Iridoid-producing plants use a cyclase to synthesize the characteristic double-ring structure of this important class of defense compounds and medically relevant substances
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The genomes of brown algal species with diverse sexual systems reveal how sex chromosomes originate, evolve, and sometimes transform into autosomes
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Honour McCann from the Max Planck Institute for Biology in Tübingen is spending four weeks in Indonesia. Together with her Indonesian partners, she is searching for the origin of a pathogen that infects banana plants and is currently spreading throughout plantations in Asia.
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Many publications by Max Planck scientists in 2022 were of great social relevance or met with a great media response. We have selected 12 articles to present you with an overview of some noteworthy research of the year
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Jana Wäldchen has played a key role in developing the plant identification app, Flora Incognita. We discussed with her how being able to identify different plants contributes to species diversity, which plant species are particularly under threat and how non-native species are suppressing local plants
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Cell-sized droplets equipped with natural and synthetic parts are able to perform photosynthesis. In the future, they could serve as bioreactors for the sustainable, light driven fixation of CO2 into value-added compounds.
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