Botany Archives - Science Connected Magazine

Bananas, Panama Disease, and You

September 23, 2019September 20, 2019 Science Connectedbananas, Panama disease, plant sciences, resistance

By Radhika Desikan Bananas are a ubiquitous fruit that generally appeals to humans of all ages, from infants to older people. But did you know that our consumption of bananas might be reduced in the future, due to a devastating disease that is hitting the crop worldwide? Panama disease of bananas is a hugely devastating plant disease caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc). It was originally discovered in the late 19th century, but spread globally in the early 20th century, when the disease wiped out a…

Biology Botany

Steroid Hormones Protect Cotton from Drought

July 18, 2019July 17, 2019 Science Connectedcotton, drought, fabric, hormone, plants, steroid, steroids

By Radhika Desikan As you are reading this, chances are that you are wearing something made of cotton, or have come in contact with some cotton fabric today. Cotton accounts for nearly half of all clothing material in the world. Cotton plants date back to prehistoric times; there is evidence of cotton farming from around 5000 BC in the Indian subcontinent. Cotton fabric is made of cotton fibres, which grow in the protective cases (bolls) around the seeds of the cotton plant (Gossypium hirsutum). However, it is not just the…

Biology Botany Education

Curing “Plant Blindness” with Botanical Gardens and Farms

July 11, 2019July 9, 2019 Science Connectedagriculture, botanical garden, conservation, farms, gardens, plant blindness, plants

By Neha Jain (@lifesciexplore) What was the last plant you saw? Have you ever seen a grain of wheat? How many varieties of rice are there? Although many of us desire a green environment, more and more people, especially urban dwellers, are becoming oblivious to the plants around them—so much so that just over two decades ago, researchers even coined a term for this phenomenon: “plant blindness.” Much of the food we eat today is the result of thousands of years of plant cultivation and breeding by our ancestors. As…

Biology Botany

This Bug’s Bacteria Helps Rice Plants Boost Immunity

June 20, 2019June 18, 2019 Science Connectedmicrobes

By Radhika Desikan Rice is the most widely consumed staple cereal crop for about half of the world’s human population, but its cultivation comes with inherent challenges, such as crop attacks by herbivorous pests. Brown planthopper (BPH) is an insect pest which feeds on rice plants and causes extensive damage to crops. However, there are some rice varieties that are resistant to BPH; increasing research in this area is aimed at understanding the mechanisms of this resistance. Moreover, although there are about 800 insect herbivores that feed on rice, the…

Botany Ecology Environment

An Evolutionary Approach to Conserving Plant Habitats

May 23, 2019May 23, 2019 Science Connectedbiodiversity, conservation, evolution, natural habitat, plants, species

By Mackenzie Myers (@thetiniestnail) To conserve plant habitats, a traditional approach to biodiversity—species richness, or saving as many species as possible—might not be the most effective route. Instead, vulnerable landscapes might be better served by a quality-over-quantity mindset, a recent paper from a team of UC Berkeley scientists suggests. Think of going into a grocery store. On a budget and with limited cooking time, shoppers probably don’t buy the first dozen random ingredients they see on the shelf. Rather, they find it more practical to shop deliberately, perhaps by looking…

Biology Botany

Plants Can Win a Battle against Aphids

May 16, 2019May 12, 2019 Science Connectedaphid, crops, pest, pesticide, resistance

By Radhika Desikan Being sessile, plants are faced with constant pressures from their environment, such as extreme climates, microbes, and herbivores including insects and animals. To cope with these challenges, some plants have evolved the ability to tolerate particular stresses or defend themselves against insect pests. For decades, scientists have been trying to understand how some plants tolerate these challenges, with the aim of improving overall plant health and increasing crop yields. Aphids are a problem Aphids are common pests of most cultivated plants. They belong to a family of…

Biology Botany Chemistry

Microbes Help Plants Survive Heavy Metal Stress

April 18, 2019April 18, 2019 Science Connectedheavy metals, microbes, soil contamination, soil fungi, soil microbes, soil microbiome

By Radhika Desikan When you hear the term heavy metal, what do you think of? Music or chemistry? Exposure to heavy metal music can cause stress in some humans. But what about chemical heavy metals? Are they good or bad for the environment and living organisms? In chemical terms, heavy metals are elements in earth’s crust that have a high density (weight), and they include zinc, copper, iron, silver, gold, arsenic, lead, and cobalt, to name a few. While trace amounts of heavy metals such as copper, iron, cobalt, and…

Anthropology Biology Botany Chemistry

Leaf Age Matters for Plant Survival

April 11, 2019April 3, 2019 Science Connectedbotany, leaf age, plant, plant age, plant communication

By Radhika Desikan Does age really matter? For us humans, age seems to be a very sensitive issue relevant to how we live our lives. And while it also matters to plants, it does so at a different level. Some of our tissues, like skin, have cells that are constantly dividing (to replace dead cells) and therefore differ in age, but what defines our age as an organism is not the life span of individual cells in our body, but rather the length of time that has passed since our…

Biology Botany

Plants Communicate with Neighbors in Response to Touch

March 14, 2019March 14, 2019 Science Connectedcommunication, plant communication, plants, senses, volatile compounds, volatiles

By Radhika Desikan How well do you and your neighbour know each other? Chances are, very little these days. But some living things, including plants, know their neighbours well. According to new research, it appears that what one plant “feels” can also be sensed by its neighbouring plant. Isn’t that remarkable? It is a fact of life that plants do not move from one place to another. Therefore plants, unlike humans, cannot move away from any impending danger, be it a herbivore, a disease-causing microbe, or even the cold and…

Biology Botany Chemistry

To Grow or Not to Grow? Bacteria Make Seeds Think!

February 7, 2019February 22, 2019 Science Connectedbacteria, germination, growth, plants, seeds

By Radhika Desikan A seed is the beginning of new life for most flowering plants. It has all the potential to develop into a new plant, with its own stored food used for germination (the sprouting of a seed). However, if you have done any gardening, you might know that not all seeds always germinate. Whether or not a seed grows into a plant is determined by a number of factors, such as the presence of oxygen, water, and the right temperature. Seeds have a remarkable ability to detect whether…