Botany News

May 22, 2025

Top Headlines

How Hibiscus Flowers Lost Their Bullseyes

May 21, 2025 — New research reveals how repeated genetic changes in hibiscus flowers have led to the loss of visually striking bullseye patterns despite their advantage in attracting pollinators like ...

Plant Cell Sculptors

May 21, 2025 — New research has shed light on how plants precisely control their growth and development, revealing that seemingly similar molecular components fulfill surprisingly different ...

A New Technology for Extending the Shelf Life of Produce

May 21, 2025 — Researchers developed a way to extend the shelf life of vegetables by injecting them with melatonin using biodegradable ...

Forest Management Can Influence Health Benefits

May 20, 2025 — Forests play a crucial role in promoting health and wellbeing, but not all forests provide the same benefits. A large-scale study demonstrates how specific forest characteristics -- such as canopy density and tree species diversity -- can affect ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:50pm EDT

Wild Spinach Offers Path to Breed Disease Resistance Into Cultivated Varieties

May 20, 2025 — Several varieties of wild spinach that originated in Central Asia show resistance to a destructive soil-borne pathogen that beleaguers growers of ...

Research Team Traces Evolutionary History of Bacterial Circadian Clock on Ancient Earth

May 20, 2025 — To better understand the circadian clock in modern-day cyanobacteria, a research team has studied ancient timekeeping systems. They examined the ...

Bees Facing New Threats, Putting Our Survival and Theirs at Risk

May 19, 2025 — A new report identifies the top 12 emerging threats that could accelerate pollinator losses within the next 5-15 years, according to ten of the world's leading ...

Cover Crops May Not Be Solution for Both Crop Yield, Carbon Sequestration

May 19, 2025 — People have assumed climate change solutions that sequester carbon from the air into soils will also benefit crop yields. But a new study finds that most regenerative farming practices to build soil ...

Scientific Breakthrough: We Can Now Halve the Price of Costly Cancer Drug

May 19, 2025 — The demand for the widely used cancer drug Taxol is increasing, but it's difficult and expensive to produce because it hasn't been possible to do it biosynthetically. Until now, that is. Researchers ...

How Did Plants Evolve the Ability to Transport Massive Amounts of Protein Into Seed Vacuoles?

May 19, 2025 — A research team has revealed the molecular steps that led to the emergence of this plant-specific vacuolar transport system. Their work shows that ...

Light-to-Electricity Nanodevice Reveals How Earth's Oldest Surviving Cyanobacteria Worked

May 16, 2025 — Scientists have decoded the atomic structure of Photosystem I from a 3-billion-year-old cyanobacteria lineage, offering a unique look at early ...

Dual Associations With Two Fungi Improve Tree Fitness

May 15, 2025 — When trees and soil fungi form close associations with each other, both partners benefit. Many tree species have further enhanced this cooperation by forming a concurrent symbiosis with two different ...

Human Activity Reduces Plant Diversity Hundreds of Kilometers Away

May 15, 2025 — Natural ecosystems comprise groups of species capable of living in the specific conditions of a biological system. However, if we visit a specific natural area, we will not find all the species ...

Should We Protect Non-Native Species? A New Study Says Maybe

May 14, 2025 — A new study found that over a quarter of the world's naturalized plant species are threatened in parts of their native range -- raising questions about the role non-native populations may play in ...

Artificial Intelligence and Genetics Can Help Farmers Grow Corn With Less Fertilizer

May 14, 2025 — Scientists are using artificial intelligence to determine which genes collectively govern nitrogen use efficiency in plants such as corn, with the goal of helping farmers improve their crop yields ...

A Plant You've Never Heard of Can Do What Scientists Once Thought Impossible

May 13, 2025 — A new study shows that an unassuming plant has some very unusual family ...

Growth Before Photosynthesis: How Trees Regulate Their Water Balance

May 13, 2025 — In order for trees to grow, they need to control their water balance meticulously. A study shows how trees react to drought -- and revises previous ...

First Fossil Evidence of Endangered Tropical Tree Discovered

May 9, 2025 — Scientists have discovered fossil evidence of an endangered, living tropical tree species. The unprecedented find was made in Brunei, a country on the large island of Borneo, and reveals a critical ...

