Scientists make advances in breeding high-resistant-starch rice

Scientists have shown that the loss of function of two paralogous starch biosynthetic genes contributes to an increase in resistant starch (RS) content in cooked rice, providing insights into the generation of high-RS varieties ...

Reconstructing the evolutionary history of detoxifying enzymes

Our body produces lots of enzymes that break down toxic substances. One class of such enzymes are the flavin-containing monooxygenases (FMOs), which are present in all tetrapods. Humans have five different FMO genes, of which ...

Plants can measure the intensity of salt stress

Unfavorable environmental conditions represent considerable stress for plants. A high level of salt content (sodium chloride, NaCl) in the soil is just such a stressor that has a negative impact on plants. Salinization is ...

For plant geneticists, some genes are double the trouble

When plant geneticists find a gene that improves crop yields, they want to try to insert that same change into other crops. But Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Professor and HHMI Investigator Zachary Lippman cautions that ...

How grasses like wheat can grow in the cold

A new, large-scale analysis of the relationships among members of the largest subfamily of grasses, which includes wheat and barley, reveals gene-duplication events that contributed to the adaptation of the plants to cooler ...

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