Cells, Genes & Molecules
Cannabinoids Beyond Cannabis: The Hidden Potential of Liverworts
Liverworts are emerging as unexpected sources of cannabinoid-like compounds with promising anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
What Made Two Distant Palm Species Choose the Same Sexual Strategy?
Rare sex chromosomes discovered in distant palm relatives reveal remarkable evolutionary convergence, potentially revolutionising crop breeding for fruit-bearing species.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
Carnivorous plants lack genes to host arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
When friends abandon them, some plants go on a killing spree.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
Tiny green factories: how plants could make our medicines
A new process could harness plants natural chemical prowess and allow them to become factories for producing complex molecules like antibodies and enzymes.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
Tracing the Single Gene That Gave Modern Roses Their Endless Bloom
Scientists discovered that modern roses’ ability to flower repeatedly comes from a single genetic mutation in Chinese wild roses, and by tracing their family tree, they showed how hybridization with a few wild species created the roses we know today.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
Thriving in Allchar: Arsenic and Thallium Tolerance in Viola Species
Viola metallophytes have evolved the rare capacity to tolerate toxic metals, allowing them to thrive in the harsh soils of Allchar, North Macedonia. Scientists now know that two closely related Viola species have evolved different tolerance mechanisms – opening up an interesting case of convergent e
Cells, Genes & Molecules
Parasitic plants help build lignin deposits in host tissues
Their unknown function in developing hausteria remains to be uncovered.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
Domestication causes some crops to lose protective immunity genes
Losing immunity receptor genes makes these crops more susceptible to disease, but wild relatives can be used to better understand these genes and help breed hardier crops.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
The Chemical Lives of Trees: Why No Two Are Exactly Alike
Individual trees carry their own chemical signatures and they may be rewriting the rules of how ecosystems work.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
A rare plant with a taste for toxic soil is getting some help from unexpected allies with green fingers
Czech gardeners helped protect an endangered flower from extinction using their backyards. The simple trick could aid plant conservation worldwide.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
The Surprising Way Plants Really Sense Heat
The sweet molecules plants make during photosynthesis double as sophisticated thermometers, revealing a hidden layer of plant environmental sensing.
Cells, Genes & Molecules
Caterpillars Deploy Molecular Sabotage Against Plants
Scientists have discovered caterpillars inject chemical weapons into plants that shut down defences before they can even form.