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A hard graft problem solved for key global food crops

Grafting has long been used to join tissues of different plants in horticulture and research. Methods have now been devised to extend the technique to plants called monocotyledons, which include major crops such as cereals and bananas.
  1. Colin Turnbull

    1. Colin Turnbull is in the Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.

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  2. Sean Carrington

    1. Sean Carrington is in the Department of Biological and Chemical Sciences, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Bridgetown BB11000, Barbados.

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The technique of grafting together the shoot of one plant and the roots of another is immensely beneficial in a variety of contexts. However, efforts to use this approach have long failed for certain key crops. Writing in Nature, Reeves et al.1 report success in developing a grafting method that can be used for plants called monocotyledons, or monocots.

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Nature 602, 214-215 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00050-5

References

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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