The research was carried out by a team from the University of Cambridge and Rothamsted Research, which receives strategic funding from BBSRC. Their findings are published this week (Tuesday 17 Jan) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The genes are important in the development of the fibrous, woody parts of grasses, like rice and wheat. The team hopes that by understanding how these genes work, they might for example be able to breed varieties of cereals where the fibrous parts of the plants confer dietary benefits or crops whose straw requires less energy-intensive processing in order to produce biofuels.
Image: Plant cells, like these in wheat, are surrounded by thick walls where energy is locked up. Rowan Mitchell, Rothamsted Research
Reproduced courtesy University of Cambridge Office of Communications