Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne have discovered how a protein called LMI1 controls leaf growth and shape. Francesco Vuolo and colleagues are investigating the mechanisms underlying leaf shape variations, but have recently looked into the little understood leaf parts called stipules. These outgrowths form at the base of a leaf during development and vary greatly in size and function in different plant species.

Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have identified networks of genes and gene regulators that allow plants to direct nitrogen to different parts. Scientists have known that plants actively redirect nitrogen to their different parts, especially when the amount of nitrogen available in the soil is limited. But they have not identified the actual genes and proteins that add up to a plant-wide nitrogen regulatory system.

Scientists at Iowa State University (ISU) have identified a genetic pathway that influences both plant growth and disease resistance. The research group has focused on the protein Feronia, a receptor kinase protein found in plant cells.

The immediate action of parliamentarians to adapt and advance legal, political, and institutional frameworks to end hunger and guarantee availability of nutritional and healthy diets are vital, said José Graziano da Silva, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

An "English News Writing Skills Development Course" jointly organized by the Pakistan Biotechnology Information Center (PABIC) in collaboration with the International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS), the University of Karachi, and the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan was conducted on August 29 to October 23, 2018 at University of Karachi, Pakistan.

Biologists from the University of Zurich (UZH) have discovered that the plant hormone strigolactone could make space farming a possibility. The research group of Lorenzo Borghi of the University of Zurich and Marcel Egli of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts focused on the process of mycorrhiza, a symbiotic association between fungi and plant roots.

The Government of Indonesia has approved the first genetically modified crop which will soon be commercialized in the country. The biotech sugarcane event NXI-4T which contains betaine gene was developed by the state-owned sugar company, PT Perkebunan Nusantara XI (PTPN XI). The gene expressed osmoprotectant compound which was introduced using Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated plant transformation. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced the deregulation of genetically engineered cotton with ultra-low levels of gossypol in its seed, which was developed by experts at Texas A&M University. Gossypol is a natural compound present in the pigments of cotton plants which protects them from pests and diseases.

Researchers from Cornell University and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will tap into the genetic information of more than 700 species of related grasses, in hopes of making maize and sorghum more productive and resilient to extreme weather brought about by climate change. The researchers will look into the Andropogonae tribe of grasses, which includes maize, sorghum, and sugarcane.

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta has instructed the Ministries of Health, Agriculture and Trade, Industry and Cooperatives to explore the possibility of farming Bt cotton to revitalize the country's cotton sub-sector. In his Heroes' Day address to the nation, President Kenyatta directed the three ministries to work together and come up with a quick mechanism to revive the production of cotton, including the possibility of introducing biotech cotton.