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Programmed cell death is essential but differently regulated in animals and plants. In this Perspective, the features of plant apoptotic-like cell death are reassessed to highlight the similarities between animal and plant programmed cell death.
Plants have long been recognized for their therapeutic properties. Now, modern science is unravelling the mechanisms of action of ancient herbal medicines and finding new ways to exploit them.
Before maize-based agriculture, there existed in eastern North America a crop system that is now only known from archaeological data. Present research is exploring whether these crops, which sustained ancient societies for millennia, can be re-domesticated.
Increased legume production and consumption is a promising route to future food security for several reasons: legumes are nutritious foods in their own right, and their nitrogen-fixing capabilities can benefit subsequent crop cultivation. However, legumes are currently under-used and yields will need to be improved if legumes are to become a major food crop. This will entail improvement of genetic diversity in legume breeding programmes, more widespread cultivation of legumes currently grown in restricted regions (such as cowpea), and, possibly, increased government price support
High-resolution microscopies have recently provided new insights into the structure of the chloroplast thylakoid membrane. Its dynamics are vital to its function as the site of photosynthesis and so the source of energy for almost all life on earth.
