In studies of signals between plant embryos and their endosperm, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research and the University of Cologne have isolated a mutant where there is ...

The endosperm, the tissue surrounding the plant embryo in the seed, has long been perceived as a nourishing tissue that is abandoned once the transition to the seedling is complete. A team has now ...

Seed germination is a key developmental process that has to be tightly controlled to avoid germination under unfavourable conditions. Abscisic acid (ABA) is an essential repressor of seed germination.

Plants lack a germline, express many genes in the haploid phase of the life cycle and have a flexible developmental plan. These features allow stringent selection in the haploid phase against ...

Agriculture, particularly that involving grains, has always been a steadfast pillar of civilization. Our current understanding of plant biology and genetics has helped us greatly improve the quality ...

Stanford, CA-- Once a mother plant releases its embryos to the outside world, they have to survive on their own without family protection. To ensure successful colonization by these vulnerable ...

Imagine discovering a mammal without mammary glands or an insect with eight legs. Aquatic herbs in the genus Hydatella pose a similar paradox—they lack a defining developmental feature of flowering ...

The origin of flowering plants, or angiosperms, stands as one of evolutionary biology's great enigmas. Scientists know that they diverged from the seed-bearing plants, or gymnosperms, at least 150 ...