An international team of researchers has identified a novel mechanism in barley plants, which could help crop growers achieve high yields as temperatures rise.
With grain production highly sensitive to changing environmental conditions, rising temperatures are known to reduce the number of seeds that can be produced on each plant. One solution is to increase the number of flowers or branches on each ‘spike’, which is the reproductive structure from which grain is harvested.
In a study published in Nature Plants , research led by Professor Dabing Zhang from the University of Adelaide’s Waite Research Institute and Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s Joint Lab for Plant Science and Breeding, explored the possibility of increasing seed production through the reproductive mechanisms in plants that respond to high temperatures.
Read more at: The University of Adelaide
Photo Credit: Hans via Pixabay