Feature Channels: Plants

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Released: 31-May-2023 11:20 AM EDT
Plants can distinguish when touch starts and stops
Washington State University

Even without nerves, plants can sense when something touches them and when it lets go, a Washington State University-led study has found.

Newswise: Danforth Center Scientist, Malia Gehan Named to Inaugural Class of TGI Fellows
Released: 31-May-2023 10:05 AM EDT
Danforth Center Scientist, Malia Gehan Named to Inaugural Class of TGI Fellows
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

Malia Gehan, PhD, assistant member, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, was selected to be part of the Taylor Geospatial Institute’s inaugural class of TGI Fellows.  The program enables TGI member institutions to recruit and retain distinguished researchers in geospatial science fields, develop the next generation of scientific leaders and catalyze collaboration to accelerate the region’s development as a global geospatial center of excellence.

Newswise: Groundbreaking Images of Root Chemicals Offer New Insights on Plant Growth
Released: 25-May-2023 7:05 PM EDT
Groundbreaking Images of Root Chemicals Offer New Insights on Plant Growth
University of California San Diego

Applying imaging technology to plant roots, researchers have developed a new understanding of chemicals that are responsible for plant growth. The chemical “roadmap” identifies where key molecules are distributed along corn roots and how their placement factors into the plant’s maturation.

25-May-2023 1:00 AM EDT
Climate-stressed trees get a boost from new microbial partnerships
University of Wisconsin–Madison

Plants live across wide ranges of heat and cold and rain and drought, but they don’t fill their niches alone. Along with the animals and insects that live on and around a tree — pitching in now and then to aid pollination or pest control or seed dispersal — there are innumerable microbes in the soil (like various fungi that grow alongside tree roots). These microbes can blunt the normal stresses of life by helping trees draw in more nutrients and water or influencing the time they leaf out or flower to best match seasonal conditions.

Newswise: The Roman Empire smelled of patchouli
Released: 25-May-2023 10:40 AM EDT
The Roman Empire smelled of patchouli
University of Cordoba

A research team at the University of Cordoba has identified, for the first time, the composition of a Roman perfume more than 2,000 years old thanks tothe discovery of a small vessel of ointment in Carmona.

Released: 23-May-2023 11:45 AM EDT
Prescribed burns encourage foul-smelling invaders
University of California, Riverside

Though prescribed burns reduce wildfire threats and even improve habitat for some animals, new research shows these fires also spread stinknet, an aptly named weed currently invading superblooms across the Southwestern U.S.

Newswise: Grant Funds Tree Planting on Campus in Honor of Felled Silver Maple
Released: 22-May-2023 5:45 PM EDT
Grant Funds Tree Planting on Campus in Honor of Felled Silver Maple
University of Northern Colorado

The grounds of the University of Northern Colorado received a welcome living, breathing facelift last week. As part of Arbor Day and Earth Day celebrations this year, students, faculty and staff picked up shovels and got their hands dirty planting 122 new trees across the university’s 250-acre campus.

Released: 22-May-2023 4:05 PM EDT
How a drought affects trees depends on what’s been holding them back
University of California, Santa Barbara

Droughts can be good for trees. Certain trees, that is. Contrary to expectation, sometimes a record-breaking drought can increase tree growth. Why and where this happens is the subject of a new paper in Global Change Biology.

Released: 22-May-2023 11:30 AM EDT
Identifying the bee’s knees of bumble bee diets
Ohio State University

A new study has identified the bee’s knees of bumble bee dietary options in Ohio and the Upper Midwest. Researchers found these bees don’t settle for the most abundant flowers in their foraging area – suggesting they have more discerning dietary preferences than one might expect.

Released: 19-May-2023 11:05 AM EDT
Pollinators are attracted to humidity, not just scent
Cornell University

Humidity is as important as scent in attracting pollinators to a plant, new Cornell-led research finds, advancing basic biology and opening new avenues to support agriculture.

Newswise: Hanging by a purple thread
15-May-2023 12:00 AM EDT
Hanging by a purple thread
Kyoto University

A movement is raising awareness of native gromwell plant's importance in preserving Japanese culture. For example, revival projects currently underway throughout Japan are investigating the seed's origins and educating the public on the importance of protecting the plant's homogeneity. Purple gromwell contains shikonin derivatives in the plant's root surfaces, which are red naphthoquinones. This natural pigment and medicinal properties are linked to ancient East Asian traditions.

Newswise: Dr. Robin Kimmerer Elected to U.S. National Academy of Sciences
Released: 17-May-2023 1:15 PM EDT
Dr. Robin Kimmerer Elected to U.S. National Academy of Sciences
SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer has been elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) during the Academy’s annual meeting May 2.

