research topics about botany

100+ Botany Research Topics [Updated 2024]

Botany, the scientific study of plants, holds the key to understanding the intricate and fascinating world of flora that surrounds us. As we delve into the realm of botany research, we uncover a vast array of botany research topics that not only contribute specifically to our scientific knowledge but also play an important role in addressing real-world challenges. 

In this blog, we will embark on a journey through the rich landscape of botany research, exploring various captivating topics that researchers are delving into.

How to Select Botany Research Topics?

Table of Contents

Selecting an appropriate and engaging botany research topic is a crucial step in the research process. Whether you are a student working on a thesis, a scientist planning a research project, or someone passionate about exploring the wonders of plant biology, the right choice of topic can significantly impact the success and enjoyment of your research. 

Here are some guidelines on how to select botany research topics:

• Identify Your Interests:
• Start by reflecting on your own personal interests within the field of botany. Consider the aspects of plant biology that fascinate you the most. 
• Whether it’s plant physiology, taxonomy, ecology, genetics, or any other subfield, choosing a topic aligned with your interests can make the research process more enjoyable.
• Review Literature:
• Conduct a thorough review and it will be of existing literature in botany. Explore recent research articles, journals, and books to identify gaps in knowledge, emerging trends, and areas where further investigation is needed. 
• This can help you find inspiration and identify potential research questions.
• Consider Relevance:
• Assess the relevance of your chosen topic to the current state of botany and its applications. Consider how your research could contribute to addressing real-world challenges, advancing scientific knowledge, or informing practical solutions. 
• Relevant research topics often garner more attention and support.
• Evaluate Feasibility:
• Evaluate all possible feasibility of your chosen topic in terms of available resources, time constraints, and research capabilities. 
• Consider the accessibility of study sites, the availability of equipment and materials, and the level of expertise required. A feasible research topic is one that aligns with your resources and constraints.
• Collaborate and Seek Guidance:
• Discuss your ideas with mentors, professors, or colleagues in the field. 
• Collaborative discussions can provide valuable insights, help refine your research questions, and guide you toward topics that align with current research priorities.
• Explore Emerging Technologies:
• Consider incorporating emerging technologies and methodologies in your research. This not only adds a contemporary dimension to your study but also opens up new possibilities for exploration. 
• Technologies like CRISPR-Cas9, high-throughput sequencing, and remote sensing have revolutionized botany research.
• Think Interdisciplinary:
• Botany often intersects with various other disciplines, such as ecology, genetics, molecular biology, environmental science, and more. 
• Consider interdisciplinary approaches to your research, as this can lead to innovative and comprehensive insights.
• Address Global Challenges:
• Botany research can play a crucial role in addressing global challenges like climate change, food security, and biodiversity loss. 
• Choosing a topic that contributes to solving or mitigating these challenges adds societal relevance to your work.
• Explore Local Flora:
• If applicable, explore the flora of your local region. Investigating plant species native to your area can have practical implications for local conservation, biodiversity studies, and environmental management.
• Stay Inquisitive and Open-Minded:
• Keep an open mind and stay curious. Scientific research often involves unexpected discoveries, and being open to exploration can lead to novel and exciting findings. 
• Be willing to adapt your research questions based on your findings and new insights.

100+ Botany Research Topics For All Students

Plant physiology.

• The Role of Plant Hormones in Growth and Development
• Mechanisms of Photosynthesis: A Comprehensive Study
• Impact of Environmental Stress on Plant Physiology
• Water Use Efficiency in Plants: Regulation and Adaptation
• Nutrient Uptake and Transport in Plants
• Signaling Pathways in Plant Defense Mechanisms
• Regulation of Flowering Time in Plants
• Physiological Responses of Plants to Climate Change
• Role of Mycorrhizal Associations in Plant Nutrition
• Stress Tolerance Mechanisms in Halophytic Plants

Plant Taxonomy

• Phylogenetic Analysis of a Plant Family: Case Study
• Integrating Molecular Systematics in Plant Taxonomy
• Plant DNA Barcoding for Species Identification
• Revision of a Plant Genus: Taxonomic Challenges
• Cryptic Species in Plant Taxonomy: Detection and Implications
• Floristic Diversity in a Specific Geographic Region
• Evolutionary Trends in Angiosperms
• Ethnobotanical Contributions to Plant Taxonomy
• Application of GIS in Plant Taxonomy
• Conservation Status Assessment of Endangered Plant Species

Plant Ecology

• Ecosystem Services Provided by Plants
• Dynamics of Plant-Animal Interactions in a Habitat
• Impact of Invasive Plant Species on Native Flora
• Plant Community Composition Along Environmental Gradients
• Ecological Consequences of Plant-Pollinator Decline
• Microbial Interactions in the Rhizosphere
• Plant Responses to Fire: Adaptation and Recovery
• Climate Change Effects on Plant Phenology
• Restoration Ecology: Reintroducing Native Plants
• Plant-Soil Feedbacks and Ecosystem Stability

Plant Pathology

• Molecular Mechanisms of Plant-Pathogen Interactions
• Emerging Plant Diseases: Causes and Consequences
• Integrated Disease Management in Agriculture
• Fungal Pathogens: Diversity and Control Strategies
• Plant Immunity and Defense Mechanisms
• Resistance Breeding Against Viral Pathogens
• Bacterial Diseases in Crop Plants: Diagnosis and Management
• Impact of Climate Change on Plant Pathogen Dynamics
• Biocontrol Agents for Plant Disease Management
• Genetic Basis of Host Susceptibility to Plant Pathogens

Ethnobotany

• Traditional Medicinal Plants: Documentation and Validation
• Cultural Significance of Plants in Indigenous Communities
• Ethnobotanical Survey of a Specific Region
• Sustainable Harvesting Practices of Medicinal Plants
• Traditional Plant Use in Rituals and Ceremonies
• Plant-Based Foods in Indigenous Diets
• Ethnopharmacological Studies on Antimicrobial Plants
• Conservation of Ethnobotanical Knowledge
• Ethnobotanical Contributions to Modern Medicine
• Indigenous Perspectives on Plant Conservation

Genetic and Molecular Biology

• CRISPR-Cas9 Applications in Plant Genome Editing
• Epigenetics in Plant Development and Stress Response
• Functional Genomics of Plant Responses to Abiotic Stress
• Genetic Diversity in Crop Plants and its Conservation
• Genetic Mapping and Marker-Assisted Selection in Plant Breeding
• Genome Sequencing of Non-Model Plant Species
• RNA Interference in Plant Gene Regulation
• Comparative Genomics of Plant Evolution
• Genetic Basis of Plant Adaptation to Extreme Environments
• Plant Epigenome Editing: Methods and Applications

Plant Anatomy and Morphology

• Comparative Anatomy of C3 and C4 Plants
• Xylem and Phloem Development in Plants
• Leaf Anatomy and Adaptations to Photosynthesis
• Morphological Diversity in Plant Reproductive Structures
• Evolution of Floral Symmetry in Angiosperms
• Root Architecture and its Functional Significance
• Stem Cell Dynamics in Plant Meristems
• Comparative Morphology of Succulent Plants
• Tissue Regeneration in Plants: Mechanisms and Applications
• Wood Anatomy and Tree-Ring Analysis in Dendrochronology

Climate Change and Plant Responses

• Impact of Global Warming on Alpine Plant Communities
• Plant Responses to Elevated CO2 Levels
• Drought Tolerance Mechanisms in Plants
• Shifts in Plant Phenology Due to Climate Change
• Climate-Induced Changes in Plant-Pollinator Interactions
• Carbon Sequestration Potential of Forest Ecosystems
• Ocean Acidification Effects on Seagrass Physiology
• Plant Responses to Increased Frequency of Extreme Events
• Alpine Plant Adaptations to Harsh Environments
• Climate-Driven Changes in Plant Distribution and Biogeography

Emerging Technologies in Botany Research

• Application of Machine Learning in Plant Phenotyping
• Nanotechnology in Plant Science: Current Status and Future Prospects
• Metagenomics in Studying Plant Microbiomes
• Remote Sensing for Monitoring Plant Health
• High-Throughput Sequencing in Plant Genomics
• CRISPR-Based Gene Drives for Ecological Restoration
• Advances in Plant Imaging Techniques
• Synthetic Biology Approaches in Plant Engineering
• Augmented Reality Applications in Plant Biology Education
• Digital Herbariums: Integrating Technology in Plant Taxonomy

Misc Botany Research Topics

• Metabolic Pathways in Plant Secondary Metabolism: Regulation and Significance
• Population Genomics of Endangered Plant Species: Implications for Conservation
• Impact of Soil Microbes on Plant Health and Productivity
• Evolutionary Dynamics of Plant-Pathogen Coevolution: Insights from Molecular Data
• Application of CRISPR-Based Gene Editing for Improving Crop Traits
• Phytochemical Profiling of Medicinal Plants for Drug Discovery
• Investigating the Role of Epigenetic Modifications in Plant Stress Responses
• Role of Plant Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in Ecological Interactions
• Biotic and Abiotic Factors Influencing Plant Microbiome Composition
• Molecular Basis of Plant-Microbe Symbiosis: Lessons from Nitrogen-Fixing Associations

How to Make Botany Research Successful?

Conducting successful botany research involves a combination of careful planning, effective execution, and thoughtful analysis. Whether you are a student, a researcher, or someone conducting independent studies, here are key tips to ensure the success of your botany research:

• Establish Clear Objectives: Clearly articulate the goals and objectives of your research. What specific inquiries do you intend to address? A well-defined research focus serves as a guiding framework, ensuring your efforts remain purposeful and on course.
• Conduct an In-Depth Literature Review: Immerse yourself in the existing body of literature within your field of study. Identify gaps, discern trends, and pinpoint areas where your research could contribute significantly. A thorough literature review lays a robust groundwork for shaping your research design.
• Choose an Appropriate Research Topic: Select a research topic that resonates with your interests, aligns with your expertise, and addresses the current needs of the scientific community. Ensure that the chosen topic is not only feasible but also harbors the potential for impactful outcomes.
• Develop a Sound Research Plan: Create a detailed research plan outlining the methodologies, timelines, and resources required. A well-structured plan helps in efficient execution and minimizes the risk of unforeseen challenges.
• Utilize Cutting-Edge Technologies: Stay updated with the latest technologies and methodologies in botany research. Incorporate advanced tools such as high-throughput sequencing, CRISPR-Cas9 , and remote sensing to enhance the precision and efficiency of your research.
• Collaborate and Seek Guidance: Collaborate with experts in the field, seek mentorship, and engage in discussions with colleagues. Networking and collaboration can provide valuable insights, guidance, and potential avenues for collaboration.
• Ensure Ethical Considerations: Adhere to ethical guidelines and standards in your research. Obtain necessary approvals for human subjects, follow ethical practices in plant experimentation, and ensure the responsible use of emerging technologies.
• Implement Robust Experimental Design: Design experiments with attention to detail, ensuring that they are replicable and provide statistically significant results. Address potential confounding variables and incorporate controls to enhance the reliability of your findings.
• Collect and Analyze Data Thoughtfully: Implement systematic data collection methods. Use appropriate statistical analyses to interpret your results and draw meaningful conclusions. Transparent and well-documented data analysis enhances the credibility of your research.
• Regularly Review and Adapt: Periodically review your progress and be open to adapting your research plan based on emerging findings. Flexibility and responsiveness to unexpected results contribute to a dynamic and successful research process.
• Communicate Your Research Effectively: Share your findings through publications, presentations, and other relevant channels. Effective communication of your research results contributes to the broader scientific community and enhances the impact of your work.
• Foster a Collaborative Research Environment: Encourage collaboration within your research team. A collaborative environment fosters creativity, diverse perspectives, and a collective effort towards achieving research goals.
• Contribute to Sustainable Practices: If your research involves fieldwork or plant collection, adhere to sustainable practices. Consider the impact on local ecosystems and strive to minimize any negative consequences.
• Stay Resilient: Research can have its challenges, setbacks, and unforeseen obstacles. Stay resilient, remain focused on your goals, and view challenges as opportunities for growth and learning.
• Celebrate Achievements and Learn from Failures: Acknowledge and celebrate your achievements, no matter how small. Learn from any setbacks or failures and use them as lessons to refine and improve your research approach.

In the vast and diverse field of botany research, scientists are continually unraveling the mysteries of the plant kingdom. From the intricate processes of photosynthesis to the challenges posed by emerging plant diseases and the potential of cutting-edge technologies, botany research is a dynamic and ever-evolving field. 

As we delve deeper into the green secrets of the plant world, our understanding grows, offering not only scientific insights but also solutions to address pressing global challenges such as food security, biodiversity loss, and climate change. 

The exploration of botany research topics is a journey of discovery, paving the way for a sustainable and harmonious coexistence with the plant life that sustains our planet.

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Botany Research Paper Topics

• Horticulture
• Photosynthesis
• Phototropism

Divisions of botanical study

Biochemists study the effects of soil, temperature, and light on plants. Plant morphologists study the evolution and development of leaves, roots, and stems, with a special focus on the tissues at various points on stems (called buds) where the cells have the ability to divide. Plant pathologists investigate the causes of plant disease and the effect that pathogens, such as bacteria and fungi, have on forest trees, vegetable crops, grain, and ornamental plants. Economic botanists study the impact of plants as they relate to human needs for food, clothing, and shelter. Plant geneticists study the arrangement and behavior of genes (the physical units of heredity) in plants in order to develop crops that are resistant to diseases and pests. Fossil plants are studied by paleobotanists to determine the earliest appearances of various groups of plants and the conditions under which they existed.

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Get 10% off with 24start discount code, interdependence.

Plants and animals depend on one another for their survival. Plants are primary producers that, through photosynthesis, provide nutrients that animals use to carry out vital body processes. Animals, in turn, contribute to plant distribution, plant pollination, and every other aspect of plant growth and development. Together with zoology (the study of animals), botany is an important aspect of the study of ecology (the interrelationship of living things and their environments).

History of botany

The field of botany began to take form with the work of Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 B.C.), the first person to classify plants. He divided them into categories according to size and appearance. Many years later, Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus (1707–1778) contributed greatly to the study of botany by devising a comprehensive classification system for plants that is still used today. In 1753, Linnaeus published his Species Plantarum, in which he classified every known species of plant according to its structure and its similarity to other species. He also gave each plant a two-part name (called binomial nomenclature), consisting of the genus (the biological classification between family and species) and a second descriptive word.

The first scientific experiment in plant nutrition was conducted by Belgian physician Jan Baptista van Helmont (1577–1644). In growing a tree using only water as nourishment, van Helmont proved that the soil in which the tree was planted was not the only source of plant nutrients. English physiologist Stephen Hales (1677–1761) studied plant transpiration (loss of water from the surfaces of plant leaves and stems) and is credited with establishing plant physiology as a science.

