Plant Biology

Not just CO2: Rising temperatures also alter photosynthesis in a changing climate

2021-03-18

Agricultural scientists who study climate change often focus on how increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels will affect crop yields. But rising temperatures are likely to complicate the picture, researchers including co-author Carl Bernacchi report in a...

College of LAS announces teaching award winners

2021-03-09

Honorees will be celebrated in April along with last year's winners The College of LAS has selected winners of this year’s teaching excellence awards. Twelve professors (including Wendy Yang from Plant Biology), graduate student teaching...

Trade‐offs tip toward litter trapping: Insights from a little‐known Panamanian cloud‐forest treelet

2020-11-20

Each plant's development unfolds along many trade‐off axes. One common trade‐off is engendered by the differential allocation of tissues to harvest essential resources from the surrounding environment. Generally, photosynthetic leaves capture light energy and carbon dioxide, whereas roots take up...

To predict how crops cope with changing climate, 30 years of experiments simulate future

2020-11-02

Five years ago, the United Nations committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger by 2030. Since then, however, world hunger has continued to rise. Nearly 9 percent of our global population is now undernourished, according to a...

Corn and other crops are not adapted to benefit from elevated carbon dioxide levels

2020-11-05

The U.S. backs out of the Paris climate agreement even as carbon dioxide (CO2) levels continue to rise. Through photosynthesis, plants are able to turn CO2 into yield. Logic tells us that more CO2 should boost crop production, but a new review, involving co-author Stephen...

Super-resolution microscopy and machine learning shed new light on identifying fossil pollen grains

2020-10-27

microscopic image of fossilized pollen grain

Plant biology researchers at the University of Illinois and computer scientists at the University of California Irvine have developed a new method of fossil pollen identification through the combination of super-resolution microscopy and machine learning. The team, led by...

CABBI Researchers Collaborate on Oilcane Pilot Project

2020-10-26

From southeastern Florida to northern Mississippi to the Midwestern Corn Belt, CABBI scientists, including our own Don Ort and Steve Long, have struck sustainable oil with sugarcane. But the crop’s potential value to the renewable energy...

Illinois Regenerative Agriculture Initiative launches at University of Illinois

2020-10-14

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is pleased to announce the Illinois Regenerative Agriculture Initiative (IRAI), a new home for regenerative...

Genomic study reveals evolutionary secrets of banyan tree

2020-10-08

The banyan fig tree Ficus microcarpa is famous for its aerial roots, which sprout from branches and eventually reach the soil. The tree also has a unique relationship with a wasp that has coevolved with it and is the only insect that can pollinate it. In...

iSEE researchers receive NSF grant for sustainable future manufacturing