Nitrates are critical for the growth of plants, so plants have evolved sophisticated mechanisms to ensure sufficient nitrate uptake from their environments. In a new study published in Nature Plants [1], researchers at Nagoya University, Japan, have identified a plant enzyme that is key to activating a nitrate uptake mechanism in response to nitrogen starvation. […]

The interaction between maize and soil microbes influences hybrid vigour, according to a recent study [1]. Many commercial varieties of crops such as maize are first-generation crosses of inbred lines, and their hybrid vigour leads to increased yield.

Already about 90 percent of all fish stocks are considered maximally exploited or overfished, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.