During the nineteenth century, advances were made in the study of plant diseases, spurred by the potato blight in Ireland in the 1840s. Caused by a fungus that destroyed the entire potato crop, the potato blight resulted in over one million deaths from starvation and led to a mass migration of Irish to America.

The modern science of plant genetics developed from the work of Gregor Mendel (1822–1884), an Austrian botanist and monk. His breeding experiments with pea plants provided information on the nature of genes and their role in the inheritance of characteristics between generations. He formulated the Mendelian laws of inheritance, which were applied after 1900 to plant breeding.

Research in botany includes developing new and hardier species of crops, controlling plant diseases, discovering new medicines from plants, and studying the effects of human intervention (such as pollution and logging) on plant life. Exploring ways of maintaining an ecological balance that continues to sustain both plant and animal life is an important subject of study as well.

Back to Science Research Paper Topics .

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A Breakdown Of Common Topics In Botany Papers

Botany, the scientific study of plants, encompasses a diverse array of disciplines that delve into the intricacies of plant life. As a cornerstone of biological sciences, botany provides invaluable insights into the fascinating world of flora, from the microscopic structures of cells to the vast ecosystems where plants thrive. In this blog, we will discuss the most important topics in botany papers at universities in Canada . 

Table of Contents

Botany As A Scientific Discipline

Botany, also known as plant biology, is a branch of biology that focuses on the study of plants, including algae, fungi, mosses, ferns, conifers, and flowering plants. The discipline encompasses a broad spectrum of topics, ranging from the molecular and cellular levels to ecological and evolutionary aspects. Botanists examine plant structure, function, growth, reproduction, and their interactions with the environment.

Botany research papers play a pivotal role in advancing our understanding of the plant kingdom. These scholarly articles serve as conduits for sharing groundbreaking research, new discoveries, and innovative methodologies within the scientific community. Through the dissemination of knowledge in peer-reviewed journals, botany papers contribute to the collective body of information that shapes the trajectory of botanical science.

The importance of a botany thesis or dissertation extends beyond academic circles, influencing agricultural practices, environmental conservation, pharmaceutical discoveries, and even our basic understanding of life on Earth. 

Taxonomy, a fundamental aspect of botany, is the science of classifying and naming living organisms. In the context of plants, taxonomy involves categorizing them based on shared characteristics, relationships, and evolutionary history. The systematic organization provided by taxonomy serves as a crucial framework for understanding plant diversity, aiding in communication among scientists and facilitating further research.

In botany research paper format , taxonomy is a cornerstone that underpins various studies, providing a structured approach to exploring and documenting the vast array of plant species. By classifying plants into groups based on shared traits, researchers can unravel the evolutionary relationships among different taxa, contributing to our understanding of plant evolution and biodiversity.

Phylogenetic Analysis

Phylogenetic analysis is a central theme in botany papers that explore the evolutionary relationships between plants. This approach involves constructing phylogenetic trees or cladograms, visually representing the evolutionary history and genetic relatedness of different plant species. Molecular data, such as DNA sequences, are often used to decipher these relationships, offering insights into the branching patterns and common ancestors of plants.

Systematics And Nomenclature

Systematics involves the study of the diversity of organisms and their evolutionary relationships. In botany papers, systematic research often focuses on classifying plants into hierarchical categories based on shared characteristics. This includes the establishment of rules and principles for naming and classifying plants, known as nomenclature.

Botanists employ a standardized system of nomenclature, governed by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN), to assign scientific names to plant species. 

Taxonomy Research Paper Topics

• Integration of Morphological and Molecular Data in Modern Taxonomy
• The Impact of Next-Generation Sequencing on Resolving Taxonomic Uncertainties
• Taxonomic Revisions: Case Studies in Reevaluating Species Boundaries
• The Role of DNA Barcoding in Identifying and Classifying Biodiversity
• Challenges and Opportunities in Integrating Traditional and Molecular Taxonomy
• Evolutionary Trends in Taxonomic Diversification: Lessons from Key Plant Families
• Exploring Cryptic Species: Hidden Diversity in Taxonomic Classification
• The Influence of Environmental Factors on Taxonomic Variation in Microorganisms
• Taxonomy and Conservation: Prioritizing Species for Protection
• Phylogenetic Reconstruction and Biogeography: Tracing Evolutionary History

Plant Physiology

Plant physiology is the branch of botany that explores the internal processes and mechanisms governing the life and functioning of plants. It discusses the physiological activities that occur within plant cells, tissues, and organs. Understanding plant physiology is essential for unravelling the fundamental processes that sustain plant life and influence growth, development, and responses to environmental stimuli.

The physiological processes in plants are diverse and interconnected, involving molecular, biochemical, and biophysical mechanisms. These processes include photosynthesis, respiration, water and nutrient uptake, hormonal regulation, and many others. Each contributes to the overall health and functionality of plants, allowing them to adapt to changing conditions and thrive in various environments.

Photosynthesis And Respiration

Photosynthesis, a fundamental process in plant physiology, involves the conversion of light energy into chemical energy, primarily in the form of glucose. This process occurs in chloroplasts, where pigments such as chlorophyll capture sunlight and convert it into chemical energy through a series of complex biochemical reactions.

Water And Nutrient Uptake

Water and nutrient uptake are vital physiological processes that sustain plant life. Roots play a crucial role in absorbing water and essential nutrients from the soil, transporting them through the plant’s vascular system to support various physiological functions. 

Researchers investigate how plants adapt to varying nutrient levels, the impact of mycorrhizal associations on nutrient uptake, and the strategies plants employ to cope with water stress. These studies contribute not only to our understanding of plant physiology but also have implications for optimizing agricultural practices and addressing challenges related to water and nutrient availability in different ecosystems.

Hormonal Regulation In Plants

Hormonal regulation is a complex and tightly controlled aspect of plant physiology that influences growth, development, and responses to environmental stimuli. Plant hormones, such as auxins, gibberellins, cytokinins, abscisic acid, and ethylene, play key roles in coordinating various physiological processes.

Plant Physiology Research Paper Topics

• Photosynthetic Efficiency in Response to Environmental Stressors: A Comparative Study
• Mechanisms of Water Transport in Plants: From Roots to Leaves
• The Role of Plant Hormones in Coordinating Growth and Development
• Metabolic Adaptations of Plants to Nutrient Limitation: Insights from Molecular Studies
• Stomatal Regulation and Water Use Efficiency in Crops: Implications for Agriculture
• Cellular Signaling in Plant Responses to Abiotic Stress: Unraveling the Molecular Mechanisms
• Impact of Elevated Carbon Dioxide Levels on Plant Physiology and Growth
• Nitrogen Metabolism in Plants: Integration of Nitrate and Ammonium Assimilation
• Role of Phytochromes in Plant Photomorphogenesis: From Seed Germination to Flowering
• Understanding the Molecular Basis of Plant-Pathogen Interactions: Host Defense Mechanisms

Ecology And Biodiversity

Ecology, a pivotal branch of botany, examines the relationships between organisms and their environments. In the context of plants, ecological studies shed light on how they interact with other living organisms, the physical and chemical characteristics of their habitats, and the impact of environmental factors on their growth and survival. Understanding the connections between plants and their surroundings is essential for elucidating ecological processes and conserving biodiversity.

Plants, as primary producers, play a foundational role in ecosystems by converting sunlight into energy through photosynthesis. Their interactions with soil microorganisms, herbivores, pollinators, and other plants contribute to the dynamic balance of ecosystems. Ecological studies in botany explore the flow of energy and nutrients within ecosystems, the coevolution of plants with other organisms, and the broader impact of these interactions on biodiversity.

Ecosystem Interactions

Botany papers frequently delve into the complex interactions between plants and their biotic and abiotic environments. Ecosystem interactions encompass a wide range of topics, including plant-animal interactions, mutualistic relationships, competition for resources, and the role of plants in shaping their ecosystems.

Research in this area may focus on the relationships within plant communities, exploring how different species coexist and compete for resources. Additionally, studies may investigate the role of plants in providing habitat and sustenance for other organisms, such as pollinators, herbivores, and decomposers. 

Conservation Biology

Conservation biology is a critical facet of botany that addresses the preservation of plant species, ecosystems, and biodiversity. Botany papers in conservation biology explore the threats facing plant populations, the impact of habitat loss, climate change, and invasive species, and strategies for mitigating these challenges.

Researchers may investigate the distribution and abundance of rare or endangered plant species, assess the effectiveness of protected areas, and develop conservation plans to safeguard plant diversity. Conservation-oriented botany papers contribute valuable insights into the sustainable management of natural resources, restoration ecology, and the protection of plant species facing the risk of extinction.

Plant Adaptations To Environmental Factors

Plants have evolved a myriad of adaptations to cope with diverse environmental conditions. Botany papers exploring plant adaptations delve into the mechanisms that enable plants to thrive in specific habitats, resist environmental stressors, and respond to changing conditions.

Topics may include physiological adaptations, such as drought tolerance and salt resistance, as well as morphological adaptations, like specialized root structures or leaf modifications. 

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Ecology And Biodiversity Research Paper Topics

Genetics and genomics.

Plant genetics and genomics constitute a fascinating area of botany that explores the hereditary traits and molecular mechanisms governing plant development, evolution, and adaptation. Genetics delves into the study of individual genes, their inheritance patterns, and the variations that occur within populations, while genomics encompasses the detailed analysis of an organism’s entire set of genes (genome) and their functions.

Genetic Diversity

Genetic diversity is a fundamental aspect of plant biology that explores the variety of genetic material within a population or species. Botany papers often delve into the factors influencing genetic diversity, such as reproductive mechanisms, population size, and environmental pressures. Researchers study the distribution of genetic variations among plant populations to assess their adaptability, resilience, and potential responses to environmental changes.

Understanding genetic diversity is crucial for plant conservation, breeding programs, and the development of crops with improved traits. Botany papers in this domain contribute to our knowledge of the factors shaping genetic diversity and its implications for the long-term survival and evolution of plant species.

Molecular Markers And Genetic Mapping

Molecular markers and genetic mapping play a pivotal role in plant genetics by aiding in the identification and mapping of specific genes or genomic regions associated with particular traits. Botany papers may focus on the development and application of molecular markers, such as DNA sequences or protein variants, to track genetic variations within plant populations.

Genetic mapping involves creating maps that illustrate the locations of genes on a plant’s chromosomes. These maps provide insights into the inheritance patterns of traits and assist in the selection of desirable traits for breeding programs. Botany papers in this area contribute to the refinement of genetic maps, the discovery of quantitative trait loci (QTLs), and the advancement of marker-assisted breeding techniques.

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)

The development and application of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in agriculture and research are prominent topics in plant genetics. Botany papers related to GMOs explore the introduction of foreign genes into plant genomes to confer specific traits, such as resistance to pests, tolerance to environmental stress, or improved nutritional content.

Researchers in this field investigate the molecular mechanisms behind genetic modifications, assess the potential environmental and ecological impacts of GMOs, and explore ethical considerations associated with their use. Botany papers contribute to the ongoing dialogue surrounding the development and regulation of GMOs, addressing concerns related to biodiversity, food security, and the coexistence of genetically modified and non-modified crops.

Genetics And Genomics Research Paper Topics

• Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS): Applications in Unraveling Complex Traits
• CRISPR/Cas9 Technology: Current Advances and Ethical Implications in Genetic Engineering
• Functional Genomics: Integrating Genotype and Phenotype for a Comprehensive Understanding
• Epigenetic Modifications and Their Influence on Gene Expression in Development and Disease
• Population Genomics: Tracking Genetic Variation Across Different Populations
• Genetic Basis of Human Diseases: Insights from Genomic Medicine
• Comparative Genomics of Model Organisms: Unraveling Evolutionary Relationships
• The Role of Non-Coding RNAs in Gene Regulation and Genome Function
• Evolutionary Genomics: Studying Genetic Changes Over Geological Time Scales
• Personalized Genomics: Tailoring Medical Treatments Based on Individual Genetic Profiles

Plant Pathology

Plant pathology is a specialized field within botany that focuses on the study of plant diseases, their causes, and their impact on plant health and productivity. Just as animals can suffer from diseases, plants are susceptible to various pathogens, including fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematodes, and other microorganisms. Plant diseases can manifest as visible symptoms, such as wilting, discoloration, lesions, and deformities, ultimately affecting plant growth, development, and yield.

Identification And Control Of Plant Diseases

Botany papers in plant pathology often focus on the identification and control of plant diseases. Identification involves recognizing the causal agents of diseases, understanding the symptoms they induce, and distinguishing between different types of diseases. Researchers use a combination of field observations, laboratory tests, and molecular techniques to accurately identify pathogens and diagnose diseases.

Interactions Between Plants And Pathogens

The interactions between plants and pathogens form a central theme in botany papers related to plant pathology. Researchers delve into the molecular and biochemical mechanisms that govern the recognition and response of plants to invading pathogens. This includes the study of plant defence mechanisms, the activation of immune responses, and the ways in which pathogens evade or suppress plant defences.

Plant Pathology Research Paper Topics

• Emerging Plant Pathogens: Investigation and Management Strategies
• Role of Fungicides in Controlling Crop Diseases: Efficacy and Environmental Impact
• Molecular Mechanisms of Plant-Pathogen Interactions: Insights into Disease Resistance
• Epidemiology of Plant Viruses: Spread, Impact, and Control Measures
• Biological Control of Plant Pathogens: Harnessing Microbial Antagonists
• Genetic Resistance in Plants: Breeding for Disease Resistance in Crops
• Impact of Climate Change on Plant Disease Dynamics and Distribution
• Understanding Soil-Borne Pathogens: Management Approaches and Soil Health
• Emergence and Evolution of Fungal Pathogens: Genetic Diversity and Adaptation
• Integrated Disease Management in Agriculture: Combining Biological, Chemical, and Cultural Strategies

Ethnobotany

Ethnobotany is a multidisciplinary field that explores the relationships between plants and people, particularly focusing on the traditional knowledge and uses of plants by different cultures, especially indigenous communities. This interdisciplinary approach combines elements of anthropology, botany, ecology, and pharmacology to investigate how plants play a significant role in the cultural, spiritual, economic, and medicinal aspects of human societies.

The relevance of ethnobotany lies in its ability to preserve and document traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) held by indigenous and local communities. By understanding the traditional uses of plants, ethnobotanists contribute to the conservation of biodiversity, sustainable resource management, and the recognition of indigenous rights. Ethnobotanical studies also provide valuable insights into the potential applications of plant resources in various fields, including medicine, agriculture, and cultural practices.

