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Sweet Potato Protection is More Than Skin Deep

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries , Plant Diseases and Pests

Thank you again to Claire Thompson for providing another entry:

Researchers from the USDA's Agricultural Research Service have found beneficial compounds in sweet potatoes that provide protection against plant diseases. The research team found measurable amounts of protective compounds called caffeoylquinic acids, which act as antioxidants against several types of plant fungi.

Links:

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:42 PM | Comments (0)

 


"Extinct" flower found in Isle of Man garden

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

Claire Thompson, UBC BG work-study student, provides another write-up:

A cultivar of gladiolus thought to be extinct has been found in a garden on the Isle of Man. Gardener Edward Huyton has since donated individuals for propagation to the National Trust in England.

Links:

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 7:00 AM | Comments (0)

 


"A Guardian of Grasses"

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries , Plants, Food and Medicine

Researchers from Purdue University and the USDA's Agricultural Research Service have discovered that many of the world's grass food crops (e.g., corn, barley, rice, rye) depend on the Hm1 gene or one of its homologues (genes similar in structure and evolutionary origin) to prevent death from a leaf blight and mold disease caused by the fungus Cochliobolus carbonum race 1 (CCR1). As the abstract for the scientific article states, "Given the devastating ability of CCR1 to kill maize, these findings imply that the evolution and/or geographical distribution of grasses may have been constrained if Hm1 did not emerge."

Grasses' Guardian Gene Found via the USDA's Agricultural Research Service.

Sindhu et al. 2008. A guardian of grasses: Specific origin and conservation of a unique disease-resistance gene in the grass lineage. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA. 105(5): 1762-1767. 10.1073/pnas.0711406105

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 3:37 PM | Comments (0)

 


Rapid Evolution in Crepis

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

Researchers from the Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE) in Montpellier, France have observed rapid evolution in a population of Crepis sancta (Asteraceae) in response to the urban environment.

Crepis sancta produces two types of seeds (i.e., it has dimorphic seeds): a small seed with a pappus and a large seed without. The seed with the pappus favours high dispersal, while the seed without a pappus falls to the ground near the parent plant. In a comparison of urban and rural populations of Crepis sancta, the researchers discovered that the urban populations produced far fewer of the pappus-borne seeds. The hypothesis is that the populations have shifted away from producing pappus-borne seeds because of low germination rates in urban environments — in as few as five generations.

Plant seeds adapt to ‘city life’ via the BBC.

Thanks to Stannous F for sending along the story!

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 2:03 PM

 


WWF: New Species Found in Vietnam

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

The World Wide Fund for Nature (aka World Wildlife Fund in Canada and USA) recently announced the discovery of eleven new species in the Thua Thien Hue province of central Vietnam (also known as the “Green Corridor”). Among the eleven new species are seven kinds of plants: five orchids, one member of the arum family and an Aspidistra species.

New Species Found in Vietnam's Green Corridor news release from WWF

National Geographic has details about some of the plants, including photographs: Gastrodia theana, Saccolabiopsis viridiflora, Anoectochilus annamenis and Aspidistra nicolai.

Thank you to Stannous F of San Francisco and Stephanie K of Vancouver for submitting this story within minutes of each other!

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 4:40 PM

 


New Plant Family: The Simulcraceae

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

In a Scientific American article entitled “Floral Derangement”, Steve Mirsky highlights an article by Bletter et al. published in the April 1 issue of Ethnobotany Research and Applications: “Artificae Plantae: The Taxonomy, Ecology, and Ethnobotany of the Simulacraceae”. In the paper, seventeen genera of fake flora are described: Calciumcarbonatia, Celadonica, Conglomeratium, Dentumadhesivium, Ductusadhesivia, Granitus, Lignus, Metallicus, Papyroidia, Paraffinius, Photophyta, Plasticus, Polystyrin, Prophylactica, Silicus, Simulaca, and Textile.

