What’s New About How Plants Work? – Some “Tasty Tidbits” from 2012 (Second Course)

8334009068 6bed18967e nHappy New Year!

We started “nibbling” on the plant sciences “buffet” of 2012 in the previous post.

Plant biodiversity, fungi, and the plant hormone ABA were the featured “tidbits” from my January 2012 HowPlantsWork tweets.

So, what about from February 2012?

There was lots of fascinating plant sciences news in February 2012, including new findings regarding plant defensive mechanisms, plant evolution, and, of course, reports related to the effects of global “weirding”. So, it was difficult to select only a few “morsels” for our second course.

But I think I found a few – one from each of the main topics listed above – that might interest you.

Here they are, arranged somewhat randomly on our “plate”.

  • The first taste has to do with lateral gene flow among different plant species, which I touched on in a previous post: Genes may travel from plant to plant to fuel evolution.

  • The second plant science “tidbit” was published in the February 17, 2012, issue of Science, and it deals with the origin of photosynthesis revealed by a “living fossil”.

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  • From plant evolution to plant hormones in plant development, our next sampling involves the regulation of leaf development, specifically about how the plant hormones brassinosteroids may affect the number of stomata in leaves.
    Steroids control gas exchange in plants.
  • Ready to munch on a flowery delicacy that involves a unique collaboration between plant scientists and physicists?
    Flower power: how to get ahead in advertising.

  • And for the final item of our second course, how about some “dessert”? In this case, our “dessert” comes in the form of a video:
    How plants warn each other of danger (video).

    • Hope you enjoyed the second course. Stay tuned….tomorrow we sample March 2012’s offerings.

    Cheers!

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