Close Encounters
Are ants a benefit or a detriment when they occupy a plant? New research says they may be both.
Research in two new papers shows how ants can interfere with pollination, but this interference is complicated.
Close Encounters
Ants a principal pollinator for a threatened member of the Proteaceae
The plant is impervious to the pollen damage ants usually cause.
Reviews
An author spins a black cloud of depression into gold
A diary written during depression explores the healing power of nature.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
Understanding the connections between plant hormones and cellulose synthesis in plants: still a great unknown!
Wang and colleagues review the relationships between key phytohormone classes and cellulose deposition in plant systems.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
How does barley make vitamin E?
Vitamin E is increasingly understood to be important for human health. An international team has been editing the barley genome to understand the genetic controls for the vitamin’s creation by the cereal.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
What happens to nutrients, after a carnivorous plant has digested its prey?
While carnivorous plants eat insects, they get most of their energy from photosynthesis, like other plants. New research investigates how carnivory affects photosynthesis.
Ecosystems
Convergent nitrogen–phosphorus scaling relationships in different plant organs
Does a general relationship exist to describe N and P partitioning within and among plant organs?
Taxonomy & Evolution
Where did greater yams come from? A global effort to track the ‘yummy’ dispersal history of a polyploid plant
Over 600 species of yams belong to the genus Dioscorea but about 10 species are cultivated. Yams are a very important tropical crop, mainly grown in
Cells, Genes & Molecules
Unravelling how a mysterious substance may boost plant growth
Capstaff and colleagues investigate how soil-derived fulvic acid may boost growth of alfalfa
Growth & Development
Thicker roots: to grow or not to grow? Investigating the dynamics of secondary root growth
Secondary growth of the roots of annual dicots has functional significance with regards to soil resource acquisition and transport, interactions with soil organisms and carbon sequestration.
Reviews
Running rings around world history
Tree story: The history of the world written in rings, by Valerie Trouet 2020. Johns Hopkins University Press What links the following: That (in)famous ‘hockey
Ecosystems
Metalheads! Patterns of extreme mineral accumulation in plants
Examining patterns of mineral accumulation in plants gives clues as to how some plants can accumulate extreme amounts of some minerals