Plants & People
Grow your own Martian salad
A Martian diet might aid your health on Earth (but there are probably better interventions you should try first)
Ecosystems
Resprouting potential of rhizome fragments in an invasive aquatic plant
Non-native aquatic Ludwigia species from a polyploid complex are among the world’s most problematic invasive plants. A new paper in AoBP finds out why.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
A diversity of lipid composition in the seeds and fruits of the palm family
Palms are vitally important due to their high vegetable oil production, which can occur in both fruits and seeds. The full range of lipid storage and composition, however, hasn’t been well understood across this large and diverse group.
Computational Models
A new whole-plant framework simulates realistic water and carbon flow
CPlantBox generates a variety of 3D full plant architectures and accurately simulates water and carbon flow in the full plant.
Close Encounters
Even for specialists, floral morphology is influenced by both pollinators and climate
Climate can indirectly affect floral morphology within a species by affecting what pollinators will visit those flowers across its range.
Close Encounters
Control of root-knot nematode infection by rhizobacteria in tomato plants
Plants can encourage rhizobacteria to help fight of rot-knot nematodes.
Computational Models
From stable rules to complex shapes in plant modelling
How can models capture the complexity and variation of plant phenotypes? Vidal and Andrieu have taken a look at maize.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
Resistance to the herbicide 2,4-D is complex in wild radish
Resistance to 2,4-D in wild radish is complex and appears to vary in its mechanism from one population to the next, but new research suggests that lower receptivity at the plasma membrane is part of the answer.
Ecosystems
Effect of simulated warming on Leymus chinensis grasslands of northeast China
Mean global temperatures have risen by almost 1°C since 1850 and are predicted to continue to rise through to the end of the century. Understanding
Close Encounters
Daphnia are bite-size for the carnivorous waterwheel plant
The Venus Fly Trap is not the only carnivorous plant with a snap-trap. Aldrovanda vesiculosa, the waterwheel plant, has one too but it’s not always been clear how it works.
Growth & Development
Palms show huge variation in their resistance to drought-induced embolism
This study represents the first estimate of drought-induced xylem embolism in palms across biomes and provides the first step towards understanding hydraulic adaptations in long-lived arborescent monocots.
Ecosystems
Resource allocation trade-offs in a mast-seeding conifer
Three key functions are required for the long-term persistence of tree populations in a landscape. Broadly speaking, trees must acquire and allocate resources to maintain