Cells, Genes & Molecules
How do you eat a poisonous seed?
Very carefully, or you pay attention to the indigenous people who have been doing it safely for a long time.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
How does a leaf know when to die?
Botanists think they've found the amino acid that signals when a leaf is ready to drop.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
Going With the Flow: How Chemical Cues Shape Plant Strategies
Barley plants make small talk with neighbors to communicate growth and defense strategies
Cells, Genes & Molecules
A familiar weed may be more diverse than we thought
The common weed *Sonchus asper* may actually contain several distinct evolutionary groups that can be revealed by studying both its traits and DNA.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
Salt, Flowers and Bees
Salt stress did not change pollen or bee visitation, while the number of open flowers remained as the strongest factor to attract bees.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
Why does a wound feel like winter?
Cut a leaf and the wound turns cold, and it turns out the plant is reading that chill as an instruction.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
Plants Protect Chloroplasts by Slathering Them in Sunscreen
Understanding how plants make this sunscreen could lead to more resilient, higher yielding crops
Cells, Genes & Molecules
The End of Papaya?: What Genomics Teaches Us About Its Survival
A study of papayas in Mexican backyards reveals how hybridisation between wild and cultivated plants can boost genetic diversity while creating new challenges for conservation.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
When the Fragrance of Flowers Changes: How Global Warming Can Affect Communication Between Plants and Pollinators
Global warming could interfere with the scents that guide pollinators to flowers, threatening ecological interactions long before species disappear.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
A Hidden Secret in the Only Terrestrial Plants With Pyrenoids May Inspire the Photosynthesis of Future Crop Plants
Hornworts have evolved their own version of a carbon-concentrating mechanism, offering a surprising model for improving the photosynthetic efficiency of future crops.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
Does a Moss From Antarctica Hide New Weapons Against Cancer?
Polytrichastrum alpinum has shown promising anticancer activity in laboratory tests, reducing the survival and spread of canine mammary tumour cells.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
Can plants remember a stressful past?
Scientists find that rice can tell stories of a hard winter to future generations and prepare them for survival