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 ...

Pretreating soil with ethanol protects plants from drought

Ethanol can help plants survive in times of drought says a new study conducted at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science in Japan. Led by Motoaki Seki, researchers show that adding ethanol to soil allows plants, ...

A single gene controls species diversity in an ecosystem

More than 50 years ago on the shoreline of a rocky tide pool, the US ecologist Robert Paine discovered that the removal of a single species from an ecosystem could dramatically alter its structure and function. He had discovered ...

The defensive arsenal of plant roots

Plants adapt to their nutritional needs by modifying the permeability of their roots through the production or degradation of a cork-like layer called suberin. By studying the regulation of this protective layer in Arabidopsis ...

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