Divergent evolution leads to variation among populations and thus promotes diversification. In plants, adaptation to different soils, pollinator guilds, and herbivores is thought to be a key ...

The ever-growing human population requires stable and durable crop yields to sustain sufficient food production. A plethora of pests, including bacteria, fungi and insects, threaten crop production, ...

Plant behavior may seem rather boring compared with the frenetic excesses of animals. Yet the lives of our vegetable friends, who tirelessly feed the entire biosphere (including us), are full of ...

A deep genetic mystery has baffled plant scientists for decades. Although leaves, stems, and flowers develop in strikingly similar ways across many plant species, scientists have struggled to identify ...

One example is the SKL1 protein in flowering plants, which originated as a copy of the SK protein, but gained a new function. Christendat's prior research determined that flowering plants—evolving ...