Traditional Uses Of Plants By Indigenous Communities

Botany papers in ethnobotany often explore the traditional uses of plants by indigenous communities. Researchers delve into the rich tapestry of knowledge passed down through generations, documenting the uses of plants for food, shelter, clothing, tools, and various cultural practices. Ethnobotanical studies aim to catalogue and understand the diversity of plant uses in different societies, shedding light on the sustainable harvesting practices and conservation strategies employed by indigenous groups.

Through fieldwork and interviews with local communities, botany papers in this area contribute to the preservation of traditional knowledge, fostering collaboration between scientists and indigenous peoples. This interdisciplinary approach helps bridge the gap between scientific understanding and conventional wisdom, promoting the sustainable use of plant resources.

Medicinal Plants And Their Properties

A prominent focus within ethnobotany is the study of medicinal plants and their properties. Indigenous cultures have relied on plants for centuries to address various health and well-being needs. Botany papers in this field investigate the medicinal uses of plants, exploring the active compounds, therapeutic properties, and cultural significance associated with traditional healing practices.

Researchers may conduct pharmacological studies to validate the efficacy of medicinal plants, identifying potential compounds for drug development. Additionally, botany papers in ethnobotany contribute to the understanding of how different cultures approach healthcare, emphasizing the importance of integrating traditional medicine with modern healthcare practices for holistic and culturally sensitive healthcare strategies.

Botany Research Paper Topics

Here is a list of thirty botany research paper topics to help you start your journey in research.

• Impact of Climate Change on Plant Physiology: A Molecular Perspective
• Role of Mycorrhizal Fungi in Plant Nutrient Uptake and Health
• Genetic Modification of Crops for Enhanced Resistance to Pests and Diseases
• Exploring the Diversity of Plant Secondary Metabolites and Their Medicinal Properties
• Molecular Mechanisms of Plant Adaptation to Abiotic Stress
• The Ecology and Conservation of Endangered Plant Species
• Effects of Urbanization on Plant Biodiversity in Metropolitan Areas
• The Evolutionary Significance of Seed Dispersal Mechanisms in Plants
• Understanding the Interactions Between Plants and Insect Pollinators
• Applications of CRISPR/Cas9 Technology in Plant Genome Editing
• Role of Plant Hormones in Growth and Development
• Investigating the Impact of Invasive Plant Species on Native Ecosystems
• Phylogenetic Analysis of Medicinal Plants: Unraveling Evolutionary Relationships
• Study of Plant-Microbe Interactions in Rhizosphere Ecology
• The Role of Plants in Phytoremediation of Soil Contaminants
• Comparative Analysis of Plant Adaptations in Arid and Rainforest Environments
• Molecular Basis of Plant-Microbe Communication in Symbiotic Relationships
• Exploring the Genetic Basis of Plant Resistance to Herbivores
• Effects of Light Pollution on Plant Physiology and Growth
• Role of Epigenetics in Plant Development and Stress Response
• Analyzing the Impact of Fungal Pathogens on Agricultural Crop Yields
• Phytochemical Analysis and Pharmacological Potential of Ethnobotanical Plants
• Investigating the Influence of Plant Root Microbiome on Soil Health
• The Role of Plants in Carbon Sequestration and Climate Change Mitigation
• Comparative Genomics of C4 and CAM Plants: Unraveling Photosynthetic Strategies
• Molecular Basis of Plant Immune Responses to Pathogens
• Biotechnological Approaches for Sustainable Agriculture: Focus on Crop Improvement
• The Relationship Between Plant Diversity and Ecosystem Stability
• The Impact of Agricultural Practices on Soil Microbial Diversity and Plant Health
• Using Remote Sensing Technology for Monitoring and Managing Plant Ecosystems

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the citation style for the canadian journal of botany.

The Canadian Journal of Botany follows the citation style outlined in the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (McGill Guide). It provides guidelines for citing legal and academic sources, ensuring consistency and clarity in citations for articles and papers.

What are journals in botany?

Journals in botany are periodical publications that disseminate original research, reviews, and scholarly articles related to plant biology. These journals serve as platforms for scientists and researchers to share their findings, advancements, and insights within the field of botany.

Where can I study botany in Ontario?

In Ontario, you can study botany at various institutions. Some options include the University of Toronto, McMaster University, University of Guelph, and York University. Check their biology or life sciences departments for specific botany-related programs and courses.

What is the impact factor of the American Journal of Botany?

American Journal of Botany boasts a strong impact factor of 3.325 (2023), placing it among the top journals in its field.

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Articles on Botany

Displaying 1 - 20 of 92 articles.

Cranberries can bounce, float and pollinate themselves: The saucy science of a Thanksgiving classic

Serina DeSalvio , Texas A&M University

Take a break from your screen and look at plants − botanizing is a great way to engage with life around you

Jacob S. Suissa , University of Tennessee and Ben Goulet-Scott , Harvard University

French botanist Théodore Leschenault travelled to Australia in 1800-1803 . His recently recovered journal contains a wealth of intriguing information

Paul Gibbard , The University of Western Australia

Why does grass grow more slowly in winter?

Gregory Moore , The University of Melbourne

Colonialism has shaped scientific plant collections around the world – here’s why that matters

Daniel Park , Purdue University

The world’s first flowers were pollinated by insects

Ruby E. Stephens , Macquarie University ; Hervé Sauquet , UNSW Sydney ; Lily Dun , UNSW Sydney ; Rachael Gallagher , Western Sydney University , and Will Cornwell , UNSW Sydney

Native raspberries, limes and geraniums: how did these curious plants end up in Australia?

Decolonize your garden: This long weekend, dig into the complicated roots of gardening — Listen

Vinita Srivastava , The Conversation and Ateqah Khaki , The Conversation

Learn to think like a plant: five questions to think about if you want to keep your houseplants healthy

Chris Thorogood , University of Oxford

I’ve created a monstera! How to care for the ‘Swiss cheese plant’ in your life

Climate change threatens spring wildflowers by speeding up the time when trees leaf out above them

Richard B. Primack , Boston University ; Benjamin R. Lee , University of Pittsburgh , and Tara K. Miller , Boston University

Once the Callery pear tree was landscapers’ favorite – now states are banning this invasive species and urging homeowners to cut it down

Ryan W. McEwan , University of Dayton

Some houseplants take in nutrients from roots outside the soil – and it may change how we care for them

Amanda Rasmussen , University of Nottingham

A new discovery shows major flowering plants are 150 million years older than previously thought

Byron Lamont , Curtin University

I spent a year squeezing leaves to measure their water content. Here’s what I learned

Tomás I. Fuenzalida , Australian National University

Botanists are disappearing – just when the world needs them most

Sebastian Stroud , University of Leeds

How to grow plants on the moon – new study

Monica Grady , The Open University

Redwood trees have two types of leaves, scientists find – a trait that could help them survive in a changing climate

Alana Chin , Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich

Why do plants grow straight?

Beronda L. Montgomery , Michigan State University

Five fascinating insights into the inner lives of plants

Sven Batke , Edge Hill University

Related Topics

• Climate change
• Horticulture
• Native plants
• Photosynthesis
• Plant science

Top contributors

Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne

Professeur, Biologie et Biochimie végétales, IUF, Université de Lorraine

Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of the College, Grinnell College

Associate Professor in Environmental Science, Western Sydney University

Senior Zoologist and Botanical Curator, Queensland Herbarium

Chair of ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum Biotechnology, The University of Queensland

Associate Professor of Environmental Sciences, Emory University

Senior Lecturer in Chemistry, University of Birmingham

Lecturer in Classical Studies, The Open University

Professor of Planetary and Space Sciences, The Open University

Senior Research Professor, Curtin University

Associate Professor in Ecology and Evolution, UNSW Sydney

Research botanist at the Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium of South Australia/Environment Institute, University of Adelaide

Author and Research Fellow, UNSW Sydney

Henslow Research Fellow, University of Cambridge

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Plant physiology articles from across Nature Portfolio

Plant physiology is a sub-discipline of botany concerned with the physical, chemical and biological functioning of plants.

Latest Research and Reviews

Greater ecophysiological stress tolerance in the core environment than in extreme environments of wild chickpea ( Cicer reticulatum )

• Christopher P. Krieg
• Duncan D. Smith
• Eric J. von Wettberg

Exogenous glutathione protected wheat seedling from high temperature and water deficit damages

• Mohamed Suliman Eltyeb Suliman
• Safiya Babiker Mustafa Elradi
• Irshad Ahmad

Maple samara flight is robust to morphological perturbation and united by a classic drag model

Winged, autorotating seeds from the genus Acer can autorotate despite significant morphological alteration, enduring mass changes >% while maintaining descent velocity changes of <%. A classical aerodynamic model well predicts descent velocity.

• Breanna M. Schaeffer
• Spencer S. Truman
• Andrew K. Dickerson

Silicon attenuates aluminum toxicity in sugarcane plants by modifying growth, roots morphoanatomy, photosynthetic pigments, and gas exchange parameters

• Gilmar da Silveira Sousa Junior
• Alexander Calero Hurtado
• Durvalina Maria Mathias dos Santos

Investigating the impacts of airborne dust on herbicide performance on Amaranthus retroflexus

• Firouzeh Sharifi Kalyani
• Sirwan Babaei
• Amir Sadeghpour

Choreographing root architecture and rhizosphere interactions through synthetic biology

Engineering the form and function of root systems and their associated microbiota could provide a means to mitigate adverse climate-driven effects. Here, the authors review the recent developments in plant and rhizobacterial synthetic biology and highlight engineering targets for applications in root systems and rhizosphere.

• Carin J. Ragland
• Kevin Y. Shih
• José R. Dinneny

News and Comment

The importance of early human choices of wild plants in determining crop physiology

Leaf ecophysiological traits of crops are primarily inherited from their wild progenitors, challenging the conventional assumption that the origins of fast physiology lie only in early domestication and modern breeding.

How to establish a GAPLESS Casparian strip

To control the movement of water and nutrients, vascular plants seal the paracellular space between adjacent endodermal cells with a tight junction-like complex comprising the Casparian strip and Casparian strip membrane domain. In rice, GAPLESS proteins mediate the attachment of these two components and enable nutrient homeostasis.

• Milica Nenadić
• Joop E. M. Vermeer

Opening the gates

A new study reveals that epigenetic mechanism mediates temperature control of callose synthase expression to regulate opening of plasmodesmata and facilitate bud sprouting in lilies.

• Rishikesh P. Bhalerao

The glycerate transporter NPF8.4 links photorespiration and nitrogen flux in plants

Photorespiration is known to be involved in carbon flux in plants, enabling the carbon lost during RuBisCO oxygenation to be recovered. We show that NPF8.4 is a transporter responsible for sequestering the photorespiratory carbon intermediate glycerate into vacuoles during nitrogen depletion, elucidating a novel function for photorespiration in nitrogen flux.

Two bHLH transcription factors affect sprouting by regulating the level of ABA

For plants, the decision to germinate is a gamble on their subsequent survival. Xu et al. have now discovered a mechanism that determines the choice between germination and dormancy by regulating the level of ABA.

• Hideki Yoshida
• Makoto Matsuoka

Two nitrate sensors, how many more?

Nitrate is a nutrient and a signal. Membrane protein NRT1.1 reflects this duality as both a nitrate transporter and sensor. A new perception mechanism has just been discovered: transcription factor NLP7 is also a nitrate sensor. Thus, two distinct but interacting systems perceive nitrate. Are there others?

• Jordan Courrèges-Clercq
• Gabriel Krouk

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SPECIALTY GRAND CHALLENGE article

Plant biology research: what is next.

• Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, Program in Genetics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, United States

Plant biology is a key area of science that bears major weight in the mankind's ongoing and future efforts to combat the consequences of global warming, climate change, pollution, and population growth. An in-depth understanding of plant physiology is paramount to our ability to optimize current agricultural practices, to develop new crop varieties, or to implement biotechnological innovations in agriculture. The next-generation cultivars would have to withstand environmental contamination and a wider range of growth temperatures, soil nutrients and moisture levels and effectively deal with growing pathogen pressures to continue to yield well in even suboptimal conditions.

What are the next big questions in plant physiology, and plant biology in general, and what avenues of research should we be investigating and training students in for the next decade? As a plant scientist surrounded by like-minded individuals, I hear a lot of ideas that over time turn into buzz words, such as plant resilience, genotype-to-phenotype, data science, systems biology, biosensing, synthetic biology, neural networks, robustness, interdisciplinary training, new tool development, modeling, etc. What does it all mean and what are the main challenges that we should all be working on solving? Herein, I present my personal perspective on what the immediate questions and the biggest longer-term issues in plant science are. I suggest some themes and directions for future research in plant biology, some relatively obvious and some potentially unique, having been shaped by my own professional interests, experiences and the background in plant molecular genetics and physiology.

Integration, Packaging, Visualization and Interpretation of Existing OMICS and Genetic Data

For the past three decades, a lot of emphasis has been made on a small set of plant model organisms, primarily on Arabidopsis. There is no other plant on earth we know as much about as we do about this mustard weed. One clear need in the area of plant sciences is to make sense of the vast amount of descriptive phenotypic data that have been generated for this species and a handful of others—the transcriptome, metabolome, proteome, phenome, interactome, etc.—and the amazing genetic resources that have been built: mutants, transgenic lines and natural accession germplasm collections, tools and protocols, genomic sequences and other resources ( Koorneef and Meinke, 2010 ). Now, how do we organize these data into a series of integrated, comprehensive, user-friendly, cross-communicating databases that are easily accessible, searchable, trackable, and visual, with data that are downloadable and compatible with comparative analyses? How do we display the available data at a variety of scales, from the subcellular to the organismal and population level—think Google Earth but for an ecosystem or an agricultural field that allows you to zoom in and out to see the overview and the closeup—perhaps, by integrating and expanding existing initiative likes Plant Cell Atlas and ePlant ( Waese et al., 2017 ; Rhee et al., 2019 )? With the genome sequences of these select organisms in hand, often of multiple accessions of each, what can we learn about the genotype-to-phenotype relations? How can we use that knowledge to extrapolate the rules or patterns we discover in model organisms to species for which we have no experimental data beyond possibly a draft-quality genomic sequence and a few fragmentary phenotypic datasets? In other words, can the data obtained in reference organisms be leveraged to infer useful information relevant to a wide range of species of agricultural, ecological or, perhaps, ethnobotanical importance? Let's look into some examples of that.

