How Plants Work

Transgenic Plants – Reality Check

plantguy — Thu, 02 May 2013 18:02:40 +0000

After Nearly 20 Years, What’s Up With Genetically-Engineered Crops? Genetically-engineered (or more commonly referred to as “genetically-modified”) crops have come along way since the ill-fated “Flavr Savr” tomato was first commercially produced and sold in 1994. Did you know that in 2012 genetically-modified (GM) corn, soybean and cotton accounted for nearly 90% of total planted [...]

On Dandelions

plantguy — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 18:51:11 +0000

Much Maligned. Highly Underrated? The common dandelion that you often see in the spring in North America is, most likely, Taraxacum officinale. How dandelions reproduce by cloning themselves and how herbicides kill dandelions, but not your lawn are two subjects I’ve previously explored here. But if you’d like some more information about these plants that [...]

On Bean Leaves, Bedbugs, And The Sugar “Internet” In Plants

plantguy — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 18:42:07 +0000

One Thing Leads To Another…. You’ve probably already read the New York Times article about how bean leaf surfaces can entrap bedbugs (the trichomes on the leaf surfaces are microscopic velcro-like hooks, ensnaring the bedbugs). If you haven’t yet, it’s certainly worth checking out. This NY Times story is about a paper (see Ref. 1 [...]

How Does The Daffodil Make Its Trumpet-Shaped Flower? (And Why?)

plantguy — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 23:16:10 +0000

The Science of Flower Development….Doesn’t It Ruin the Aesthetic Beauty of Flowers? I’m aware of no better answer to such a question than this one from Richard Feynman: OK, now back to flower development, in general, and daffodils, in particular.… About The Daffodil’s “Trumpet” A report recently published online in The Plant Journal (please see [...]

Sugar or Gas? – What Drives the Springtime Flow of Sap in Sugar Maple Trees?

plantguy — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 22:15:26 +0000

Pancakes With A Side of Math What better time to talk about where maple syrup comes from than “sap season”? This is time of the year – early March – when the sap typically is flowing in the sugar maple trees that grow in the northeastern part of North America. What drew my attention to [...]

How Salt Stresses Plants (Or Not) – Part 3: How Will Crop Plants Become More Salt Tolerant?

plantguy — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 18:59:04 +0000

The Increasing Need for More Salt-Tolerant Crop Plants The salinization of soils is a very serious agricultural problem. Because saline soils can adversely affect the establishment, growth, and development of crop plants, leading to huge losses in yield, the significance of soil salinity in reducing agricultural productivity is enormous. Unfortunately, the salinity of croplands is [...]

How Salt Stresses Plants (Or Not) – Part 2: Halophytes

plantguy — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 19:18:52 +0000

Yes, You Can Water Some Plants With Seawater Although salty water and saline environments are usually harmful to most plants, why should anybody care about salt stress on plants? Here’s a good answer to that question: “Ubiquitously, no toxic substance restricts plant growth more than does salt. Salt stress presents an increasing threat to plant [...]

How Salt Stresses Plants (Or Not)

plantguy — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 23:55:06 +0000

Why Not Irrigate Plants With Seawater? A recent report about how salt stops plant growth got me wondering about what’s the latest news regarding plant salt tolerance. But first, let’s see why watering most plants (including all the major crop plants) with seawater would be harmful, and likely be lethal. You can’t water most plants [...]

What’s New About How Plants Work? – Some “Tasty Tidbits” from 2012 (Twelfth Course)

plantguy — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 22:32:23 +0000

A Final Taste of 2012 One of the oldest mysteries of plant breeding is why hybrid plants usually provide significantly higher yields than their homozygous parents. Plant breeders have known about this for more than 100 years, and they have used this effect, called hybrid vigor or heterosis, to obtain greater crop yields. Scientists have [...]

What’s New About How Plants Work? – Some “Tasty Tidbits” from 2012 (Eleventh Course)

plantguy — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 00:06:13 +0000

Elevenses? – From Ancient Lifeforms to Future Agriculture Well, here we are at the penultimate post of my plant science news “buffet” for 2012. Can you imagine what it would be like to live for over 4,000 years? (Maybe Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks came close with the 2,000-year-old man.) The longevity of bristlecone pines [...]