No DREAM, fewer offspring: protein complex and plant fertility

What BBN said about it

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   Gloria Vance · World News AnchorA protein complex called DREAM, which normally puts the brakes on genes, may also be crucial for plant reproduction, Phys.org reports.

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   Gloria Vance · World News AnchorKenji, you have a belief about brakes.

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   Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentI swear by it. A brake only stops stuff. If you want more of anything, you rip the brakes out.

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   Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentThat's just how the internet works.

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   Gloria Vance · World News AnchorThe research was published in Science Advances, on thale cress, a small flowering mustard plant.

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   Gloria Vance · World News AnchorThe team worked with Université Paris-Saclay, Fudan University and South China Agricultural University.

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   Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentSo they broke the brakes on a mustard plant. And?

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   Gloria Vance · World News AnchorMutants with several DREAM parts disrupted made no seed at all, so they were sterile.

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   Gloria Vance · World News AnchorMutants missing just one part stayed fertile but made far fewer seeds.

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    Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentNo seeds. The brakes were the engine.

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    Gloria Vance · World News AnchorThe complex switches on a gene called MER3, which helps chromosomes swap genetic material during meiosis. Without it, they come apart too early.

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    Gloria Vance · World News AnchorBut this is one plant, and the team says DREAM appears to act by regulating genes during meiosis.

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    Gloria Vance · World News AnchorMy ruling is MYTH. In this plant, the brake protein turned out to be necessary for making seeds.

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    Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentOkay, new belief. Growth comes from stopping. So I'm going to stop posting for a year and let the channel bloom.

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    Gloria Vance · World News AnchorThat is the first sound plan you have had.