🌊 The Week in Botany August 26, 2024
Electricity is back in the house, and most of the water is out, which is a help when writing emails. Here’s a slightly reduced email this week, as I’m on holiday.
I’m still on holiday next week, but in reality that will be spent either preparing for or at Botanical University Challenge. If you’re interested in Botanical quizzing, the semi-finals will be live on YouTube on Wednesday at 2pm.
There’ll be more about Botanical University Challenge on the blog this week. There will also be another collection of the stories and papers you’re sharing on Twitter, Mastodon, Bluesky and Threads, at the same time next week. Until then, take care.
Alun (webmaster@botany.one)
On Botany One
Optimizing Soybean Production in the Southern Cone
A new interactive tool is helping South American soybean growers make smarter planting decisions.
News & Views
The Amazon is relinquishing its carbon — for a surprising reason
Degradation of the Amazon’s tree canopy is the main culprit, although the complete clearance of portions of the forest contributes too.
Risking His Own Extinction to Rescue the Rarest of Flowers
Carlos Magdalena, whose botanical adventures have shades of Indiana Jones, was a driving force in saving the world’s smallest water lily and finding the largest one. He has been called the “plant messiah.”
Archaeologists in Virginia unearth colonial-era garden with clues about its enslaved gardeners
Archaeologists in Virginia are uncovering an ornamental garden from the 1700s where a wealthy politician and enslaved gardeners grew exotic plants from around the world.
What The Heck Is The Bananapocalypse? Are We Facing A Banana-Free Future?
Everyone’s favorite phallic fruit is being devastated by a deadly fungus – but hope is not lost just yet.
Logging done sustainably doesn’t have to harm ecosystem services, study finds
Researchers found that while even low-intensity logging did have some impacts on plant diversity, these remained small and largely dissipated in about a decade.
Putting Indigenous plant knowledge where it belongs
Nigel Chaffey reviews The ethnobotanical: A tour of indigenous plant knowledge by Sarah Edwards.
Mountain Bikers Are Rewilding Land by Paying the Government to Do It
A new nature-restoration project in Wales is being funded by an unusual source: thrill-seeking downhill lovers.
Scientific Papers
Enhanced woody biomass production in a mature temperate forest under elevated CO2 (OA)
Aided by tree-ring analysis and canopy laser scanning, Norby et al show that a 180-year-old Quercus robur L. woodland in central England increased the production of woody biomass when exposed to free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) for 7 years.
New genomic techniques can contribute to reduced pesticide usage in Europe (OA)
The European Commission has set goals to reduce the use of chemical pesticides, and one way to meet these goals in the agricultural sector is to breed disease-resistant crops. Sundström et al ask whether modern breeding technologies, for example, genome editing using site-directed nucleases, can contribute to these goals.
Drivers and Impacts of the Record-Breaking 2023 Wildfire Season in Canada (OA)
The 2023 wildfire season in Canada was unprecedented in its scale and intensity, spanning from mid-April to late October and across much of the forested regions of Canada. Jain et al summarize the main causes and impacts of this exceptional season.
Virulence of banana wilt-causing fungal pathogen Fusarium oxysporum tropical race 4 is mediated by nitric oxide biosynthesis and accessory genes ($)
Fusarium wilt of banana, caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc), is one of the most damaging plant diseases known. Foc race 1 (R1) decimated the Gros Michel-based banana (Musa acuminata) trade, and now Foc tropical race 4 (TR4) threatens global production of its replacement, the Cavendish banana. Here population genomics revealed that all Cavendish banana-infecting Foc race 4 strains share an evolutionary origin distinct from that of R1 strains.
Seed color patterns in domesticated common bean are regulated by MYB-bHLH-WD40 transcription factors and temperature (OA)
Seed colors and color patterns are critical for the survival of wild plants and the consumer appeal of crops. In common bean, a major global staple, these patterns are also essential in determining market classes, yet the genetic and environmental control of many pigmentation patterns remains unresolved. Parker et al genetically mapped variation for several important seed pattern loci, including T, Bip, phbw, and Z, which co-segregated with candidate genes PvTTG1, PvMYC1, PvTT8, and PvTT2, respectively.
Evolution and origins of rubisco ($)
Rubisco has proven difficult to engineer, with decades of efforts yielding limited results. Recent research has focused on reconstructing the evolutionary trajectory of rubisco to help elucidate its cryptic origins. Such evolutionary studies have led to a better understanding of both the origins of more complex rubisco forms and the broader relationship between rubisco’s structure and function.
Deforestation amplifies climate change effects on warming and cloud level rise in African montane forests (OA)
Abera et al offer observational evidence demonstrating the response of air temperature and cloud base height to deforestation in African montane forests over the last two decades. Their findings reveal that approximately 18% (7.4 ± 0.5 million hectares) of Africa’s montane forests were lost between 2003 and 2022.
Genetically clustered antifungal phytocytokines and receptor protein family members cooperate to trigger plant immune signaling ($)
Lintz et al used phylogenomics to characterize the RISP and RALR gene families, and molecular physiology assays to functionally characterize RISP/RALR pairs. Both RISP and RALR gene families specifically evolved in Salicaceae species (poplar and willow), and systematically cluster in the genomes.
