Category: Plant Defense
HPW Retrospectacles 2018 – November
HPW Retrospectacles 2018 – June
From Camouflaged Plants To “Padlocked” Plant Genes. Plants and animals DO have many things in common, mostly at the cellular level. But sometimes similarities may occur at higher functional levels, such as body pigmentation. And a story published last June provides such an example. Other plant science news in June…
HPW Retrospectacles 2018 – April
HPW Retrospectacles 2018 – January
New Ways To Kill Plants
The Selfish Plant 3 – Self-Incompatibility and Kin Recognition
When No Really Means No (In Plants) When it comes to sexual reproduction, nearly half of all flowering plant species are self-incompatible. That is, the pollen (male parts of flowers) produced by an individual plant is somehow recognized by the plant and rendered ineffectual in self-fertilizing the ovules (female parts…
The Selfish Plant 2 – “Self” & “Non-Self” Perception: Plant-Microbe Interactions
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.” – Sun Tzu, The Art of War Who Are You? How do plants distinguish “unfriendly” (a.k.a., pathogenic) microbes from “friendly” microbes (with which to form mutually beneficial partnerships, e.g.)? How do flowering…
The Selfish Plant
Looking Out For Number One In a previous post, way back last December, regarding the notion of plant “pain”, I acknowledged the subject of “damaged-self recognition” in plants, but I didn’t want to elaborate on it at that time. Well, it looks like now’s the time…. “Damaged-self recognition” in plants…
2016 “How Plants Work” News Highlights – March
From Blocking Pollen To Blocking Disease If there was a recurring theme in the March 2016 plant news it may have been plant defense. Defense against foreign genes, defense against herbivores, and defense against disease all made an appearance. “Contamination of organic corn by genetically modified pollen is a major…
HPW Retrospectacles 2018 – November
HPW Retrospectacles 2018 – June

From Camouflaged Plants To “Padlocked” Plant Genes. Plants and animals DO have many things in common, mostly at the cellular level. But sometimes similarities may occur at higher functional levels, such as body pigmentation. And a story published last June provides such an example. Other plant science news in June…
HPW Retrospectacles 2018 – April
HPW Retrospectacles 2018 – January
New Ways To Kill Plants
The Selfish Plant 3 – Self-Incompatibility and Kin Recognition

When No Really Means No (In Plants) When it comes to sexual reproduction, nearly half of all flowering plant species are self-incompatible. That is, the pollen (male parts of flowers) produced by an individual plant is somehow recognized by the plant and rendered ineffectual in self-fertilizing the ovules (female parts…
The Selfish Plant 2 – “Self” & “Non-Self” Perception: Plant-Microbe Interactions

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.” – Sun Tzu, The Art of War Who Are You? How do plants distinguish “unfriendly” (a.k.a., pathogenic) microbes from “friendly” microbes (with which to form mutually beneficial partnerships, e.g.)? How do flowering…
The Selfish Plant

Looking Out For Number One In a previous post, way back last December, regarding the notion of plant “pain”, I acknowledged the subject of “damaged-self recognition” in plants, but I didn’t want to elaborate on it at that time. Well, it looks like now’s the time…. “Damaged-self recognition” in plants…
2016 “How Plants Work” News Highlights – March

From Blocking Pollen To Blocking Disease If there was a recurring theme in the March 2016 plant news it may have been plant defense. Defense against foreign genes, defense against herbivores, and defense against disease all made an appearance. “Contamination of organic corn by genetically modified pollen is a major…