🌻 The Week in Botany December 2, 2024
It’s been a busy week. However I’ve been taking more breaks than usual, thanks to an app called LookAway. It interrupts me very 20 minutes to rest my eyes for 30 seconds. It’s a little irritating, but my headaches haven’t been so bad this week.
The plan is to try getting the email written a little earlier next week, so I have time to think of something interesting to say in the introduction. It’s also that time of year when a whole load of admin comes up, so it’ll be a challenge to keep to that. Nevertheless, there’ll probably be another collection of the botanical stories and papers you’re sharing on Mastodon, Bluesky, Threads and Twitter next week. Until next week, take care.
Alun (webmaster@botany.one)
News & Views
‬Species-rich old grasslands have beneficial effects on the health and gut microbiome of bumblebees
Pornon and colleagues investigate whether the age and age-associated characteristics of extensively managed hay semi-natural grasslands affect the health of pollinators.
Italy tests first gene-edited vines for winemaking
Europe’s first field trial of gene-edited vines began in northern Italy on 30 September 2024. Developed by EdiVite, a spinoff from the University of Verona, these Chardonnay vines have undergone gene inactivation to enable them to better defend themselves against downy mildew, an oomycete disease.
@somssich.bsky.social‬
Hidden DNA in plants reveals secrets of photosynthesis
Scientists have uncovered genetic variation in the unexplored DNA of the photosynthetic and energy factories of Arabidopsis plants, which plays a crucial role in the efficiency of photosynthesis in plants. These insights — published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) — pave the way for more productive, climate-resilient crops that could contribute to sustainable global food security.
More than 4,000 saplings planted to mark tree week
Sites in Cottingham, Arram and North Newbald are part of the Humber Forest initiative, which aims to plant up to up to 300,000 trees by March next year.
Kew Gardens to move some of world's 'most threatened plants' to renovate iconic Palm House
Kew has built temporary homes for the collections to be stored during the upcoming renovation.
Cactus Pear Is a Crop With Potential in Italy's Parched South and Beyond
Global warming, drought and plant disease pose a growing threat to agriculture in Italy's arid south, but a startup founded by a former telecoms manager believes it has found a solution: Opuntia Ficus, better known as the cactus pear.
Brazil's restoration of the 'Atlantic Forest' is beginning to bear fruit
The rainforest that once covered around 15% of Brazil has shrunk by more than three-quarters. However, initiatives are multiplying, notably to reforest Rio de Janeiro.
Bark detective: dog trained to sniff out UK tree disease
Six-year-old spanador called Ivor taught to identify tree fungal-like organism killing trees and shrubs around UK.
How Did Evergreen Trees Become a Christmas Symbol?
There’s quite a long history behind the most iconic Christmas decoration.
Hacking Trees To Bring Back the American Chestnut
“Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” is playing on the radio now in the Northern Hemisphere which begs the question, “What happened to the American chestnut?” Would you be surprised to hear there’s a group dedicated to bringing it back from “functional extinction?”
Explosive Study Reveals How Squirting Cucumber Engorges And Erupts, Shooting Seeds 10 Meters
“The seeds spurt out, even endangering the eyes.”
Scientific Papers
Horizontal transposon transfer during plant terrestrialization (OA)
During the move to land, plants acquired transposable elements by horizontal transfer from bacteria and fungi and land plants have many long non-coding RNAs derived from retrotransposons acquired by horizontal transposon transfer, including some that are highly expressed and involved in the response to drought stress and abscisic acid.
@huguesrenault.bsky.social‬
Meta-analysis reveals globally sourced commercial mycorrhizal inoculants fall short (OA)
Commercial product mycorrhizal colonization was less than 10% in both the oldest study (2004) and the newest study in the data set (2024), indicating that, even for viable products, they have low symbiotic potential that is not improving over time.
Directional Cell-to-cell Transport in Plant Roots (OA)
Jacquier et al demonstrate that plasmodesmatal transport persists in differentiated roots, despite apoplastic barriers such as Casparian strips and suberin lamellae in the endodermis, suggesting plasmodesmata as the sole pathway for water and nutrient flow at this stage.
@adrienheymans.bsky.social‬
Heart cockle shells transmit sunlight to photosymbiotic algae using bundled fiber optic cables and condensing lenses (OA)
McCoy et al show that heart cockles (Corculum cardissa and spp.) use biophotonic adaptations to transmit sunlight for photosynthesis. Heart cockles transmit 11–62% of photosynthetically active radiation (mean = 31%) but only 5–28% of potentially harmful UV radiation (mean = 14%) to their symbionts.
An Omics approach on Marchantia polymorpha single FERONIA and MARIS homologs confirms links between cell wall integrity and abscisic acid (OA)
Jobe et al performed comparative transcriptomics and proteomics on the M. polymorpha mutant plants, Mpfer-1 and Mpmri-1, and their corresponding wild-type accessions Tak-1 and Tak-2. Large and significant overlaps were observed between differentially expressed genes and differentially abundant proteins in both mutants.
Detection of quantitative trait loci for rice root systems grown in paddies based on nondestructive phenotyping using X-ray computed tomography ($)
Teramoto & Uga developed RSApaddy3D, a rapid phenotyping method for rice root systems, using X-ray computed tomography (CT) volumes of soil blocks collected from paddies. RSApaddy3D employs 2-dimensional kernel filters tailored to extract disk-shaped fragments from the CT volumes.
