Plant biology Content / Plant biology Content for şŮşŮĘÓƵ en How Plants Become Bushy, or Not /news/how-plants-become-bushy-or-not <p>For many plants, more branches means more fruit. But what causes a plant to grow branches? New research from the University of California, Davis shows how plants break down the hormone strigolactone, which suppresses branching, to become more “bushy.” Understanding how strigolactone is regulated could have big implications for many crop plants.</p><p>The study was published August 1 in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-50928-3">Nature Communications</a><em>.</em></p> August 06, 2024 - 3:50pm Andy Fell /news/how-plants-become-bushy-or-not Plant Biologist Siobhan Brady Named HHMI Investigator /news/plant-biologist-siobhan-brady-named-hhmi-investigator <p>Siobhan Brady, a professor in the <a href="https://www-plb.ucdavis.edu/">Department of Plant Biology</a> and <a href="https://genomecenter.ucdavis.edu/">Genome Center</a> at the University of California, Davis, has been selected as a <a href="https://www.hhmi.org/programs/investigators">Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator</a>. The prestigious Investigator program, which Brady describes as “life changing,” will provide her with roughly $9 million in research support over a seven-year term, with the option to renew.</p> July 23, 2024 - 12:11pm Andy Fell /news/plant-biologist-siobhan-brady-named-hhmi-investigator Plant Biologist Venkatesan Sundaresan Wins 2024 Wolf Prize in Agriculture /news/plant-biologist-venkatesan-sundaresan-wins-2024-wolf-prize-agriculture <p><a href="https://biology.ucdavis.edu/people/venkatesan-sundaresan">Venkatesan Sundaresan</a>, Distinguished Professor in the Departments of <a href="https://www-plb.ucdavis.edu/">Plant Biology</a> and <a href="https://www.plantsciences.ucdavis.edu/">Plant Sciences</a> at the University of California, Davis, has been awarded a <a href="https://wolffund.org.il/venkatesan-sundaresan/">2024 Wolf Prize in Agriculture</a> for key discoveries on plant developmental biology of relevance to crop improvement.</p> July 17, 2024 - 9:36am Andy Fell /news/plant-biologist-venkatesan-sundaresan-wins-2024-wolf-prize-agriculture How Plants Sense Scent /blog/how-plants-sense-scents <p>Plants need to be able to communicate with themselves, for example sending signals from their leaves to their roots or flowers, so that they can coordinate growth and optimize resource use. They also need to communicate with other plants and organisms, which they achieve by releasing volatile organic compounds (VOCs), tiny molecules that are often associated with distinct smells. Scientists know a lot about how plants emit these odorous signals, however very little is known about how they receive and interpret them.</p> April 25, 2024 - 4:10pm Andy Fell /blog/how-plants-sense-scents Researchers Identify Microbes That Help Plants Thwart Parasite /news/researchers-identify-microbes-help-plants-thwart-parasite <p><span><span><span><span><span>Bacteria that could help one of Africa’s staple crops resist a major pest have been identified by researchers at the University of California, Davis. Their findings, published March 26 in <a href="https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(24)00299-7">Cell Reports</a>, could improve yields of sorghum, a mainstay of food and drink in West and East African countries.</span></span></span></span></span></p> March 26, 2024 - 10:53am Andy Fell /news/researchers-identify-microbes-help-plants-thwart-parasite Plant Biologists Identify Promising New Fungicides /food/news/plant-biologists-identify-promising-new-fungicides <p><span><span><span><span>A promising new fungicide to fight devastating crop diseases has been identified by researchers at the University of California, Davis. The chemical, ebselen, prevented fungal infections in apples, grapes, strawberries, tomatoes and roses, and improved symptoms of pre-existing fungal infection in rice. </span></span></span></span></p> February 29, 2024 - 9:00am Andy Fell /food/news/plant-biologists-identify-promising-new-fungicides How Tomato Plants Use Their Roots to Ration Water During Drought /blog/how-tomato-plants-use-their-roots-ration-water-during-drought <p><span><span><span><span>Plants have to be flexible to survive environmental changes<s><span>,</span></s> and the adaptive methods they deploy must often be as changeable as the shifts in climate and condition to which they adapt. To cope with drought, plant roots produce a water-repellent polymer called suberin that blocks water from flowing up towards the leaves, where it would quickly evaporate. Without suberin, the resulting water loss would be like leaving the tap running.</span></span></span></span></p> January 02, 2024 - 11:32am Andy Fell /blog/how-tomato-plants-use-their-roots-ration-water-during-drought A Mixed Origin Made Maize Successful /news/mixed-origin-made-maize-successful <p><span><span><span>Maize is one of the world’s most widely grown crops. It is used for both human and animal foods and holds great cultural significance, especially for Indigenous peoples in the Americas. Yet despite its importance, the origins of the grain have been hotly debated for more than a century. Now new research, published Dec. 1 in Science, shows that all modern maize descends from a hybrid created just over 5,000 years ago in central Mexico, thousands of years after the plant was first domesticated. </span></span></span></p> November 30, 2023 - 11:00am Andy Fell /news/mixed-origin-made-maize-successful How Sunflowers See the Sun /curiosity/news/how-sunflowers-see-sun <p>Sunflowers famously turn their faces to follow the sun as it crosses the sky. But how do sunflowers “see” the sun to follow it? New work from plant biologists at the University of California, Davis, published Oct. 31 in&nbsp;PLOS Biology, shows that they use a different, novel mechanism from that previously thought.&nbsp;</p> <p>“This was a total surprise for us,” said Stacey Harmer, professor of plant biology at şŮşŮĘÓƵ and senior author on the paper.&nbsp;</p> October 31, 2023 - 11:00am Andy Fell /curiosity/news/how-sunflowers-see-sun Chloroplasts Do More Than Photosynthesis: They’re Also a Key Player in Plant Immunity /curiosity/news/chloroplasts-do-more-photosynthesis-theyre-also-key-player-plant-immunity <p><span><span><span>Scientists have long known that chloroplasts help plants turn the sun’s energy into food, but a new study, led by plant biologists at the University of California, Davis, shows that they are also essential for plant immunity to viral and bacterial pathogens.</span></span></span></p> <p><span><span><span>Chloroplasts are generally spherical, but a small percentage of them change their shape and send out tube-like projections called “stromules.” First observed over a century ago, the biological function of stromules has remained enigmatic. </span></span></span></p> October 25, 2023 - 11:15am Andy Fell /curiosity/news/chloroplasts-do-more-photosynthesis-theyre-also-key-player-plant-immunity