Plants are marvelous chemists, as the gardenia's DNA shows
Friday, June 19, 2020 - 15:40
in Biology & Nature
Plants are some of nature's most extraordinary chemists. Unlike animals, they can't run from predators or pathogens. They can't uproot themselves to spread their seeds. So instead, they manufacture chemicals to make love and war. But how did plants obtain these capabilities? In a new study, scientists explore this question through the evolution of Gardenia jasminoides, sequencing the species' genome and learning how the plant evolved to make crocin, a useful chemical.