How grasses avoid inbreeding

Corn, rice, wheat, sugar caneā€”the grass family contains a number of species that are important food sources for humans and have been bred and cultivated for millennia. Wild and farm animals, too, depend heavily on grasses ...

Rice breeding breakthrough could feed billions

An international team has succeeded in propagating a commercial hybrid rice strain as a clone through seeds with 95 percent efficiency. This could lower the cost of hybrid rice seed, making high-yielding, disease resistant ...

Increasing crop yields by breeding plants to cooperate

A simple breeding experiment, combined with genetic analysis, can rapidly uncover genes that promote cooperation and higher yields of plant populations, according to a new study published November 29 in the open access journal ...

Plant hormones to help prevent Striga invasion

As part of a multipronged approach to prevent infestations by the parasitic plant Striga hermonthica, researchers are unraveling the role of plant hormones, known as strigolactones (SLs). Their latest research is published ...

An insect pest acquires multiple plant genes

The silverleaf whitefly is a major crop pest in the tropics and subtropics. After studying its genome, an INRAE researcher and a CNRS researcher identified 49 plant genes transferred to the insect's own genome.

Engineering duckweed to produce oil for biofuels, bioproducts

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory and collaborators at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) have engineered duckweed to produce high yields of oil. The team added genes to one of ...

Decoding how bacteria talk with each other

Bacteria, the smallest living organisms in the world, form communities where unified bodies of individuals live together, contribute a share of the property and share common interests.

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