Corn spots: Study finds important genes in defense response

When corn plants come under attack from a pathogen, they sometimes respond by killing their own cells near the site of the attack, committing "cell suicide" to thwart further damage from the attacker. This cell sacrifice ...

Old ways help modern maize to defend itself

Many modern crops have high productivity, but have lost their ability to produce certain defence chemicals, making them vulnerable to attack by insects and pathogens. Swiss scientists are exploring ways to help protect 21st ...

New technology could help food crops thrive in crowded fields

(Phys.org) —With the global population expected to reach 9 billion by 2050, the world's farmers are going to need to produce a lot more food—but without using much more farmland, as the vast majority of the world's arable ...

First step to reduce plant need for nitrogen fertilizer uncovered

Nitrogen fertilizer costs U.S. farmers approximately $8 billion each year, and excess fertilizer can find its way into rivers and streams, damaging the delicate water systems. Now, a discovery by a team of University of Missouri ...

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