Dr. Steven Raheb has a background with the Navy Reserves and as an OB/GYN practitioner, and presently lectures at Quinebaug Valley Community College. As an adjunct professor, Dr. Steven Raheb teaches biology and has an extensive knowledge of the life sciences.
As published in Nature Plants, researchers at Leiden University in Holland recently focused on the flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana to better understand why some plants have longer life cycles than others. They discovered that the AHL15 gene is a key determinant in longevity.
This has to do with the growing points that plants have on their stems, with these stem cell groups capable of forming additional stems that bear flowers or leaves. With perennial plants, some of these growing points stay vegetative after flowering, which allows the same plant to continue growth into the next season. By contrast, annual plants do not have this mechanism and die off after flowering.
Researchers took the annual Arabidopsis and over expressed the AHL15 gene, which led to the plant maintaining vegetative growing points and continuing to grow beyond the flowering stage for several more cycles of blossoms.
A potential practical application would be to apply the over-expressed gene in wheat, rice, and other annual food crops, which would enable them to continue growing after harvest and boost yields.
As published in Nature Plants, researchers at Leiden University in Holland recently focused on the flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana to better understand why some plants have longer life cycles than others. They discovered that the AHL15 gene is a key determinant in longevity.
This has to do with the growing points that plants have on their stems, with these stem cell groups capable of forming additional stems that bear flowers or leaves. With perennial plants, some of these growing points stay vegetative after flowering, which allows the same plant to continue growth into the next season. By contrast, annual plants do not have this mechanism and die off after flowering.
Researchers took the annual Arabidopsis and over expressed the AHL15 gene, which led to the plant maintaining vegetative growing points and continuing to grow beyond the flowering stage for several more cycles of blossoms.
A potential practical application would be to apply the over-expressed gene in wheat, rice, and other annual food crops, which would enable them to continue growing after harvest and boost yields.
