Ancient Moss Shares Gene With Flowers

Biologists have discovered that a fundamental building block in the cells of flowering plants evolved independently, yet almost identically, on a separate branch of the evolutionary tree--in an ancient plant group called lycophytes that originated at least 420 million years ago.  Researchers believe that flowering plants evolved from gymnosperms, the group that includes conifers, ginkgos and related plants. This group split from lycophytes hundreds of millions of years ... More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111597&govDel=USNSF_51 This is an NSF News item.

Getting to the Roots of Sunflower Cultivation

Global warming could affect one of the world's major oil seed crops, the sunflower. Drawing on genetic information from early plant stocks is key to improving future harvests.This is the view of David Lentz, a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, who has been studying the origins of domesticated sunflowers since an initial sunflower discovery in Tabasco, Mexico, in 2000."It is very hard to extract genetic information ... More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=111595&govDel=USNSF_51 This is an NSF News item.