annals-of-botany
Fibre cables and tensegrity in Typha leaves
Witztum and Wayne dissect leaves of various species of Typha, and examine the fibre cables – composed of long, non-lignified cells – that traverse the air chambers (lacunae).
Uncategorized
Plant molecular cytogenetics in the genomic and postgenomic era
The way that we can address questions in genome evolution and expression has changed enormously in the last five years. We can get huge amounts of
annals-of-botany
BcMF8 contributes to pollen wall development and tube growth
Lin et al. examine expression of Brassica campestris male fertility 8 (BcMF8) in pistils of Chinese cabbage (B. campestris ssp. chinensis), and find that it encodes a putative AGP that is located in the cell wall and is expressed in pollen grains and pollen tubes.
Plant Cuttings
Plants, the inside story
Flowering plants devoid of leaves, roots, shoots and some without chloroplast DNA. Are they really plants? Discuss!
Uncategorized
Maintenance of plant species cohesion despite ongoing hybridization
When species cohesion is maintained despite ongoing natural hybridisation.
annals-of-botany
Unidirectional hybridization in heterostylous primroses
Ma et al. study a natural hybrid zone between two heterostylous primrose species, Primula beesiana and P. bulleyana, and find that all hybrid derivatives examined are backcrosses of first or later generations to P. bulleyana, and have the cpDNA of that species.
Uncategorized
Polyploidy and the evolution of flax
A previous and hitherto unknown whole-genome duplication event also occurred in cultivated flax 20–40 MYA.
AoB PLANTS
Plant community feedbacks and long-term ecosystem responses to multi-factored global change
If you add CO2 or nitrogen to a single plant it will likely grow more, but the amount by which each resource stimulates growth differs widely
Uncategorized
How rice germinates under water
Rice has the rare ability to germinate and elongate a coleoptile under oxygen-deficient conditions. Here’s why.
Plant Cuttings
Sugar versus Auxin: which is dominant?
Of the plethora of aspects of plant growth and development that the hormone (OK, plant growth regulator…) auxin is implicated in/involved with (e.g. embryo
Uncategorized
Developmental robustness and species diversity: A special issue of Annals of Botany
J.B.S. Haldane is often quoted to have said that ‘God has an inordinate fondness for beetles’. Arguably, Haldane himself would not have accepted this
annals-of-botany
Regulation of a Solanum Double-B box gene
Kiełbowicz-Matuk et al. investigate variations in a Solanum DBB protein, SsBBX24, in S. tuberosum and S. sogarandinum and find evidence of trafficking from the nucleus to the cytosol during the light period.