The researchers at the Norwich centre have found that toxic compounds known as free radicals are vital to plant growth. The discovery is novel and provides strong evidence that all cell growth is controlled by the production of free radicals.

The impact of the discovery on horticulture is likely to be very long term. Scientists at the centre hope that as they build on this work they will discover more about cell growth and how leaf size, shape and so on are controlled. 'This could lead to information that breeders can use for example to produce leafier lettuce or longer stemmed flowers,' said the centre's Ray Mathias. 'It is although we have found the master switch in discovering one gene. Now we want to look at the wider family of that gene to see if we can control these different aspects of plant growth that govern size and shape etc.' Any applications in the seed breeding field are likely to be at least five to eight years away, Dr Mathias told freshinfo.

Topics