Liam Elliott

35 posts

Liam Elliott has never been good enough at Latin to be able to claim to be a botanist, but can legitimately claim to be a researcher in Plant Sciences at the University of Oxford. He did his undergrad

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Is age just a number if you’re a plant? How plant responses to the environment change with age

Ecosystems

Is age just a number if you’re a plant? How plant responses to the environment change with age

Trait sensitivity to the environment is most visible during earlier stages of development, after which intraspecific trait variation and relationships may stabilize.

13 Jun 2020

Feeding (or not feeding) a fungus: plants may not be so good to their fungal partners after all

Cells, Genes & Molecules

Feeding (or not feeding) a fungus: plants may not be so good to their fungal partners after all

Interactions between plants and fungal symbionts are not always balanced affairs.

12 Jun 2020

Bulking up: do plants make gains in secondary metabolites through genome duplication?

Cells, Genes & Molecules

Bulking up: do plants make gains in secondary metabolites through genome duplication?

Whole genome duplication is often associated with gains in plant developmental complexity. Does this include secondary metabolites?

09 Jun 2020

Fruits of all colours: how green-stripe tomatoes get their distinctive colour pattern

Cells, Genes & Molecules

Fruits of all colours: how green-stripe tomatoes get their distinctive colour pattern

08 Jun 2020

A long-lasting connection? Links between genome size and stomata size in plants

Growth & Development

A long-lasting connection? Links between genome size and stomata size in plants

06 Jun 2020

Even plants want it to snow! The effects of cold stress on plant communities and how snow may offset these

Ecosystems

Even plants want it to snow! The effects of cold stress on plant communities and how snow may offset these

Snow may not necessarily be a bad thing for plants

04 Jun 2020

Seeing red isn’t the same everywhere! How and why red flowers differ between locations.

Close Encounters

Seeing red isn’t the same everywhere! How and why red flowers differ between locations.

The precise colouration of red flowers differs according to where they are and what they interact with.

02 Jun 2020

It’s epigenetics after all! How environmentally-induced traits might support plant ecosystems

Cells, Genes & Molecules

It’s epigenetics after all! How environmentally-induced traits might support plant ecosystems

Diversity of parental environments could have comparable effects to genetic diversity in Arabidopsis.

01 Jun 2020

Life in the canopy is different : How genetics impacts variation in herbivory on oak trees

Cells, Genes & Molecules

Life in the canopy is different : How genetics impacts variation in herbivory on oak trees

Trees may invest more in protecting their canopy leaves from munching insects than their other leaves

29 May 2020

To C4 or not to C4 if you’re a tree? Some possible answers

Growth & Development

To C4 or not to C4 if you’re a tree? Some possible answers

C4 photosynthesis is an efficient way of harnessing energy, yet trees rarely use it. Why is that?

22 May 2020