Gregor Mendel described his experiments with pea plants and proved that genes are transmitted in discrete units, with certain ...

The Jena Experiment provided the ideal conditions for our research," says first author Pamela Medina van Berkum. The biggest challenge in outdoor experiments is measuring the volatile compounds ...

Plants are constantly sending chemical messages into the air and soil around them. These invisible signals can summon pollinators, warn neighbors of herbivores, or repel attackers. But new research ...

Dear EarthTalk: Is it true that plants communicate by sending chemical signals through the air? -- Melissa, via email Recent ...

Researchers who manipulate lignin, a molecular fiber that allows plants to grow tall and transport water, unexpectedly discovered its synthesis has more far-reaching effects on plant development than ...

A study suggests a new model for how glutamate receptor-like proteins (GLRs) function in plant cells. Working with Arabidopsis thaliana pollen cells, the researchers found that GLRs form the basis of ...

When people pose the old question about whether a tree falling in an empty forest makes a sound, they presuppose that none of the other plants in the forest are listening in. Plants, supposedly, are ...

Pamela Medina van Berkum collects volatile organic compounds from communities and individual plants in the field at the Jena Experiment field site (https://the-jena-experiment.de/). In her experiments ...

Plant cells share a strange and surprising kinship with animal neurons: many plant cells have proteins that closely resemble glutamate receptors, which help to relay nerve signals from one neuron to ...

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology and the University of Kiel have provided experimental evidence showing that reducing plant species diversity alters plant chemical signals ...