Newswise: Illinois researchers create 3D images of C4 plant cellular components
Released: 17-May-2023 8:05 AM EDT
Illinois researchers create 3D images of C4 plant cellular components
College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

A team from the University of Illinois has quantified the plant cell properties in two C4 species, including cell shape, chloroplast size, and distribution of cell-to-cell connections called plasmodesmata, providing information that can change how people model photosynthesis thanks to their 3D reconstructions.

Newswise: Timing is everything: New insights into floral development unveil nature's perfect clock
Released: 16-May-2023 12:10 PM EDT
Timing is everything: New insights into floral development unveil nature's perfect clock
Nara Institute of Science and Technology

The intricate process of flower development has long fascinated scientists seeking to unravel the mysteries behind nature's precision timing.

Released: 16-May-2023 12:05 PM EDT
New strategy identified to curb a fungal infection affecting more than 150 crops
University of Cordoba

Tomatoes, bananas, cabbages, melons, pumpkins and cucumbers… are just some of the 150 crops of commercial interest that are victims of Fusarium oxysporum, one of the most important pathogens in the world due to the millions of dollars in losses it is responsible for and its ability to attack different types of plants.

Newswise: Tank-mixing herbicides may not be enough to avoid herbicide resistance
Released: 15-May-2023 6:20 PM EDT
Tank-mixing herbicides may not be enough to avoid herbicide resistance
College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Eight years ago, University of Illinois and USDA-ARS scientists turned weed control on its head. More and more herbicide resistant weeds were popping up, and the pest plants were getting harder to kill. It was clear farmers could no longer rely on the same chemicals year after year. Industry campaigns and herbicide applicators began touting the benefits of rotating herbicides annually to avoid developing resistance, and rotation quickly became common practice.

Newswise:Video Embedded commentary-in-science-europe-s-old-forests-at-risk
VIDEO
Released: 15-May-2023 2:20 PM EDT
Commentary in Science: Europe’s Old Forests at Risk
University of Vermont

Walking along a steep ridge, under large hemlock trees, ten miles outside of Burlington, Vermont—Bill Keeton is worrying about Europe’s remaining old forests. He’s so concerned, in fact, that he and some colleagues wrote a letter to the journal Science—published on May 5, 2023—calling for rapid action to protect them.

Newswise: Poor soils lose carbon regardless of crop residue and nitrogen inputs
Released: 15-May-2023 10:05 AM EDT
Poor soils lose carbon regardless of crop residue and nitrogen inputs
College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Let’s say you’re a corn grower farming on low-fertility soil. How do you go about making that soil healthier and more fertile? Many farmers think if they add plenty of nitrogen fertilizer, that nutrient, along with carbon, will be stored in the soil as organic matter when microbes decompose crop residue. But new research from the University of Illinois suggests those efforts might not work for poor soils.

Newswise: Listening to the Largest Tree on Earth #ASA184
3-May-2023 3:50 PM EDT
Listening to the Largest Tree on Earth #ASA184
Acoustical Society of America (ASA)

Spread across 106 acres in southcentral Utah, the Pando aspen grove resembles a forest but is actually a single organism with more than 47,000 genetically identical aspen stems connected at the root. As an artist-in-residence for the nonprofit group Friends of Pando, Jeff Rice used a variety of microphones to record Pando’s leaves, birds, and weather. As part of the 184th ASA Meeting, Rice and Lance Oditt will describe their work to reveal a unique acoustic portrait of this botanical wonder.

Newswise: Small wildlife surveys can produce ‘big picture’ results
Released: 9-May-2023 1:05 PM EDT
Small wildlife surveys can produce ‘big picture’ results
University of Exeter

Small-scale wildlife surveys can reveal the health of entire ecosystems, new research shows.

Released: 9-May-2023 8:05 AM EDT
Exploring the underground connections between trees
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)

An international group of researchers re-examined the evidence for and against the so-called mother-tree hypothesis in a new study.

Newswise: First Deaf, Black Woman Receives her PhD in a STEM Discipline
Released: 8-May-2023 12:15 PM EDT
First Deaf, Black Woman Receives her PhD in a STEM Discipline
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

Graduate student Amie Fornah Sankoh recently stood in front of 150 colleagues family and friends at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center to defend her thesis, Investigating the Effects of Salicylic acid on Intercellular Trafficking via Plasmodesmata in Nicotiana benthamiana. Upon her successful defense, Dr. Amie Sankoh became the first Deaf, Black woman to receive a PhD in any STEM discipline.

Newswise: Nitrogen addition and mowing alter drought resistance and recovery of grassland communities
Released: 4-May-2023 7:35 PM EDT
Nitrogen addition and mowing alter drought resistance and recovery of grassland communities
Science China Press

This study is led by Dr. Zhuwen Xu (School of Ecology and Environment, Inner Mongolia University). The effects of increased nitrogen input and mowing on the resistance and recovery of temperate grassland experiencing a three-year natural drought (from 2015 to 2017) were investigated based on a five-year field manipulative experiment.

