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Plants at Cambridge

 
Read more at: Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser awarded Royal Society’s Croonian Medal and Lecture
Professor Ottoline Leyser

Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser awarded Royal Society’s Croonian Medal and Lecture

5 September 2022

Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser FRS, Regius Professor of Botany in the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, and Chief Executive Officer of UK Research and Innovation, has been awarded the Royal Society’s 2023 Croonian Medal and Lecture. Presented for ‘ playing a central role in two of the most important...


Read more at: Natural clean-up: bacteria can remove plastic pollution from lakes
Study lake in Norway

Natural clean-up: bacteria can remove plastic pollution from lakes

28 July 2022

A study of 29 European lakes has found that some naturally-occurring lake bacteria grow faster and more efficiently on the remains of plastic bags than on natural matter like leaves and twigs. The bacteria break down the carbon compounds in plastic to use as food for their growth. The scientists say that enriching waters...


Read more at: Professor David Coomes launches new Centre for Landscape Regeneration

Professor David Coomes launches new Centre for Landscape Regeneration

15 February 2022

Professor David Coomes, Head of the Department's Forest Ecology and Conservation Research Group and Director of the Conservation Research Institute , has been awarded £10 million in funding by NERC to create a new Centre for Landscape Regeneration in collaboration with Cambridge Zero and Cambridge Conservation Initiative...


Read more at: Botanic Garden featured in BBC's The Green Planet series

Botanic Garden featured in BBC's The Green Planet series

19 January 2022

The acclaimed new BBC series The Green Planet has wowed viewers by showing plants as they've never been seen before. Using pioneering filming techniques, the series shows plants from their own perspectives and timescales, revealing that they are just as aggressive and competitive as animals are when it comes to the fight...


Read more at: New grafting technique could combat disease threatening bananas

New grafting technique could combat disease threatening bananas

4 January 2022

Researchers from the Department have found a novel way to combine two species of grass-like plants, including banana, rice and wheat, using embryonic tissue from their seeds. The technique allows beneficial characteristics, such as disease resistance or stress tolerance, to be added to the plants. Grafting is the technique...


Read more at: Controlled burning of natural environments could help offset carbon emissions

Controlled burning of natural environments could help offset carbon emissions

4 January 2022

Planting trees and suppressing wildfires does not necessarily maximise the carbon storage of natural ecosystems. A new study , published by Dr Adam Pellegrini, Head of the Department's Disturbance Ecology and Ecosystem Function Group , has found that prescribed burning can actually lock in or increase carbon in the soils...


Read more at: Marble berry reveals secrets behind plant cell wall twisting

Marble berry reveals secrets behind plant cell wall twisting

13 December 2021

Plant cell walls are made of cellulose fibres laid down on top of each other like plywood. In many cells, each layer is laid down with a twist from the one before, but why? By measuring the properties of individual cells in the metallic fruit of the marble berry, Pollia condensata , researchers at the University, including...


Read more at: Study shines a light into ‘black holes’ in the Arabidopsis genome

Study shines a light into ‘black holes’ in the Arabidopsis genome

12 November 2021

A new major study led by Professor Ian Henderson, Head of the Department’s Genetic and Epigenetic Inheritance in Plants Group , has sequenced the genome of the world’s most widely used model plant species, Arabidopsis thaliana, at a level of detail never previously achieved. Prior to this, challenging regions of the genome...


Read more at: Wheat rust early warning system presented at COP26

Wheat rust early warning system presented at COP26

8 November 2021

A wheat rust early warning system developed by the Department’s Epidemiology and Modelling Group in collaboration with the Met Office, CIMMYT, EIAR and ATA has been presented at COP26 . Held in Glasgow, this year’s United Nations annual climate change summit is focused on the effects of climate change, including its impact...


Read more at: Hungry caterpillars are contributing to carbon emissions

Hungry caterpillars are contributing to carbon emissions

5 November 2021

A study led by the Department's Ecosystems and Global Change Group has found that periodic mass outbreaks of leaf-munching caterpillars can improve the water quality of nearby lakes but may also increase the lakes’ carbon dioxide emissions. Outbreaks of caterpillars of invasive gypsy moths, Lymantria dispar dispar , and...