Lifeasible

Plant growth is driven by light and is powered by photosynthesis of green leaves. The same is true for roots that grow in the dark—they receive the products of photosynthesis, specifically sucrose, or sugar, through a central transport pathway in the phloem. Dr. Stefan Kircher and Prof. Peter Schopfer from the Faculty of Biology at the University of Freiburg have shown in experiments using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana that sucrose not only ensures the supply of carbohydrates

Teosinte is a wild ancestor of maize, and its seed protein content is three times that of most modern maize lines. In a new study, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shanghai Normal University tracked the mechanisms responsible for the decline in seed protein content in maize hybrids and inbred strains. Their findings open new avenues for maximizing seed protein content and quality in future maize breeding, with implications for nitrogen use efficiency and food security.<