Plant responses to environmental stresses—from gene to biotechnology

Plant responses to environmental stresses—from gene to biotechnology

Increasing global population, urbanization and industrialization are increasing the rate of conversion of arable land into wasteland. Supplying food to an ever-increasing population is one of the biggest challenges that agriculturalists and plant scientists are currently confronting. Environmental stresses make this situation even graver. Despite the induction of several tolerance mechanisms, s...

Public Policy Responses to Biotechnology

The rapid evolution of the biotechnology industry in the last two decades is associated with hopes and fears regarding its impact on health and environment. In the face of a new and controversial technology, such as genetic engineering, public policy is confronted with different worldviews and scientific uncertainty. An appropriate regulatory system must consider scientific expertise regarding ...

Bacterial responses to environmental herbicide pollutants (glyphosate and paraquat)

The toxic effect of herbicides on non- target microorganisms may influence degradation of organic matter resulting in changes to nutrient cycling. In the present study, different strains of bacteria incubated in media containing different concentrations of glyphosate and paraquat were assessed over a period of two incubation terms. The deleterious impact of the herbicide was observed as glyphos...

Corn grain yield responses to tillage systems and plant densities

Plant responses to soil heterogeneity and global environmental change.

Recent evidence suggests that soil nutrient heterogeneity, a ubiquitous feature of terrestrial ecosystems, modulates plant responses to ongoing global change (GC). However, we know little about the overall trends of such responses, the GC drivers involved, and the plant attributes affected.We synthesized literature to answer the question: Does soil heterogeneity significantly affect plant respo...