The Week in Botany January 26, 2026
It’s been another week to avoid social media. As a break from that, I’ve been fixing a project that I hope you’ll be able to see in February. As part of that I’ve been browsing plants of Western Australia on iNaturalist.
If I were to visit Australia, the west coast and the rain forest around [area] would be top of my wish list of places to visit. Seeing all the photos has only increased my desire. The plants are stunning on iNaturalist, but it feels like there’s an informal photo competition going on. The photos I’ve been seeing look far more artistic than they need to be. I need nine photos for the project and so far I have eighteen, so there’ll be at least a double dose.
This week’s AI OMG story is a German Plant Scientist’s experience with Chat GPT. He’s probably wishing schadenfreude wasn’t a thing. It didn’t appear in my list of highlighted papers, which surprised me, as it has an Altmetric score of 1530 after just three days. I’ve put it in anyway.
I have an unexpected trip to the hospital this week. So long as there isn’t an unexpected stay there, there will be another email of the papers and the news stories you’re sharing on Mastodon and Bluesky at the same time next week. Until next time, take care.
Alun (webmaster@botany.one)
On Botany One
The Guardians of the Fig: How Borneo’s Spirits Protect a Keystone Tree
In Borneo's forests, fear of spirits has achieved what many laws cannot: turning the farmland mosaic into safe sanctuaries for the jungle's largest trees.
From concrete jungles to living carpets: how moss on bioreceptive concrete can transform our cities
When you imagine a city of the future, do you still picture “concrete jungle”? A novel study shows how concrete can become a living surface for mosses.
Anything Goes When You Live in a Crack
New research shows that the plants thriving in parking lots succeed not just because they are tough, but because they spread their pollen and seeds in many different ways.
How plants know when they are too close to each other
Sorghum plants can sense nearby plants through chemicals in the soil water, and this makes them slow their growth, which helps explain why planting crops close together doesn’t always increase yields.
…and last’s week’s Week in Botany with coffee, drugs, efficient death and more.
News & Views
Trees Connect Us with Our Ancestors. When Trees Testify Explores the Powerful Link (Exclusive)
"We don’t have to just live with the memories of our ancestors," writes author Beronda L. Montgomery. "We can physically experience the same trees they did."
US science after a year of Trump
A series of graphics reveals how the Trump administration has sought historic cuts to science and the research workforce.
Meet the volunteer researchers behind TAIR12: Yasin Kaya, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research
Over the past two years TAIR has taken the lead in organizing a community effort to reannotate the Arabidopsis thaliana genome. The result is TAIR12, soon to be released on the European Nucleotide Archive (ENA). The project was only made possible through the work of nearly 100 volunteers based in labs all over the world who generously donated their time and expertise.
Turning over a new leaf: Macquarie’s rare plant collection goes digital
A new Atlas of Living Australia grant will help digitise 16,000 plant specimens at Macquarie University, filling critical gaps in national biodiversity data and making rare species records accessible to researchers worldwide.
Three stages of manuscript development – and why they matter to you as a mentor
When folks find out that Bethann Garramon Merkle and I have written a book called Teaching and Mentoring Writers in the Sciences: An Evidence-based Approach, they often ask: “What’s your #1 tip?”
Decline in botanical education threatens response to climate action and food security
A new international study reveals what inspires people to study plant biology, a subject essential for building the future workforce needed to address biodiversity loss, climate change, and food security.
Biodiversity collapse threatens UK security, intelligence chiefs warn
Ecosystem destruction will increase food shortages, disorder and mass migration, with effects already being felt
The Plant Postdoc Community
Inspired by the fantastic Future PI Slack, Plant Postdoc Slack is home for plant postdocs to discuss, explore, and support each other prepare for our future career path, both in academia and industry.
Q&A | ‘Without research, we cannot have a future where people and planet thrive’
Renowned botanist Sandra Knapp on her appointment as the NHM’s first director of research.
When two years of academic work vanished with a single click ($)
After turning off ChatGPT’s ‘data consent’ option, Marcel Bucher lost the work behind grant applications, teaching materials and publication drafts. Here’s what happened next.
Some of the story is behind Nature’s paywall, but you can also read about it at Futurism or io9.
New Teaching Tool, “Genomic Analysis of Botanical Collections”
We are pleased to announce the release of the latest unit in the Teaching Tools in Plant Biology series, “Genomic Analysis of Botanical Collections: Opportunities and Challenges,” by Martina Deglialberti, Chiara Paleni, Federico Fainelli, Carla Lambertini, and Silvia Manrique.
