为解决多年生作物受锈菌侵害问题，研究人员对侵染北美草原植物 Silphium integrifolium 的锈菌 Puccinia silphii 开展基因组研究。结果发现其基因组最小且基因有独特变化。该研究为控制病原菌及了解锈菌进化提供依据。 在全球人口持续增长和气候变化的大背景下 ...

Julius Caesar kept a cache of it in the government treasury and the Greeks even put it on their money. It was worth its weight in gold – but no one knows if it still exists. Long ago, in the ancient ...

Silphium is a herb that may have not looked the most pretty or striking, but in the ancient city of Cyrene, the plant soon became as valuable as gold. It is described as having short leaves, tiny ...

An ancient plant hailed as a panacea that was consumed by most ancient Mediterranean cultures and believed to be extinct may have been rediscovered in Turkey. Referred to as silphion, the ...

To most people, the phrase birth control doesn’t evoke mental images of herbs, sneezing, or crocodile excrement. But women and men in ancient cultures used a variety of unusual methods to prevent ...

Wood is the primary source of raw material for paper production—whether as fresh fiber or recycled material. The silphium plant, a perennial energy crop, is now also being used as an alternative fiber ...

For much of the 19th century, passenger pigeon was a staple of American cuisine. The last male died in 1912 (Bettmann / Getty). The earliest humans favored juicy, meaty mammoth at mealtimes. Ancient ...