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   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    How can we tackle the biggest challenges? Ask a plant    
    Top 100 plant-science research questions address climate change, food   
   security, medicine and a host of other problems    
      
     Date:   
         March 17, 2023   
     Source:   
         DOE/Los Alamos National Laboratory   
     Summary:   
         Without plants, we'd have no air to breathe or food to eat, yet   
         plant science lingers in the shadowy wings while other fields take   
         center stage. With the goal of shining the spotlight on plants,   
         a new study presents the field's top 100 most pressing questions   
         for research to address the greatest challenges facing humanity.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
   ==========================================================================   
   Without plants, we'd have no air to breathe or food to eat, yet plant   
   science lingers in the shadowy wings while other fields take center   
   stage. With the goal of shining the spotlight on plants, a new study   
   presents the field's top 100 most pressing questions for research to   
   address the greatest challenges facing humanity.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   "The study highlights the importance of plant science for society by   
   laying out myriad questions and technical challenges that, if solved,   
   could sustainably support the increasing human population on a planet   
   under climate change," said Sanna Sevanto, a plant physiologist at Los   
   Alamos National Laboratory and co- author of the study recently published   
   in the journal New Phytologist.   
      
   Wide-ranging questions The questions cover a wide range of topics,   
   including genetically modified organisms, plant-based fuels, food   
   scarcity, growing seaweed as a carbon sink, using algae to clean up   
   oil spills, how soil microorganisms affect stress in plants, and even   
   growing plants in space to support human life.   
      
   Sevanto was one of 20 panelists selected from Europe, North America,   
   South America, Asia, Oceania and Africa. In four regional teams, the   
   panelists sifted through more than 600 questions submitted from around   
   the globe by anyone interested in plants -- not only scientists. The   
   panelists edited those submissions into a final list of the top 100   
   most important questions facing plant science in 2022, ranging from   
   how plants can contribute to tackling climate change, to plant defense,   
   to epigenetics. The paper revisits a similarly named 2011 paper on the   
   same subject.   
      
   The authors hope the paper will stimulate additional research in the   
   field, along with funding for it.   
      
   "Plant science is often overlooked as an old science with low importance   
   in school curricula, so interested students often struggle to find   
   research questions that contribute significantly to the current state   
   of the art in the field," Sevanto said. "This study shows that plant   
   science is a modern, highly technical field that can contribute unique   
   solutions to many of the challenges facing humanity and the planet."   
   Areas of critical global importance The panel selected the top 11   
   questions that represent areas of critical global importance across   
   diverse plant-science research:   
       * Climate change: How will climate change impact plant abundance,   
         productivity, bioregions and ecosystems?   
       * Science in the community: How can we ensure that the varied   
       goals and   
         needs of our diverse societies are understood and fulfilled by   
         plant scientists?   
       * Food security: How do we leverage existing genetic diversity   
       to create   
         climate-resilient crops?   
       * Biodiversity: How does species diversity develop in novel   
       ecosystems such   
         as restored agricultural land, forests, grasslands and gardens?   
       * Sustainability: Could plant-defense priming be a platform for a   
       new green   
         revolution?   
       * Plant-plant interactions: How are interactions between plant species   
         regulated?   
       * Plant disease: How should we prepare for novel pathogens of trees,   
       crops   
         and the natural environment?   
       * Plant-microbiome interactions: How does the plant microbiome affect   
         stress tolerance?   
       * Plant adaption: What is the plasticity of the epigenome of plants?   
       * Plant stress responses: How do plants cope with combined stressors?   
       * Ecosystem services: What natural materials could be invested in   
       for a   
         more sustainable future of manufacturing or residential development?   
   The funding:Laboratory Directed Research and Development program at Los   
   Alamos National Laboratory   
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Plants_&_Animals   
                   # Endangered_Plants # Botany # Nature #   
                   Agriculture_and_Food   
             o Earth_&_Climate   
                   # Ecology # Environmental_Issues # Environmental_Awareness   
                   # Climate   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Botany o Herbivore o Plant_defense_against_being_eaten   
             o Hummingbird o Phytopathology o Plant o Bioethics o   
             Plant_breeding   
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by   
   DOE/Los_Alamos_National_Laboratory. Note: Content may be edited for   
   style and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Emily May Armstrong, Emily R. Larson, Helen Harper, Cerian R. Webb,   
      Frank   
         Dohleman, Yoseph Araya, Claire Meade, Xiangyan Feng, Benard   
         Mukoye, Maureece J. Levin, Benoit Lacombe, Ahmet Bakirbas, Amanda   
         A. Cardoso, Delphine Fleury, Arthur Gessler, Deepak Jaiswal,   
         Nawaporn Onkokesung, Varsha S. Pathare, Shyam S. Phartyal, Sanna   
         A. Sevanto, Ida Wilson, Claire S. Grierson. One hundred important   
         questions facing plant science: an international perspective. New   
         Phytologist, 2023; 238 (2): 470 DOI: 10.1111/nph.18771   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230317144948.htm   
      
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