Grow it: victory in the garden

Plants grow throughout their lives; this is called indeterminate growth, and it distinguishes plants from most animals. Although certain parts of plants stop growing (e.g., leaves and flowers), others grow continuously—like roots and stems.

A Winogradsky column provides a powerful tool for studying microbial ecology and metabolic interactions in a stratified, self-contained environment. This artificial ecosystem, developed by Sergei Winogradsky in the late 19th century, replicates the complex biogeochemical gradients found in natural sediments, allowing researchers to observe microbial succession and interactions over time.The column is typically assembled in a transparent glass cylinder filled halfway with sediment mixed with...

Seedless Vascular Plants Were the First Tall Plants on Earth

Gravitropism: Plant Responses to Gravity

Plant tissue culture is widely used in both primary and applied science. Applications range from plant development studies to functional gene studies, crop improvement, commercial micropropagation, virus elimination, and conservation of rare species.

The diverse plant life on Earth—consisting of nearly 400,000 species—can be divided into three broad categories based on biological characteristics: nonvascular, seedless vascular, and seed plants.