Early recognition of the importance of roots for drought resistance, and the diversity in rice root architecture, provided a strong foundation for drought research at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). IRRI was founded in 1960, and large efforts for research on root growth in response to drought were ongoing by the mid-1970s, with an emphasis on deep root growth, formation of coa...

Introduction Epigenetic changes in gene expression have fascinated scientists over several decades. These processes have received particular attention in plants, where they can result in beautiful variations in conspicuous phenotypes such as pigmentation. Epigenetic control is also a key issue in the development of transgenic plants with appropriate expression from newly introduced transgene se...

Plant volatiles are the metabolites that plants release into the air. The quantities released are not trivial. Almost one-fifth of the atmospheric CO2 fixed by land plants is released back into the air each day as volatiles. Plants are champion synthetic chemists; they take advantage of their anabolic prowess to produce volatiles, which they use to protect themselves against biotic and abiotic ...

Like the formation of animal species, plant speciation is characterized by the evolution of barriers to genetic exchange between previously interbreeding populations. Prezygotic barriers, which impede mating or fertilization between species, typically contribute more to total reproductive isolation in plants than do postzygotic barriers, in which hybrid offspring are selected against. Adaptive ...

Since ancient times, people have cut and joined together plants of different varieties or species so they would grow as a single plant - a process known as grafting (Figures 1 and 2). References to grafting appear in the Bible, ancient Greek and ancient Chinese texts, indicating that grafting was practised in Europe, the Middle East and Asia by at least the 5(th) century BCE. It is unknown wher...

The vacuoles of plant cells are multifunctional organelles that are central to cellular strategies of plant development. They share some of their basic properties with the vacuoles of algae and yeast and the lysosomes of animal cells. They are lytic compartments, function as reservoirs for ions and metabolites, including pigments, and are crucial to processes of detoxification and general cell ...

The study of plant behaviour will be aided by conceptual approaches and terminology for cooperation, altruism and helping. The plant literature has a rich discussion of helping between species while the animal literature has an extensive and somewhat contentious discussion of within-species helping. Here, I identify and synthesize concepts, terminology and some practical methodology for speakin...