Top stories:

Plants can be used to study how and why people respond differently to drugs – Why do some people respond to drug treatments while others suffer severe side effects or show no response? Sean Cutler of UC Riverside believes the answer may lie in plants. “The genetics behind variable drug responses is not peculiar to humans but exists also in other branches on the tree of life,” said Cutler. Cutler’s lab identified a key protein in plants that creates drug resistance, UGT (UDP-glycosyltransferase). Further research shows that the protein is also the source of drug resistance in humans. Published in Nature Chemical Biology.

Clever Plants ‘Chat’ Over Their Own Network – Radboud University-Nijmegen professor Josef Stuefer has discovered additional evidence that plants are anything but passive organisms. Much like the internet, some plants possess a sort of “world wide” communication infrastructure in which individual plants can communicate with one another to warn of pest attacks, viruses, and so on. The only downfall to the system is that certain plant viruses are able to use the infrastructure to rapidly spread through the connected plants.

Other news
Climate Change:
‘Green roofs’ could cool warming cities – Green roofs and walls could save energy used in running air conditioners on hot days. A new study suggests that covering buildings with plants can lower temperatures anywhere from 3.6 to 11.3 degrees Celsius.

Genetically modified foods
New Southernpeas Developed by ARS, Cooperators – Agricultural Research Service (ARS) researcher Richard L. Fery, Blair Buckley (LSU-Baton Rouge) and Dyremple Marsh (Lincoln University) have developed two new species of southernpeas that boast more attractive colors, pleasing textures, and more nutrients. Additionally, the new species of peas are able to flourish in hot environments.

Ecology
Group to Plant Cloned Trees From Estates – The Champion Tree Project is proud to announce that they have successfully cloned a tree from the residence of former US President, Teddy Roosevelt. The tree will be planted alongside a cloned ash tree from former US President George Washington’s estate on the grounds of the National Garden Clubs Inc. The Champion Tree Project’s goal is to clone trees from each of the estates of the four US presidents honored on Mount Rushmore to bring more awareness to the accomplishments each of the four presidents made while in office.

Beating the Bush for Patterns – New research shows that areas of land without fractal pattern in clumps of trees and bushes could lead to more desert land. Plants are able to take root and grow much easier if a clump of foliage already exists than they would if there’s nothing already growing. In cases of Mediterranean deserts, cattle have destroyed many of the larger clumps of plants making it harder for plants to grow. With the changing climate, temperatures are expected to continue rising while precipitation amounts are expected to fall, thus putting more strain on the sparse populations of plants in deserts. Read on to see the potential risk this phenomena presents to desert environments and environments that are at a risk of becoming desert.