š» The Week in Botany June 17, 2024
Thereās controversy this week. A popular television show has been accused of appalling its viewers in its depiction of (plant) sex.
Thereās also been a lot of discussion linking to this paper from four years ago arguing against plant intelligence. I thought it might be related to a book review, listed below, but it was a heated argument about veganism.
Thereāll be another round-up of the links you share on Mastodon, Bluesky, Twitter and LinkedIn at the usual time next week. Until then, take care.
Alun (webmaster@botany.one)
News & Views
Simply Looking At The Natural World Can Improve Well-Being
Although most of us do recognize that nature benefits the human psyche and soul, we donāt really know what, precisely, it is about nature that is so beneficial.
DNA study shows snow leopards eat a lot of things ā including plants
New research has revealed that snow leopards have surprisingly broad dietary habits that challenge our understanding of them.
Underwater gardeners plant eelgrass to save 'dead' Danish fjord
Under a white tent on the shores of a polluted Danish fjord, volunteers and researchers prepare slender green shoots of eelgrass to be planted on the seabed to help restore the site's damaged ecosystem.
A New Book About Plant Intelligence Highlights the Messiness of Scientific Change
In āThe Light Eaters,ā by ZoĆ« Schlanger, the field of botany itself functions as a characterāone in the process of undergoing a potentially radical transformation.
Bridgertonās flowers are pure fantasy
Many raised their eyebrows at the sex scenes; I was outraged that anybody thought wisteria, apple trees and roses bloom simultaneously.
Blend of machine learning, botany unlocks secrets of ancient Greece
This summer in Greece, the Yale Ancient Pharmacology Program will employ its unique interdisciplinary approach to uncover ancient secrets.
Wildfires are raging in Nepal ā climate change isnāt the only culprit
Fire predictions pushed to localsā smartphones could save forests, and lives, say researchers.
Rare āAbsolutely Tinyā Plant, Not Seen for More Than a Century, Found in Vermont
The last time a botanist recorded a sighting of false mermaid-weed in the state was in 1916.
Extraordinary "Corpse Flower" Blooms In Kew Gardens And We Were There To See It
It takes 7-9 years to bloom and only lasts for a day or two so it's quite the sight.
N.S. community planted 7 palm trees as an experiment. None of them survived
Dartmouth councillor says palm trees āspread a little joy,ā but could not withstand Maritime winters. N.S., for people outside Canada, is Nova Scotia.
Scientific Papers
Factors associated with seedling establishment on logs of different fungal decay typesāA seed-sowing experiment (OA)
Fukasawa, & Kitabatake examined the germination, growth, and survival of six arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and six ectomycorrhizal (ECM) tree species on three substrates (pine logs with brown and white rot and soil) by conducting seed-sowing experiments in a mixed forest dominated by Pinus densiflora and Quercus serrata.
Domestication of rice may have changed its arbuscular mycorrhizal properties by modifying phosphorus nutrition-related traits and decreasing symbiotic compatibility ($)
This study compared AM properties between a collection of wild (Oryza rufipogon) and domesticated rice genotypes and investigated the mechanisms underlying their differences by analyzing physiological, genomic, transcriptomic, and metabolomic traits critical for AM symbiosis.
Increasing numbers of global change stressors reduce soil carbon worldwide ($)
SĆ”ez-Sandino et al show that increases in the number of global change stressors simultaneously exceeding mediumāhigh levels of stress (that is, relative to their maximum levels observed in nature) are negatively and significantly correlated with soil C stocks and mineral association across global biomes, using 1,880 surface soil samples from 68 countries across all continents.
https://rdcu.be/dJ9uW
The nucleotide-binding domain of NRC-dependent disease resistance proteins is sufficient to activate downstream helper NLR oligomerization and immune signaling (OA)
Contreras et al used Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transient expression in Nicotiana benthamiana to show that the nucleotide-binding (NB) domain within the NB-ARC of Rx is necessary and sufficient for oligomerization and immune signaling of downstream helper NLRs.
Stomatal evolution and plant adaptation to future climate (OA)
Chen et al review stomatal evolution and diversity, providing fossil and phylogenetic evidence of their origins.
