The genome of the parasitic plant Striga, commonly known as witchweed, has been sequenced for the first time by RIKEN plant geneticists. This genetic analysis both offers insights into how parasitic plants evolved and a tool ...
Biotechnology
Dec 6, 2019
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5
Scientists from Wageningen University & Research (WUR) and scale-up Solynta, the inventor of hybrid potato breeding, have published the most complete genome sequence for potatoes to date. A unique aspect is that both sequence ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 28, 2019
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5
Humans, the latest tally suggests, have approximately 21,000 genes in our genome, the set of genetic information in an organism. But do we really need every gene we have? What if we lost three or four? What if we lost 3,000 ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 28, 2019
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5
Gene sequences for more than 1100 plant species have been released by an international consortium of nearly 200 plant scientists, the culmination of a nine-year research project.
Evolution
Oct 23, 2019
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1020
Neither living nor non-living, viruses are generally strange. Among viruses, multipartite viruses are among the most peculiar—their genome is not packed into many particles rather than one. Multipartite viruses primarily ...
General Physics
Oct 2, 2019
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10
The mitochondrion, "the powerhouse of the cell." Somewhere back in the very distant past, something like a bacterium moved into another cell and never left, retaining some of its own DNA. For billions of years, mitochondria ...
Biotechnology
Sep 23, 2019
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52
Since they first arrived on land, plants have likely been using the same genetic tools to regulate whether they grow bigger or reproduce. The discovery was made using liverwort, one descendant of the first plants to move ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 19, 2019
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7
To the casual observer, Japanese stiltgrass appears as a harmless, leafy green plant that blends into the majestic scenery of your weekend hike through the woods.
Ecology
Sep 11, 2019
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42
Iron is essential for plant growth, but with heavy rainfall and poor aeration, many acidic soils become toxic with excess iron. In countries with dramatic flood seasons, such as in West Africa and tropical Asia, toxic iron ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 29, 2019
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87
According to the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO), global cocoa bean production in 2017-2018 was 4.6 million metric tons. The global chocolate brands couldn't exist without cocoa. But today the plant is under threat ...
Biotechnology
Jul 22, 2019
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6
