Hormones that guide root growth rates revealed

A plant's roots grow and spread into the soil, taking up necessary water and minerals. The tip of a plant's root is a place of active cell division followed by cell elongation, with different zones dedicated to different ...

An inside look at how plants and mycorrhizal fungi cooperate

For millions of years, underground fungi have lived in symbiosis with plant roots. Plants provide photosynthesized carbon, while fungi deliver water and nutrients. In order to do so, these organisms share space at the cellular ...

Electricity from the marshes

An unexpected source of new, clean energy has been found: the Plant-Microbial Fuel Cell that can generate electricity from the natural interaction between living plant roots and soil bacteria. The technique already works ...

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 ...

Plant root hairs form outward due to shank hardening

A group of international researchers has discovered how plant root hair grows straight and long. Many studies of root hair growth have been performed, but the molecular mechanism for the suppression of growth on the sides ...

Hitting back at 'wiretapping' parasite

Dodder vines are parasitic plants that suck water, nutrients and information from other plants as they spread over them. Plant biologists at the University of California, Davis, have now shown that they can make plants resistant ...

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