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Crop Resilience Is Focus of New Interdisciplinary Research

plant and microbial biology

A fried egg in a skillet.

Sep 4, 2025

Study Shows Not All Dietary Proteins Are Digested the Same Way

Categorizing dietary proteins as either animal- or plant-based fails to address source-specific differences, new research shows.
sweet potatoes

Aug 22, 2025

Family Webs May Capture Evolutionary Change Better Than Family Trees

Historically, family trees have been used to describe evolutionary processes. But the era of big data has ushered in the use of arguably a more apt description: webs of life.
lotus roots

Apr 8, 2024

Giving Symbiosis Back to the Brassicas

Heike Sederoff and her team are trying to understanding the symbiotic relationship between certain plants and the fungi and bacteria in the soil so they might some day return that lost relationship to the brassicas.
Photo of 3D printer bioprinting plant cells.

Oct 14, 2022

3D Printing Plant Cells Shows Promise for Studying Cell Function

Researchers take a big step in showing efficacy of bioprinting plant cells to study cellular communication and viability in a controlled environment.
Under red light, green plants grow in several small containers at the VEGGIE growth chamber at Kennedy Space Center.

Jul 21, 2021

Plants Return from Space in Microgravity Research Projects

The plant biology experiments of two NC State researchers are back on Earth after spending weeks at the International Space Station.
corn plants in bags

Jul 21, 2021

Microbes Play Role in Corn ‘Hybrid Vigor’

Tiny soil organisms have surprising effects on a crop phenomenon that generally favors hybrid over inbred plants.

tobacco plants in the field

Jul 12, 2021

New Technique Reduces Nicotine Levels, Harmful Compounds Simultaneously in Tobacco

Four carcinogenic compounds in tobacco were reduced in experiments.
Photo of muscadine grapes on the vine.

Nov 30, 2020

Chemical Compounds in Foods Can Inhibit a Key SARS-CoV-2 Enzyme

Green tea, muscadine grape and dark chocolate chemical compounds inhibit an important SARS-CoV-2 enzyme.
Aerial of tractor spraying fields at Lake Wheeler farms.

Aug 5, 2020

Seed-funding Grows Agricultural Advancements

GRIP4PSI, a seed-funding program for the N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative, invests in a better future for growers and consumers alike.
A sandy field of soybeans

Jun 30, 2020

Using Leaf Fungi to Improve Crop Resilience

An NC State team led by Christine Hawkes is identifying beneficial fungi found in five crops to improve disease and drought resistance.
Seedlings with mutations in genes involved in making a plant growth hormone have curly cotyledons, the first two “leaves” of a plant shoot, or short roots. (Labeled seedlings on black)

Jun 3, 2020

Complementary Mutations: A Rollercoaster of Scientific Discovery

How one genetic mutation could “fix” another.
Dunaliella saltwater algae

Dec 16, 2019

Salty Algae Leads to Sweet Success

NC State University professor Heike Sederoff started studying saltwater algae more than a decade ago as part of a project to use algae to make biofuel. This research led to a recent paper in the journal Nature and a biofuels patent application.
Photo of plants with roots.

Dec 6, 2019

‘Conductor’ Gene Found in Plant Root Stem Cell ‘Orchestra’

NC State researchers identify the maestro behind stem cell division in plant roots.
Photo of two scientists in front of soybean plants

Jul 22, 2019

From the Lab and Greenhouse to Farmers’ Fields

New soybean research with roots in the North Carolina Plant Sciences Initiative aims to protect the crop from climate change.
Photo of Amy Grunden in NC State's Phytotron.

Jun 12, 2019

Crop Resilience Is Focus of New Interdisciplinary Research

A new international partnership will examine plant-microbe interactions to make crops more resilient.