🌻 The Week in Botany February 10, 2025
To my surprise, there is an email this week. I got home a bit late, and I wasn’t expecting to make the deadline. The rapid write-up means I haven’t really scanned Bluesky as much as I normally would.
We have a gardening tip for poppies in this week’s email. I have no idea if it works, but I’m including it, so I can make a note of it and try it. My track record with influencer tips on growing plants is pretty dire, so I’m not optimistic I’ll have any success.
Assuming nothing dramatic changes, there will be another email of the papers you’re sharing on Mastodon, Bluesky, and Twitter. Until next time, take care.
Alun (webmaster@botany.one)
On Botany One
Can you teach an old log new tricks?
Mareike Jezek shares the latest advances on epigenetic changes in trees –changes that "allow" plants to prepare their offspring for the environments they might face.
How Orchid Bees Craft Unique Scents from Non-Floral Sources
Discover how orchid bees use surprising, non-floral sources to create perfumes that attract mates in the tropical forest.
The Role of Flower Colours in Invasive Plants and Their Competition for Pollinators
Researchers discover how invasive plants use colour to compete with native plants for pollinators.
#InBrief
Strangely, Pitcher Plants Might Try To Warn Their Prey Not To Enter
Botanists Trip Over The Light Fantastic When They Try To Understand Flower Colour
News & Views
Here's Why Gardeners Are Planting Poppies in Ice Cubes (and You Should, Too).
You may want to avoid frosty temperatures, but your poppy seeds don't.
The garden centre helping mental health patients
Martin, one of the volunteers at the centre, said: "There is no doubt in my mind that spending time in nature and green spaces is beneficial. It has certainly been the case for me."
Tallest tree destroyed in storm 'like loss of an old friend'
Edinburgh's tallest tree - a 166-year-old Himalayan cedar - was one of thousands that fell victim to the devastating gusts across the country.
Rice variant slashes planet-warming methane emissions by 70 per cent
Using traditional crossbreeding, researchers have created a new strain of rice that produces much less methane, a potent greenhouse gas, when it is grown in flooded fields.
Hoeven Botanist Club members learn about plants, life skills
The fifth-grade members of Hoeven’s Botanist Club are gaining more than plant knowledge. Members like Jocelyn said it’s also time spent with friends.
I live in a forest my parents planted when I was a child. It’s not too late for you to grow one too.
Sometimes a branch grows so low and bushy that it blocks access to my room. I diligently cut it back.
With deforestation rising, is Indonesia missing the forest for the trees?
Indonesia lost more than 26,000 sq km of primary and secondary forests last year, according to a new NGO report.
Corpse flower blooms at Canberra's Australian National Botanic Gardens for the first time
The 15-year-old plant started unfurling its 135 centimetre-tall flower spike on Saturday afternoon, emanating a putrid stench described by some as smelling like "dead rat".
‪@jmaus.bsky.social‬.
Scientific Papers
Temperature-dependent polar lignification of a seed coat suberin layer promoting dormancy in Arabidopsis thaliana (FREE)
Hyvärinen et al’s study uncovers how cold temperatures during seed development in the mother plant influence seed dormancy through apoplastic modifications in the Arabidopsis thaliana seed coat. They identified a polar lignin barrier in the outer integument 1 (oi1) cells, which are also suberized.
@mariebarberon.bsky.social‬
The evolution of signaling and monitoring in plant–fungal networks (FREE)
Experiments have shown that when one plant is attacked by a herbivore, this can lead to other plants connected to the same mycorrhizal network up-regulating their defense mechanisms. It has been hypothesized that this represents signaling, with attacked plants producing a signal to warn other plants of impending harm. Scott et al found theoretically that plant warning signals are rarely evolutionarily stable.
A trehalase-derived MAMP triggers LecRK-V-mediated immune responses in Arabidopsis (FREE)
Plant-parasitic nematodes (PPNs) cause major agricultural losses worldwide, yet the molecular basis of plant immunity against these pathogens remains poorly understood. To investigate how plants recognize PPNs, Iino et al aimed to identify microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) from nematodes and the corresponding plant immune components.
