Based on the combined evidence, it has therefore been suggested that Late Miocene ungulate faunal change in the eastern Mediterranean signals increased aridity and landscape openness, but not necessarily the development of grass-dominated habitats.
In DEF-like genes of Poales, positive selection on the region mediating interactions with other proteins or DNA could have triggered the evolution of the regulatory mechanisms behind the development of grass-specific reproductive structures.
The developmental dependence of grass seedling roots on the rhizobacteria suggests that grasses have evolved to rely on these seed-vectored rhizobacteria in order to maximize scavenging of organic N. Features of development of grasses seem consistent with this idea.
Thus, it is not surprising that the rapid development of numerous tools for Brachypodium is coincident with increased interest in research topics relevant to the development of grasses as biomass crops for the sustainable production of biofuels.
Although there is no direct evidence, our study in sugarcane and the work from Li et al. [ 44] in maize suggest that miRNAs must play an important role on leaf development of grasses, but it is still a topic to be explored.
The sequences of the FL-cDNAs and ESTs generated in this study will close a critical gap existing in grass comparative genomics and consequently allow the more efficient development of the grass system for evolutionary and functional studies of plant genes and genomes.
There is indication that development of prairie grass cultivars can retain genetic diversity (Gustafson et al. 2004b; Casler et al. 2007).
It is our belief that close collaboration between the plant breeder, systems biologist, and process engineer will result in accelerated development of bioenergy grass feedstock tailored to a specific conversion process thereby increasing bioenergy viability through industrial genetics.
The influence of western aid and culture has promoted the recognition of civil rights among the Nepalese and the development of thousands of grass roots NGOs in Nepal.
