The blossoms of maturity
Friday, August 21, 2009 - 08:35
in Biology & Nature
Why do some plants blossom even when days are short and grey? Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology have found the answer to this question: An endogenous mechanism allows them to flower in the absence of external influences such as long days. A small piece of RNA, a so-called microRNA, has a central role in this process, as a decline of its concentration in the shoot apex triggers flowering...