This Week in Botany
5 Years Ago: What plant is that? Testing out automated plant identification apps
10 Years Ago: Coping with phenol-rich foodstuffs
15 Years Ago: Patterns of resource allocation in a dioecious species
Scientific Papers
To grow or not to grow: NRT1.1B as a dual receptor for ABA and nitrate (FREE)
This Commentary highlights research showing that NRT1.1B acts as a dual receptor for nitrate and abscisic acid, enabling plants to balance growth and stress responses. By integrating nutrient and hormone signals, this mechanism explains how plants decide whether to continue or stop growing under fluctuating environmental conditions.
Ethylene modulates cell wall mechanics for root responses to compaction (FREE)
Soil stresses affect crop yields and present global agricultural challenges. Soil compaction triggers reduction in root length and radial expansion driven by the plant hormone ethylene. Here we report how ethylene controls cell wall biosynthesis to promote root radial expansion. Zhang et al. demonstrate how soil compaction stress, via ethylene, upregulates Auxin Response Factor1 in the root cortex, which represses cellulose synthase (CESA) genes.
A CRISPR-based sequence proximity binding protein labelling system for scanning upstream regulatory proteins ($)
Transcriptional regulation involves complex and dynamic protein–DNA interactions, which alter chromatin states and, consequently, regulate gene expression. In plants, current technologies face challenges in efficiently capturing dynamically DNA-binding proteins, especially transcription factors. By leveraging the binding ability of dead Cas9 to specific DNA fragments and the labelling capacity of the TurboID protein for adjacent proteins, Zhang have developed a CRISPR-based sequence proximity binding protein labelling system (CSPL) to detect promoter-binding proteins.
Read free via ReadCube: https://rdcu.be/e0F5j
Room for optimism: Editor–reviewer interaction networks reveal positive outcomes of enhanced board diversity (FREE)
Using data from 2004, 2014 and 2024, Nuñez et al constructed tripartite networks linking senior editors, associate editors and reviewers and quantified gender ratios, geographic diversity and network modularity. They also fitted generalized linear mixed models to test whether associate editors preferentially invited reviewers of the same gender or region and whether these patterns changed over time.
Paradigm shifts in flower color: An introduction (FREE)
Flower color plays a central role in pollination, functioning as one of the major traits attracting pollinators. The close relationship between flower color phenotypes and pollination has been studied extensively, and we are still learning about the intricacies of the role of flower color in plant–pollinator relationships.
Evolutionary adaptations to the hormonal regulation of vascular tissue development ($)
Vascular tissues are a hallmark of land plants, enabling long-distance transport and structural support. Although the interplay between auxin and cytokinin during vascular development is well characterized in few model plants, it remains unclear how conserved these regulatory networks are in other lineages. Unlike the vascular plants studied to date where cross-talk between these two phytohormones is observed during vascular tissue development, Xiao et al demonstrate that the lycophyte Selaginella moellendorffii employs a unique task separation strategy, with auxin and cytokinin exclusively controlling cell proliferation and differentiation, respectively.
Biomedical and life science articles by female researchers spend longer under review (FREE)
By analyzing all articles indexed in the PubMed database (>36.5 million articles published in >36,000 biomedical and life sciences journals), Alvarez-Ponce et al show that the median amount of time spent under review is 7.4%–14.6% longer for female-authored articles than for male-authored articles, and that differences remain significant after controlling for several factors.
Prototaxites fossils are structurally and chemically distinct from extinct and extant Fungi (FREE)
Loron et al investigate the affinity of Prototaxites by contrasting its organization and molecular composition with that of Fungi. They report that fossils of Prototaxites taiti from the 407-million-year-old Rhynie chert were chemically distinct from contemporaneous Fungi and structurally distinct from all known Fungi. This finding casts doubt upon the fungal affinity of Prototaxites, instead suggesting that this enigmatic organism is best assigned to an entirely extinct eukaryotic lineage.
The EPS-I exopolysaccharide transforms Ralstonia wilt pathogen biofilms into viscoelastic fluids for rapid dissemination in planta (FREE)
Cope-Arguello et al used a soft matter physics lens to demystify the cryptic role of a major virulence factor, the EPS-I exopolysaccharide. EPS-I transforms RSSC biofilms into viscoelastic fluids, a mechanical behavior not previously described for other microbial biofilms that are almost always viscoelastic solids. They demonstrate that the development of fluid biofilms was a key evolutionary innovation that enabled pathogenic success of these aggressive pathogens that rapidly wilt plants.