Towards a global understanding of tree mortality (FREE)
Rates of tree mortality are increasing globally, with implications for forests and climate. Yet, how and why these trends vary globally remain unknown. Developing a comprehensive assessment of global tree mortality will require systematically integrating data from ground-based long-term forest monitoring with large-scale remote sensing.
Reducing methane emissions by developing low-fumarate high-ethanol eco-friendly rice ($)
Cultivation of novel rice lines or employing Jin et al’s findings for rice cultivation managements showed up to 70% reductions in methane production from seven paddy field sites during 3 years of cultivation trials.
Abscisic acid receptors functionally converge across 500 million years of land plant evolution ($)
Abscisic acid (ABA) functions as a central regulator of dehydration responses in land plants. As such, ABA signaling was pivotal in facilitating the colonization of terrestrial habitats. Zimran et al show that ABA receptors in mosses originate from an independent expansion, giving rise to three subfamilies.
A single-cell and spatial wheat root atlas with cross-species annotations delineates conserved tissue-specific marker genes and regulators (FREE)
Despite the broad use of single-cell/nucleus RNA sequencing in plant research, accurate cluster annotation in less-studied plant species remains a major challenge due to the lack of validated marker genes. Ke et al generated a single-cell RNA sequencing atlas of soil-grown wheat roots and annotated cluster identities by transferring annotations from publicly available datasets in wheat, rice, maize, and Arabidopsis.
Two antagonistic gene regulatory networks drive Arabidopsis root hair growth at low temperature linked to a low-nutrient environment ($)
Root hair (RH) cells can elongate to several hundred times their initial size, and are an ideal model system for investigating cell size control. Their development is influenced by both endogenous and external signals, which are combined to form an integrative response. Surprisingly, a low-temperature condition of 10°C causes increased RH growth in Arabidopsis and in several monocots, even when the development of the rest of the plant is halted.
In AoBC Publications
Black in Plant Science Summer Studentship 2025
The BiPS Summer Studentship aims to encourage students to consider a career in plant sciences by providing funding to support paid summer placements for Black undergraduate students.
These Studentships will address the lack of Black and Black heritage researchers in the UK plant science community.
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.
Post-Doctoral Research Assistant (PDRA) in Ensemble Vegetation Modelling, Reading
The LEMONTREE https://research.reading.ac.uk/lemontree/ (Land Ecosystem Models based On New Theory, observations and Experiments) project has been developing new approaches, based on eco-evolutionary optimality (EEO) theory, for modelling vegetation processes. The post-holder will be responsible for running these EEO vegetation models (P++) using outputs from climate ensembles under current and future climate states, to quantify uncertainties in vegetation predictions reflecting the stochastic nature of the climate.
Post-Doctoral Research Assistant (PDRA) in Holocene Vegetation Modelling, Reading
The University of Reading is seeking to recruit a PDRA in Holocene Vegetation Modelling to apply an eco-evolutionary optimality model of gross primary production to understand how climate changes during the Holocene have affected vegetation properties, and how these changes in turn have affected the isotopic composition of speleothem records.
Postdoctoral Researcher - Ecological Forecasting of Tree Resistance to Pathogens. Dublin
The E-PATH project aims to build an ecological forecasting tool based on plant ecophysiological models, to provide localised, short-term information on the probability and degree of infection and to what extent a tree can survive. The successful candidate will build upon an existing model (EDPest) and further develop and validate it to represent the climate, species, and management of Irish landscapes.
Postdoc position in Paleoecology & Paleogenomics, Bern
Within the framework of the SNSF Starting Grant project GENICA, a 3-year Postdoc position (with possibility of 1 or 2 years extension) is available at the Institute of Plant Sciences and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research of the University of Bern, Switzerland. GENICA aims to address the impact of past climate and human disturbance on mountain vegetation at different scales, from intraspecific genetic variation to local and regional vegetation dynamics, using pollen, plant macrofossils, and ancient DNA (aDNA) from plant remains preserved in cave ice archives.
