Plants adapt their water consumption to environmental conditions by counting and calculating environmental stimuli with their guard cells. Plant researchers from Würzburg report this in ‘Current Biology’.

Using optogenetics, Würzburg researchers have detected a new acid sensor in plant cells that is addressing a cell-internal calcium store, as they report in the journal "Science".

Plants in which an ion channel of the vacuole is hyperactive are extremely stressed and grow poorly. But the broad bean is an exception, as Würzburg researchers have discovered.

A new study by Würzburg botanist Kenji Fukushima shows the role of subgenome dominance for plants in the evolutionary development of special traits, such as a carnivorous lifestyle.

Even in sunny forest gaps, browsing by roe deer prevents the natural regeneration of many tree species. Researchers at the University of Würzburg show just how strongly these ungulates shape forest development.

A tiny neural network is sufficient to control the daily rhythm of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. Researchers at the University of Würzburg have shown that only four specialized nerve cells are necessary to drive the animals' endogenous clock.

Carpenter ants are not squeamish when it comes to caring for the wounded. To minimise the risk of infection, the insects immediately amputate injured legs – thereby more than doubling their survival rate.

Healthy growth of wheat, maize and other crops is not possible without the plant's own hormones. Professor Ulrich Hammes is investigating the proteins that help the hormones reach their sites of action.