The ancient Indian dwarf wheat, Triticum sphaerococcum, is getting some serious attention these days. This wheat has been around for ages. It is not like the modern bread wheat that people are used to seeing in stores. It is much smaller and has a unique shape. Scientists have been studying this ancient grain to see how it handles tough conditions. They wanted t...
The world is facing big problems with climate change, global warming, and not enough water. These issues make droughts worse and threaten the food we grow. Scientists are looking for new ways to help plants survive these tough conditions. One promising solution comes from Moringa, a plant known for its eco-friendly benefits. Moringa can produce nanoparticles, tiny pa...
Pistachio trees, known for their tasty nuts, face a big challenge: drought. These trees struggle with dry conditions, which can hurt their growth and the quality of their nuts. To tackle this issue, researchers have been looking into ways to make pistachio trees more resilient. They focused on a special group of hybrid pistachio trees. These hybrids are a mix of ...
The world of microbes living in the soil around cowpea roots is a bustling ecosystem. These tiny organisms play a big role in how plants handle stress, like drought. But what exactly happens to these microbial communities when the rain stops? This is what a recent investigation set out to find. The study focused on the bacteria that live around cowpea roots, known a...
Plants face a tough challenge when it comes to dealing with drought. They need to toughen up to survive dry spells, but this can slow down their growth. Scientists have been curious about how plants manage this balancing act. Recently, researchers dug into the genetic makeup of oats to find some answers. They gathered a massive amount of data from 84 different sets ...
Drought in sub-Saharan Africa is a huge problem that impacts how maize grows and reduces the harvest. Dealing with drought is complex because many different genes are involved. That's why scientists tried something new. Researchers took 236 different types of corn and tested them in multiple environments. By using seven different GWAS models, they wanted to un...
Plants face lots of problems due to changes in the weather and how we manage farms. One of these issues is abiotic stress, which is when conditions like drought or too much salt in the soil make it hard for plants to grow. To deal with these problems, plants have special proteins called stress-associated proteins (SAPs). This research looks at one of these proteins, ...
Imagine you're a grass trying to survive in harsh conditions. You might think that learning to handle drought would also help you deal with cold winters. Scientists are exploring if this is true or not. They studied different types of grasses and how they adapt to different climates. Some grasses that cope well with drought do okay in cold, but others aren't so lucky...
Scientists have turned to a tiny gene, AtbZIP69, to create tougher wheat plants. By inserting this gene into a specific wheat variety, they’ve made these plants much better at handling low nitrogen and drought conditions. When faced with stress, these genetically altered wheat plants showed increased activity in their antioxidants and adjustments in how they use and ...
Selecting cassava plants that can withstand drought is tough because it depends on many factors. This study tried to find the best way to pick drought-tolerant cassava clones using genomic selection. They used different methods like Best Linear Unbiased Predictions (BLUPs), Genomic Estimated Breeding Values (GEBVs), and Genomic Estimated Genotypic Values (GETGVs). Th...