Tags: plant biology

photo of microscopic yeast particles

New research suggests 'unique duality' of wild and domesticated yeasts

New research from the University of Georgia suggests our familiarity with yeast traces back to the footsteps of our ancestors. Humans domesticated baker’s yeast as early as 7000 BCE to make bread, beer, wine and sake. However, wild varieties of the same yeast species also live on trees. These domesticated and wild yeast look different genetically, but UGA researchers wanted to explore possible links between the two: “Other studies had just…
photo of flower

UGA plant biologist leads new advances in biotech

The evolutionary lineage leading to Amborella diverged from all other flowering plant lineages approximately 150 million years ago. In 2013, an international research team co-led by UGA Plant Biology faculty member Jim Leebens-Mack and collaborators announced the newly sequenced genome of the Amborella trichopoda plant became the foundation for comparative analyses of genes tracing back to the origin of flowering plants and earlier.…
photo of man, clipping hedge in stadium

Ancestry of Sanford Stadium hedges goes into the lab

In a terrific story combining genome analysis, a love for the hedges and UGA history— a Franklin College faculty member and his students found that the same family of hedges have stood tall for nearly 100 years: Plant biology professor and hedges researcher James Leebens-Mack decided to sequence the genome of the Sanford Stadium hedges. His goal was to combine service-learning with his own areas of research, comparative genome biology and the…
photo of gloved hands with tube in lab with plant stem

Getting to the roots of climate solutions

As responses to climate change move toward adaptive solutions, plant genetics research faculty at the University of Georgia are seeking plant-based solutions. Some of these colleagues – from across campus, within and beyond the Franklin College – conduct studies at the cellular level, while others investigate plants as whole organisms. Still others are exploring how epigenetics shape entire ecosystems. And while a number of UGA geneticists…
Subscribe to plant biology

Archive by Year