News From the Field

Ancient gene network helps plants adapt to their environments


February 9, 2016

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A team at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has discovered the purpose of a highly conserved genetic tool that is present in both mosses and flowering plants, organisms whose common ancestor dates back 450 million years. As they report in Developmental Cell, the gene network, which comprises a snippet of non-coding genetic material called a small RNA and the protein it regulates, has been used over the eons to make plants more sensitive to environmental cues.Full Story

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Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

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