A prion-related protein senses warmer temperature in plants

Many plants and trees flower in the spring when it gets warmer. How plants sense Scientists from the UK, France, Korea and Germany focused on a protein called EARLY FLOWERING3 (ELF3). ELF3 is a key part of the circadian clock ...

Plant tissue engineering improves drought and salinity tolerance

After several years of experimentation, scientists have engineered thale cress, or Arabidopsis thaliana, to behave like a succulent, improving water-use efficiency, salinity tolerance and reducing the effects of drought. ...

Editing plant chromosomes using molecular scissors

The CRISPR/Cas molecular scissors work like a fine surgical instrument and can be used to modify genetic information in plants. The research teams of Professor Holger Puchta of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and ...

Longevity gene discovered in plants

Harvesting rice from the same field, without planting new rice plants? A discovery may bring this scenario closer. Leiden scientists have discovered a gene that allows annual plants to grow after flowering, instead of dying. ...

Mutation reduces energy waste in plants

To this end, the team identified several thousand proteins, determined their respective amounts in mutant and reference lines and combined the findings with measurements of photosynthetic performance. Their findings were ...

Safeguarding chloroplasts from sunburn

Intense sunlight damages the chloroplasts that are essential for photosynthesis, and generates toxic products that can lead to cell death. LMU biologists have now identified a signaling pathway which mitigates the effects ...

Putting a finger on plant stress response

Post-translational modification is the process whereby proteins are modified after their initial biosynthesis. Modification can take many forms, including enzymatic cleavage of the protein or the addition of sugars, lipids, ...

Herringbone pattern in plant cell walls critical to cell growth

Plant cells tend to grow longer instead of wider due to the alignment of the many layers of cellulose that make up their cell walls, according to a new study that may have implications for biofuels research. The study, which ...

page 9 from 31