Outwitting Climate Change with a Plant ‘Dimmer’?

For many plant species, such as the thale
cress, which is often used in research, but
 also for food crops such as corn, rice
and wheat, there are now initiatives currently
 mapping the genome of many subspecies
and varieties.

Plants possess molecular mechanisms that prevent them from blooming in winter. Once the cold of win-ter has passed, they are deactivated. However, if it is still too cold in spring, plants adapt their blooming behavior accordingly. Scientists from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have discovered genetic changes for this adaptive behavior. In light of the temperature changes resulting from climate change, this may come in useful for securing the production of food in the future.

Everyone knows that many plant species bloom at different times in spring. The time at which a plant blooms in spring does not follow the calendar, but is instead determined by environmental factors such as temperature and day length. Biologists have discovered that plants recognize these environmental factors via genetically determined programs and adapt their growth accordingly.

Read the Science and Technology Research News story - “Outwitting Climate Change with a Plant ‘Dimmer’?”