Translational Research: Moving Foundational Discoveries From Models to Crops

It comes as no surprise that for the past 10–20 years the emphasis has been gradually shifting from Arabidopsis to non-model organisms, including crops and rare plant species. The key reason for that is the pressing need to move fast on crop improvement and plant conservation in light of the worlds' fast-growing population, climate change, pollution, habitat and agricultural land loss, and ever-increasing pathogen pressures. This shift of research focus is also steered by changing governmental policies and funders' priorities. To make the transition to studying crops and other non-models as smooth as possible, robust computational pipelines are needed that produce high-quality genome assemblies from combinations of short- and long-read sequences. In this regard, tackling the much more complex genomes of polyploid species presents an even greater challenge. With the genome sequences and high-quality assembles on hand, orthologous genes that have previously been studied only in reference organisms need to be tested for function in candidate processes in the non-model species of interest to determine what aspects of their function are conserved and what features are divergent. The key bottleneck in this process is, of course, the recalcitrance of many non-models to genetic transformation and plant regeneration ( Anjanappa and Gruissem, 2021 ). Thus, a major effort would need to be invested into new method development to improve the plant in vitro culturing, genetic transformation and regeneration pipelines, with the ectopic activation of morphogenesis genes like BABY BOOM, WUSCHEL, LEAFY COTYLEDON1 and 2 , and several others holding major promise for boosting the regeneration efficiency of otherwise recalcitrant plant species and cultivars ( Gordon-Kamm et al., 2019 ). Further optimization of genome editing technologies, including classical gene disruption through indels as well as more targeted gene edits via base- and prime-editing or homologous-recombination-based methods, should enable highly tailored manipulation of genes of interest. The foundational knowledge gained in both model and non-model organisms can then be leveraged by applied plant biologists and environmentalists in crop improvement and plant conservation.

Interpreting the Code

One aspect of experimental research we have become good at over the past 10 years is genome and transcriptome sequencing. The current challenge is to learn to infer what the sequence tells us about what a gene does and how it is regulated based on the code alone. Can we look at gene's genomic sequence and infer not only the gene function, but also the different levels of gene regulation, all from just the sequence without any additional experimentation? To elaborate on that distinction between function and regulation, we can already infer the likely function of an orthologous gene in a crop (previously studied in another species) based on the degree of conservation of its genomic sequence, and deduce, for instance, an enzymatic reaction a protein may catalyze, or a DNA element a transcription factor may bind, or a specific ion the channel may transport, or an array of ligands or other molecules a protein may interact with. What we cannot yet reliably do is to predict based on the gene sequence alone when and where the gene is transcribed and what environmental or developmental stimuli alter its expression, how stable its transcript is, what splicing patterns the transcript has in specific cell types or conditions, or what factors dictate these patterns, or how well the transcript is translated, how the protein folds, where in the cell the protein is targeted, what its half-life is, and so on. Can we someday look at the gene sequence and predict whether the gene is essential or what organ or tissues will be affected in the loss- or gain-of-function mutant, and what phenotype the mutant will show, all without having to run an experiment? Once we learn to do that for a diploid model plant, can the knowledge be translated to polyploids that may have a greater level of gene redundancy and potentially more cases of neofunctionalization? How do we gain that extraordinary power?

One of the critical components of the inferring-the-function or genotype-to-phenotype challenge will involve machine learning and neural network models, with the size and quality of the training datasets presenting as the likely bottleneck that would determine the accuracy of neural networks' predictions ( Ching et al., 2018 ). While the role of computational biologists in this endeavor would be to develop new algorithms or adapt existing pipelines and test the models, the irreplaceable function of experimental plant biologists in this effort will be to generate the most complete and robust datasets for model training. This inevitably brings us to the next big theme, data quality.

Data Quality: Standardization, Reliability, Robustness and Tracking

As experimental scientists, most if not all of us have had the negative experience of not being able to reproduce an important result (sometimes even our own) or confirm the identity of a material someone has shared with us (e.g., a strain, a plasmid, or a seed stock from a colleague or another lab). Issues with biological variation (e.g., differences in germination between seed batches), small sample size (due to prohibitive cost, time or material constraints, or other limitations), human error (suboptimal labeling nomenclature, poor tracking, inadequate record keeping, substandard experimental design, miscalculation, personnel changes, or outright sloppiness) or malfunctioning instrumentation (in many cases, due to the lack of funding or time to upkeep or upgrade the equipment) can all contribute to the limited reproducibility of experimental data or sample mix-up. Rarely is the wrongdoing intentional, but the consequences of these errors can be enormous. What can we do to minimize mistakes, standardize internal lab protocols and record keeping, and ultimately improve the reproducibility of published data? I would support a universal funder's mandate for detailed electronic note keeping (much like private companies require), automatic data backups and regular equipment upgrades, meticulous planning before an experiment is run (including developing a comprehensive sample labeling nomenclature, beyond the common 1, 2, 3), inclusion of universal controls (e.g., Arabidopsis Columbia accession included in every Arabidopsis experiment irrespective of what other germplasm is being tested), extensive sample replication, validation of the results at multiple steps in the process (like Sanger sequencing of construct intermediates), and other common-sense but often time-consuming practices (such as regrowing all genotypes side by side and using fresh seed stocks in an experiment to minimize seed batch effects, or resequencing every construct before donating it to the stock center or sharing it with others).

A different yet related constraint we often encounter in plant sciences is the inability to track and/or obtain the materials or datasets reported by other research groups or oftentimes even by prior members of one's own lab. To ensure the long-term availability and unrestricted access to published constructs, germplasm, omics datasets and other resources generated by the public sector, funding agencies should make it mandatory for all materials and data to be deposited in relevant stock centers, sequence repositories, etc. immediately upon publication. I often wonder whether this practice could be encouraged if one's scientific productivity and impact were to be evaluated not only by the number of papers published, but also by the number of stocks or datasets deposited and their usage by the community (e.g., the frequency of stock orders or data downloads). Publishers, on the other hand, should fully enforce the old rules that all submitted manuscripts must adhere to the established guidelines for proper scientific nomenclature (e.g., gene accession numbers, mutant names, or chemical structures) and include community access codes (e.g., gene identifiers, mutant stock numbers, Genbank accession codes, etc.) and detailed annotations for all materials and data utilized or generated in a study, with the compliance being a prerequisite for publication. These simple steps would reduce ambiguities, facilitate resource tracking, and make published materials and datasets universally available.

The extra effort invested into careful experiment planning, execution, record keeping, and making published materials and datasets trackable and accessible will undoubtedly lead to fewer but higher-quality research papers being published and ultimately save time and resources down the road. Of course, an external mandate for greater rigor and accountability would also mean the need for funding agencies to financially support the extra effort and develop ways to monitor the labs' adherence to the new stricter rigor and dissemination practices, but it is commonsense that in the long run it is cheaper to do the experiment right the first time around than waste years trying to reproduce or follow up on erroneous data or remaking the resource that has been generated previously.

Synthetic Biology

An exciting and highly promising area of sciences that plant biologists are starting to embrace more widely is synthetic biology. First, what is synthetic biology? To a plant biologist, it is a useful extension of classical molecular genetics that integrates basic engineering principles and aims to rebuild biology from the ground up. Traditionally, classically trained biologists approach learning about nature from top to bottom, much like a curious child trying to break a toy apart to see what it is made of. Synthetic biologists, vice versa, try to rebuild a functional system from its pieces to understand what its minimal required components are. In plant biology, we are still very far from being able to rebuild entire plants or plant cells from scratch, but we can reconstitute the pathways, e.g., those that we have previously studied in their native context, in a heterologous host cell, aka the chassis, or introduce simple gene regulatory circuits we have artificially built. Why would we want to do that? For one, to see if we can recreate the native behavior to ensure that we fully understand the pathway or the mechanism of regulation. In addition, this can be a useful endeavor from a practical perspective, as is the case in metabolic engineering, where a native or semi-synthetic biosynthetic pathway is expressed in a heterologous host (an intact plant or a cell suspension) to produce a valuable metabolite ( Lu et al., 2016 ; Birchfield and McIntosh, 2020 ), or in biosensing, where a synthetic genetic construct is introduced to turn the host into a bio-detector for a particular stimulus or ligand of interest, e.g., a metabolite ( Garagounis et al., 2021 ).

We do not fully comprehend what we cannot ourselves recreate. We may know, for example, that a gene is induced, for example, by heat stress, but that observation does not tell us anything about the developmental regulation of that gene, or what other biotic or abiotic factors control this gene's expression. An illustrative example of how limited our current knowledge is and how synthetic biology can help us to bypass the lack of comprehensive understanding is to try the following mental exercise. How would one go about conferring a desired pattern of expression to a gene of interest, so that the gene is transcribed, for example, only in a flower, in the anthers at a particular stage of flower development, and only in response to heat stress? If we are talking about a model organism, we can scavenge available transcriptomic data in hopes of finding a native gene with such a pattern, but chances are that most anther-enriched genes will be expressed elsewhere and/or will be regulated by stimuli other than the heat stress. With the vast amount of transcriptomic data and limited ChIP-seq, DAP-seq and chromatin availability data (ATAC-seq, DNase-seq, etc.), we still have no reliable ways to infer transcription patterns of a native gene across all tissues and conditions. A combination of bioinformatic analysis (to identify putative transcription factor binding sites based on sequence conservation) ( Zemlyanskaya et al., 2021 ), classical transgene promoter bashing (that involves building a series of transgenes with chunks of the promoter deleted or replaced in an effort to characterize the effect of these targeted DNA modifications on the expression of a reporter gene in a systematic manner) ( Andersson and Sandelin, 2020 ), and/or more recently, in planta promoter bashing via genome editing (i.e., generating targeted promoter modifications directly in the native genomic context) ( Pandiarajan and Grover, 2018 ) are often relied upon to identify regulatory cis -elements in the promoters of interest. However, these approaches will not be enough to identify the full array of the DNA cis -elements that dictate the spatiotemporal regulation of a gene of interest, but these strategies may be helpful at pinpointing some candidate cis -elements and experimentally validating which elements are required.

If a particular DNA element is experimentally shown to be necessary, let's say, for heat stress upregulation, the next step is to test if the element is sufficient. This could be done by building a tandem of these elements, making a synthetic proximal promoter and placing it upstream of a well-characterized core promoter like that of 35S to drive a reporter ( Ali and Kim, 2019 ). In the best-case scenario, if we are successful with finding an element that can confer heat-inducible expression to the reporter, we have no easy way of restricting this heat-activated expression to just the anthers, let alone at a specific stage of anther development. Even if we had another DNA element at hand that confers tissue-specific expression (in this example, in anthers), we have no straightforward way of implementing what computer scientists would view as the Boolean AND logic—to combine these DNA elements (e.g., in a single proximal promoter) in a manner that the transcription of the gene will now only be triggered specifically in anthers in response to heat, but not in any other conditions or tissues. Synthetic biology makes the implementation of that AND logic (and other types of Boolean logic gates) possible, e.g., through the use of heterodimeric transcription factors, with one monomer active in anthers (through the use of an anther-specific promoter) and another monomer expressed only in response to heat stress (through the use of a heat-regulated promoter) ( Figure 1 ). In this scenario, the full heterodimeric transcription factor would only be reconstituted in the anthers of heat-treated plants and will activate its target genes only in those flower tissues specifically under heat stress.

Figure 1 . An example of a hypothetical genetic Boolean logic AND gate. AB is a heterodimeric transcription factor. If subunit A is expressed in anthers and subunit B is inducible by heat, the full transcription factor is reconstituted only in heat-stressed anthers. The AND logic restricts the expression of the output gene of interest specifically to the tissues and conditions where/when both A and B are-co-expressed.

Thus, synthetic biology enables us to build genetic devices capable of controlling specific processes of interest despite the lack of the full mechanistic understanding of all the moving parts in those processes. In the near future, more and more plant biologists will adopt synthetic biology as a powerful way to bypass some of the technical bottlenecks in plant sciences. Who knows, someday futuristic concepts of a minimal plant genome and a minimal plant cell ( Yang et al., 2020 ) may even become a reality. How soon will we have a thorough enough understanding of plant molecular genetics and physiology, so that we can determine the minimal set of genes to make a functional plant that can stay alive in a single stable (optimal) environment? What would we need to add to the minimal system to make the plant now capable of responding to stress and thriving in less-than-optimal conditions? Although one would agree that we have a very long way before we can get there, it is not too early to start thinking about those more ambitious projects, while working on still very difficult but more achievable shorter-term goals where synthetic biology will play a central role, such as developing nitrogen-fixing cereal crops ( Bloch et al., 2020 ) or C4 rice ( Ermakova et al., 2020 ).

Other Directions and Concluding Remarks

Several other areas relevant to plant sciences will have paramount importance to our ability to propel plant biology research forward. Advanced automated high-throughput imaging and phenotyping will provide a more systematic, robust way to collect reliable morphometric data on a diversity of plant species in the lab, the greenhouse, and the field. New computational tool development and the implementation of novel experimental methods, along with the optimization and streamlining of existing tools and protocols, will remain the main driver of research progress, with single-cell omics approaches likely taking center stage for the next few years. Data science will play an even more predominant role given the vast amount of new data being generated and the need to handle and make sense of all that information. Systems-level approaches, mathematical modeling and machine learning will become a more integral part of plant biology research, enabling scientists to systematize and prioritize complex data and provide plant researchers with experimentally testable predictions.

If we want to see the breakthroughs we are making at the bench or in the field implemented in real-life products, we also need to work on shifting the public perception of biotechnologies. Critical steps toward rebuilding public trust in science include a greater understanding of the societal impacts of proposed innovations through collaboration with social scientists, the engagement of researchers with the science policy making process, and the active participation of all scientists (students, postdocs, technicians, faculty, industry professionals, etc.) in community outreach programs to make our work—and its implications—accessible to the general public. Lastly, one essential factor that would make the scientific advancements sustainable in the long run is a generous investment into the robust, trans-disciplinary training of the next generation of plant scientists. Our ability to create a welcoming environment for trainees from all backgrounds and paths of life would allow these students and postdocs to feel that their research team is their second family. Today's trainees are the ones who will be solving the world's pressing issues for years to come. Our ability to provide young scientists with the solid knowledge base and diverse skills would ensure that they are well equipped to take on the next big challenge.

Looking ahead, fundamental research on model organisms, applied work on crops, and conservation studies on rare plants will all continue to be of vital importance to modern plant biology. High-throughput inquiries and gene-specific projects done by mega-groups and small labs in state-of-the-art facilities or traditional field labs will all remain indispensable to the progress of plant sciences. In the end, addressing pressing societal issues like feeding the world's growing population and mitigating climate change ultimately rests on our ability as scientists to come together and harness the power of plants. Plant biology research is positioned to play a central role in this critical endeavor. It is an exciting and urgent time to be—or become—a plant scientist.

