Just like animals, plants often face threats from their environment, including attacks by parasites, pests, and grazing animals. Unlike animals, however, plants cannot simply move away from the source of such threats. A new study from researchers at NIPGR, New Delhi, offers insights into the intricacies of the plant defence system and how it recognizes and responds to danger, particularly from insect pests.

The Centre for Ecological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, recently released a website which compiles peer-reviewed information on over 10000 species of plants. The website, which is free to access, was launched on 2 March 2019.

Researchers from the University of Mysore have recently found that an enzyme extracted from the leaves of a medicinal plant, Tricosanthus tricuspidata, can counter the tissue damage caused by the bite of the venomous saw-scaled viper. This is the first scientific report of the anti-snake venom properties of this plant, which is known to be used by local tribal communities to treat snakebites.

For plants, choosing to fight against a pathogen often comes at the cost of compromised growth and development. Now, scientists from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi and the Indian Institute of Science, Education & Research, Thiruvananthapuram (IISER-TVM) find a new molecular player that helps maintain this delicate balance.

Scientists develop DNA barcodes to distinguish between and accurately identify over three hundred varieties of Thrips.

The Canadian horseweed, found in abundance in the Kashmir Valley, is an invasive—an alien species that found its way there about 70 years ago and proceeded to dominate the local flora. Manzoor Shah from Kashmir University and an international team of researchers set out to compare the behavior of this plant in its native North America with its behavior in the regions it since colonized.