Ancient gene network helps plants adapt to their environments

A team of scientists has discovered the purpose of a highly conserved genetic tool that is present in both mosses and flowering plants, organisms whose common ancestor dates back 450 million years. The gene network, which comprising a snippet of non-coding genetic material called a small RNA and the protein it regulates, has been used over the eons to make plants more sensitive to environmental cues and facilitate robust, yet flexible, responses to those cues.