Read more about the Simulcraceae on the web site dedicated to the family, Simulcraceae.org, or read the original paper: Bletter N, Reynertson KA and JV Runk. 2007. Artificae Plantae: The taxonomy, ecology, and ethnobotany of the Simulacraceae. Ethnobotany Research and Applictions. 5: 159-177.

Thank you to Stannous F for suggesting this article for the garden's weblog!

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 11:44 AM

 


Plants Recognize Siblings

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

Canadian scientists Sue Dudley and Amanda File of McMaster University have discovered that plants of Cakile edentula (sea rocket) allocate more resources to root-growth (and are hence more competitive) when grown with non-sibling plants in the same containers. When grown with sibling plants, the plants do not show the same phenomenon. The question “How do plants recognize their siblings?” is as-yet unanswered.

Plants Recognize Their Siblings, Biologists Discover from the McMaster Daily News

Plants Can Tell Who's Who via news@nature.com

Thank you to Stannous F and Junglekeeper@UBC Botanical Garden Forums for sharing this story with me.

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:32 PM

 


Early Trees Discovery

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

A recent discovery of a complete fossil sample of the world's oldest known trees has solved a botanical mystery and now gives an idea of the structure of the world's first forests.

In the late 1800s, fossil tree trunks were discovered in upstate New York that were identified as being between 390 and 350 million years old, among the world's oldest known trees (more accurate methods in recent years have dated the fossils to 385 million years ago, the oldest known). A member of the extinct plant order Cladoxylopsida (closely related to ferns and sphenopsids), the trunks were assigned to the genus Eospermatopteris. However, no fossil foliage or fruiting bodies accompanied the trunks. Subsequent discoveries of other cladoxylopsid fossils continued to yield only incomplete specimens – either trunks or foliage. This group included the fossil genus Wattieza, previously known only from foliage.

Two years ago, a discovery on the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation quarry in Schoharie County revealed a complete fossil that united the foliage of Wattieza with the trunk of Eospermatopteris, solving a botanical mystery.

The appearance of early forests is now easier to imagine, populated by (at least) 8m (26 ft.) tall tree-fern-like plants. They seem to have had naked trunks and bore a large crown of branches at the apex. The branches are thought to have abscised (dropped from the tree) as frond-like modules, allowing forest litter to accumulate and likely spurring the evolution of arthropod fauna.

Thanks to Peter Wharton and Aussiebob@UBC Botanical Garden Forums for submitting this item.

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:29 PM

 


A New Understanding of the Early Evolution of Flowering Plants

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries , Plant Relationships

Text courtesy of Dr. Sean Graham:

A research team led by scientists at the UBC Botanical Garden & Centre for Plant Research announce a startling discovery in the March 15, 2007 issue of Nature concerning Hydatellaceae, an obscure family of dwarf, aquatic flowering plants. The researchers, led by garden researchers Associate Professor Sean Graham and his graduate students Jeffery Saarela (now at the Canadian Museum of Nature) and Hardeep Rai, discovered that these plants, once thought to be diminutive relatives of grasses and rushes, instead belong near the very root of the evolutionary tree of flowering plants. They have the water lilies as their closest living relatives. The flowering plants began to diversify at least 135 million years ago, in the age of the dinosaurs.

Graham and his students collaborated on this project with colleagues at the University of California, Davis, the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney, Australia, the University of Zurich, and Harvard University. The researcher team examined numerous genes from the two genera of Hydatellaceae, Hydatella and Trithuria. Their results are supported with a detailed consideration of Hydatellaceae plant anatomy and morphology.

The family Hydatellaceae has about ten species in two genera, Hydatella and Trithuria. The plants stand a few centimetres tall (or less) at maturity, and have multiple, minute, unisexual flowers (each lacking petals and sepals) that are collected into a compact flowering head. They grow and flower under water (up to a depth of a metre), or at the edges of drying pools. Hydatellaceae were previously thought to be monocots (a large and diverse group of the flowering plants that includes grasses, sedges, gingers, palms and onions) – largely on the basis of their narrow, pointed leaves. They are native to Australia, India and New Zealand.