Beyond 4 × 4: Paramotoring a novel approach to accelerate plant exploration in challenging environments (OA)
In Peru's fog oasis desert, Moat et al brought together paramotor experts and scientists to conduct missions involving monitoring, plant sampling, surveying, sensor placement and transportation. They compared the environmental impact and time taken by paramotoring with surveys conducted using off-road vehicles and walking.
From algae to plants: understanding pyrenoid-based CO2-concentrating mechanisms (OA)
Catherall et al recent advances in our fundamental knowledge of the biogenesis, architecture, and function of pyrenoids in Chlamydomonas and ongoing engineering biology efforts to introduce a functional pCCM into chloroplasts of vascular plants, which, if successful, has the potential to enhance crop productivity and resilience to climate change.
Habitat edges decrease plant reproductive output in fragmented landscapes (OA)
In a large, replicated fragmentation experiment with open savanna habitats surrounded by pine plantation forests, Hulting et al tested the effects of inter-patch connectivity, patch edge-to-area ratio, and within-patch distance from an edge on plant reproductive output.
Exaptation of ancestral cell-identity networks enables C4 photosynthesis (OA)
Swift et al show that changes to bundle-sheath gene expression in C4 leaves are associated with the gain of a pre-existing cis-code found in the C3leaf. From single-nucleus gene-expression and chromatin-accessibility atlases, they uncover DNA binding with one finger (DOF) motifs that define bundle-sheath identity in the major crops C3 rice and C4 sorghum.
In AoBC Publications
BSBI Training grants
The window to apply for 2025 is now open
Every year, BSBI offers grants of up to £250 (or € equivalent for applicants from the Republic of Ireland) for aspiring botanists who want to go on short training courses such as Identiplant or courses from external providers. You do not need to be a BSBI member to apply for one of our Training Grants, although members are favoured in the award process.
Careers
Note: These are posts that have been advertised around the web. They are not posts that I personally offer, nor can I arrange the visa for you to work internationally.
Research Fellow in Atmospheric Methane Removal by Trees, Birmingham
Part of the project “Testing limits to atmospheric methane removal by tree stem methanotrophs” funded by a Spark Climate Solutions, Exploratory Grant to Profs. Vincent Gauci, James McDonald and Yin Chen. The role will contribute to the understanding the factors determining how methane uptake on trees may be limited, while exploring and testing ways to reduce limitation and augment this function.
Research Fellow, Warwick
The successful applicant will be based in the Laboratory of Professor Richard Napier. The postholder will combine molecular biology, protein biochemistry, and proteomics, with NMR spectroscopy in the lab of Prof Jozef Lewandowski (Chemistry) and other assays as well as plant physiology to identify the key to the heart of auxin signalling.
Research Assistant / Research Associate (Fixed Term), Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is looking for a post-doctoral researcher to join a BBSRC funded project exploring the development of insect-mimicking petal spots in Gorteria diffusa. You will work as part of a project team including a transformation technician, a final year PhD student and a second incoming postdoc focused on genomic analysis to understand petal spot evolution.
Post-doctoral position available at UmeĂĄ Plant Science Centre, Sweden
A post-doctoral position is available in the Niittylä group at the Umeå Plant Science Center, Sweden (www.upsc.se/totte_niittyla) to study carbon assimilation and carbon partitioning in trees. We are now looking for a postdoc scientist who will use functional genomics, metabolomics and isotope flux analysis to investigate the molecular mechanisms of carbon partitioning in Populus trees.
PhD researcher on 'mechanisms underlying onion drought tolerance: response and effects of early season drought on growth and yield' at CropXR / Wageningen University & Research
This vacancy is for a PhD position focusing on mechanisms underlying onion drought tolerance, specifically the response and effects of early season drought on plant growth and yield.
PhD researcher on 'mechanisms underlying onion drought tolerance: response and effects of late-season drought on bulb formation and yield' at CropXR/ Wageningen University & Research
This vacancy is for a PhD position focusing on mechanisms underlying onion drought tolerance, specifically the response and effects of mid-to-late season drought on bulb formation and yield. Onion is sensitive to drought at several stages in the crop cycle. This PhD project will focus on the effect of drought at the bulb formation and filling stage.
Chairperson of Plant and Soil Sciences, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Delaware
The college seeks a scholar with proven leadership skills to be the next Chair of the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, uniting the department’s varied academic pursuits. This position provides an exceptional opportunity to lead a vital and productive department with strong research, instructional, and Extension expertise at a research-focused, land-grant university.
Assistant Professor- Tenure Track- Vegetable Crop Physiology, New York
The School of Integrative Plant Science (SIPS) in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) at Cornell University invites applications for a tenure-track position in Vegetable Crop Physiology at the Assistant Professor level. This position has been developed to strengthen the core discipline of horticultural science in CALS and create significant synergy with existing programs in plant genetics, genomics, breeding, and outreach to advance both research and teaching in horticultural specialty crops in CALS and develop strategies for efficient and sustainable crop production to promote food security while stewarding environmental resources in a changing climate.
Postdoctoral Fellowship, Missouri
The Dr. Joseph Lynch's lab has an opening for a Postdoctoral Fellow interested in plant metabolism. Our goal is to better understand shikimate metabolism in plants. Alongside the University of Missouri's excellent research infrastructure to support these lines of investigation, the lab is physically located at the MU Bond Life Sciences Center and focuses research on aromatic amino acid metabolism in plants.
Assistant Professor of Environmental & Plant Stress Biology , Tenure-Track, Ohio
The Department of Environmental and Plant Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences at Ohio University invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in Environmental and Plant Stress Biology, with an expected start date of August 2025.