In agricultural plants, the timing and regulation of flower formation has economic significance, affecting a crop’s yield. A new paper by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania published in the journal Science has revealed that a plant hormone once believed to promote flower formation in annual plants also plays a role in inhibiting flowers from forming. The dual role of this hormone, gibberellin, could be exploited to produce higher-yielding crop plants. Plant scientists used to think that short-lived plants, annuals or bi-annuals, use a different strategy from long-lived plants, perennials, to regulate flower production. “Anecdotal evidence was that the hormone… Login to continue

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