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Timber from Norfolk wooden boats images under a scanning electron microscope, with fungal spores visible.

Saving Norfolk’s last wooden crab boats

Maritime history charity teams up with Cambridge scientists to tackle rapid wood decay A North Norfolk–based maritime charity has turned to scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in a race to save some of the region’s most iconic traditional boats. Robin and Linda West, Secretary and Trustee of the charity Rescue Wooden Boats...

British bluebell flower imaged under a white light and scanning electron microscope showing details of stigma and anthers. Images by Gareth Evans and Trevor Groves FRMS.

Bluebells: The science behind Britain’s most beloved spring flower

More than a spring spectacle, bluebells reveal a mix of chemistry, ecology and conservation beneath their familiar blue.

Some of the 284 species of plants included in Conservatory data set. Illustrations by Professor Madelaine Bartlett.

Hiding in plain sight: Scientists uncover the ancient DNA sequences that control gene function across plant evolution

Hiding in plain sight: Scientists uncover the ancient DNA sequences that control gene function across plant evolution A ground-breaking study has traced thousands of conserved regulatory elements back 300 million years, revealing deep principles of plant genome evolution – a discovery that could pave the way for more...

Optical sections of nodule primordia. Image by Ella Greensmith.

New protocol gives scientists pinpoint control over root nodule development

Optical sections of EdU-labelled Medicago truncatula root nodule primordia 7-days post inoculation imaged under a confocal microscope. Images by Ella Greensmith. Breakthrough protocol gives scientists pinpoint control over root nodule development Dr Katharina Schiessl’s research group has developed a powerful new protocol...

Cross section of hypocotyl of 8-week-old Arabidopsis thaliana. The ovac mutant displays enhanced secondary vessel differentiation (red) at the expense of parchenchyma cells.

How plants control fleshy and woody tissue growth

How plants control fleshy and woody tissue growth Scientists have identified a crucial mechanism that allows plants to shape their vascular systems, determining whether they grow soft edible storage organs or develop the rigid woody tissue characteristic of trees. Published in Science , research led by the University of...

Flowers Feed the World

Flower to Fork: Plant Research for Tomorrow's Food It’s easy to forget that everything we eat starts with a plant…but how much do we really know about plant life? Take a deep dive into fundamental plant science with the Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University at the Science Museum Lates on Wednesday 11 February, which is...

During co-colonization, PI4P is recruited to pathogen haustoria PI4P recruitment correlates with enhanced host resistance to the pathogen. Graphic by Alex Guyon.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi boost plant resilience by remodelling the plant-pathogen membrane interface

Scientists have uncovered a surprising new way plants fight disease by teaming up with beneficial fungi that literally remodel the battleground inside their roots.

Plant automatic cell lineage reconstruction

Graphic depicting the Plant Automatic Cell Lineage Reconstruction project. Illustration by Elise Laruelle and leaf images by Kumud Saini. Elise Laruelle and Sarah Robinson have been awarded funding from the University of Cambridge's Accelerate Programme for Scientific Discovery and the Cambridge Centre for Data-Driven...

Fluorescence lifetime imaging allows us to better resolve fungal features within the host plant. Image by Raymond Wightman.

Scientists discover new species of fungus in 407-million-year-old plant fossil from Scotland

Confocal scanning laser microscopy and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy, together with Raman analyses, allowed researchers to resolve different features of the plant and fungal structures in the Windyfield chert fossil of the early land plant Aglaophyton majus . Images by Raymond Wightman, taken on SLCU's SP8-...

New biosensor tracks plants’ immune hormone in real time

Arabidopsis thaliana leaf under mock (left) versus infection (right) 20 hours after infection: The right leaf shows salcylic acid (SA) accumulation spreading from the site of pathogen invasion. Images by Bijun Tang. New biosensor tracks plants’ immune hormone in real time Sainsbury Laboratory scientists develop tool to...

Plant science at Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is home to one of the largest concentrations of plant research anywhere in the world. Visit the below organisations to find out about their work in sustainable agriculture, conservation and fundamental research.

Department of Plant Sciences

Crop Science Centre

Cambridge University Botanic Garden

Cambridge University Herbarium

Cambridge Global Food Security

Cambridge Centre for Physical Biology

Conservation Research Institute

Plants @ Cambridge Hub

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