Tags: Darwin

How do sunflowers grow in the desert? Wild sunflowers display extensive variation, both between and within species, and scientists have now reported that variation is preserved by blocks of “supergenes” that permit adaptation to different environments. Such evolutionary changes are normally broken apart across generations of mating. Considered one of the world’s most important oilseed crops, this finding should improve breeding of the…

Researchers in the UGA department of plant biology have published the first genetic linkage map for what has long-been an object of human fascination: plants that have evolved the capacity to capture and digest insects. Lead author Russell Malmberg explains: "We normally think of plants as being eaten by animals, but a small number of plant species have reversed this and are able to capture and digest insects. These…