small fruit that tastes like a cross between a tomato and a pineapple, wrapped in its own natural paper lantern. That's the groundcherry (Physalis grisea)—a little-known relative of tomatoes that's been quietly ...
Biotechnology
Jul 18, 2024
0
301
Researchers have sequenced the genome of the whitefly (Bemisia tabici), an invasive insect responsible for spreading plant viruses worldwide, causing billions of dollars in crop losses each year.
Biotechnology
Dec 14, 2016
0
255
The high quality genome sequence of the dry jujube, along with sequences from trees throughout its range, have illuminated the domestication history of this ancient fruit tree, which humans have grown for more than 7,000 ...
Biotechnology
Dec 22, 2016
0
15
Researchers from the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and collaborators in China and France have produced the first high-quality genome sequence for the bottle gourd (Lagenaria ...
Biotechnology
Dec 1, 2017
0
82
Plants and the animals that eat them have evolved together in fascinating ways, creating a dynamic interplay of survival strategies. Many plants have developed physical and chemical defenses to fend off herbivores. A well-known ...
Plants & Animals
May 30, 2024
0
106