The family is rather poorly known, and many details of its biology remain to be discovered. Today’s announcement overturns some previous ideas on the early evolution of flowering plants such as the water lilies – and is the first time that a family has been ejected from the monocots.

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 11:00 AM

 


Ice Caps Not The Only Thing Heating Up

Category(-ies): Climate Change , Plant Discoveries

A recent study from UC Irvine suggests that plants with frequent generational turnover (such as annual weeds) may be more resilient to the effects of global warming than slower-growing plants. The ability to evolve rapidly to keep up with climate change is cited as the reason.

Rapid evolutionary change may help annual plants cope with global warming better than long-living species via the University of California, Irvine

Profile for Dr. Arthur Weis of the Center for Evolutionary Genetics at UC Irvine

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 9:24 AM

 


Bioluminescent Mushrooms

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

“How and why did luminescence evolve in fungi?” is the question being asked by researchers from the University of São Paulo, San Francisco State University in California and Brazil's Institute of Botany

New Glowing Mushrooms Found in Brazil, a photo gallery and article on National Geographic News

Laboratório de Bioluminescência de Fungos, the lab of Cassius Stevani.

Photographs of Bioluminescent Fungi

Thanks to Stannous F for submitting the link to me!

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 3:18 PM

 


Because They Can't Wear Toques

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

Bees seem to preferentially visit warm flowers to help maintain body temperature and conserve energy. Previously, they were believed to visit flowers based solely on pollen and nectar abundance.

Bees Get Buzz From Warm Flowers - via the BBC

Thanks to “Junglekeeper” on the UBC Botanical Garden Forums for pointing out this story.

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 3:53 PM

 


Egyptian Tomb Holds Flowers

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

Submitted by a frequent UBC web site visitor (thanks Stan!):

Newly discovered pharaonic tomb reveals flowers, not mummies via Discover Channel Online Canada

Further reading (link also provided by Stan): Egyptian artifacts in the Botanischen Museum Berlin-Dahlem (the Botanical Museum of Berlin-Dahlem)

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 2:59 PM | Comments (1)

 


Holcoglossum amesianum

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

Orchid Does 360-degree Twist to Self-Pollinate via the CBC

Orchid Has “Active” Sex With Itself – A Flower First? (2 pages) from National Geographic News

Liu et. al. 2006. Pollination: Self-fertilization strategy in an orchid. Nature. 441: 945-946. (requires subscription to access)

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 11:03 AM | Comments (0)

 


Increased Competition for Pollen May Lead to Plant Extinctions

Category(-ies): Plant Conservation , Plant Discoveries

A recently completed analysis of 482 field experiments conducted on flowering plants reveals marked deficits in pollination in areas with rich biodiversity as compared to less-diverse ecosystems. Researchers theorize that the abundance of different species results in stronger competition for pollinators and sufficient pollen for maximum fruit production cannot be delivered. It is not known if this is a new pattern due to declines in pollinators or is a chronic problem for plant species in global biodiversity hotspots. The findings raise the question of how habitat destruction and fragmentation are affecting the risk of extinction to plants in such competitive environments.

Link:
Increased Competition for Pollen May Lead to Plant Extinctions from Kansas City infoZine

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 4:26 PM | Comments (0)

 


Adapting Crops for Climate Change

Category(-ies): Climate Change , Plant Discoveries

UK researchers have uncovered a gene that may help in the development of crops able to cope with a changing climate. Responding to changing day length, the Ppd-H1 gene controls the timing of other genes that trigger flowering. Variations in the gene shift the bloom time of barley plants. Climate change is expected to produce drier hotter summers in Britain. The findings could be used by plant breeders to develop an earlier flowering barley that could survive summer droughts. Researchers expect to find similar genes in other crops.

Link:
Growing Crops To Cope With Climate Change from ScienceDailey

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 3:39 PM | Comments (0)

 


Resurrected Plant Yields Genetic Clues to Drought Stress

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

A newly discovered gene that regulates lipid synthesis in plants, appears to play a role in embryo development and drought stress. Researchers at Purdue University made the discovery in a plant with a mutated version of the gene. While the gene does not play a direct role in embryo formation, it regulates the production of waxy lipids, which are important in preventing dehydration in developing plant tissues.

