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CABBI team designs efficient bioenergy crops that need less water to grow
Drought stress has long been a limiting factor for crop production around the world, a challenge exacerbated by climate change.For more than a century, scientists have targeted a key plant trait known as water use efficiency (WUE) to help crops grow with less water and avoid suffering from drought...
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Drowning tomatoes for science
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — I can barely hear Esther Ngumbi over the roar of greenhouse fans as she shows me around her rooftop laboratory in Morrill Hall. The benches are full of tomato plants, and the tomatoes don’t look good. Half of the plants are submerged in bins of water. Their leaves are yellow...
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Researchers reconstruct an evolutionary history of flowering plants
Researchers at the University of Illinois have contributed to a large-scale international study that has reconstructed a comprehensive "tree of life" for flowering plants. The study offers new light on the evolutionary history of angiosperms, which account for approximately 90 percent of all...
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Researchers find unique adaptations of fungus associated with bee bread
The past attempts of honey bee researchers to inventory the fungal diversity in honey bee colonies revealed that Aspergillus flavus is frequently found in hives. In a new study, researchers have discovered that this fungus is uniquely adapted to survive in bee colonies.The...
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Back from the dead: Tropical tree fern repurposes its dead leaves
Plant biologists report that a species of tree fern found only in Panama reanimates its own dead leaf fronds, converting them into root structures that feed the mother plant. The fern, Cyathea rojasiana, reconfigures these “zombie leaves,” reversing the flow of water to draw nutrients back...
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41st Annual Insect Fear Film Festival
The 41st Annual Insect Fear Film Festival (IFFF) will be held on Saturday, February 24, 2024, at Foellinger Auditorium, on the campus of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Hosted by the Entomology Graduate Students Association in the Department of Entomology at the...
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Talking tomatoes: How their communication is influenced by enemies and friends
Plants produce a range of chemicals known as volatile organic compounds that influence their interactions with the world around them. In a new study, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign investigated how the type and amount of these VOCs change based on different features of...
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Researchers: Pesticides and adjuvants disrupt honey bee’s sense of smell
It has long been known that exposure to pesticide sprays is harmful to honey bees. In a new study, researchers have uncovered the effect of such sprays on the sense of smell in bees, which could disrupt their social signals.Honey bees live in dynamic communities and constantly communicate with each...
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College of LAS announces faculty promotions
The College of LAS has announced 33 faculty promotions to take effect during the fall semester. The promotions include 15 faculty members who were promoted from associate professor to professor; 13 who were promoted from assistant professor to associate professor; and five who received...
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New study indicates C4 crops less sensitive to ozone pollution than C3 crops
Ozone (O3) in the troposphere negatively impacts crop growth and development, causing significant decreases in crop yield worldwide. This airborne pollutant does not come directly from smokestacks or vehicles, but instead is formed when other pollutants, mainly nitrogen oxides and volatile organic...