Latest Plant roots Stories
IGC scientists describe new transporter in cells of plant roots Plants cannot survive without phosphorus. It forms the backbone of many crucial molecules (such as DNA) and is a key player in energy transfer reactions. Low availability of phosphorus is a major environmental stress for plants and can lead to great losses in crop production. But plants can't make their own phosphorus; they get all they need at the root-soil interface, in the form of inorganic phosphate (Pi), so one way to...
Most plants live in symbiosis with soil fungi and are supplied with water and nutrients as a result. Based on the petunia, plant biologists at the University of Zurich have now discovered that a special transport protein is required to establish this symbiotic relationship. The targeted control of this protein could lead to greater harvests. About 80 percent of all terrestrial plants enter into a symbiotic relationship with fungi living in the soil. The fungi provide the plant with water,...
Plant roots are fascinating plant organs – they not only anchor the plant, but are also the world's most efficient mining companies. Roots live in darkness and direct the activities of the other organs, as well as interact with the surrounding environment. Charles Darwin posited in The Power of Movement of Plants that the root system acts as a plant's brain. Due to the difficulty of accessing root tissue in intact live plants, research of these hidden parts has always lagged behind...
Research suggests reducing deep planting can create healthier trees Many landscape trees are started in-ground, then sold as bare-root ''liners'' to producers who plant them in large containers to grow. To minimize wind damage and to facilitate transport from potting areas to growing beds, the liners are often buried deeper than necessary. This deep planting of liners results in "finished" container plants with deep structural roots, important foundations of root systems responsible for...
Experiments performed at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) reveal that a zone of higher water concentration exists around the roots of a plant. It has long been known that roots alter the soil in their immediate vicinity, where other microorganisms live and the chemical composition is altered compared to that further away from the roots. An international research team has now demonstrated in experiments at the Paul Scherrer Institute that the soil in the vicinity of roots also contains...
System Improvements, Inc. announced that Ken Reed has been promoted to Partner after six years with the company. Reed manages the Equifactor® equipment troubleshooting program. Knoxville, TN (PRWEB) May 25, 2011 System Improvements, Inc. is pleased to announce the promotion of Ken Reed to Partner. Reed previously held the position of Equifactor® Program Manager. Equifactor® is a systematic approach to equipment troubleshooting and root cause failure analysis. Reed...
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev researchers have developed techniques to manipulate root development functionality that can help plants better adapt to hostile growing environments.In a recent paper published in the prestigious journal The Plant Cell, BGU researchers were able show that by manipulating a specific gene they could impact lateral root growth. Lateral root (LR) development is a highly regulated process that determines a plant's growth and ability to adapt to life in different...
Can contaminate young produce cropsE. coli can live for weeks around the roots of produce plants and transfer to the edible portions, but the threat can be minimized if growers don't harvest too soon, a Purdue University study shows.Purdue scientists added E. coli to soil through manure application and water treated with manure and showed that the bacteria can survive and are active in the rhizosphere, or the area around the plant roots, of lettuce and radishes. E. coli eventually gets onto...
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., Sept. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As fat summer tomatoes dangle in profusion from vines in gardens and farms across the country, researchers at Wake Forest University are looking for a way to make future harvests hold up better against drought or lack of nutrients. But the tomatoes these researchers study, with names like Never Ripe and Green Ripe, are mutants that will never achieve that wonderful red that makes a perfect summer meal for many foodies. That's because...
A biosensor utilizing black platinum and carbon nanotubes developed at Purdue University will help give scientists a better understanding of how the plant hormone auxin regulates root growth and seedling establishment.Marshall Porterfield, an associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering and biomedical engineering, created a new sensor to detect the movement of auxin along a plant's root surface in real time without damaging the plants.The nanomaterials at the sensor's tip...