A plant that is unable to produce sufficient lipids cannot develop healthy embryos and will abort many or all of its seeds. Researchers hope the findings will lead to the development of crops that retain more of their fruit and seeds.

Link: Newly recognized gene mutation may reduce seeds, resurrect plants a Purdue University news release

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 10:57 AM | Comments (0)

 


Gene that Controls Plant Size Discovered

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

Washington State University researchers have identified a gene that directs the production of plant chemicals related to growth and size. By altering the gene, scientists were able to reduce the overall mature size of plants. Elimination of the gene, "resulted in a ground-hugging rosette of leaves with very little vertical growth." The findings could be used to produce plants in sizes that fit the needs of the grower. Dwarf plants often make good crop plants; energy saved on stem and leaf growth can be directed to the production of fruit and seeds, while their smaller size is more resistant to wind and weather.

The investigators worked primarily with arabidopsis, but genes with similar function were found in all plants that were studied. The gene functions as part of a "calcium messenger system", which has been poorly understood in plants.

Link:

Small Plants Loom Large: WSU Researchers Find a Key to Plant Growth a news release from Washington State University

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 2:51 PM | Comments (1)

 


Getting to the Root of Tree Death

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries , Plants in the Landscape

The life span of trees planted in our home and urban landscapes often falls far short of their typical natural duration. Linda Chalker-Scott of Washington State University thinks the primary reason that so many transplanted trees fail, is poor root development caused by improper but common planting methods. Through research and experience she has developed techniques to encourage healthy root development in transplanted trees and shrubs.

Continue reading "Getting to the Root of Tree Death"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 4:30 PM | Comments (0)

 


Auction of Jurassic Trees Brings in Over a Million Dollars

Category(-ies): Other Botanical Gardens , Plant Conservation , Plant Discoveries

The Wollemi pine, a tree thought to have been extinct for millions of years, was discovered in Australia in 1994. Since then, the species has been a focus of fascination for botanists. Wollemia nobilis apparently survived in isolation in a small pocket of sheltered forest about 150 kilometres north of Sydney. Fewer than 40 adult trees in two small groves were discovered in the wild. The exact location of the groves has been kept secret.

The Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney held a special exhibition to promote and fund research and preservation of the Wollemi pine. A display grove was created from the first generation of plants grown from cuttings taken from the wild trees. 292 of the rare trees offered in an international Sotheby's auction at the close of the exhibition, raised over $ 1 million for conservation efforts.

Links:

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 2:08 PM | Comments (0)

 


Green Glow Attracts Pollinators

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

Scientists at University of Murcia in Spain have discovered a pigment in flowers that produces a green fluorescence. It appears that the glow is emitted to attract pollinators. Researchers extracted the pigments from Mirabilis jalapa flowers. Visible fluorescent patterns as a method of luring pollinators had not been observed in plants before.

Link: Flowers that glow green to attract the bees from the Telegraph

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 9:47 AM

 


New Findings on the Development of Maize from Teosinte

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

Many people believe that corn, the most important crop to early American societies, developed from teosinte, a wild Mexican grass. The differences between the two are great and some doubt the possibility that corn could have developed directly from the wild plant. For example teosinte seeds have a hard shell that is difficult to crack whereas corn kernels are exposed. New research shows that this difference, perhaps the greatest differences between the two, is controlled by a single gene.

A research team led by University of Wisconsin geneticist John Doebley, made the discovery from analysis of the genetics of plants from an experimental plot of teosinte-maize hybrids. Professor Doebley feels that this single mutation would have made teosinte a useful crop, after which human selection could have led to the development of modern corn.

