Lighting up the plant hormone 'command system'
Sunday, July 22, 2012 - 12:00
in Biology & Nature
Light is not only the source of a plant's energy, but also an environmental signal that instructs the growth behavior of plants. As a result, a plant's sensitivity to light is of great interest to scientists and their research on this issue could help improve crop yields down the road. Similarly understanding a plant's temperature sensitivity could also help improve agriculture and feed more people. Two new papers from Carnegie's Zhiyong Wang laboratory identify key aspects of the hormonal responses of plants to changes in light and heat in their environments. Their work is published online July 22 by Nature Cell Biology.