Maize (Zea mays, Poaceae) is the most widely cultivated C4 plant.
Image 8
Genetically modified crops (GM crops) are plants used in agriculture, the DNA of which has been modified using genetic engineering methods. Plant genomes can be engineered by physical methods or by use of Agrobacterium for the delivery of sequences hosted in T-DNA binary vectors. In most cases, the aim is to introduce a new trait to the plant which does not occur naturally in the species. Examples in food crops include resistance to certain pests, diseases, environmental conditions, reduction of spoilage, resistance to chemical treatments (e.g. resistance to a herbicide), or improving the nutrient profile of the crop. Examples in non-food crops include production of pharmaceutical agents, biofuels, and other industrially useful goods, as well as for bioremediation.
Farmers have widely adopted GM technology. Acreage increased from 1.7 million hectares in 1996 to 185.1 million hectares in 2016, some 12% of global cropland. As of 2016, major crop (soybean, maize, canola and cotton) traits consist of herbicide tolerance (95.9 million hectares) insect resistance (25.2 million hectares), or both (58.5 million hectares). In 2015, 53.6 million ha of GM maize were under cultivation (almost 1/3 of the maize crop). GM maize outperformed its predecessors: yield was 5.6 to 24.5% higher with less mycotoxins (−28.8%), fumonisin (−30.6%) and thricotecens (−36.5%). Non-target organisms were unaffected, except for Braconidae, represented by a parasitoid of European corn borer, the target of Lepidoptera active Bt maize. Biogeochemical parameters such as lignin content did not vary, while biomass decomposition was higher. (Full article...)
Flowering head of meadow foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis), with stamens exerted at anthesis
An ethylene signal transduction pathway. Ethylene permeates the cell membrane and binds to a receptor on the endoplasmic reticulum. The receptor releases the repressed EIN2. This then activates a signal transduction pathway which activates regulatory genes that eventually trigger an ethylene response. The activated DNA is transcribed into mRNA which is then translated into a functional enzyme that is used for ethylene biosynthesis.
A portrait of Christian Ramsay, beside a watercolour of a flower and a bird.
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Rose Marie "Jane" Ingham (néeTupper‑Carey/tˈʌpəˈkɛəri/; 15 August 1897 – 10 September 1982) was an English botanist and scientific translator. She was appointed research assistant to Joseph Hubert Priestley in the Botany Department at the University of Leeds, and together, they were the first to separate cell walls from the root tip of broad beans. They analysed these cell walls and concluded that they contained protein. She carried out experiments on the cork layer of trees to study how cells function under a change of orientation and found profound differences in cell division and elongation in the epidermal layer of plants.
At Leeds, Ingham was appointed sub-warden of Weetwood Hall, and honorary secretary of the British-Italian League. In 1930, she joined the Imperial Bureau of Plant and Crop Genetics at the School of Agriculture in Cambridge, England, as a scientific officer and translator. The bureau was responsible for publishing a series of abstract journals on various aspects of crop breeding and genetics. In 1932, she married Albert Ingham, then a fellow and director of studies at King's College, Cambridge. Ingham spent the war years in Princeton, New Jersey, with her two sons, not wishing to return to England after travelling to the US just before the outbreak of World War II. In the last years of her life, she and her husband travelled extensively, and in 1982, she died at Cambridge. (Full article...)
The frontispiece to an illustrated 1644 edition, Amsterdam
... that adults and larvae of the green weevil damage a wide range of plants?
... that the cucumber seeds that botanist Elwyn Meader brought back from Korea in 1948 became the basis for all modern cucumber hybrids grown worldwide?
... that Lisa Ainsworth leads a project that involves studying plants under atmospheric conditions that are predicted for 2050?
... that the palm scale was first found on an endemic species of palm on the island of Réunion, but now infests plants in at least 78 families around the world?
... that the founder of the Cannabis Museum in Japan developed an interest in the subject after reading stories as a child in which ninjas trained by jumping over cannabis plants?
The following are images from various plant-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1Thale cress, Arabidopsis thaliana, the first plant to have its genome sequenced, remains the most important model organism. (from Botany)
Image 2The trunk of early tree fern Psaronius, showing internal structure. The top of the plant would have been to the left of the image (from Evolutionary history of plants)
Image 3Five of the key areas of study within plant physiology (from Botany)
Image 11Structure of a plant cell (from Plant cell)
Image 12Echeveria glauca in a Connecticut greenhouse. Botany uses Latin names for identification, here, the specific name glauca means blue. (from Botany)
Image 14The evolution of syncarps. a: sporangia borne at tips of leaf b: Leaf curls up to protect sporangia c: leaf curls to form enclosed roll d: grouping of three rolls into a syncarp (from Evolutionary history of plants)
Image 15The Devonian marks the beginning of extensive land colonization by plants, which – through their effects on erosion and sedimentation – brought about significant climatic change. (from Evolutionary history of plants)
Image 16The Linnaean Garden of Linnaeus' residence in Uppsala, Sweden, was planted according to his Systema sexuale. (from Botany)
Image 17A late Siluriansporangium, artificially colored. Green: A spore tetrad. Blue: A spore bearing a trilete mark – the Y-shaped scar. The spores are about 30–35 μm across. (from Evolutionary history of plants)
Image 18The fruit of Myristica fragrans, a species native to Indonesia, is the source of two valuable spices, the red aril (mace) enclosing the dark brown nutmeg. (from Botany)
Image 28A banded tube from the Late Silurian/Early Devonian. The bands are difficult to see on this specimen, as an opaque carbonaceous coating conceals much of the tube. Bands are just visible in places on the left half of the image. Scale bar: 20 μm (from Evolutionary history of plants)
Image 30The food we eat comes directly or indirectly from plants such as rice. (from Botany)
Image 311 An oat coleoptile with the sun overhead. Auxin (pink) is evenly distributed in its tip. 2 With the sun at an angle and only shining on one side of the shoot, auxin moves to the opposite side and stimulates cell elongation there. 3 and 4 Extra growth on that side causes the shoot to bend towards the sun. (from Botany)
Image 34Micropropagation of transgenic plants (from Botany)
Image 35Structure of Azadirachtin, a terpenoid produced by the Neem plant, which helps ward off microbes and insects. Many secondary metabolites have complex structures (from Evolutionary history of plants)
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