Biosentients - Science Biology… etc

Today”s photograph is shared by Peter Buchwald (original image | Creative Commons License). Lindsay continues with January”s thematic series on conservation of rare plants as part of the International Year of Biodiversity. Lindsay ………

Hard for me to believe that we went 17 days into the new year — the new decade! — without going to Roundrock. Circumstances got in the way, but yesterday I decided I wasn’t going to delay my return to the woods any longer, so we jumped into the truck (pups included) and drove through the thick, thick fog to our ………

More photographs today from Ian Crown of the Puerto Rican fruit farm, Panoramic Fruit. Thank you ………

Microscopic ridges contouring the surface of flower petals might play a role in flashing that come-hither look pollinating insects can’t resist. Michigan State University researchers and his colleagues now have figured out how those form. The result could help scientists learn to enhance plants’ pollination success and even could lead to high-grip nanomaterials and “green chemical” feedstocks……..

Dark spots on flower petals are common across a number of angiosperm plant families and occur on flowers such as some lilies, orchids, and daisies. Much research has been done on the physiological and behavioral mechanisms for how these spots attract pollinators. But have you ever wondered what these spots are composed of, how they develop, or how they only appear on some but not all of the ray florets? ……..

Researchers at the Carnegie Institution, with colleagues,* have observed that a plant steroid prompts two genes to battle each otherone suppresses the other to ensure that leaves grow normally in rice and the experimental plant Arabidopsis thaliana, a relative of mustard. The results, reported in the December 15, 2009, issue of The Plant Cell, have important implications for understanding how to manipulate crop growth and yield……..

Rapid population growth and urbanization have raised concerns over stormwater runoff contamination. Studies on watersheds indicate that excess nutrients, specifically nitratenitrogen and soluble reactive phosphorus are found in stormwater runoff in a number of new urban areas. These pollutants degrade water quality and have an impact on the downstream ecosystem by contributing to the growth and decomposition of oxygen-depleting microorganisms……..

New varieties of plants marketed as “disease-resistant” or “insect-resistant” are becoming more accessible to consumers. Available through local garden centers and catalogues, these attractive ornamentals often come with guarantees that offer amateur gardeners the promise of lower maintenance or the need for fewer pesticides……..

Eventhough Charles Darwin is most well-known for his book On the Origin of Species, in which he described the process of natural selection, he greatly contributed to a number of specific fields within biology. As the bicentennial anniversary of Darwin’s birth comes to a close, the recent issue of the American Journal of Botany presents two papers exploring botanical history before the time of Darwin, Darwin’s contributions to botany, and what researchers have discovered in the subsequent years following Darwin’s first presentation of his a number of provocative ideas to the scientific community……..

Breakthrough research done earlier this year by a plant cell biologist at the University of California, Riverside has greatly accelerated scientists’ knowledge on how plants and crops can survive difficult environmental conditions such as drought. Working on abscisic acid (ABA), a stress hormone produced naturally by plants, Sean Cutler’s laboratory showed in April 2009 how ABA helps plants survive by inhibiting their growth in times when water is unavailable research that has important agricultural implications……..