Link: A single gene controls a key difference between maize and its wild ancestor a University of Wisconsin news release

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 10:00 AM | Comments (0)

 


Protein that Brings out Fall Colour Identified

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

Plant pigments are bound to specific proteins. In the fall, environmental changes signal the plant to break down the protein that is bonded to the chlorophyll, so that the plant can recycle the amino acids. As the green pigment fades other pigments found in the leaves of the plants can be seen, resulting in the bright autumn splendor enjoyed in temperate regions.

Researchers at Umeå Plant Science Centre have identified a protease, a type of protein that degrades other proteins, that appears to be responsible for the breakdown of the protein bonded to chlorophyll.

Link: Protein Behind Autumn Colour Splendour Identified from I-Newswire.com

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 9:44 AM | Comments (0)

 


Salt-Resistant Gene of Rice Cloned

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

Chinese scientists have cloned a rice gene that provides salt-resistance. The gene, called SKC1, was taken from an ancient salt-resistant rice variety native to the Shanghai area. The gene works by balancing the levels of sodium and potassium (refered to by the Latin, Natrium and Kalium in the article) in the plants. Excess sodium is transfered to the roots, leaving space for potassium, necessary for plant growth, in the upper parts.

Chinese scientists hope to develop salt-resistant crop varieties through crossbreeding over the next few years. The new rice will be a great benefit to agriculture in a China, which has about one tenth of the world's saline lands.

Link: Salt-Resistant Gene of Rice Cloned from China View

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 1:56 PM | Comments (1)

 


New Dwarfing Rootstocks for Peaches Developed

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries , Plants, Food and Medicine

After a decade of testing in California's prime peach growing region, two new dwarfing rootstocks have been developed and patented for use with peach and nectarine trees. The new rootstocks produce trees 10% to 50% shorter than standard orchard varieties. With closer spacing the trees should produce about the same quantity of fruit as traditional orchard trees, but will be easier to maintain and harvest.

Link: Peach and Nectarine Trees: Picking the Perfect Height from the Agricultural Research Service of the US Department of Agriculture.

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 1:41 PM | Comments (0)

 


Monitoring the 'Grass of the Sea'

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

Phytoplankton, free-floating microscopic marine plants, are the base of the ocean's food chain. When conditions are favourable large 'blooms' of the algae can form. These blooms can de-oxygenate the water, devastating populations of sea life in the area. Some types of phytoplankton are also toxic to fish and humans.

Monitoring phytoplankton blooms can provide valuable warning for fisheries and public health officials. Satelite imaging systems, such as Envisat's Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) used by the European Space Agency, can detect and keep track of developing algal blooms.

Link: Earth from Space: Bloom in the Baltic from Biology News Net

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 2:11 PM

 


New Nitrogen Checker Uses Light to Analyze Plant Health

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

Researchers have developed technology to read the nitrogen level of plants by sending a pulse of polarized light into leaves and analyzing the spectrum of light re-emitted by the plants. Leaves absorb and transmit varying amounts of light, depending on the type of plant and its condition. By using polarized light in the visible red wavelengths of the light spectrum, the scientists have been able to analyze specific levels of chlorophyll molecules to reveal nitrogen levels in the plants.

The team working on the project has built a tractor-mountable device and hopes that it will allow farmers to survey their fields to determine the correct amounts of fertilizers to apply, saving money and reducing the impact of excess fertilizer on the environment.

Link: Field Of Beams: Novel System Uses Polarized Light Pulses To Reveal Crop Health from Science Daily

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 1:54 PM

 


Scientist Use “Gene Trapping” to Study Floral Development

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

Scientists are using a method called “gene trapping” to find genes involved in flower formation. The method involves the use of a transformed gene that lacks an external promoter sequence to complete the expression of the gene's trait. The altered gene is inserted randomly into the genome of Arabidopsis thaliana. The altered gene will respond when in the proximity of an active gene that has an external promoter sequence.

Researchers later screen the plants for evidence of the effects of the altered gene. The effects will show up in areas turned on by the “trapped genes” allowing the scientists to find and sequence those genes. Further experiments can be done by modifying the “trapped gene” and studying its expression in the plants.

