Tomato's wild ancestor is a genomic reservoir for plant breeders

Thousands of years ago, people in South America began domesticating Solanum pimpinellifolium, a weedy plant with small, intensely flavored fruit. Over time, the plant evolved into S. lycopersicum—the modern cultivated tomato.

Finding the missing step of an important molecular process

Lysine is an important amino acid that must be supplied in our diets, as our bodies can't produce lysine on their own. Most cereal grains have low levels of lysine, and scientists have worked to breed crops with higher lysine ...

How a mint became catmint

Catmint, also known as catnip, is well-known for its intoxicating effect on cats. The chemical responsible for the cats' strange behavior is nepetalactone, a volatile iridoid produced by catmint. An international team of ...

New study shines light on mysterious giant viruses

In recent years, giant viruses have been unearthed in several of the world's most mysterious locations, from the thawing permafrost of Siberia to locations unknown beneath the Antarctic ice. But don't worry, "The Thing" is ...

A model to decipher the complexity of gene regulation

How, where and when genes are expressed determine individual phenotypes. If gene expression is controlled by many regulatory elements, what, ultimately, controls them? And how does genetic variation affect them? The SysGenetiX ...

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