🌻 The Week in Botany January 27, 2025
I now have a writing plan for the week. If it works, then I should be able to start compiling this on a Friday instead of late on a Sunday evening. I’m sure that I’ve said a variant of this many times, but maybe the 403rd time’s the charm.
One of the changes I’m making is how I’m sourcing stories. If I see a dozen people highlighting a paper on social media, I’m going to try taking the hint, and produce a News in Brief story on it. This is easier than it sounds, because when you start doing that it becomes painfully obvious that there’s more good science being done then you can sensibly cover. However, I’m going to see if I can start putting out stories seven days a week, so there might be a little more than usual next week.
I’ve also been experimenting with formats. I tried a Buzzfeed-style listicle for the first time in a long while this week. I tried to make it a little less lightweight than Buzzfeed by keeping it anchored to the original paper. It turned out to be the most popular post I’d put out for a while. That doesn’t mean that everything will be Buzzfeeded now (9 Epigenetic Modifications That Silence Transposons etc.), but I might use the weekend posts to experiment with different formats of writing. Limericks like “There once was a green chloroplast…” won’t be happening.
There will be another email of the papers you’re sharing on Mastodon, Bluesky, and Twitter next week. Until next week, take care.
Alun (webmaster@botany.one)
On Botany One
#InBrief
News & Views
This Ghostly Plant is Alive and Well in Wisconsin
the Ghost Pipe Plant, is a plant – not a fungus – and it’s native to our neck of the woods.
@willowwilder.bsky.social
An Ancient Grapevine Uncorks Clues About a Deadly Plant Pathogen
Bacterial DNA isolated from a 120-year-old preserved plant cutting helped reconstruct the history of Pierce’s disease in grapevines.
2024 Black History Month: Black Plant Scientists Spotlight
This year, and hopefully for the foreseeable future, I am presenting another list consisting of 29 Black Botanists on Plantae. I moved my list to this platform to have a safe place to highlight the profiles of these scientists and to recognize other outstanding Black Botanists that do not have social media platforms.
@kcox-bioguy.bsky.social
How Invasive Plants Are Fueling California’s Wildfire Crisis
Non-native grasses and eucalyptus trees were brought to California centuries ago for agriculture and landscaping, but they’ve changed the state’s natural fire dynamics.
Stinky bloom of 'corpse flower' enthrals thousands
An endangered plant known as the "corpse flower" for its putrid stink is blooming in Australia - and captivating the internet in the process, with thousands already tuned in to a livestream to witness its grand debut.
@davidbflower.bsky.social
See also: Rare plant emits a stink of death when it blooms. Thousands queued to get close to it. and also Visitors Flock to New York Botanic Garden for a Whiff of a Flower That Smells Like a Rotting Corpse
Flexible cell walls
Plant cells use the pressure from their neighbours to find out how those neighbours are faring. Now a group of international scientists show in Developmental Cell that flexibility of the cells own cell wall determines the subsequent response.
@plantenzo.bsky.social
An orchid uses a finger-like appendage to pollinate itself
More than 130 years after a fungus-eating orchid species was discovered, the purpose of its mysterious appendage has been revealed.
Trees might not be acting in the way we thought - this forest fitted with pipes can tell us why
By simulating the future atmosphere, scientists hope to understand whether trees will continue to act as the lungs of the planet.
@laylugli.bsky.social
Why scientists are enlisting fungi to save endangered plants
The mycorrhizae that live among and in plant roots can boost the health of certain species, and even whole ecosystems — but scientists warn against a one-size-fits-all approach.
High fertiliser use halves numbers of pollinators, world’s longest study finds
Even average use of nitrogen fertilisers cut flower numbers fivefold and halved pollinating insects.
@rothamsted.bsky.social
Scientific Papers
Wildfires offset the increasing but spatially heterogeneous Arctic–boreal CO2 uptake (FREE)
Virkkala et al use a new compilation of terrestrial ecosystem CO2 fluxes, geospatial datasets and random forest models to show that although the Arctic–Boreal Zone was overall an increasing terrestrial CO2 sink from 2001 to 2020 (mean ± standard deviation in net ecosystem exchange, −548 ± 140 Tg C yr−1; trend, −14 Tg C yr−1; P < 0.001), more than 30% of the region was a net CO2 source.
Leveraging a phased pangenome for haplotype design of hybrid potato (FREE)
Cheng et al develop a phased potato pangenome graph of 60 haplotypes from cultivated diploids and the ancestral wild species, and find evidence for the prevalence of transposable elements in generating structural variants.
@plantevolution.bsky.social
Consistent soil organic carbon accumulation under hedges driven by increase in light particulate organic matter (FREE)
Hedgerow planting is recommended by biodiversity policies and those that promote the inclusion of woody plants in agricultural landscapes to sequester atmospheric carbon into the soil. However, the extent and variability of soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration under hedges are not known. Biffi et al measured SOC stock beneath hedges in five pedoclimatic conditions in the UK to quantify the SOC sequestration potential associated with hedgerow planting.
A map of the rubisco biochemical landscape (FREE)
Prywes et al developed a massively parallel assay, using an engineered Escherichia coli in which enzyme activity is coupled to growth, to systematically map the sequence–function landscape of rubisco.