Released: 4-May-2023 10:05 AM EDT
New East Coast-specific broccoli variety shows promise
Cornell University

The Cornell University-led Eastern Broccoli Project, which built a broccoli industry on the East Coast worth an estimated $120 million over the last 13 years, has produced a promising new broccoli variety in partnership with Bejo Seeds, a Geneva, New York-based seed company.

Newswise:Video Embedded researchers-capture-elusive-missing-step-in-the-final-act-of-photosynthesis
VIDEO
1-May-2023 3:10 PM EDT
Researchers capture elusive missing step in the final act of photosynthesis
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Photosynthesis plays a crucial role in shaping and sustaining life on Earth, yet many aspects of the process remain a mystery. One such mystery is how Photosystem II, a protein complex in plants, algae and cyanobacteria, harvests energy from sunlight and uses it to split water, producing the oxygen we breathe. Now researchers from the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, together with collaborators from Uppsala University and Humboldt University and other institutions have succeeded in cracking a key secret of Photosystem II.

Newswise:Video Embedded fossil-discovery-revises-cycad-plant-history
VIDEO
Released: 2-May-2023 6:45 PM EDT
Fossil find in California shakes up the natural history of cycad plants
University of Kansas

Cycads, a group of gymnosperms which can resemble miniature palm trees (like the popular sago palm houseplant) were long thought to be “living fossils,” a group that had evolved minimally since the time of the dinosaurs. Now, a well-preserved 80-million-year-old pollen cone discovered in California has rewritten scientific understanding of the plants.

Newswise: A study analyzes the temperature and behavior of locusts for a more effective application of biopesticides
Released: 2-May-2023 1:00 PM EDT
A study analyzes the temperature and behavior of locusts for a more effective application of biopesticides
University of Cordoba

Locusts are one of the main pests that damage crops and pasture areas, especially in their adult stage when they are able to fly and form swarms.

Newswise: The best liquids to maximise antioxidant content in spinach smoothies
Released: 1-May-2023 1:10 PM EDT
The best liquids to maximise antioxidant content in spinach smoothies
Linkoping University

Different market products give very different results when it comes to liberating the antioxidant lutein from spinach in smoothies.

Newswise: Researchers uncover new mechanisms regulating plant response to temperature
Released: 1-May-2023 10:05 AM EDT
Researchers uncover new mechanisms regulating plant response to temperature
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

Research led by Dmitri Nusinow, PhD, associate member, Danforth Plant Science Center, and former Nusinow graduate student Maria Sorkin, PhD, has identified a new protein complex in plants that regulates temperature response by the circadian clock.

Newswise: In-scent-ive to avoid danger
Released: 1-May-2023 12:05 AM EDT
In-scent-ive to avoid danger
Kyoto University

Spider mites avoid chemicals extracted from caterpillar traces; the repellent effect lasts for days. Butterfly and moth caterpillars then indiscriminately consume spider mite-infested and intact leaves along with dormant individuals or their eggs.

Released: 28-Apr-2023 2:40 PM EDT
Mushrooms and their post-rain, electrical conversations
Tohoku University

Scientists have been studying the possibility of electrical signal transfer between mushrooms and across trees via the mycelial networks. It is thought that fungi generate electrical signals in response to external stimuli and use these signals to communicate with each other, coordinating growth and other behavior.

Released: 28-Apr-2023 1:50 PM EDT
Artificial photosynthesis for environmentally friendly food production
Technical University of Munich

Ensuring the supply of food to the constantly growing world population and protecting the environment at the same time are often conflicting objectives.

Newswise: Arthropods in high-diversity forests contribute to improved productivity
Released: 27-Apr-2023 1:00 PM EDT
Arthropods in high-diversity forests contribute to improved productivity
Chinese Academy of Sciences

An international team of researchers led by Prof. MA Keping from the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IBCAS) has shown that forests with higher tree species richness tend to have greater arthropod diversity.

Released: 26-Apr-2023 2:05 PM EDT
New insight into the mystery of ancient Gaza wine
University of York

Research into grape pips found from an excavated Byzantine monastery in Israel hints at the origins of the ‘mysterious’ Gaza wine and the history of grapevine cultivation in desert conditions.

Released: 26-Apr-2023 3:05 AM EDT
Russian biologists selected biocides for mobile toilets and dump wells that are non-toxic to the environment
Scientific Project Lomonosov

Biocides can harm the environment and hinder the work of wastewater treatment facilities. Besides this, toxic biocides can make waste unsuitable for further use as biofertilizers and biofuel production. The Russian scientists proposed the solution to this problem

Newswise: Seven Institutions Join Forces to Take 39 North to the Next Phase of Growth
Released: 25-Apr-2023 8:30 AM EDT
Seven Institutions Join Forces to Take 39 North to the Next Phase of Growth
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

In just six years since the 39 North Master Plan was unveiled, more than $120 million of private/public investment has been made to advance the goals outlined in the plan. To build on the momentum, seven institutions from the public/private sector have announced their commitment as anchor institutions and established 39 North AgTech Innovation District as a 501(c)3. The new organization will be responsible for elevating the innovation district to the next level of successful growth and economic impact.

