The Power of Movement in Plants
Most of a flowering plant’s development and physiology is regulated by plant hormones.
The first of these chemical signals to be isolated and characterized was auxin.
In the 1930’s, after the initial discovery of auxin by Frits Went in 1928, he, Kenneth Thimann, and Folke Skoog showed that, in addition [...]
Archive for December, 2008
How a Plant Growth Hormone Predicted by Darwin Shapes Plants
Posted in Plant Development, Plant Hormones, tagged agriculture, botany, Darwin, plants, science on December 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Will Frenzied Plant Growth Help Solve Global Warming?
Posted in Plant Cell Walls, Plant Development, Plant Stress, tagged agriculture, Biofuels, botany, climate change, global warming, plants, science on December 21, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Devil-may-care and out-of-control plants.
A couple of reports in the science news this week seem to suggest that one way to cope with global climate change may be unbridled plant growth.
One has to do with the discovery of a cellular regulator for the synthesis of cellulose by plant cells.
The other involves plants’ natural [...]
How Stress Shapes Plants
Posted in Plant Cell Walls, Plant Development, tagged Biology, botany, plants, science, Stem Cells on December 16, 2008 | 3 Comments »
To make complex organisms takes specialized cells.
Animals and flowering plants require specialized cells with distinct abilities in order to accomplish higher order functions – such as vision or flowering.
It’s somewhat like a symphony orchestra. The orchestra integrates different musicians playing different instruments. The characteristic sounds of the instruments can be blended together to achieve [...]
Plant “Gibberish” – Hormone (Gibberellin) May Play Critical Roles in Plant Response to Climate Change
Posted in Plant Hormones, tagged agriculture, botany, climate change, ecology, plants, science on December 14, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
What do a fungal disease of rice, dwarf plants, flowering, and beer have in common?
Answer: They all may involve the action of the plant hormone gibberellin, a.k.a. gibberellic acid (GA).
Let me explain…..
This plant hormone was first discovered by Japanese scientists working on a rice disease called bakanae caused by the fungus Gibberella fujikuroi. (And now [...]