@leesweetlove.bsky.social
From Lesions to Lessons: Two Decades of Filamentous Plant Pathogen Genomics (FREE)
Genomics revolutionized our understanding of plant pathogens over 20 years, helping combat crop diseases that threaten global food security through advanced research and diagnostics. Fagundes et al present important technological advances and lessons we learned from the past two decades of filamentous plant pathogen genomics, with a focus on cereal diseases.
Auto-fluorescent phytoliths: can we detect past fires in tropical and subtropical contexts? ($)
To understand human practices and landscape evolution it is crucial to be able to trace evidence of past fires, notably in tropical environments. In such anthromes, phytoliths are generally well preserved and provide local signals on the environment. However, the different approaches to identifying burnt or heated phytoliths have proved inadequate. The recent investigation of auto-fluorescent phytoliths as proxy indicators of fire opens up new possibilities, however such studies have so far been limited to European temperate regions.
Read free via: https://rdcu.be/d7ArR
@martinjhodson.bsky.social
Concurrent common fungal networks formed by different guilds of fungi (FREE)
Rillig et al propose expanding studies beyond mycorrhizal fungi networks to examine Common Fungal Networks (CFNs), which include parasitic, endophytic, and saprobic fungi. These networks may interact, affecting plant growth and soil processes through complementary or competing mechanisms.
Born of frustration: the emergence of Camelina sativa as a platform for lipid biotechnology. (FREE)
Haslam et al provide a summary of seed fatty acid synthesis and oil assembly in camelina, highlighting how discovery research in camelina supports the advance of metabolic engineering towards the predictive manipulation of metabolism to produce desirable bio-based products.
Resolving spatially distinct phytohormone response zones in Arabidopsis thaliana roots colonized by Fusarium oxysporum (FREE)
Jasmonic acid (JA), ethylene (ET) and salicylic acid (SA) are the three major phytohormones coordinating plant defense responses, and all three are implicated in the defense against the fungal pathogen Fusarium oxysporum. However, their distinct modes of action and possible interactions remain unknown, in part because all spatial information on their activity is lacking. Calabria et al set out to probe this spatial aspect of plant immunity by using live-microscopy with newly developed fluorescence-based transcriptional reporter lines.
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.
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.
Postdoctoral Research Associate in Plant Molecular Biology, Oxford
The post holder will lead a project investigating how the evolution of self-fertilization impacts genome and epigenome variation. The selected candidate will analyze Capsella species representing multiple independent transitions to selfing to identify common (epi)genomic features associated with this mating system transition, including host defenses against transposons and collateral impacts on nearby genes. This project is part of a larger effort in the Mosher lab in collaboration with the University of Georgia.
Technician in Plant Nematology, Leeds
Potato growers regularly consider potato cyst nematodes as their biggest concern due to their widespread presence, ability to devastate yields, and their ability to lay dormant for >30yrs waiting for a host to parasitise.This project, titled “Waste to weapon: agricultural waste-derived pest control”, will develop a system to generate sustainable and environmentally friendly nematicides from waste potato tubers. You will work on a day-to-day basis within the host research group in both the labroatory and glasshouses to develop the system and test its application.
Genomics Researcher, Lincolnshire
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Genomics Specialist to join our Lab Team within the R&D department at Elsoms Seeds Ltd. Your role will be to work in our dedicated laboratories managing the internal and external genomics research projects.
W3 Professorship in Plant Ecology and Biological Climate Impact Research, Goettingen
For this professorship, we are looking for a team-oriented and committed internationally renowned person who is active in the field of experimental and empirical plant ecology in research and teaching. The professorship should work on the experimental investigation of responses of vascular, preferably woody, plants and ecosystems to changing climatic factors and the analysis of abiotic (especially thermal and hygric) limits of plant vitality.
Postdoc UV-B Perception and Signalling in Plants, Geneva
Applications are invited for a postdoc position to study UV-B perception and signalling in plants. We are looking for a talented and creative new member of our team. You should have very recently received (<6 months) or expect to soon receive a PhD degree, and have (or are close to have) at least one first-author publication in a major international journal. Previous substantial experience with molecular biology, biochemistry, imaging techniques, or related, is essential.
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.
CREC Fruit Project Manager, North Dakota
This position will oversee the day to day management and overall direction of the horticulture program at the Carrington Research Extension Center. The focus of the current project is shrub and tree fruit production. This project will support constituents through research and education efforts that impact commercial and residential fruit producers in North Dakota and beyond.
Assistant Professor in Quantitative Genetics, Quebec
The Department of Biological Sciences at the Université de Montréal is seeking applications for a full-time tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor to develop an innovative and internationally competitive research program related to quantitative genetics that can integrate a variety of approaches (theoretical, experimental, etc.) where plants are the object of study or an integral part of the studied systems.
Education & Partnerships Specialist, Auckland
Do you have proven experience in working within horticulture or another environmental-related setting? Do you have a passion for plants and the ability to convey your knowledge to others in our community? This role will combine your knowledge, passion and communication skills including public speaking in a variety of ways. Key aspects of the role include delivering community-based education programmes, coordinating interpretation projects and programmes including walks, talks, displays, brochure and worksheet collateral and digital-based information. With over 100 volunteers this role is also responsible for coordinating the volunteer programme with the support of other staff.
…and if you’ve got to the end of the newsletter.
There once was a green chloroplast,
Converting the sunlight amassed,
Through grana galore,
Each thylakoid core,
Made glucose from light flowing past.