Scientists engineer yellow-seeded camelina with high oil output

Efforts to achieve net-zero carbon emissions from transportation fuels are increasing demand for oil produced by nonfood crops. These plants use sunlight to power the conversion of atmospheric carbon dioxide into oil, which ...

Scientists identify gene that could lead to resilient 'pixie' corn

A widely found gene in plants has been newly identified as a key transporter of a hormone that influences the size of corn. The discovery offers plant breeders a new tool to develop desirable dwarf varieties that could enhance ...

Scientists discover mechanism plants use to control 'mouths'

Because breathing is generally involuntary, we sometimes forget how complicated it is. But biologists are gaining new insight into the intricate process in plants, with big implications for how to feed the world in the future.

Increasing crop yields by breeding plants to cooperate

A simple breeding experiment, combined with genetic analysis, can rapidly uncover genes that promote cooperation and higher yields of plant populations, according to a new study published November 29 in the open access journal ...

Breedbase software to help speed crop improvement

To help plant breeders speed crop improvement around the world, Lukas Mueller of the Boyce Thompson Institute worked with an international team of 57 people to create Breedbase, a database software that was described in the ...

Fighting climate change with heat-tolerant plants

Climate change is causing major challenges especially for plant breeders. An intelligent field robot and X-ray technology are helping them selecting heat-tolerant plant varieties. The sensors in the high-tech machine were ...

Shedding light on more efficient ways to breed cassava

Crop breeders are always looking for ways to improve a crop. They know that even small differences in quality and quantity can mean big differences in profits for farmers. So, making the breeding process faster and cheaper ...

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