Fine-tuning leaf angle with CRISPR improves sugarcane yield

Sugarcane is the world's largest crop by biomass yield, providing 80% of the sugar and 40% of the biofuel produced worldwide. The plant's size and efficient use of water and light make it a prime candidate to produce advanced ...

Fountain of youth for plants: E3 ligase's role in leaf longevity

A recent study uncovers the intricate molecular mechanisms that regulate leaf senescence in apple plants, focusing on the crucial role of the E3 ligase enzyme, MdPUB23, and its interaction with the ABI5 protein. This research ...

Leaf

A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants.

Typically a leaf is a thin, flattened organ borne above ground and specialized for photosynthesis, but many types of leaves are adapted in ways almost unrecognisable in those terms: not flat (such as many succulent leaves and conifers), not above ground (such as bulb scales), or without photosynthetic function (consider for example cataphylls, spines, and cotyledons).

Conversely, many structures of non-vascular plants, or even of some lichens, do look and function much like leaves. Several structures found in vascular plants look like leaves but have different structures; examples include phyllodes and phylloclades.

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