Buzz-pollinating bees deliver thoracic vibrations to flowers through periodic biting ($)
Woodrow et al used high-speed filmography to investigate how flower vibration amplitude changes during biting in Bombus terrestris visiting two species of buzz-pollinated flowering plants: Solanum dulcamara and Solanum rostratum (Solanaceae). They found that floral buzzing drives head vibrations up to 3 times greater than those of the thorax, which doubles the vibration amplitude of the anther during biting compared with indirect vibration transmission when not biting.
In AoBC Publications
Careers
Lecturer 0.8 FTE, Aberdeen
We require an individual who can coordinate and deliver an advanced undergraduate course in Wildlife Conservation and Management and can lead sessions on an ecology skills field course. The individual will also be required to deliver some lectures and help with marking in undergraduate ecology courses and to supervise taught student research projects.
Post Doctoral Researcher, Maynooth
We are seeking a Post-Doctoral Researcher to work on a Science Foundation Ireland funded project in a mycotoxin and food security project, which is one of the national research priorities of Ireland. The successful candidate should be able to perform independent work and also should be a team player. The Postdoctoral Researcher will primarily work in Future Foods Laboratory, led by Assistant Professor Dr. Ă–zlem Sarikaya-Bayram (Sports Science and Nutrition), within the Department of Biology, https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/people/zlem-sarikaya-bayram in collaboration with both internal (Associate Professor David Fitzpatrick (Bioinformatics) and Assistant Professor Rebecca Owens (Metabolomics)) and external (Associate Professor Chris Koon Ho Wong, University of Macau) research stakeholders in Ireland and Macau, respectively.
Group Leader Position: AI in Plant Biology, Ghent
The VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology (www.psb.ugent.be) is looking for a Group Leader to join its faculty (Group Leader at VIB). We are particularly interested in recruiting a new PI who uses and develops artificial intelligence methods to address fundamental questions in plant biology.
Assistant (TenureTrack) or Associate Professor in Molecular Plant Sciences, Geneva
The Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Geneva offers a stimulating collaborative scientific environment, renowned internationally for its research in the Molecular Plant Sciences. Geneva is a cosmopolitan city with many cultural and outdoor activities. The successful candidate is expected to develop an ambitious, independent research program using molecular tools to address fundamental questions regarding the biology of photosynthetic organisms, or microbes involved in plant-microbe interactions.
PhD in Environmental modulation of protein mobility in land plants, Wageningen
As a successful candidate, you will investigate protein movement across cells in Arabidopsis leaves under shade-like conditions, using both targeted and untargeted multi-omics methodologies.
PhD position: Phylogenomics of plant defence plasticity to insect attack, Wageningen
Your project seeks to link ecological interactions with molecular defence mechanisms through comparative genomics by focusing on gene presence-absence variations, copy number changes, and visualizing synteny and structural rearrangements across multiple genomes. In addition, you have the opportunity to measure transcriptomic responses of various Brassicaceae plants to attack by multiple insect herbivores, quantify resistance to these herbivores and may delve into causality of genes in defence plasticity by creating knockout plants.
PhD position studying small RNA inheritance in plants, Wageningen
You will employ state-of-the-art molecular biology, genetics, genomics, microscopy and computational biology approaches in Arabidopsis thaliana. Although this project will focus on understanding fundamental aspects of intergenerational small RNA inheritance, your research could also lead to the development of innovative biotechnology applications for the plant breeding industry.
PhD Student (f/m/d) in the field of Root Anatomy, Gatersleben
Our most recent project is to characterize the function and genetic control of root anatomical (specifically cortical) traits in maize to enhance plant nitrogen stress tolerance. You will closely collaborate with other researchers in the project and group, including experts in genetics and rhizosphere biology.
Postdoctoral scholarship in Plant Developmental Biology, UmeĂĄ
We seek a highly motivated candidate for the project “Deciphering the role of two transcription factors from the WOX family in controlling adventitious root initiation in Arabidopsis hypocotyl” in Catherine Bellini’s research group. The postdoctoral scholarship will be placed at the Department of Plant Physiology, that is part of Umeå Plant Science Centre.
Assistant or Associate Professor of Controlled Environmental Horticulture, Florida
This is a 12-month, tenure-accruing position of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) with 70% research and 30% extension assignment, available at the Mid-Florida Research and Education Center (MREC), Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) at the University of Florida.
Plant Pathology, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Tennessee
The School of Agriculture at Middle Tennessee State University invites applicants for a highly motivated and skilled postdoctoral research fellow in plant pathology . This is a one-year temporary appointment. The start date for the appointment is as early as September 9, 2024.
Lecturer - Plant and Microbial Biology, North Carolina
The Department of Plant and Microbial Biology is seeking a temporary lecturer for PB403/503 course in Systematic Botany (4 credit hours; lecture and lab). Depending on education and experience, the successful candidate will teach either PB 403 (undergraduate only) or PB 403/503 (undergraduate/graduate sections combined) for the Spring 2025 term.
Extension Plant Pathologist, Montana
Montana State University seeks a highly qualified and enthusiastic Extension specialist/research plant pathologist to contribute to our programs. This is a full-time, tenure track renewable fiscal year contract; 63% teaching, 27% research and 10% service.