Celebrating Plants and People
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Native American Herbal Remedy Studied For Alzheimer’s disease Cure
A Salk Institute discovery of a potent neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory chemical in a native California shrub may lead to a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease based on a compound found in nature. (Click on title for full story.)
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The Accidental Gardener: Tyrannosaurus rex
The model enabled the researchers to predict how long seeds may have remained inside of a T. rex. The study revealed that seeds would likely have persisted for five to seven days before passing through the digestive system. (Click on title for full story.)
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How A New Invasive Insect Depends On An Old Invasive Tree For Protection
According to this recent study, when spotted lanternflies suck juice from the specific tree species that they like, the tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima), the bitter juice (the main of the chemicals is called “ailanthone”) from the tree comes into their body. This makes them distasteful: birds do not like them and may vomit after eating them. (Click on title for full story.)
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The Lengths To Which Poppy Flowers Will Go To Attract Pollinators
Intriguingly, poppies in the Middle East reflect no ultraviolet light, while the same species in Europe do. This difference may be due to their preferred pollinators. ‘In Europe, poppies are pollinated mostly by bees, which cannot see red very well; however, they will pick up ultraviolet.’ In contrast, poppies in the Middle East are pollinated by beetles that do see red colours. (Click on title for full story)
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Charting The Long Frenemy Relationship Between Plants And Fungi
The authors noted that although interactions between fungi and plants, including parasitism, mutualism (beneficial to both organisms), and saprotrophy (obtaining nutrients from dead plant parts), have been invoked as key mechanisms to their success, no one has explored contemporaneous evolutionary events throughout their history. (Click on title for full story.)
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Will Australian Plants At Risk Of Extinction Be Saved?
“The good news is that all of the species on the list can be saved – we have the techniques required, we just need the commitment,” (Click on title for full story.)
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Salads In Space
“That’s the most exciting part of this study,”This system requires some level of gravity to control where the water is, hence the centrifuge.” (Click on title for full story.)
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Tomato Plants Emit An Odor That Can Be Used To Protect Crops
Tomato plants emit an aroma in order to resist bacterial attacks. This aroma– volatile compound –is named hexenyl butyrate (HB) and, …has great potential for protecting crops from infections, drought, etc. (Click on title for full story.)
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They Can Smell You Coming: New Research In Plants’ Olfactory Sense
“Plants can’t run away, so of course they react to odors more slowly than animals. If plants can prepare for environmental change within the same day, that is probably fast enough for them,”(Click on title for full story.)
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The First Dead Plant On The Moon
China announced earlier this week that a cotton seed on board Chang’e 4 had sprouted, marking the first time that biological matter had been grown on the moon (albeit inside a specialized container). But alas, just 24 hours later, officials at Chongqing University pronounced the cotton plant dead, (Click on title for full story.)