PhD position in Paleoecology & Paleogenomics, Bern
As a PhD student you will study vegetation responses to climate change and human disturbance using innovative paleoecological and paleogenomic methods. The position involves fieldwork such as ice coring in the Pyrenees and the European Alps, microscopic analyses of pollen and plant macrofossils, the isolation of aDNA in a designated clean-air laboratory, and the analysis of paleoecological and paleogenomic data using advanced bioinformatic tools to assess genetic diversity variation.
John J. Willaman Director of Plant Science, Morris Arboretum & Gardens, Pennsylvania
At Morris Arboretum and Gardens of the University of Pennsylvania, the Director of Plant Science will lead the strategic development of the Plant Science programs. This role is pivotal in advancing MA&G as a recognized center for plant and environmental science, with a focus on providing scientifically objective information about floristics, ecology, and plant conservation in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Assistant Project Scientist- Shackel Lab, California
This position will deploy, manage, and analyze a multi-site and year on-farm plant-based irrigation management project in Walnuts. Deployment will consist of in-field installation of plant-based sensors and water meters. Management will involve remote monitoring and troubleshooting, as needed, of these sensors and water meters. Management will also involve coordination among farm advisors, growers, and sub-contractors to make sure that manual as well as automated data streams coming from the study are accurate and archived in a timely manner. Ongoing data analysis as well as yearly summaries and preparation of reports will be required.
Postdoctoral Scholar, Pennsylvania
The Kantor lab in Penn State University’s  Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology seeks one Postdoctoral Scholar to design, conduct, and analyze a comparative greenhouse host-range test of Litylenchus crenatae spp. mccanii (Lcm) nematode on native host species. The scholar will explore if any other North American native trees besides beech are hosts for the beech leaf nematode and will generate comparison data on resistance to beech leaf nematode.
Research Associate Professor/Research Professor & Director (Algae Center), Texas
Under limited supervision, serves as the primary research leader for the Prairie View Algae Center of Excellence (PACE) and Center of Smart Agriculture Solutions (CSAS), conducts and coordinates independent research and capacity building programs, and activities of PACE and CSAS, and develops and implements ongoing research and workforce training in collaboration with other algae-focused RD&D led by other scientists at PVAMU and external to PVAMU.
Assistant Professor of Turfgrass Science, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania State University is pleased to invite qualified applicants to apply for an Assistant Professor of Turfgrass Science position. This is a full-time (9-month) tenure-track faculty position in the Department of Plant Science in the College of Agricultural Sciences with a 50% teaching, 25% research and 25% extension appointment. The successful candidate will specialize in turfgrass science and bring expertise that complements and enhances the strengths of the current faculty. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, soil and nutrient management, water management, root biology and physiology and implementation of agricultural technologies of all types.
Post-Doctoral Associate, New Jersey
A post-doctoral position in the Department of Plant Biology at Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA – working in turfgrass pathology – is available immediately as a turfgrass industry grant funded project led by Dr. Ming-Yi Chou (lab website: sites.rutgers.edu/chou-lab). Post-doctoral Associate will work on multiple research foci including but not limited to 1) Developing molecular assay to study turf pathogen population genetics related to fungicide resistance, 2) Digital PCR analysis for the turfgrass foliar pathogen in samples collected from field trials and commercial operations, and 3) Fungicide efficacy field trials. The results obtained are expected to identify and understand novel strategies to control disease in turfgrass.
Purpose-grown Energy Crop Physiologist – Research Assistant/Associate/Full Professor, Tennessee
The University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute (UT-ORII) seeks highly qualified research faculty candidates to advance the knowledge and application of Purpose Grown Energy Crops Physiology, with an emphasis on perennial herbaceous and woody crops.