Researchers Find New Defense Against Hard-to-Treat Plant Diseases

May 8, 2025 — Researchers showed that some spinach defensins can confer similar protection to citrus and potatoes -- and possibly other crops. The effects show significant progress toward recovering yield and ...

Okra, Fenugreek Extracts Remove Most Microplastics from Water

May 6, 2025 — The substances behind the slimy strings from okra and the gel from fenugreek seeds could trap microplastics better than a commonly used synthetic polymer. Previously, researchers proposed using these ...

Blue Tips Are Red Algae's Red Flags

May 5, 2025 — Some red algae exhibit structural color that gives their growth tips a blue hue and the rest of their bodies including their fruiting structures a white hue. Moreover, since the color-producing ...

Traditional Forest Medicinal Plant Ghost Pipe Used Differently Today

May 2, 2025 — Despite a long history of traditional medicinal use in the United States, the collection, consumption and efficacy of the peculiar forest plant aptly named ghost pipe, scientific name Monotropa ...

Loss of Sea Ice Alters the Colors of Light in the Ocean

May 2, 2025 — The disappearance of sea ice in polar regions due to global warming not only increases the amount of light entering the ocean, but also changes its color. These changes have far-reaching consequences ...

AI System Targets Tree Pollen Behind Allergies

May 1, 2025 — Imagine trying to tell identical twins apart just by looking at their fingerprints. That's how challenging it can be for scientists to distinguish the tiny powdery pollen grains produced by fir, ...

New Study Unlocks How Root Cells Sense and Adapt to Soil

Apr. 30, 2025 — Scientists have discovered, for the first time how root cells respond to their complex soil environment revealing that roots actively sense their microenvironment and mount precise, cell-specific ...

Will the Vegetables of the Future Be Fortified Using Tiny Needles?

Apr. 29, 2025 — Researchers have shown they can inexpensively nanomanufacture silk microneedles to precisely fortify crops, monitor plant health, and detect soil ...

New Pests and Diseases Will Cut UK Tree Growth

Apr. 28, 2025 — The arrival of new plant pests and diseases is likely to severely damage UK trees and woodlands in the coming decades, new research ...

Flower Strips Could Save Apple Farmers Pest Control Costs

Apr. 28, 2025 — Planting wildflowers in apple orchards could save farmers up to 3,000 per hectare a year, according to a new ...

Controlling Starch Levels in Algae Could Have Biotechnology and Sustainability Benefits

Apr. 24, 2025 — High-starch algae are important in biofuel production, as a feed supplement in agriculture and as an efficient way to bind carbon dioxide. Researchers have now found a new method to control starch ...

Plant-Based Calamari That Rivals Real Seafood in Texture

Apr. 24, 2025 — Plant-based seafood alternatives should have similar flavors, textures and nutritional content to the foods they mimic. And recreating the properties of fried calamari rings, which have a neutral ...

Invasive Weed Threatens Southern California's Deserts

Apr. 24, 2025 — Once thought resistant to invasion, California's deserts are losing native plants to aggressive weedy species like Saharan mustard. New research shows its spread is disrupting biodiversity and ...

Newborns Living Near Trees Tend to Be Healthier: New Data Suggests It's Not Because Healthier People Reside Near Parks

Apr. 23, 2025 — The link between proximity to greenspace -- including trees and parks-- and healthy birth outcomes is well established. Now new data adds to our understanding of these health benefits, accounting for ...

Toxic Blooms in Motion: Researchers Map Algae Patterns in Lake Okeechobee, Florida

Apr. 23, 2025 — Florida's Lake Okeechobee is essential for water management but faces harmful algal blooms, which thrive in warm, nutrient-rich waters. Daily vertical migration enables them to survive in turbid ...

E-I-E-I-Omics: New Discoveries in Corn Genetics Could Help Grow More Productive, Resilient Crops

Apr. 22, 2025 — By analyzing DNA from different cells in nearly 200 lines of maize plants, research has revealed insights that could help growers better adapt their crops to a fast-changing ...