Author Contributions

The author confirms being the sole contributor of this work and has approved it for publication.

The work in the Stepanova lab is supported by the National Science Foundation grants NSF 1750006, NSF 1444561, NSF 1940829.

Conflict of Interest

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher's Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Garagounis, C., Delkis, N., and Papadopoulou, K. K. (2021). Unraveling the roles of plant specialized metabolites: using synthetic biology to design molecular biosensors. New Phytol. 231, 1338–1352. doi: 10.1111/nph.17470

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Keywords: plant biology, plant physiology, synthetic biology, translational research, data reproducibility

Citation: Stepanova AN (2021) Plant Biology Research: What Is Next? Front. Plant Sci. 12:749104. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2021.749104

Received: 05 August 2021; Accepted: 06 September 2021; Published: 30 September 2021.

Edited and reviewed by: Joshua L. Heazlewood , The University of Melbourne, Australia

Copyright © 2021 Stepanova. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Anna N. Stepanova, atstepan@ncsu.edu

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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171+ Botany Research Topics For High School Students

Botany subject matter takes center stage in our blog, offering a captivating exploration of the latest advancements and intriguing facets within the realm of plant science. Delving into diverse Botany research topics, we unravel the complexities of plant life, from molecular intricacies to ecological dynamics. Whether you’re a seasoned botanist, a curious learner, or simply fascinated by the wonders of the botanical world, our blog promises to be a rich resource. 

Join us on a journey through the verdant landscapes of scientific discovery, where each post unveils the secrets and marvels that make plants not just a living entity, but an endlessly intriguing and vital part of our planet. Let the exploration of Botany’s wonders commence!

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About Botany Research Topic

Botany research topics for high school students offer a fascinating journey into the world of plants, cultivating both academic growth and practical skills. By aligning research interests, relevance to the curriculum, and collaboration with teachers, students can explore captivating ideas like plant adaptations to climate change, medicinal properties of indigenous plants, and the impact of soil pH on plant growth. Access to resources such as laboratory facilities, online databases, and botanical gardens empowers students to conduct experiments, analyze data, and present their findings effectively. Overcoming challenges, sharing success stories, and considering the broader impact on college applications enrich the botany research experience, fostering a lifelong passion for plant sciences. Discover the boundless possibilities within this engaging field.

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1. Academic Growth

High school students engaging in botany research not only enhance their academic prowess but also develop critical thinking skills. Exploring the intricate world of plants fosters a deeper understanding of biological concepts.

2. Skill Development

Beyond textbooks, botany research cultivates practical skills. From designing experiments to analyzing data, students gain hands-on experience that transcends the confines of traditional classroom learning.

3. Future Career Opportunities

Botany research sets the stage for future career opportunities in diverse fields such as environmental science, agriculture, and pharmaceuticals. It serves as a stepping stone for those passionate about contributing to scientific advancements.

4. Personal Growth and Curiosity

Engaging in botany research sparks personal growth and curiosity among high school students. Investigating plant life encourages a sense of wonder and a desire for knowledge, instilling a lifelong love for learning. This intrinsic motivation goes beyond academic requirements, nurturing a curious mindset that extends into various aspects of their lives.

5. Environmental Awareness and Conservation

Botany research instills a sense of environmental awareness and conservation ethics in high school students. By studying plant ecosystems, students develop a profound understanding of the delicate balance within nature. This heightened awareness cultivates a responsibility towards environmental stewardship, preparing them to address pressing global issues related to biodiversity loss and climate change.

Choosing Botany Research Topics

Here are some steps to choose the botany research topics for students:

Aligning with Interest

Selecting a topic aligned with personal interests enhances motivation and engagement. Whether it’s the study of plant adaptations or medicinal properties, a genuine curiosity fuels meaningful research.

Relevance to High School Curriculum

Choosing topics relevant to the high school curriculum ensures that students integrate research seamlessly into their academic journey. This alignment facilitates a more comprehensive understanding of botanical concepts.

Collaboration with Teacher

Teachers play a pivotal role in guiding students toward suitable research topics. Collaborating with educators helps students navigate the vast array of possibilities and ensures the chosen topic aligns with academic goals.

Also Read: ECE Project Ideas for Final Year

Botany Research Topics For High School Students

Here are some botany research topics for high school students in 2024:

Plant Adaptations

• The Role of Leaf Morphology in Drought Resistance
• Investigating Root Modifications for Nutrient Absorption
• Adaptations of Xerophytes to Arid Environments
• Comparative Study of Hydrophyte Adaptations in Aquatic Environments
• Sun vs. Shade: Examining Plant Responses to Light Variations
• Thermal Adaptations in Plants: Surviving Extreme Temperatures
• Evolutionary Patterns in Plant Adaptations to High Altitudes
• Investigating CAM Photosynthesis in Desert Plants
• Role of Epiphytic Plants in Tropical Forest Canopies
• Exploring Plant Responses to Soil Salinity
• Xylem Adaptations for Water Transport in Drought-Resistant Plants
• Investigating Leaf Surface Structures in Hydrophobic Plant Adaptations
• Shade Tolerance in Plants: Examining Strategies for Low-Light Environments
• Extreme Cold Adaptations: How Plants Survive Freezing Temperatures
• Evolutionary Significance of Plant Mimicry in Adaptations

Medicinal Plants

• Bioactive Compounds in Traditional Medicinal Herbs
• Evaluating Antimicrobial Properties of Plant Extracts
• Investigating Anti-Inflammatory Agents in Medicinal Plants
• Analyzing the Potential of Plants in Cancer Treatment
• Ethnobotany: Studying Indigenous Medicinal Plant Knowledge
• Comparative Analysis of Medicinal Properties in Common Weeds
• Herbal Remedies for Respiratory Disorders: A Botanical Perspective
• Antioxidant Properties of Culinary Herbs
• Exploring Plant-Based Therapies for Neurological Disorders
• Investigating Anti-diabetic Compounds in Plant Extracts
• Investigating Plant-Based Compounds for Antiviral Properties
• Neuroprotective Properties of Plants: Potential Therapies for Brain Health
• Traditional vs. Modern Medicine: A Comparative Study of Plant Remedies
• Anti-inflammatory Potential of Plants Used in Traditional Chinese Medicine
• Exploring Plant-Based Treatments for Metabolic Syndrome

Soil and Plant Growth

• Impact of Soil Microorganisms on Plant Health
• Soil Amendments and Their Effect on Crop Yields
• Rhizosphere Ecology: Understanding Soil-Root Interactions
• Soil pH Variations and Their Influence on Plant Nutrient Uptake
• Nitrogen-Fixing Plants: Enhancing Soil Fertility
• Allelopathy: Investigating Plant-Plant Interactions in Soils
• The Role of Mycorrhizal Fungi in Nutrient Absorption
• Soil Erosion Control: Plant-Based Strategies
• Microbial Biofertilizers for Sustainable Agriculture
• Phytoremediation of Contaminated Soils
• Microbial Diversity in Rhizosphere: Its Impact on Plant Health
• Exploring Organic Soil Amendments for Sustainable Crop Production
• The Influence of Soil Microbes on Nitrogen Fixation in Leguminous Plants
• Mycorrhizal Fungi and Plant Phosphorus Uptake: A Mutualistic Relationship
• Phytoremediation of Heavy Metals: Plant-Based Strategies for Soil Cleanup

Plant Genetics

• Genetic Variation in Wild vs. Cultivated Plant Populations
• Epigenetic Modifications in Plant Development
• CRISPR-Cas9 Technology in Plant Genome Editing
• Investigating Plant Hybridization and Its Implications
• Mendelian Genetics in Plant Breeding
• Genetic Diversity in Endangered Plant Species
• Gene Expression in Response to Environmental Stress
• Study of Plant Genome Sequencing: Advances and Challenges
• Transgenic Plants for Improved Crop Traits
• Investigating the Genetics of Plant Pathogen Resistance
• CRISPR-Cas12b System: Advancements in Precision Plant Genome Editing
• Investigating Epigenetic Changes in Plants Exposed to Environmental Stress
• Genetic Markers for Assessing Biodiversity in Plant Populations
• Transcriptomics: Studying Gene Expression Patterns in Plants under Abiotic Stress
• 15. Investigating the Epigenetic Inheritance of Adaptive Traits in Plant Evolution

Plant Ecology

• Biodiversity Hotspots: Plant Species Richness in Different Ecosystems
• Impact of Invasive Plant Species on Native Ecosystems
• Ecological Significance of Plant-Pollinator Interactions
• Plant Community Dynamics in Successional Habitats
• The Role of Plants in Carbon Sequestration
• Urban Green Spaces: Assessing Plant Diversity in Cities
• Edible Forests: Sustainable Agriculture in Agroforestry Systems
• Alpine Plant Adaptations to Harsh Climatic Conditions
• The Impact of Climate Change on Plant Distribution
• Studying Plant-Soil Feedbacks in Natural Habitats
• Fire Adaptations in Plant Communities: Studying Post-Fire Succession
• Microclimates in Urban Environments: Impact on Plant Species Distribution
• The Role of Plants in Carbon Sequestration in Wetland Ecosystems
• Assessing the Ecological Impact of Invasive Aquatic Plant Species
• Ecosystem Services Provided by Plant Diversity in Agricultural Landscapes

Plant Physiology

• Investigating Photosynthetic Pathways in C3 and C4 Plants
• Stomatal Regulation: Adapting to Environmental Conditions
• Water Transport in Plants: From Roots to Leaves
• Hormonal Regulation of Plant Growth and Development
• Understanding Plant Responses to Light: Photomorphogenesis
• Investigating Plant Senescence: The Aging Process
• Osmotic Stress in Plants: Mechanisms of Adaptation
• Plant Nutrient Uptake: From Soil to Cells
• Plant Biomechanics: How Plants Respond to Mechanical Stress
• The Role of Plant Secondary Metabolites in Defense Mechanisms
• Investigating the Role of Plant Hormones in Stomatal Closure
• Light Signal Perception: How Plants Respond to Different Light Wavelengths
• Water Use Efficiency in Cacti: A Study of Osmotic Adjustments
• Analyzing the Impact of Mechanical Stress on Plant Growth Hormones
• Investigating the Metabolic Pathways of Secondary Metabolites in Plants

Ethical Use of Plants

• Sustainable Harvesting of Medicinal Plants: Balancing Conservation and Utilization
• Ethical Considerations in Plant Genetic Engineering
• Fair Trade Practices in the Plant-Based Industry
• Indigenous Knowledge and Intellectual Property Rights in Ethnobotany
• Plant Conservation Ethics: Protecting Endangered Species
• Cultural Perspectives on Plant Use: A Global Comparison
• Organic Farming Practices: Enhancing Soil Health and Plant Nutrition
• Balancing Economic Development and Plant Biodiversity Conservation
• Plant-Based Products: Navigating Ethical Consumer Choices
• Ethical Considerations in Herbal Medicine Research
• Ethical Considerations in the Global Trade of Medicinal Plants
• Indigenous Ecological Knowledge: Integrating Traditional Practices in Conservation
• Plant Conservation and Indigenous Rights: A Collaborative Approach
• Sustainable Practices in Wild Harvesting of Medicinal Plants
• Ethical Marketing of Plant-Based Products: Transparency and Consumer Trust

Plant Anatomy and Morphology

• Comparative Anatomy of Different Plant Tissues
• Trichomes: Their Structure and Functions in Plant Defense
• Investigating Leaf Venation Patterns in Dicot vs. Monocot Plants
• Xylem and Phloem Structure: Transport Systems in Plants
• Floral Morphology: Adaptations for Pollination
• Stem Modifications in Succulent Plants
• Root Nodules in Leguminous Plants: Anatomical Insights
• Comparative Study of Plant Epidermal Structures
• Wood Anatomy: Growth Rings and Environmental Signals
• Investigating Adaptive Leaf Modifications in Desert Plants
• Investigating Trichome Density as an Indicator of Plant Stress
• Leaf Morphology and Water Use Efficiency in Different Plant Species
• Xylem and Phloem Transport in Succulent Plants: Anatomical Insights
• Exploring Floral Morphology in Orchids: Adaptations for Specific Pollinators
• Stem Anatomy in Climbing Plants: Mechanisms for Vertical Growth

Plant Pathology

• Fungal Pathogens in Agricultural Crops: Identification and Management
• Viral Diseases in Ornamental Plants: Epidemiology and Control
• Bacterial Pathogens and Plant Immune Responses
• Understanding Resistance Mechanisms in Genetically Modified Plants
• Nematode Infestations in Crop Plants: Strategies for Control
• Emerging Plant Diseases: Investigating Causes and Solutions
• Phytophthora Infestations in Forest Ecosystems: Impact and Management
• The Role of Endophytic Microorganisms in Plant Disease Resistance
• Biocontrol Agents: Using Beneficial Microbes to Manage Plant Pathogens
• Integrated Pest Management in Sustainable Agriculture
• Investigating Plant Immune Responses to Emerging Viral Pathogens
• Impact of Climate Change on Nematode Infestations in Crop Plants
• Plant Disease Surveillance: Early Detection and Prevention Strategies
• Investigating Endophytic Microorganisms as Biocontrol Agents in Agriculture
• Sustainable Approaches to Integrated Pest Management in Greenhouse Farming

Plant Reproduction

• Pollination Mechanisms in Orchid Species
• Seed Dispersal Strategies in Wind-Pollinated Plants
• Investigating Floral Scent Chemistry and Reproductive Success
• The Role of Mycorrhizal Fungi in Orchid Reproduction
• Comparative Study of Asexual and Sexual Reproduction in Plants
• Flowering Time Control: Genetic Mechanisms and Environmental Factors
• Investigating Self-Pollination vs. Cross-Pollination in Plant Species
• Seed Dormancy and Germination: Factors Influencing Plant Life Cycle
• Gametophyte Development in Mosses: A Comparative Analysis
• Investigating Apomixis in Plants: Asexual Seed Production
• Floral Morphogenesis: Genetic Control of Petal and Sepal Development
• Investigating the Role of Nectar Chemistry in Pollinator Attraction
• Hybrid Seed Production: Challenges and Opportunities in Agriculture
• Symbiotic Relationships between Plants and Mycorrhizal Fungi
• The Impact of Environmental Factors on Seed Germination Timing

Plant Evolution

• Evolutionary Adaptations in Carnivorous Plants
• Paleobotany: Studying Ancient Plant Fossils
• Comparative Genomics in Plant Evolutionary Studies
• Evolutionary Significance of Plant Secondary Metabolites
• Investigating Evolutionary Relationships in Plant Families
• Evolution of C4 Photosynthesis in Grasses
• Coevolution of Plants and Their Pollinators
• Adaptive Radiation in Island Plant Species
• Evolution of Plant Sex Determination Mechanisms
• Evolutionary Consequences of Polyploidy in Plants
• Plant Evolution in Anthropogenic Landscapes: Human-Induced Selection Pressures
• Molecular Clocks in Plant Evolution: Estimating Divergence Times
• Evolutionary Adaptations in Halophytic Plants: Surviving Saline Environments
• Investigating Coevolutionary Patterns Between Plants and Herbivores
• Paleoclimate Reconstruction Using Plant Fossil Records: Insights into Environmental Changes

Plant Biotechnology

• Genetic Engineering for Increased Crop Yield
• Investigating the Use of Plant Tissue Culture in Cloning
• CRISPR-Cas12a System for Precise Plant Genome Editing
• Metabolic Engineering of Plants for Biofuel Production
• Developing Transgenic Plants for Enhanced Nutrient Content
• Plant-Microbe Interactions in Bioremediation Processes
• Nanotechnology Applications in Plant Biotechnology
• RNA Interference (RNAi) for Pest Control in Agriculture
• Synthetic Biology Approaches in Plant Engineering
• Application of Plant Biotechnology in Phytoremediation
• CRISPR-Cas Systems beyond Cas12a: Emerging Genome Editing Technologies
• Epigenome Editing in Plants: Controlling Gene Expression without DNA Alteration
• Using Plant-Microbe Interactions for Enhanced Nutrient Uptake
• Smart Nanomaterials for Controlled Release of Plant Growth Regulators
• Exploring the Potential of RNA-Based Vaccines for Plant Pathogen Control

These diverse botany research topics aim to inspire high school students to delve into the intriguing world of botany, fostering a deeper understanding of plant sciences and encouraging a passion for research.