Link: Trapping Genes That Control Flower Development from I-Newswire

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 1:48 PM | Comments (0)

 


Green Microbes at the Bottom of the Ocean

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

UBC researcher J. Thomas Beatty and his colleagues recently made the unique discovery of a bacterium that uses the low level light given off by hydrothermal vents deep below the ocean's surface to fuel photosynthetic reactions. The bacterium, which lives at depths of 2,400 meters, uses a sophisticated antenna system to capture the dim light generated by the vents.

Link: Bacteria Pull Off Photosynthesis sans Sunlight from Scientific American

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 5:50 PM | Comments (0)

 


Human Selection Shrinks Himalayan Snow Lotus

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries , Plants, Food and Medicine

Recently collected samples of the Himalayan snow lotus, Saussurea laniceps are considerably shorter than samples collected just 100 years ago. The plant is harvested as a medicine in China and Tibet, where it grows at high altitudes (around 4000 metres). Scientists studying the plant believe that human selection is resulting in the diminished stature of the plant.

Continue reading "Human Selection Shrinks Himalayan Snow Lotus"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 5:09 PM | Comments (0)

 


Tracing the Development of Corn

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries , Plants, Food and Medicine

Native Americans developed modern corn from a grassy relative, teosinte in a period of agricultural selection between 6000 and 10,000 years ago. Using population genetics to compare the genes of teosinte and modern cultivated corn, a research team led by UC Irvine's Brandon Gaut, has identified 1200 of the 59,000 genes in the corn genome that are thought to have been targeted during domestication.

Continue reading "Tracing the Development of Corn"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 5:02 PM | Comments (1)

 


Scientist Discover How Plants Grow

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

Two teams working separately in Indiana and England recently announced the discovery of how indoleacetic acid, a plant auxin, stimulates growth. Both teams recently released reports showing that the auxin combines with a protein called TIR1 to activate the genes involved in growth. After growth has been stimulated, the auxin detaches from the protein and the gene returns to inhibiting growth.

Continue reading "Scientist Discover How Plants Grow"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 3:29 PM | Comments (0)

 


In Search of the Holy Grail of Popcorn Breeders

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries , Plants, Food and Medicine

If you have ever wondered why some popcorn kernels don’t pop, researchers at Purdue University in Indiana have an answer. In order for popcorn to pop, the pressure of steam inside the grain has to hit 135 pounds per square inch to burst the pericarp (the outer hull of the grain). In the final moments of heating, chemical changes occur in the pericarp to strenthen it, so that it can hold in sufficient steam to build up the pressure. Kernels with weak pericarps don't build up enough pressure to pop.

The research will help breeders target pericarp strength for better popping and brings them one step closer to the Holy Grail of popcorn breeding — a popcorn where the pericarp disappears, leaving only the fluffy white treats.

Links:

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 4:32 PM | Comments (0)

 


Nutrient Uptake by Plant Cells

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

Plant science theory had assumed that nutrients required a specific transporter to carry them across the cell membrane to the inside of the cell. Researchers at the University of Navarra in Spain have shown that in the presence of saccharose, cells from parts of the plant that store nutrients "swallow up" compounds to get them across the barrier.

Continue reading "Nutrient Uptake by Plant Cells"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 4:00 PM

 


Increased Nitrogen Endangers Rare Plants

Category(-ies): Plant Conservation , Plant Discoveries

A broad ranging study of the effects of increased nitrogen on plant populations in natural environments suggests that it puts rare plants at a disadvantage and threatens their survival. Increased nitrogen makes some plants grow larger and faster, crowding out rare plants that do not respond as well to a higher level of the nutrient. Since the 1940s the amount of nitrogen available to plants has more than doubled due to pollution and increased use of fertilizers.