Released: 25-Apr-2023 3:05 AM EDT
Priming with chitosan speeded lettuce’s seed sprouting
Scientific Project Lomonosov

Scientists demonstrated that retting of seeds in the agent on the base of chitosan enables not only to hasten lettuce sprouting, but also to improve its yields

Newswise: Seven Institutions Join Forces to Take 39 North to the Next Phase of Growth
Released: 23-Apr-2023 8:30 AM EDT
Seven Institutions Join Forces to Take 39 North to the Next Phase of Growth
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

In just six years since the 39 North Master Plan was unveiled, more than $120 million of private/public investment has been made to advance the goals outlined in the plan. To build on the momentum, seven institutions from the public/private sector have announced their commitment as anchor institutions and established 39 North AgTech Innovation District as a 501(c)3. The new organization will be responsible for elevating the innovation district to the next level of successful growth and economic impact.

Newswise: Can deep learning help us save mangrove forests?
Released: 21-Apr-2023 3:20 PM EDT
Can deep learning help us save mangrove forests?
Pensoft Publishers

Mangrove forests are an essential component of the coastal zones in tropical and subtropical areas, providing a wide range of goods and ecosystem services that play a vital role in ecology. They are also threatened, disappearing, and degraded across the globe.

Newswise:Video Embedded live-event-for-april-21-sleeping-pill-reduces-levels-of-alzheimer-s-proteins
VIDEO
Released: 21-Apr-2023 3:10 PM EDT
TRANSCRIPT AND VIDEO AVAILABLE Live Event for April 21: Sleeping pill reduces levels of Alzheimer’s proteins
Newswise

Researcher will discuss the study which involved a sleeping aid known as suvorexant that is already approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for insomnia, hints at the potential of sleep medications to slow or stop the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

       
Released: 19-Apr-2023 8:20 PM EDT
Researchers cultivate microalgae for biofuel production
Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)

A group of researchers at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil have grown microalgae under controlled conditions in a laboratory in order to use their metabolites, especially lipids, with the prime purpose of producing biofuel.

Newswise: Fluorescent blue coumarins in a folk-medicine plant could help us see inside cells
14-Apr-2023 8:00 AM EDT
Fluorescent blue coumarins in a folk-medicine plant could help us see inside cells
American Chemical Society (ACS)

Roots of a traditional medicine plant called the orange climber can fluoresce an ethereal blue hue under ultraviolet (UV) light. And now, researchers in ACS Central Science have identified two coumarin molecules that could be responsible, one of the which could someday be used for medical imaging.

   
Newswise: Dual nature of beneficial bacteria
Released: 18-Apr-2023 1:55 PM EDT
Dual nature of beneficial bacteria
University of Delaware

UD1022, a patented beneficial bacteria, can protect alfalfa plants from fungal pathogens that cause plant disease. But plant growth-promoting bacteria like UD1022 can have a dark side and antagonize other beneficial bacteria present in soil.

Newswise: Protein domain common to plants and animals plays role in COVID-19 infection
Released: 17-Apr-2023 9:55 AM EDT
Protein domain common to plants and animals plays role in COVID-19 infection
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists exploring bioenergy plant genetics have made a surprising discovery: a protein domain that could lead to new COVID-19 treatments.

Released: 14-Apr-2023 6:45 PM EDT
Trees in savanna areas of Cerrado produce three times more bark than species in forest areas
Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)

A study conducted at the Santa Bárbara Ecological Station, an environmental protection unit in São Paulo state, investigated how much bark is produced by savanna and forest species in the Cerrado, whether savanna species that produce more bark also protect their gemmae more effectively, and whether generalist species (occurring in both savanna and forest) produce different amounts of bark depending on the environment in which they grow.

Newswise: Farmer’ beetle finds suitable host trees by tracing scent of its fungus crop
Released: 14-Apr-2023 12:35 PM EDT
Farmer’ beetle finds suitable host trees by tracing scent of its fungus crop
Frontiers

The alnus ambrosia beetle Xylosandrus germanus, also known as the black stem borer, was accidentally introduced by humans from its native east Asia to North America and Europe around the beginning of the 20th century.

Released: 13-Apr-2023 4:05 PM EDT
Four major Illinois research institutions form a collaboration to improve urban forest drought resilience
Argonne National Laboratory

Argonne, The Morton Arboretum, the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign received a grant from NOAA to assess drought resilience in the urban tree canopy.



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