In conclusion, our Botany research blog strives to cultivate a deeper appreciation for the marvels of plant life. From the microscopic intricacies to the vast ecological tapestry, we’ve explored the forefront of Botany’s ever-evolving landscape. As we continue to unravel the secrets of the green world, we invite you to stay connected for future discoveries and insights. Whether you’re a scientist, student, or plant enthusiast, our journey into Botany’s depths aims to inspire and foster a profound understanding of the integral role plants play in shaping our planet.

1. What makes botany research topics suitable for high school students?

Botany research topics offer a hands-on approach to learning, fostering critical thinking and practical skills. Engaging in these topics enhances academic growth and opens doors to future career opportunities in various scientific fields.

2. How can high school students access resources for botany research?

High school students can access resources like laboratory facilities, online databases, and botanical gardens. Collaborating with teachers and leveraging educational platforms enriches the research experience. Seek guidance, utilize available tools, and explore the vast world of botany research topics.

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43 Botany Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best botany topic ideas & essay examples, 📝 simple & easy botany essay titles, ⭐ interesting topics to write about botany.

• The Royal Botanic Garden Visitors to the Gardens have a variety of activities to carry out from walking around the beautiful pavements to learning the culture of the Aboriginal people.
• The Botanical Garden Collection The characteristic of the principles of organization of the New York Botanical Garden should be started from the statement of its mission which is expressed as “being an advocate for the plant kingdom”. We will write a custom essay specifically for you by our professional experts 808 writers online Learn More
• Botany and Zoology in the Classroom What are the Purposes of the Botany and Zoology Areas in the Classroom? The role of a teacher is to prepare botany and zoology areas.
• The Royal Botanical Garden, KEW It houses the Wakehurst place gardens and runs the KEW Gardens in Sussex. It is a virtual store house of knowledge and caters to the needs of the different sections of the society.
• Oceanography, Botany and Biology: Interconnection and Development Man’s weight in the equilibrium is determined by such things as the number of fishermen, the efficiency of their gear, the wages that a fisherman is willing to work for, the price the public is […]
• Botany and Taxonomy of the Onion Even today the wild onions grow in Central Asia that is said to be the place of origin of the entire family of onions.
• Cloning of Plants at the Botanic Garden Cloning is now considered to be an efficient means to grow plants in being the result of vegetative propagation while seeds are the result of the natural reproductive phenomenon of plants.
• Botany: The Beavertail Cactus Phylum Angiospermae is known to dominate the land because it consists of the highest number of species in the kingdom Plantae. Beavertail cactus exhibits several structural modifications in the leaves, stems, roots and flowers.
• The Botanical Evidence: The General Description and the Analysis The variability in the distribution of this plant presents a difficulty in determining the location of the body. The weed found in the victim’s hair is of the Bluebunch Wheatgrass species.
• Algorithmic Botany, Biological Modelling, and Visualization Software Links
• Catalyzing Botany Research With RNA-Seq
• Melatonin: Current Status and Future Perspectives in Botany
• Laboratory Microprobe X-Ray Fluorescence in Botany: Emerging Applications and Case Studies
• Botany and the Floral Industry Dependence
• The Choice Between MapMan and Gene Ontology for Automated Gene Function Prediction in Botany
• Botany: Sequencing of Wheat Genome Could Lead to a Breadier Future
• Forensic Botany and Its Applications
• Molecular and Applied Botany Differences
• Botany: Plant Science From Cell Biology to Ecosystems
• Botany and Agriculture in Western Europe, 1350–1850
• Reshaping Botany: Qualitative and Quantitative Descriptors for Plant Morphology
• The Basis for New Discoveries and Findings in Botany
• Considerations for Designing Chemical Screening Strategies in Botany
• Standards and Guidelines for Forensic Botany Identification
• Botany: The Nature of Carnivorous Plants
• Botany Expertise Importance for Addressing Challenging Problems
• Lessons Learnt Relevant to the Botany of the Crop After 21 Years of Banana Genetic Enhancement
• Callus, Dedifferentiation, Totipotency, Somatic Embryogenesis: What These Terms Mean in the Era of Molecular Botany?
• The Need for Post-publication Peer Review in Botany Publishing
• Investigating the Arabidopsis Thaliana Botany
• The Potential and Growth of a Botany
• The Counter-Manipulation Between Humans and Marijuana Depicted in Michael Pollan’s Book the Botany of Desire
• Botany: Definition, History, Branches, & Facts
• Gene Regulatory Network Inference: Connecting Botany and Mathematical Modeling
• Forensic Botany as a Key Science for Lawyers and Historians
• Hardwood Tree Genomics: Unlocking Woody Botany
• Traditional Usages, Botany, Phytochemistry, Pharmacology, and Toxicology of Polygonum Multiflorum Thunb
• Economic Botany: Plants as Sources of Economic Products
• What Sedated Plants Can Teach Botany Experts and Scientists About Anesthetizing People?
• Post Transcriptional Gene Silencing in Botany
• Phosphoproteomics Technologies and Applications in Botany
• Deubiquitylating Enzymes and Their Emerging Role in Botany
• Botany: Using Plant Evidence to Aid in Forensic Death Investigation
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MSU Libraries

Research guides.

• Need help? Ask a Librarian

Botanical and Plant Biology Research Guide: Article Research

Article research.

• Catalog and Book Search
• eTextbooks, OER and Other Digital Works
• MSU and Michigan Resources
• Websites of interest
• Michigan Botanist / Great Lakes Botanist
• Mich. Acad. of Science, Arts, and Letters
• Plants for Bees and Pollinators
• Image Repositories

Article Research at MSUL

Articles contain the most current information published in a field of study.

Most professors and researchers prefer articles that are "scholarly" in nature.  Characteristics of scholarly journals are that they have the following qualities:

• The articles contain original research (such as scientific experiments, surveys and research studies)
• A list of references or sources is provided at the end of each article
• An editorial board, composed of experts in the field, reviews articles to decide whether they should be accepted; this is also known as "refereed," "peer-reviewed," "professional," or "academic".
• Uses a specialized vocabulary for that field.
• Contain few if any advertisements. If included, they are highly specialized and specific to scholarly discipline (i.e. specific laboratory equipment, medical tools and drugs).
• If you are uncertain about the scholarly nature of a journal, you all look up the title or ISSN in the periodical database Ulrichs Periodical Directory (UlrichsWeb) .  This database will tell you about the journal including the nature, it's audience, and in which databases it is indexed and abstracted.

The Library Catalog contains the TITLES to all of the print and electronic format journals to which we have access .  The Catalog does not list the articles within the journals. The individual articles can be found in the many article databases to which we subscribe.

Citation searching:

If you have a citation to an article, the easiest way to locate the article is to look up the title of the journal in the catalog .  Identify whether we own the journal and the format, print or electronic.  If in electronic format, do we have that year/volume? If yes, you can click on the link provided to go directly to the online articles and find the one you need.  If it is not online, do we have it in print?  If so, identify the call number and go to the stacks to find the proper volume and issue.  If we do not own the journal or issue, you can request the article through Interlibrary Services .

Article databases - 2nd choices

• Tree Species Range Maps from "Atlas of United States Trees" Maps of the ranges of tree species in North America compiled by Elbert Little, of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, and others (see references below) were digitized for use in USGS' vegetation-climate modeling studies. These digital map files are available as maps in PDF format and also as shapefiles for download.

Plant Sciences Librarian

Herbaria Specimens

JSTOR Global Plants JSTOR Global Plants (formerly JSTOR Plant Science) offers access to botanical and other resources from around the world including: •The world’s largest database of plant type specimens representing the botanical diversity of the planet. More than 600,000 specimens are available today. When complete, there will be an estimated 2.2 million. •Over 175,000 scientific research articles and other content dating back hundreds of years from leading academic journals including Kew Bulletin, Mycologia, International Journal of Plant Sciences, Science, PNAS, and others. •Foundational reference works and books such as The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa, Flowering Plants of South Africa, and illustrations from Curtis's Botanical Magazine. •A significant set of correspondence, including Kew’s Directors' Correspondence which included hand-written letters and memorandum from the senior staff of Kew from 1841 to 1928. •More than 20,000 paintings, photographs, drawings, and other images.

Print indexes

• Index to American botanical literature, 1886-1966. by Torrey Botanical Club. Call Number: Z5351 .T6 v.1-4 Publication Date: 1969 A reproduction of an index published serially since 1886 in the Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club.
• Plant science catalog; botany subject index by National Agricultural Library Call Number: Z5351 .U5 v.1-15 Publication Date: 1958 15 volumes. Title on spine: Botany subject index.
• Bibliography of agriculture. Section D, Plant science.
• Next: Catalog and Book Search >>
• Last Updated: Feb 29, 2024 10:30 PM
• URL: https://libguides.lib.msu.edu/botany

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• Graduate Education and Research

Botany Research

It is widely recognized that humans have had and continue to have profound impacts on species, communities, and ecosystems.  Botany researchers help document and interpret these changes by engaging in studies of rare and exotic species, plant communities, and ecosystems through survey, inventory, monitoring, assessment and modeling. KU Botany research generally is focused on three major themes: phylogenetics floristics, and environmental change.

For phylogenetic studies, a major research focus, evolutionary patterns are reconstructed using molecular data, enzymes, morphology, cytology, palynology, reproductive biology, ecology and phytogeography. Building on these studies, we seek to understand the biological and evolutionary processes that give rise to plant diversity. Processes of particular interest are hybridization, polyploidy, isolation, physiology, pollination biology and breeding-mating systems.

Research Highlights

• During the past 10 years, KU Botany scientists have carried out field studies in 18 states in the U.S.
• Average more than 8 peer-reviewed, major publications in press or published annually, as well as numerous technical reports and minor publications.
• Research is funded mainly by competitive research grants from federal and state agencies, conservation organizations, and from private gifts through the KU Endowment Association.
• During the past 50 years, KU Botany scientists have accessioned an average of 3,400 specimens annually in support of their research. 

Blowout Beardtongue

Assessing the monophyly of Pensemon sect. Coerulei and P. haydenii, including assessing intra- and interpopulational morphological variation in the species.

Flora of North America Project

Drawing on floristic, systematic and ecological research conducted by KU botanists, the McGregor Herbarium plays an important role in the production of the 30-volume Flora of North America.

Farm Pond Conversion

Nearly 100 farm ponds in northeastern Kansas were part of a study to evaluate potential conversion to wetlands, to provide increased ecological services and watershed functions.

Lichen Flora of the Great Plains

Work on the project has generated approximately 30,000 specimens from throughout the Great Plains and afforded us a basic understanding of the lichen diversity of the region.

Herbarium and field studies of more than 30,000 specimens of Penstemon (Plantaginaceae) were used to produce the first comprehensive descriptions and keys for the 239 species in the U.S. and Canada. Continuing studies examine existing cytological data and morphological analyses.

Specimen Digitization

Digitization of the more than 450,000 specimens in the KU Botany collection is ongoing. Currently, nearly 350,000 records are served to the research community through global biodiversity data portals.

The genus Tolpis (Asteraceae-sunflower family) in the Macaronesian islands is being used as a system for studying evolution and diversification on oceanic islands.

Research in Botany

The Department of Botany aims for excellence in research and embraces two core areas: Biodiversity and Ecology and Functional Plant Biology.

These core areas are not separate but represent two ends of a spectrum, from ecosystem science to how plants function, and are interlinked through our four broad research themes ; flora and evolution, ecosystem processes and services, environmental change and resilience, and Physiological processes.

Research Themes

New zealand flora and evolution.

Understanding the New Zealand flora, documenting and classifying diversity (taxonomy) and discovering evolutionary history (phylogenetic systematics, evolutionary processes) underpin ecological and applied research. The Department of Botany takes a broad view of the flora and for our purposes we include land plants, fungi, algae, cyanobacteria and viruses.

Ecosystem processes and services

Understanding ecosystem processes and function and the services that ecosystems provide are fundamental to addressing some of the challenges and problems that face society in the 21st Century.

Environmental change and resilience

Addressing problems associated with environmental global change such as the effects of changing climatic conditions, ocean acidification, and the impacts of invasive organisms.

Physiological processes

Understanding how photosynthetic organisms function, from the molecular and cellular level to the whole-organism level. This research links strongly into themes 2 and 3, for example, studies on carbon cycling, primary productivity, nutrient and stress physiology.

For more information, see our publications and individual staff profile pages .

