Medicinal plants thrive in biodiversity hotspots

With their rich repertoire of anti-infective substances, medicinal plants have always been key in the human fight to survive pathogens and parasites. The search for herbal drugs with novel structures and effects is still ...

When plant roots learned to follow gravity

Highly developed seed plants evolved deep root systems that are able to sense Earth's gravity. The how and when of this evolutionary step has, until now, remained unknown. Plant biologists at the Institute of Science and ...

Stress in crops points to surprising benefits

Stress is known as the "killer disease" and in humans it can lead to an increased risk of terminal issues such as heart attack or stroke. But now research conducted at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and published ...

Can a plant be altruistic?

The concept of altruism has long been debated in philosophical circles, and more recently, evolutionary biologists have joined the debate. From the perspective of natural selection, altruism may have evolved because any ...

Study unveils mysterious nature of RNA editing in plants

RNA (ribonucleic acid) editing is an important process for maintaining essential functions of encoded proteins at the RNA level. Recent studies show that RNA editing is a widespread phenomenon that occurs in various land ...

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