Impatiens yingjingensis (Balsaminaceae), a new species from Sichuan, China (OA)
This study describes Impatiens yingjingensis X.Q. Song, B.N. Song & Biao Yang, sp. nov., a new species collected from the Yingjing area of the Giant Panda National Park.
Structure, function, and assembly of photosystem I in thylakoid membranes of vascular plants (OA)
Rolo et al focus on the biogenesis of the terminal protein supercomplex of the photosynthetic electron transport chain, photosystem I (PSI), in vascular plants. They summarize our current knowledge of the assembly process and the factors involved, and describe the challenges associated with resolving the assembly pathway in molecular detail.
CRISPR/Cas9-induced knockout of an amino acid permease gene (AAP6) reduced Arabidopsis thaliana susceptibility to Meloidogyne incognita (OA)
RNAi crops that manage nematode infection are yet to be commercialized because of the regulatory hurdles associated with transgenic crops. The deployment of the CRISPR/Cas9 system to improve nematode tolerance (by knocking out the susceptibility factors) in plants has emerged as a feasible alternative lately.
First report of Ug99 Wheat Stem Rust caused by Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici in South Asia ($)
In November 2023, an off-season rust survey was conducted in Marpha, Gandaki and Bagmati provinces in Nepal. Rust was only observed at two sites, Dangdunge of Dolakha district and Mude of Sindhupalchok district, where spring wheat was grown as fodder crop outside the main cropping season.
Induced resistance to herbivory and the intelligent plant (OA)
Kessler & Mueller identify integrative priming of defense responses as a mechanism that allows plants to mitigate potential costs associated with acting on false information.
In AoBC Publications
Careers
Palaeobotany Research Assistant, Edinburgh
We are looking for a palaeobotany research assistant to lead a project to characterise the evolution of phyllotaxis and rhizotaxy. The project is based in the lab of Dr Sandy Hetherington (The Molecular Palaeobotany and Evolution Group www.ed.ac.uk/biology/groups/hetherington) in the Institute of Molecular Plant Sciences.
Research Specialist, North Carolina
The Research Specialist will serve as an inspector, seed certification consultant, auditor, and promoter of seed certification for NCCIA. The duties of this position are quite diverse and require a great deal of flexibility, adaptability, seed production knowledge, and the desire to learn.
Assistant Professor Soilless Plant Culture, Kentucky
This is a tenure-track, research, teaching, and extension position with Kentucky State University's 1890 Land-Grant Program. The faculty member is expected to conduct research in soilless culture and provide statewide extension support to train extension professionals about soilless plant culture with a particular focus on limited-resource and small farms, and low-income communities.
Postdoctoral Scholar - Chopra Lab, Pennsylvania
The Chopra Lab at The Pennsylvania State University is seeking a Postdoctoral Scholar. The position will focus on understanding epigenetic regulation during kernel development in maize. A Ph.D. in plant molecular genetics/plant physiology or related field of plant biology is the minimum qualification.
Fellow (Post Doc), Kansas
The Agronomy Department at Kansas State University in Manhattan, KS is looking for a research Fellow (Post Doc) to work on wheat resistance to insect. The selected candidate will conduct independent research to identify sequence variations associated with wheat insect resistance using various genomic and biotechnological tools, conduct fine mapping to identify candidate genes that underlines resistance, develop diagnostic markers or haplotypes for the genes to be used in breeding, investigate the gene functions and its interaction with other genes, prepare data and write manuscripts for meeting presentations and publications.
Extension Agent III to Extension Agent IV (Extension Plant Pathology), Guam
This position is a 12-month tenure-track Extension faculty position in Plant Pathology within the Agriculture and Natural Resources Program of the University of Guam Cooperative Extension Service. The primary role of this position is designated as "Extension and Community Outreach". In this role the faculty member will review past accomplishments and conduct needs assessments to develop a knowledge base of Plant Pathology issues and factors affecting the island and region.
Postdoctoral Scholar with Wildfire Resilience Initiative in Dept of Geography, California
The Department of Geography, at the University of California, Santa Barbara seeks a qualified candidate for a post-doctoral research position with a primary focus on wildfire fuels, fire behavior and management within the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI). Qualified applicants must have an interest in wildfire related research, preferably with training in remote sensing, geographic information science, spatial statistical modeling, and fire ecology.