Continue reading "Increased Nitrogen Endangers Rare Plants"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 12:53 AM

 


Rat's Tail and the Malachite Sunbird

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

Scientists at the University of Toronto and the University of KwaZulu-Natal have proven that the sterile inflorescence of Babiana ringens (rat's tail) is important for the reproductive success of the plant. Removal of the greyish spike from flowering plants decreased the number of visits by malachite sunbirds (Nectarinia famosa) to individual plants due to difficulty in drinking the nectar, thereby lowering chance of successful pollination. The malachite sunbird uses the sterile inflorescence to conveniently drink nectar from the flowers, simultaneously pollinating the plants.

Continue reading "Rat's Tail and the Malachite Sunbird"

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 3:24 PM | Comments (0)

 


Genome of Fungal Threat to Rice Crop Sequenced

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries , Plant Diseases and Pests , Plants, Food and Medicine

Researchers at the International Rice Blast Genome Consortium at North Carolina State University have unravelled the genome of Magnaporthe grisea, one of the worst threats to the world�s rice crop. Scientists hope the work will uncover new methods of control for the pest. It is the first pathogenic plant fungus to have its genetic code sequenced.

Continue reading "Genome of Fungal Threat to Rice Crop Sequenced"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 4:48 PM

 


The Optimum Distance for Plant Migration

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries , Plant Relationships

Botanist, Jane Molofsky has conducted experiments in plant migration using a common N. American weed, Pennsylvania bittercress. The weed was a good candidate for study. It has a short two and a half month life cycle and its seeds burst forth from the parent, scattering a good distance. The experiment looks at the natural spacing required to sustain plant populations.

Continue reading "The Optimum Distance for Plant Migration"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 3:20 PM

 


Mendel's Genetic Laws Challenged by New Findings

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

By Mendel's law of inheritance if both parents have two copies of a gene responsible for a particular trait the offspring should exhibit the trait. Purdue University researchers recently observed an exception to the rule in a mutant form of Arabidopsis. Ten percent of the offspring of plants, known to have two genes for a mutation called hothead, exhibited the normal form of their grandparents even though it did not show up in their genetic makeup.

Continue reading "Mendel's Genetic Laws Challenged by New Findings"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 1:04 PM

 


Work With Arabidopsis Could Lead to Cancer Treatment

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries , Plants, Food and Medicine

UCLA plant biologist, Steven E. Jacobsen has been named an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Jacobsen is noted for using Arabidopsis as a model for understanding DNA methylation. “This process of methylation is fundamental to controlling growth and development in both plant and animal cells, and is important in some cancers: for example, cancer cells silence tumor suppressor genes through methylation and, as a result, uncontrolled cell growth occurs”(UCLA News).

Continue reading "Work With Arabidopsis Could Lead to Cancer Treatment"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 3:10 PM

 


Scientists Create Petrified Wood

Category(-ies): Novel Uses of Plants , Plant Discoveries

Petrified wood normally forms when the soft parts of wood leach away and are replaced by minerals. Scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have produced a man-made petrified wood in the lab. Wood was soaked with acid and a silica solution before being treated with high temperatures. The process took only a few days.

Continue reading "Scientists Create Petrified Wood"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 3:19 PM

 


Do Plants Have Intelligence?

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

Plants do not think in the way humans do, but they do take in information and respond to it. Plants take cues from their environment to ‘decide’ when to send up shoots, set buds or abscise leaves. Some plants react to attacks by predators by releasing chemical warning signals that are sensed by other plants in the area. Scientists are debating whether these reactions should be considered intelligent.

Continue reading "Do Plants Have Intelligence?"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 1:02 PM

 


The Lethal Speed of the Venus Flytrap

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

The gift of a Venus flytrap led researcher, Lakshminarayanan Mahadevan, to wonder how a plant was able to move so fast. The leaves of the plant can close on an insect in one-tenth of a second. Mahadevan, who studies ordinary physical phenomena, devised an experiment to reveal the mechanics behind the feat.

Continue reading "The Lethal Speed of the Venus Flytrap"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 2:47 PM

 


Plastic from Oranges

Category(-ies): Novel Uses of Plants , Plant Discoveries

Researchers at Cornell University have created a plastic from carbon dioxide and a compound extracted from orange peel. Most plastics use petroleum as the source for chemical building blocks. This new plastic could be made from renewable resources and bind the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, in the process.

