3 (CC BY-SA 2.0) by various brennemans
From “Talking” Trees To The Origin of Plant Hormones.
The plant science news of March 2018 began with a recent (but a somewhat unfortunate, in my view) trend of mysticism somehow creeping into scientific studies of plant physiology. (Think plant consciousness. Or that plants possess some sort of “secret wisdom”.)
Anyway, the rest of the plant news from last March was, however, a bit less controversial….
- “Talking” Trees?: “A controversial German forester says yes, and his ideas are shaking up the scientific world.”
Do Trees Talk to Each Other? - Exploding Plants?: ”When it’s time for the hairyflower wild petunia to pass its genes to the next generation, it does it with a bang.”
Watch the High-Flying Physics of a Plant’s Exploding Fruits - Do GMO Crops Protect Neighboring Non-GMO Crops?: ”Bt corn protects neighboring peppers and green beans, cuts pesticide use.”
Planting GMOs kills so many bugs that it helps non-GMO crops - Do Plants Feed Friendly Microbes?: ”Berkeley Lab researchers prove complex connection between plants and what soil microbes eat.”
Plants Really Do Feed Their Friends - Where Did Auxin Come From?: In their quest for the origin of the universal auxin hormone in plants, Wageningen-based biochemists and bioinformaticists took on the mantle of archaeologists.
Genome archaeologists uncover the origin of a plant hormone
Next-Time: From what makes plants flower to “sleeping” trees….