UF RESEARCHERS LINK GENE FROM ANCIENT VIRUS TO PLANT STATURE
A new study from the University of Florida links the ability of plants to grow to great heights to a 500-million-year-old interaction between a virus and a type of algae.
A previously uncharacterized gene, ENLARGED VESSEL ELEMENT (EVE), could be the key to plants reaching a larger size.
Matias Kirst, a professor in quantitative genetics in the UF/IFAS School of Forest Resources and Conservation, said one potential outcome of this discovery could be trees growing more quickly and/or being more productive.