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Botany News Stories
Current Botany News Events, Discoveries and Articles

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New research on seaweeds shows it takes more than being flexible to survive crashing waves
Seaweeds are important foundational species that are vital both as food and habitat to many aquatic and terrestrial shore organisms. (2012-05-11)

Genetically modified corn affects its symbiotic relationship with non-target soil organisms
An increasing number of crops commercially grown today are genetically modified (GM) to resist insect pests and/or tolerate herbicides. (2012-04-18)

Protecting living fossil trees
Scientists are working to protect living fossil trees in Fiji from the impact of climate change with cutting-edge DNA sequencing technology. (2012-03-02)

Analyzing complex plant genomes with the newest next-generation DNA sequencing techniques
Genomes are catalogs of hereditary information that determine whether an organism becomes a plant, animal, fungus or microbe, and whether the organism is adapted to its surroundings. (2012-02-27)

Barley adapts to climate change
The upsurge in droughts is one of the main consequences of climate change, and affects crops in particular. However, Anabel Robredo, a biologist at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), has confirmed that in the case of barley at least, climate change itself is providing it with self-defence mechanisms to tackle a lack of water. (2012-01-26)

Brave new world
The changes to the publication requirements of new names for algae, fungi and plants accepted at the XVIII International Botanical Congress in Melbourne in July 2011 initiated several important challenges to scientists, publishers and information specialists. (2012-01-03)

To turn up the heat in chilies, just add water
Biologists have learned in recent years that wild chilies develop their trademark pungency, or heat, as a defense against a fungus that could destroy their seeds. But that doesn't explain why some chilies are hot and others are not. (2011-12-21)

Nature's medicine cabinet could yield hundreds of new drugs
There are probably at least 500 medically useful chemicals awaiting discovery in plant species whose chemical constituents have not yet been evaluated for their potential to cure or treat disease. (2011-12-13)

Stronger corn? Take it off steroids, make it all female
A Purdue University researcher has taken corn off steroids and found that the results might lead to improvements in that and other crops. (2011-12-01)

How does a plant survive with few mates or pollinators? A European herb has figured out its own way
In plants that rely on animals for pollination, the number of seeds they produce, or their relative fitness, is influenced by pollinator visits and the successful deposition of pollen. (2011-11-11)