Research projects

• Ngā Kākano Whakahau: The seed project

Research groups

• Alpine Ecology Research Group

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Common and much less common scenarios in which botany is crucial for forensic pathologist and anthropologists: a series of eight case studies

• Case Report
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• Published: 19 December 2020
• Volume 135 , pages 1067–1077, ( 2021 )

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• Giulia Caccia   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0527-9111 2 ,
• Debora Mazzarelli 2 ,
• Dominic Salsarola 2 ,
• Pasquale Poppa 2 ,
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It is commonly accepted that crime scene recovery and recording are key moments of any judicial inspection in which investigators must decide on the correct strategies to put into place. Complex outdoor scenarios, presenting partially or entirely skeletonised remains, can benefit more than others by the intervention of environmental specialists (forensic anthropologists, archaeologists, entomologists and botanists). These experts are capable of singling out, correctly recording and recovering environmental evidence that can lead to a more comprehensive reconstruction of a given criminal episode. If human remains are discovered in an outdoor scenario, the on-site presence of a botanist will guarantee a correct approach to the identification, recording and recovery of any botanical evidence. If an on-site botanist is not available, the operators must be capable of both the botanical evaluation of a scene and the implementation of correct botanical sampling protocols.

The following collection of unusual case histories that aim at underlining the efficacy of forensic botany will examine the determination of post mortem or the post depositional interval, evidence for a victim’s post mortem transfer, evidence for the identification of a primary crime scene and evidence for the identification of a victim’s dismemberment site. In another two cases, one, we will illustrate the important role that forensic botany played in the discrimination between botanical material used to voluntarily conceal a victim and vegetation that had grown naturally above a disposal site, whereas the other will highlight the protocols implemented for the identification of a murder weapon.

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Introduction

Forensic botany is the applied scientific discipline that regards the general study of botanical evidence in judicial investigations [ 1 , 2 ] and includes many sub-disciplines, such as palynology (the study of pollen and spores), dendrochronology (the study of growth rings of tree stems and roots), lichenology (the study of lichens), mycology (the analysis and the identification of fungi) and bryology (the study of bryophytes) [ 3 ]. This array of studies can prove to be very effective in a variety of forensic scenarios, such as in determining the difference between accidental death, suicide or murder [ 4 , 5 , 6 ]. It can provide extremely valuable information as to the location of a burial and the interval since deposition [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]. Furthermore, fragments of branches, roots, leaves and seeds found at a crime scene can provide links between a discovery site and possible suspects, contributing to alibi testing and/or the determination of whether a discovery location refers to a primary or secondary crime scene [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. Finally, botanical evidence can provide useful information regarding the identification of a specific murder weapon [ 4 ]. In all these applications, the analysis of botanical traces can be carried out with the classic techniques of morphological analysis or, in some cases, with the most modern techniques of biomolecular investigation [ 17 ].

Even though over recent years, forensic botanists have been more frequently employed in outdoor crime scene investigations, however the majority of cases have only been related to well-preserved human remains [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 16 , 18 ]. As illustrated in Table 1 , the majority of botanical studies of a forensic nature have been aimed at the estimation of post mortem intervals (PMI) through dendrochronological analysis or, more recently, the analysis of moss growth patterns that colonize bone surfaces [ 8 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ]. To the best of our knowledge, other cases in which forensic botany has been applied to skeletonised or partially skeletonised human remains have not, as yet, been reported in literature.

Therefore, we are presenting eight different murder cases in which forensic botany has played an important role, providing otherwise unavailable information that contributed to the reconstruction of a specific chain of criminal events. All of the cases described involve at least partially skeletonised human remains, representing one of the most challenging and complicated scenarios that forensic pathologists will find themselves having to deal with. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first exhaustive report that presents an assembly of case studies highlighting alternative applications to forensic botany on partially or totally skeletonised human remains.

Case 1: forensic botany and a victim’s concealment location

In October of 2011, in a pre-Alpine valley in northern Italy, the skeletal remains of a victim were fortuitously discovered along the overgrown banks of a river, entangled in a bush, during routine maintenance work. Forensic archaeological protocols were implemented for the victim’s recovery, and evidence was positioned using a numbered grid system by a forensic anthropologist and a forensic pathologist. Above the skeletonised victim’s remains, several plant components were discovered, recorded and recovered (Fig.  1a, b ). During the same inspection, the area’s spontaneous vegetation was carefully analysed, and a sample strategy was put into place for future comparison with the material that was directly associated with the remains. The remains, that were eventually identified as being those of a woman who had disappeared 3 months earlier, presented no peri-mortem trauma that could be clearly diagnostic as to the victim’s cause and manner of death. On the basis of circumstantial evidence, the woman’s husband was identified as a suspect and was subsequently charged with the murder and arrested. The vegetation that was recovered from above the victim was later analysed with the use of an episcopic microscope (Leica zoom 2000), and the leaf and stem morphology was compared to reference material and dichotomous keys. This analysis strategy provided data that led to the identification of leaves and pruned branches which recovered directly above the remains as Prunus laurocerasus , a shrub species not present amongst the spontaneous vegetation sampled in the discovery area (Fig. 1b, c ). However, a pile of severed branches and leaves discovered approximately 100 m from the discovery site, even though not pertaining to the same species as those found above the victim, led specialists to identify the general area as a clandestine dump site, typically used for the disposal of garden waste. The experts concluded that the perpetrator had hidden the woman’s body in a bush that was already growing in the area and had further concealed it by covering it with Prunus laurocerasus plant trimmings, recovered from a nearby fly tip. Thanks also to the support of the botanical evidence presented above, the suspect was sentenced by the Court of Appeal and subsequently by the Cassation Court (Italy’s supreme Court of Appeal) for both his wife’s murder and for the aggravated circumstance of the unlawful disposal of a dead body.

Human remains partially covered by plant components a , the Prunus laurocerasus leafs and branches collected during the on-site inspection b and close-up of the severed extremities of two branches c

Case 2: forensic botany and the identification of a murder weapon

In June 2010, skeletal human remains were found in a rugged woodland area in Canton Ticino (Switzerland). Following anthropological and genetic analysis, these were later attributed to a girl who had disappeared the previous year just a few hours after having met a young male subject. In order to thoroughly investigate the victim’s deposition and to obtain any information regarding the possible transfer of the corpse, botanical investigations were carried out. The scene was inspected by a forensic botanist who sampled and identified the discovery site’s predominant surrounding species and litter. The specimens that were directly associated with the human remains were analysed through the use of an episcopic microscope (Leica zoom 2000) and where necessary, with an optical microscope (Leitz). All of the recovered material was then photographed and identified through comparison with reference collections and dichotomous keys. All the examined specimens were consistent with the overall vegetation that constituted the woodland. Furthermore, the analysis of each of the victim’s bones revealed botanical traces that were consistent with the species found in the plant litter directly associated with each of the victim’s specific anatomical regions, thus indicating a limited movement of skeletal remains during decomposition. In particular, some wood fragments that were found embedded in a fracture line along the skull’s frontal region were considered to be relevant (Fig.  2a ); however, they were found to be too small for typical microscopic analysis of the cross, radial and tangent sections and were therefore subjected to comparative analysis through episcopic and optical microscopy that provided the splinters’ diagnostic compatibility with the Castanea sativa (chestnut) (Fig. 2b ). The anthropological analysis of the recovered cranial fragments determined the fracture to be the result of traumatic injury caused by a blunt object with a reduced striking surface. The presence of wood splinters embedded within the cranial fracture and the anthropologist’s determination of the type of injury both concurred with the use of a wooden object as the murder weapon. Even though it could not be excluded that the splinters embedded in the cranial fracture derived from plant litter, the subsequent comparative analysis with a nearby pile of chestnut blocks, probably cut from the surrounding trees did, however, provide full compatibility with the suspected murder weapon.

Bone fragment belonging to the frontal region of the victim’s skull a splinters of wood associated with the fracture in the victim’s skull; the fragment circled in red was microscopically analysed and identified as Castanea sativa b

Case 3: forensic botany and PMI estimation

In July of 2011, during road maintenance work, skeletal human remains were discovered lying in an uncultivated area adjacent to a main road. During the crime scene inspection, the importance of the complex interaction between vegetal elements, in particular root systems, and the human remains became immediately apparent and called for the expertise of an on-site forensic botanist. Firstly, the specialist implemented a sampling strategy in order to carry out a comparative analysis between the local vegetation and the specimens that were subsequently recovered from the human remains. The victim’s skull was characterized by the presence of the large root that penetrated the right acoustic meatus (Fig.  3a ). The left shoe, that still contained bones belonging to the victim’s foot, was deeply penetrated by a series of finer roots belonging to a bramble specimen, Rubus sp. In the same manner, the right shoe also containing remains of the victim’s foot presented a Phytolacca americana root that had developed through the shoe’s eyelets and tightly encircled the entire article (Fig. 3b ). With the aim of estimating the post depositional interval, the context required an ante quem terminus that was estimated through the implementation of the dendrochronological analysis of several of the roots that were intrinsically associated with the skeletal remains: the roots in the acoustic meatus and associated with the victim’s vertebra were estimated at a year development, the roots in the left shoe evidenced a 3-year-old development and the roots that developed in the right shoe presented a 6-year growth (Fig. 3c ).

The right side of the skull with a large root penetrating the acoustic meatus a , the right shoe containing skeletal remains and encircled by a Phytolacca Americana root b , and close-up shot of the sampled root c

Therefore, it was possible to determine a relatively precise terminus post quem non, establishing the time of the victim’s disposal to a date that was at least prior to 2006. A less certain, but probable maximum term for the victim’s disposal was also provided by botanical analysis allowing specialists to narrow down the victim’s disposal to just a few years. A thick hedge composed of Ligustrum sp . mixed with invasive plant species such as Sambucus nigra ran adjacent to the disposal site. The combined presence of the hedge, that was estimated as being a maximum of 20 years of age and the extremely invasive Sambucus nigra, that dated back to 1999, suggest that the hedge had not been subject to any maintenance in at least the last 10 years. By cross referencing the dendrochronological data with the assumption that any pruning or maintenance work on the hedge would have led to the discovery of the victim’s remains, it was established that the illegal disposal of the dead body must have taken place between the very end of the 1990’s (indicative term), when the Sambucus nigra started to grow, and 2006 (certain term), when the root systems started to develop. The estimation that the two botanical examinations provided was fully confirmed following the anthropological identification of the victim that led to the disappearance of a man in 2003. Furthermore, thanks to the botanical analysis based on the relationship between the victim’s skeletal remains and the surrounding vegetal elements, it was also confirmed that the body had been merely deposited on the area’s surface, and no attempts at the burial had been made. The lack of any botanical evidence referring to other locations led to corroborate the fact that any transfer of the victim had taken place.

Case 4: forensic botany, the estimation of PMI and environmental dynamics

In April of 2013, a skull was discovered on a river bank in an Alpine valley in northern Italy. The forensic investigation of the site was carried out by an interdisciplinary team of specialists including both forensic anthropologists and archaeologists, who by means of forensic archaeology survey techniques, inspected and recorded the discovery site. During the surface cleaning operations, a natural depression containing numerous post cranial bones was recorded. Due to the complex interaction that takes place between human remains, soil and botanical features, it was decided that a part of the in situ crime scene should be lifted and taken to the laboratory for excavation in a controlled environment. The forensic botanist that took part in the investigation of the recovered material was asked to shed light on three distinct queries: was the recovery site the primary and only crime scene? What the estimation of the post mortem or post depositional interval was? Was there a deliberate will on behalf of a perpetrator to conceal the victim’s remains?

The material that was taken to the laboratory for analysis was recovered in such a way as to maintain the context’s integrity, and this allowed for its correct micro-excavation and the preservation of any mutual relationships between the various elements that constituted the undisturbed portion of the recovery site. The anthropological examination of the skeletal remains did not identify any peri-mortem trauma that could confirm a violent cause and manner of death.

The odontological analysis did, however, provide conclusive evidence as to the identity of the subject that corresponded to a male individual that had disappeared in the same area 16 years earlier. All of the recovered botanical elements were successfully identified. The examination revealed that the specimens were consistent with the recovery site; thus, the transfer of the subject from a primary location was, from a botanical perspective, not supported.

The second part of the botanical examination, geared towards the determination of the minimum PMI, was achieved by means of root and moss analysis. The moss specimens, that extensively colonized the deceased’s skull and clothes, were mainly identified as Hygrohypnum luridum (Fig.  4a ) . The recovered moss sample consisted of three branches and considering a year’s growth for each branch and another year’s growth for decomposed branches that were still visible, and the specimen was dated to 4 years of age (Fig. 4b ). This data concurred with the dendrochronological analysis performed on shrub roots intrinsically associated with the skeletal remains that had settled between 2002 and 2011. Considering the amount of time needed to colonize the subject’s remains, this interval could be marginally extended. On the basis of the post quem non interval, it was possible to chronologically place the victim’s death between the late 90’s and the early 2000’s.

Inferior, left portion of the skull colonized by moss and, below, close-up shot of a recovered moss sample a , one of the recovered moss sample that colonized the left portion of the skull b , and SEM image of the victim’s sweater in which two diatoms are visible c

Due on to the area’s morphology, hydrology and the fact that the thin layer of soil deposited above the remains (maximum 10 cm) presented a homogeneous distribution of living stems throughout its depth, the presence of dense vegetation, colluvial and alluvial deposits were all elements that were considered to be consistent with the progressive accumulation of soils and botanical elements throughout the post depositional interval. The presence of rounded mineral fragments recovered at the discovery site and the presence of frequent freshwater diatoms on the subject’s clothing (Fig. 4c ) but not on the bone samples were highlighted by stereo electron microscopic (SEM) analysis and further confirmed the hypothesis that the discovery site was periodically affected by the flooding of a river that ran just a few meters below the deposition. This was further corroborated by available historical data regarding the river’s frequent change in water levels. The surface growth horizon was also recorded through the height of the shrub collars that were positioned just a few centimetres above the remains. For these reasons, the discovery site was considered to be that of a surface deposition that had been gradually covered by natural soil accumulation, presenting no evidence for any attempts of concealment or burial.

Botanical analysis along with anthropological and medico-legal considerations concluded that the human remains belonged to a single male subject that had decomposed in situ and had died of unknown causes between the late 90s and the early 2000s.

Case 5: forensic botany and the confirmation of a primary crime scene

At the end of February 2011, the partially skeletonised corpse of a girl that had disappeared in the previous November was found in a field in a sparsely populated industrial area in northern Italy. The authorities carried out a large and prolonged search campaign over a wide area that also included the discovery site. Due to this, when at last the victim was discovered, presenting evident signs of violence and foul play, the search operators and the authorities suspected that the victim may have been murdered elsewhere and subsequently transferred and deposited at the discovery site. During the initial inspection, the on-site pathologist and forensic archaeologist that recovered the victim observed a deep interconnection between the human remains and plant specimens directly associated with the corpse. In the days following the victim’s recovery, a forensic botanist carried out an on-site inspection in order to implement a sampling strategy to determine the vegetation species that occupied the surrounding area, the adjacent area and the area directly beneath the profile of the victim’s deposition.

