Botanists aren't always genetic engineers. This week Nigel Chaffey finds some have branched out into civil engineering.
Tag - structure-function
Nigel Chaffey
Iridoplasts, out of the shadows at last
Why can you find colourful plants, where they're hardest to see? Iridoplasts, an overlooked plastid, improve photosynthesis and look great while doing it.
A fresh look at guard cell walls
Arguably, one of the best known ‘structure-function’ relationships in plant biology is the role played by cellulose microfibrils within the walls of the guard cells in stomatal opening. Stomata* are the controllable...
Plant Science at the leading edge
In aeroplane design, the leading edge is either “the part of the wing that first contacts the air … or … the foremost edge of an airfoil section“. Plants – as one might expect – have a different take on that (and got...
Plant parts doing unexpected things: Part 2 (or, Root research all up in the air)
The aerial roots of epiphytic plants perched high above the ground on trees photosynthesise, as well as absorbing water from their surroundings.
Non-leaf photosynthesis
Photosynthetic activity of green nectaries can explain a significant part, if not all, of the sugar secreted in nectar.
Lignin and/or suberin? Lignin!
For as long as the Casparian strip (CS) – an impervious component of the endodermal cell wall that blocks the passive flow of water and solutes into the vascular tissues of a plant – has been known (discovery credited...
Don’t underestimate the druse
Although known from plants for a long time, the function of mineral inclusions – included amongst the so-called ergastic substances of old – remains speculative. Frequently composed of calcium oxalate and rather toxic...
