Plant biology Content

Egghead's Weekend Basket for March 6

Andy Fell — March 06, 2026 - 3:39pm

Another week, another roundup of UC Davis research news.

Tracking bacteria in the salad bowl

A series of outbreaks of E. coli illness linked to leafy greens grown on California's central coast prompted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ask UC Davis to lead a five-year effort to better understand how the bacteria circulate between soil, water, crops and animals in the nation's salad bowl.

Plant Cell Structure Could Hold Key to Cancer Therapies and Improved Crops

Andy Fell — March 05, 2026 - 5:22pm

Can the bend of a banana give us insight into cancer? What does the shape of a rice grain have to do with infertility? The proteins that give plants their shape and structure are also involved in human disease. A team led by researchers at the University of California, Davis, has mapped out the structure of a key player, augmin, in exhaustive detail.

A Gene Editor That’s a Better Fit for Plants

Andy Fell — February 20, 2026 - 12:09pm

Gene editing has enormous potential to help feed the world’s growing population, but it’s currently difficult, time-consuming, and only works in some plant species. A big part of the problem is CRISPR/Cas9’s size: it’s too large to be delivered into plant cells.

Grant to Expand Self-Cloning Crop Technology for Indian Farmers

Andy Fell — January 27, 2026 - 9:40am

Venkatesan Sundaresan, a Distinguished Professor of plant biology and plant sciences at the University of California, Davis, has been awarded a Gates Foundation grant to develop self-cloning crops for Indian farmers.

Plant Biologists Win VinFuture Prize for Developing Self-Cloning Crops

Andy Fell — December 08, 2025 - 2:11pm

Two researchers at the University of California, Davis, have been awarded a VinFuture Prize in recognition of their work developing self-cloning crops, a breakthrough for sustainable agriculture.

Plants Balance Adaptability in Skin Cells with Stability in Sex Cells

Andy Fell — November 12, 2025 - 3:10pm

Mutations drive evolution, but they can also be risky. New research led by plant biologists at the University of California, Davis, published Nov. 10 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveals how plants control mutation rates in different stem cells to balance adaptability with safety and stability. The findings have implications for breeding some of the world’s most important fruit and vegetable crops, such as potatoes and bananas.

Christmas Trees’ Distinctive Aroma Helps Ward off Pathogens and Pests

Andy Fell — November 25, 2024 - 8:30am

Each year, nearly 30 million Americans purchase a real tree for the holidays. Growing the perfect Christmas tree takes about seven years, during which farmers need to keep insects, fungal pathogens and hungry deer at bay. While researchers suspect the distinctive piney smell the trees emit plays a role in deterring these pests, not all trees smell the same, and which chemical blends confer resistance is unclear.

Making High-yielding Rice Affordable and Sustainable

Andy Fell — November 20, 2024 - 10:53am

Rice is a staple food crop for more than half the world’s population, but most farmers don’t grow high-yielding varieties because the seeds are too expensive. Researchers from the University of California’s Davis and Berkeley campuses have identified a potential solution: activating two genes in rice egg cells that trigger their development into embryos without the need for fertilization, which would efficiently create high-yielding clonal strains of rice and other crops.

How Plants Become Bushy, or Not

Andy Fell — August 06, 2024 - 3:50pm

For many plants, more branches means more fruit. But what causes a plant to grow branches? New research from the University of California, Davis shows how plants break down the hormone strigolactone, which suppresses branching, to become more “bushy.” Understanding how strigolactone is regulated could have big implications for many crop plants.

The study was published August 1 in Nature Communications.

Plant Biologist Siobhan Brady Named HHMI Investigator

Andy Fell — July 23, 2024 - 12:11pm

Siobhan Brady, a professor in the Department of Plant Biology and Genome Center at the University of California, Davis, has been selected as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator. The prestigious Investigator program, which Brady describes as “life changing,” will provide her with roughly $9 million in research support over a seven-year term, with the option to renew.