It subsequently emerged that the field was dominated by the presence of Buddleja davidii , Rubus sp. and numerous large size forbs such as Epilobium hirsutum , Solidago gigantea and grasses such as Sorghum halepense and Panicum dichotomiflorum . The vegetation that was clenched in the victim’s right fist was identified as Sorghum halepense (prevalent species), Epilobium hirsutum and Rubus sp . Moreover, it was noted that below the area previously occupied by the cadaver Epilobium hirsutum seedlings were absent, this contrasted to the adjacent areas in which they grew extensively (Fig.  5a ). Finally, a Solidago gigantea leaf was found directly beneath the victim’s skull.

The surface beneath the victim’s body: in contrast to the adjacent areas, the seedlings of Epilobium hirsutum were absent. a Diagram illustrating the detailed analysis of the distribution of botanical elements associated with the victim and the surrounding area b

The absence of botanical evidence that could lead to other different environments than that of the discovery area along with the lack of any other environmental evidence in this sense supports the theory that the field in which the victim was found was indeed the primary crime scene, and that the victim had not undergone any post mortem transferral (Fig. 5b ). On the basis of other botanical findings, the estimation of the post depositional interval was also determined and was compatible with estimations made by other specialists. In fact, by observing the distribution pattern of the Epilobium hirsutum seedlings that did not occupy the area directly beneath the victim’s body, it was evident that the corpse had been in the same place and position before the seedlings sprouting began. As the suitable temperatures for the germination of these seedlings was reached in that area only at the beginning of February, the minimum depositional interval could be estimated at 25–30 days prior to the victim’s discovery. In regard to the maximum depositional interval and in this case, the certain post mortem interval, the estimation was reached through the analysis of the Solidago gigantea leaf recovered from beneath the girl’s skull. Being particularly well preserved and well laid out, unlike those exposed to atmospheric agents which appeared crumpled and damaged, it was assumed that the protection offered by the corpse directly above it allowed for the leaf to be recorded still stretched out and well hydrated. Since Solidago gigantea is a late summer-autumn flowering species whose leaves and stems gradually dry out from September to November, it was concluded that the corpse had been deposited on top of the leaf from the late autumn. The determination of the chain of events and the chronological time span were perfectly consistent, not only with the date of the victim’s disappearance but also with the hypothesis that the field that had already been searched in November was to be considered as the primary murder scene.

Case 6: forensic botany and the identification of a victim’s site of dismemberment

In September of 2017, the partially skeletised corpse of a woman who had disappeared approximately 1 month earlier was found. The victim had been decapitated and subsequently buried in a shallow grave in a suspect’s orchard. Following the search of his home, male blood-smeared clothing was recovered. Genetic analyses subsequently identified the blood as that of the missing woman. Whilst the main portion of the victim’s body was recovered during archeo-forensic investigations in the orchard, the head was missing and had evidently been transferred to an unknown secondary location. The victim’s skull, found a few days later, was closed in a black plastic sack in a wooded area not far from the suspect’s residence (Fig.  6a ).

Image of the victim’s skull found in a black plastic sack a and diagram illustrating the three possible dismemberment locations: environment no.1 b , no. 2 c and no. 3 d

In order to identify the victim’s dismemberment site through botanical analysis, a forensic botanist carried out a series of on-site inspections in the days that followed the recovery, sampling botanical material from both the victim’s skull and each of the scenes that were suspected of being the possible site. The areas that were identified as possible places of interest were the garden of the suspect’s house (environment no. 1) (Fig. 6b ), the wooded area in which the head had been recovered (environment no. 2) (Fig. 6c ) and finally, the orchard where the buried body had been exhumed (environment no. 3) (Fig. 6d ). On the external surface of the sack that contained the skull, botanical specimens that referred to two species were identified: Phytolacca americana and Rubus sp, whereas the inside of the sack contained a series of other botanical elements, some of which were attributed to Robinia pseudoacacia , Poaceae bambusoideae (i.e. bamboo) and Malus domestica . As a complete match between the botanical elements from the sack and the head’s discovery site (environment no.2) was not obtained, Poaceae bambusoideae (i.e. bamboo) and Malus domestica in fact were not present in the environment no. 2, so the specialists decided to focus on the botanical similarities between the sack’s contents and the other two locations in order to identify the environment that could have left on the remains the elements absent in the discovery site. The suspect’s garden (environment no. 1) presented only two, non-exclusive, species in common with the sack’s botanical content, Rubus sp . and Poaceae bambusoideae , whilst the samples gathered from the orchard (environment no. 3) provided four species in common, including the three found inside the plastic bag: Rubus sp . , Poaceae bambusoideae , Robinia pseudoacacia and Malus domestica , of which the latter was exclusive only to this location. On the basis of this botanical evidence, the orchard proved to be the environment that best represented all of the botanical elements associated with the victim’s skull. The orchard was therefore identified as the location in which the victim’s dismemberment probably took place, as was later confirmed by statements provided by the suspect himself.

Case 7: forensic botany and the recovery of charred vegetal specimens

In November 2012, a plastic sack containing human skeletal remains belonging to a male individual was found in one of the tanks of a hydroelectric power station in the province of Gorizia in northern Italy. The victim was identified by means of DNA analysis, and it emerged that he was a missing person that had disappeared approximately 20 months earlier, around the time that his landlord had evicted him. The plastic sack contained several charred bone fragments and some botanical elements, including pieces of charred wood, whereas some of the partially burnt timber was referable to either a Mediterranean pine ( Pinus halepensis , P. pinaster , P. pinea ) or a spruce ( Picea ), and other small portions of charred branches were attributable to two distinct broad-leaved trees ( Phyladelphus sp . , Staphylea sp . ). Due to these findings and the fact that a few days after the victim’s disappearance, a column of smoke was seen rising from the courtyard of his old house, and a judicial on-site inspection involving a forensic botanist was undertaken. During the examination of the soil that the plastic sack contained and the subsequent sieving regime, centimetre-sized fragments of charred human bone were recovered together with charred and non-charred fragments of wood. The surviving fragments of the bone were too charred to hope for a successful DNA identification. Nevertheless, a botanical comparative analysis between the charred vegetal specimens found inside the sack and the plant species growing in the courtyard was carried out. The macroscopic characteristics of the fragments of pinewood associated with the bone fragments, such as their annular amplitudes and their carbonisation state, as well as microscopic diagnostic elements such as medullary rays and resin channels, all appeared to be the same and almost perfectly coincided with those sampled in the courtyard (Fig. 7 ). In the same manner, the charred broad-leaved specimens that were gathered from the plastic sack also presented very similar characteristics to those gathered during the sampling campaign. Botanical analysis, therefore, revealed full consistency between the charred vegetal evidence associated with the human remains and the plant species that grew in the suspect’s courtyard, linking the victim to the site in which his corpse was very probably illegally cremated.

The comparison between macroscopic (left) and the × 400 microscopic (right) characteristics of a charred fragment of the pinewood found in the plastic sack (above) and a similar fragment found during the on-site inspection (below)

Case 8: forensic botany and ingested vegetal specimens

In November of 2017, a semi-closed suitcase containing partially skeletonised human remains was discovered in a woodland area in a northern Italian province. During the initial on-site inspection, the entire suitcase along with botanical samples from the surrounding area was collected by the forensic pathologist that was investigating the scene. During the subsequent autopsic examination, laminar specimens similar to cuticles with a vegetal appearance and leathery consistency were recovered from the inside of the suitcase. These were incorporated in an organic substance that was later identified as a piece of colon tract (Fig.  8a ). Given the location of this discovery, incorporated in the subject’s large intestine and the morphology of the recovered elements, it was assumed that they corresponded to vegetal food remains that had been ingested by the victim some hours prior to death. Macroscopic analysis identified the fragments as belonging to a fruit’s exocarp. Microscopically, based on the characteristics of the vegetal cells, it was possible to circumscribe the specimen to either a tomato, Solanum lycopersicum (Fig. 8b ) or a persimmon ( Diospyros kaki ) (Fig. 8c ). Whilst the former could not provide particular indications in regard to the PMI, the latter due to its marked seasonality could have provided valuable information in this sense. Due to the particularly strong microscopic similarities that the two fruits present and the fact that diagnostic identification by means of bimolecular analysis resulted in being inconclusive, after consulting with a series of botanists, it was finally concluded that the fruit remnants were attributable to Solanum lycopersicum . Despite the difficulties encountered during the identification of the recovered evidence, the potential contribution that this kind of analysis can provide remains indisputable.

Comparison between the cellular characteristics belonging to the recovered piece of cuticle found in the victim’s colon a , those of a tomato b and a persimmon c

In regard to the analysis of the other botanical evidence that was recovered from the suitcase and the comparison with the samples that were gathered from the area during the on-site inspection, a significant homogeneity of specimens was recorded. This led to the conclusion that no evidence regarding any transit from previous, different locations was present. Based on the growth pattern of brambles that were absent beneath the suitcase, it was hypothesised that it had been abandoned on the discovery site’s surface before the previous growing season, probably during the second half of 2016.

The eight cases that have been presented in this paper involve almost entirely or at least partially skeletonised human remains in which the botanical sampling strategies were carried out with different ad hoc protocols. Regardless of the approaches implemented, all of the cases produced very clear and useful results. This was only possible due to the scrupulous attention with which the on-site experts, that were not necessarily from a botanical background, carried out the inspections, recoveries and sampling protocols. However, in both national and international contexts, this discipline is unfortunately too often underestimated due to a general lack of specifically qualified personnel who are capable of recognizing and sampling botanical evidence and to the widespread lack of culture in regard to the discipline and potential of forensic botany [ 3 , 4 , 24 , 25 ]. It is important therefore that crime scene specialists, who are not necessarily forensic botanists, apply an interdisciplinary approach to both victim recovery and crime scene recording with the awareness of the informative power of traces of different origins; in fact, the true power lies in combining different kinds of evidence. In order for forensic botany to put to use its full potential, it is essential that botanical sampling and recovery strategies regarding both human remains and crime scenes do fulfil some minimum requirements. The exact locations at which botanical specimens have been collected must be recorded through forensic photography and 3D positioning techniques. This is aimed not only at documenting the relationships between botanical evidence and victim’s remains, but also in precisely establishing the wider botanical settings. In addition, correct recording strategies will involve written descriptions and tables, audio recorded notes, sketches and video recordings. The topographic and photographic recording is aimed at documenting the scene prior to any intervention, during operations and in the post recovery of remains and evidence. It also provides a comprehensive and extremely precise illustration of the crime scene’s three dimensional morphology, extension and position of any of the gathered botanical material. Aside from concentrating on the human remains themselves, sampling strategies involving the collection of botanical specimens belonging to the surrounding area will provide a comprehensive background documentation of a given recovery location. This should at least include the area’s predominant plant species, with particular reference to tree species that constitute the main structure and biomass of a scene’s original ecosystem. Their identification will provide overall ecological information regarding a specific site and will correspond to samples that, in all probability, will be found in direct association with a victim’s remains [ 2 ]. Finally, where possible the integral recovery and transportation of all, if not a part of the in situ deposition site to the lab can, in circumstances in which the importance of botanical information is deemed to be superior to that of other specialists, be a viable option that may guarantee a more thorough recovery and preservation of botanical data. It must however be remembered that a similar decision must be taken by the acting search and recovery manager, as this type of operation can compromise other specialists sampling and recovery strategies. As often occurs during operative activities, there are moments in which the assessment of the value of certain types of available information has to be made, and this will require decisions regarding exactly what can and cannot be sacrificed for the benefit of the investigation. It must however be underlined that the integral recovery and preservation of all contexts that have any direct or indirect physical or stratigraphic relationship to a victim will always be recovered, bagged and preserved for the further analysis.

The choice of the most suitable approach to the recording and recovery of botanical evidence can only be based on the personal experience of the expert responsible for the sampling strategy as no two cases are ever identical. In fact, no predetermined checklists or guidelines can be of assistance in the detection and recovery of all of the relevant elements that are pertinent to a specific forensic scenario [ 3 , 4 , 7 ]. The genesis of this problem lies in the fact that what is relevant at today’s scene may or may not be relevant tomorrow or vice versa [ 4 ]. However, some protocols such as a thorough recording strategy of the discovery site are often extremely useful and in some of the simpler cases can even be considered to be sufficient. In cases that require a later botanical inspection, once the victim has already been recovered, a further in-depth analysis can be carried out. Albeit, it should be considered that botanical elements and environments are subject to rapid alterations and are exposed to a high risk of environmental dispersion (fauna and meteorological phenomena) that can potentially modify entire distribution patterns [ 4 ].

The discipline of forensic botany undoubtedly represents an important source of information in the investigation of a variety of different forensic scenarios, often providing valuable and useful information to an inquiry. In the case of skeletal or partially skeletonised human remains in which some other disciplines are simply not effective, as we have illustrated in these case studies, forensic botany can offer a great potential in the discovery of a victim’s location, the duration of its deposition and the sequence of events that may have taken place at a given scene. Forensic botany, however, can only concretely assist the forensic pathologist or investigators if the collection of botanical evidence has been carried out by forensic experts or by on-site personnel who have at least a minimum amount of training in the implementation of sampling protocols, accurate recording techniques and in the collection of background environmental data regarding a specific discovery location. Only if these preliminary on-site steps are taken correctly can the collection, identification, classification and preservation of botanical evidence be presented to an investigating body or indeed, a court of law.

Considering its potential, the discipline of forensic botany should be taken into consideration in any scenario that can potentially present botanical evidence. As outlined and demonstrated by the cases illustrated in the present paper, the information that can be provided, even if at times only circumstantial, can certainly shed light on many of the classic queries that judicial investigators advance. It is a fact that to date, botanical evidence has been increasingly presented during court proceedings and has become a widely debated subject. For this reason, the awareness of the potential that this discipline can provide in a wide variety of scenarios must increase amongst representatives of the forensic scientific community.

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Marco Caccianiga

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Giulia Caccia, Debora Mazzarelli, Dominic Salsarola, Pasquale Poppa, Daniel Gaudio, Annalisa Cappella, Lorenzo Franceschetti, Stefano Tambuzzi, Lidia Maggioni & Cristina Cattaneo

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Caccianiga, M., Caccia, G., Mazzarelli, D. et al. Common and much less common scenarios in which botany is crucial for forensic pathologist and anthropologists: a series of eight case studies. Int J Legal Med 135 , 1067–1077 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-020-02456-0

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Received : 01 June 2020

Accepted : 05 November 2020

Published : 19 December 2020

Issue Date : May 2021

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-020-02456-0

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