Scientists Solve the Grass Leaf Conundrum
Published:13 Dec.2021 Source:John Innes Centre
Grass is cut regularly by our mowers and grazed on by cows and sheep, yet continues to grow back. The secret to its remarkable regenerative powers lies in part in the shape of its leaves, but how that shape arises has been a topic of longstanding debate.
The debate is relevant to our staple crops wheat, rice and maize, because they are members of the grass family with the same type of leaf. The mystery of grass leaf formation has now been unravelled by a John Innes Centre team, in collaboration with Cornell University and the University of California, Berkley, and the University of Edinburgh using the latest computational modelling and developmental genetic techniques.