Polyploidy has been hypothesized to be both an evolutionary dead-end and a source for
evolutionary innovation and species diversification. Although polyploid organisms …

Tolerance level to cadmium (Cd) toxicity is generally associated with reductions of the
internal Cd accumulation in living organisms. In plants, Cd exposure frequently triggers …

Polyploidy is a key mechanism of genome evolution and speciation, particularly in plants.
Many aspects of polyploidy have been elucidated with the tools that have become available …

Anthropogenic pollution of agricultural soils with cadmium (Cd) should receive adequate
attention as Cd accumulation in crops endangers human health. When Cd is present in the …

Wild tomatoes (Solanum peruvianum) are important genomic resources for tomato research
and breeding. Development of a foreign DNA-free clustered regularly interspaced short …

Life starts with a zygote, which is formed by the fusion of a haploid sperm and egg. The
formation of a blastomere by cleavage division (nuclear division without an increase in cell …

Endoreduplication is the major source of somatic endopolyploidy in higher plants, and leads
to variation in cell ploidy levels due to iterative rounds of DNA synthesis in the absence of …

As scientists, we are at least as excited about the open questions—the things we do not
know—as the discoveries. Here, we asked 15 experts to describe the most compelling open …

The primary function of leaves is to provide an interface between plants and their
environment for gas exchange, light exposure and thermoregulation. Leaves have, therefore …

Somatic polyploidy caused by endoreplication is observed in arthropods, molluscs, and
vertebrates but is especially prominent in higher plants, where it has been postulated to be …