Tree diversity is changing across tropical Andean and Amazonian forests in response to global change (FREE)
Climate and atmospheric changes are impacting forest function and structure worldwide, but their effects on tropical forest diversity are unclear. Nowhere is the scientific challenge greater than in the Andes and the Amazon, which together include the world’s most diverse forests. Using 406 permanent plots spanning four decades of intact lowland and montane forest dynamics, Fadrique et al test for long-term change in species richness and assess the influence of climate and other variables. They show that, at a continental scale, species richness appears stable, but this masks substantial regional variation.
A negative feedback loop between TERMINAL FLOWER1 and LEAFY protects inflorescence indeterminacy ($)
Inflorescences of flowering plants adopt diverse genetically programmed and environmentally tuned architectures. By contrast, continued maintenance of the stem-cell pool within the apical meristem is unresponsive to environmental cues. Through a combination of modeling and experimentation in Arabidopsis, Huang reveal a negative feedback loop that buffers environmental signals.
In AoBC Publications
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.
Non-Executive NGI Programme Board Member, Norwich
We are looking to appoint an Independent Member for our Next Generation Infrastructure (NGI) Programme Board with significant experience in management of change involving major capital infrastructure investment and business change designed to enable the delivery of benefits. It may be advantageous for candidates to have recent experience as a member of an executive or non-executive board or committee and experience of successful leadership in an academic, research or commercial environment.
PhD Studentship: Root oxygen dynamics and development, Nottingham
The student will be part of a multidisciplinary effort to investigate the anatomical, physical and cellular factors that shape internal root environments. The project will explore how root organisation and environmental conditions combine to influence oxygen availability, and how these internal conditions vary across space and time.
Wales Officer (Priority Plants Project), Wales
The post holder will plan and deliver a three-year project which includes the planning of surveys, training botanical recorders in survey methodology, organising training/recording events, and the coordination, support and undertaking of surveys, as well as the day-to-day management of the project and reporting to funders. They will also support volunteers in Wales by facilitating other training (for example in plant identification and data management) and encouraging volunteer succession planning, skills development and capacity building.
Postdoctoral Researcher (Carella Group), Norwich
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Postdoctoral Researcher to join the Carella Group at the John Innes Centre, working on cutting-edge science in the field of Evo-MPMI (Evolutionary Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions).
Discovering Effector-NLR Interactions (URF-funded), London
The PhD project, funded by a Royal Society University Research Fellowship (URF), focuses on discovering how pathogen effectors interact with plant NLR (nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat) immune receptors. This research presents an exciting prospect for candidates to expand their skillset within a multidisciplinary research setting, combining computational approaches with experimental validation. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to work with advanced techniques including structural prediction tools, high-throughput screening assays, and biochemical characterization of protein complexes. This work will be conducted in a dynamic and supportive research environment, with access to state-of-the-art facilities and a network of international collaborators.
Bioengineering Plant NLR Immune Receptors (ERC-funded), London
The PhD project, funded by a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant, focuses on the bioengineering of plant NLR (nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat) immune receptors to enhance disease resistance in crops. This research presents an exciting prospect for candidates to expand their skillset within a multidisciplinary research setting, utilizing cutting-edge technologies that integrate protein biochemistry and synthetic biology. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to work with advanced techniques including Gibson Assembly and Golden Gate cloning for receptor engineering, high-throughput functional characterization of bioengineered immune receptors, and CRISPR genome editing. This work will be conducted in a dynamic and supportive research environment, with access to state-of-the-art facilities and a network of international collaborators.
Digitisation Assistant, Dublin
We are seeking a dedicated and passionate research assistant to assist the Herbarium Digitisation Coordinator to continue digitisation efforts at an increased pace within Trinity College Dublin herbarium. We also offer the opportunity for the candidate to present a passion project to work on one day a week alongside regular digitation efforts. This can be in many forms (i.e. Specific plant group of interest, collector, location, books etc). Successful candidates will include potential ideas in their application.