Continue reading "Plastic from Oranges"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 11:35 AM

 


The Barcode of Life

Category(-ies): Herbaria , Plant Discoveries

Dr. Paul D. N. Hebert, a population geneticist at the University of Guelph in Ontario, has come up with an idea that may help scientist identify species: match a section of DNA with a DNA database of known species. The Consortium for the Barcode of Life was formed to develop a DNA barcoding database that will link to identified specimens in the collections of natural history museums and herbariums. Field researchers could scan a sample of a specimen and compare it to the database via phone or internet.

Continue reading "The Barcode of Life"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 1:07 PM

 


UBC Scientists Work to Stop Deadly Fungal Infections

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries , Plants, Food and Medicine

Researchers at the University of British Columbia and the BC Cancer Agency's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre in Vancouver have contributed genome mapping expertise to an international effort to develop treatments for fungal meningitis.

Continue reading "UBC Scientists Work to Stop Deadly Fungal Infections"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 11:42 AM

 


Preventing Sunburn on Apples

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

Sunscald is a problem for apple growers attempting to produce unblemished fruit. Most growers currently mist their trees from dawn to dusk to use the evaporative cooling effect of water to lower fruit temperature. However, Robert G. Evans has proposed some improvements.

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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 11:32 AM

 


New Method of Pollination Discovered

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

Botanists have discovered a new method of self-pollination. Pollen of the horizontal flowers of Caulokaempferia coenobialis, a Chinese herb, is carried from the male anthers on an oily emulsion. This emulsion slides along the flower's style to the female stigma. Scientists studying the plant could find no evidence of another mechanism to move the pollen other than the flow of the oily secretion.

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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 5:25 PM

 


Sequencing the Genome of a Diatom

Category(-ies): Climate Change , Plant Discoveries

Beverley Green, professor emerita of UBC's Department of Botany speaks on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's nationally broadcast “The Science Show” about the importance of diatoms and the potential discoveries to be made from determining the genetic sequence of algae. “These diatoms gobble up more carbon dioxide than rain forests.”

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Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 3:35 PM

 


Coffee's Genetic Code Unravelled

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries , Plants, Food and Medicine

Brazilian scientists have identified the 35000 genes that make up the genome of coffee. Researchers will use the findings of the two year government study to develop superior new coffee strains.

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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 9:56 PM

 


Germinating Molecule in Smoke Identified

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

A team of Australian scientists has identified the molecule in smoke that makes plant seeds germinate after bushfires, a goal sought by biologists since it was determined by South African researchers that smoke, not heat or ash, induced seed germination.

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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 2:12 PM

 


A Limit on Tree Height?

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

How tall can trees grow? Probably not much higher than the tallest trees now living, according to research done by George Koch of Northern Arizona University at Flagstaff and his colleagues.

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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 5:21 PM

 


Heat Generating Plants

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

From Science News Online: Some plants can generate enough heat to exceed 30°C near the inflorescence, even when the outside temperature is just above freezing. Generally, these plants are in groups of plants that are understood to be the direct descendants of the most ancient flowering plants including arums, magnolias and water-lilies.

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Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:00 AM

 


Photosynthesis 3.7 billion years old?

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

Researchers from Denmark have found what they claim to be evidence of photosynthesis in oceanic rock that is 3.7 billion years old, roughly a billion years older than current estimates. The researchers compared the relative abundance of uranium and thorium from ancient rock near Isua, Greenland, and their data suggest that the oceanic environment of the Earth 3.7 billion years ago was oxidative. This led them to conclude that photosynthesis was occurring to explain the presence of oxygen (a byproduct of photosynthesis).

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Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:18 PM

 


Harry Potter and A New Species

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

Macrocarpaea apparata is a newly discovered species in the gentian family named after the verb "apparate", frequently used in the Harry Potter series of books. Native to Ecuador, it is a small tree, to 5m tall with yellowish-white bell-shaped flowers.

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Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 3:00 AM