Imagine if our bodies could grow new organs throughout our entire lives. Plants do this constantly, thanks to tiny, powerful reservoirs of stem cells. But how do these cells know when to divide, and ...

Scientists discover tiny hooked hairs on plant roots that help seedlings survive drought, absorb nutrients, and resist stress ...

Before seedlings can photosynthesize, they depend on fatty acids—and on peroxisomes to process them. Researchers discovered that the protein PEX11 not only helps these structures divide but also ...

In a groundbreaking study on the synthesis of cellulose -- a major constituent of all plant cell walls -- a team has captured images of the microscopic process of cell-wall building continuously over ...

The sunlight-collecting organelles known as chloroplasts solve a packing problem: how to optimize photosynthesis without ...

Plant cells are surrounded by an intricately structured protective coat called the cell wall. It’s built of cellulose microfibrils intertwined with polysaccharides like hemicellulose or pectin. We ...

Artistic rendering of cellulose biosynthesis with zoomed in view. Individual cellulose chains (dark brown) are synthesized by plasma membrane-bound (purple) cellulose synthase enzyme complexes (cream) ...