A new study by a Wits University scientist has overturned a long-standing hypothesis about plant speciation (the formation of new and distinct species in the course of evolution), suggesting that agricultural crops could ...
Ecology
Feb 20, 2014
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The abundance of crop pests in developing countries may be greatly underestimated, posing a significant threat to some of the world's most important food producing nations, according to research led by the University of Exeter.
Ecology
Feb 10, 2014
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The grass species known as the purple false brome, Brachypodium distachyon, has great potential as a model plant for research due to its short generation time, small size, small genome and ease of breeding. These features ...
Biotechnology
Dec 13, 2013
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To most people pest management brings up images of rats, cockroaches and chemical spraying. Poisoning vermin and insect is only one minor, albeit important, aspect of pest management. Few people know about the intellectual ...
Ecology
Nov 5, 2013
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Over the past few decades, crop breeders have increasingly relied on the wild and weedy relatives of domesticated crops as new sources of disease resistance, drought tolerance, and other traits. But just like all wild plant ...
Ecology
Oct 2, 2013
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The tiny diamondback moth (scientific name: Plutella xylostella) gets its common name from the array of diamond shapes along the margin of its forewing. Despite their diminutive size, the caterpillars of the diamondback moth ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 29, 2013
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A consortium of researchers from The University of Queensland, the Queensland Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF Qld) and BGI has discovered that sorghum, a drought-tolerant African crop, holds vastly ...
Biotechnology
Aug 27, 2013
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Alabama Extension specialist and Auburn University professor Xing Ping Hu is gaining insight into the virulent kudzu bug, including the discovery of a native predator that could go a long way toward reducing the pest's numbers.
Ecology
Jul 23, 2013
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Remove even one bumblebee species from an ecosystem and the impact is swift and clear: Their floral "sweethearts" produce significantly fewer seeds, a new study finds.
Plants & Animals
Jul 22, 2013
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Better use of the world's seed banks could help provide a practical solution to future food shortages, according to an article in Nature, co-authored by a Natural History Museum scientist.
Biotechnology
Jul 19, 2013
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