Director at MPI EvolBio, Plön
Research should have a strong focus on evolutionary biology in a broad sense and complement the wide-ranging interests of the Institute, which include the mechanistic bases of ecological and evolutionary processes, the evolution of multicellular organisms, the evolution of interactions within and between species, eco-evolutionary problems, the interplay between development and evolution, among others. The main criteria for a directorship are scientific and scholarly excellence and an innovative, ambitious research program, rather than seniority or publication rankings.
Postdoc Project: Multiscale, multiphysics, mathematical modelling of plant morphogenesis, Germany
In this project, the candidate will be expected to explore a range of fundamental and applied problems in mathematical modelling of plant morphogenesis based on these approaches. Depending on their preferences and abilities, this work may involve more numerical or analytical aspects.
Wissenschaftliche/r Mitarbeiter/in (m/w/d) für das Fachgebiet Geographie mit dem Forschungsschwerpunkt Dendrochronologie, Giessen
Die Stelle ist gemäß § 2 WissZeitVG und § 72 HessHG mit Gelegenheit zur eigenen wissenschaftlichen Qualifizierung befristet für die Dauer von zwei Jahren an der Professur für Klima-Umwelt-MenschBeziehungen, Institut für Geographie am Fachbereich Mathematik und Informatik, Physik, Geographie zu besetzen. Bei Vorliegen der tariflichen Voraussetzungen erfolgt die Vergütung nach Entgeltgruppe 13 TV-H.
PhD Position: growth-resilience trade-offs in plants, Groningen
This PhD project will dissect how distinct components of doing nothing (cell division, cell expansion, deposition of sugars into cell walls, maintenance costs), are regulated by the complex combination of resource, growth and stress signals. To do this end the project can make use of the contrasting behaviour between the model species Arabidopsis thaliana, that is bad at doing nothing when flooded, with the closely related Rorippa sylvestris, which excels at doing nothing when flooded. The project explores the hierarchy between resource, growth, and stress signals on control of growth cessation, builds regulatory networks using genome-scale technologies, and ultimately tests and validates hypotheses with gene-technologies.
PhD student in Ecology and Evolution, Stockholm
This PhD project focuses on the ecology and evolution of plant diseases and the organisms that feed on them (so-called hyperparasites, a parasite of a parasite). The hyperparasites we will focus on will be insects and fungi. As such, the project would suit anyone with a keen interest in plant pathogens, insects, food web ecology, species interactions and eco-evolutionary dynamics. We do not expect the applicant to be familiar with all of these fields before starting the PhD, but a passion to learn about all of them should naturally be there.
PhD student in Lichen Biology, Stockholm
A PhD position is available at the laboratory of Gulnara Tagirdzhanova. The project focuses on the biology of lichen symbiosis. Lichens, the archetypal fungal-algal symbiosis, present a major exception to our understanding of individuality. Lichen bodies, while looking like a single organism, consist of multiple unrelated lineages of microbes: fungi, unicellular algae, and bacteria. In isolation, these can be considered microorganisms. Within a lichen, however, the symbionts coordinate their growth, leading to a consistent body plan with multiple tissue types and conserved structures. The mechanisms behind these microbe-microbe interactions remain largely unknown.
Postdoc (2 years) in plant genomics with a focus on transposable elements, Umeå
Con-TEki investigates the role of transposable elements (TEs) as drivers of regulatory innovation in conifers (Norway spruce and Scots pine), contrasting outcomes with an angiosperm (aspen). The project combines genomic, epigenomic and 3D chromatin profiling (ATAC-Seq, easySHARE-Seq, ChIP-Seq, Micro-C/Hi-C, BS-Seq/EM-Seq), massively parallel enhancer assays (ATAC-STARR-seq), and comparative/bayesian/deep-learning analyses, with functional validation in spruce via CRISPR-Cas9 and nanoparticle delivery.
Post doctor (3 years) within mountain plant community and ecosystem processes across a globally distributed experiment, Umeå
The postdoctoral researcher will, in collaboration with the project leads and local collaborators, decide on a series of measurements to be performed across the WaRM experimental plots in the eight countries. These measurements should aim to best inform on how community and ecosystem properties, and aboveground-belowground linkages, are impacted by the three factors and their interactions, and whether or not these impacts operate in similar or different ways in mountains around the world. The postdoctoral researcher will coordinate these measurements and necessary samplings across the eight sites, and travel to the majority of them to guide these activities. They will also lead the analysis of the resulting data and the writing of manuscripts targeted at major journals. The research will be generously funded through a 5-year grant from the Wallenberg Scholars award scheme.
