🌻 The Week in Botany June 3, 2024
There’s a slight delay to this week’s email as it was scheduled at 11pm last night, but obviously not scheduled correctly. I’ll now be paranoid about the other deadlines that I thought I’d hit on Sunday.
I should have more time to work with next week, when there’ll be another email of what's getting shared on Mastodon, Bluesky, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Until then, take care.
Alun (webmaster@botany.one)
In AoBC Journals
Advancing Fine Branch Biomass Estimation with Lidar and Structural Models ($)
Clonal integration benefits Calystegia soldanella in heterogeneous habitats (OA)
News & Views
Scientists transplant soil fungi in race to save world’s threatened orchids
Display at Chelsea flower show highlights work in UK and US to bring orchid habitats back to health
Extinct ‘mountain jewel’ plant returned to wild - in secret location
A plant that went extinct in the wild has been re-introduced to the UK mainland. We can’t tell you the exact location - it’s a secret, to keep it safe. It’s just one small plant but with one in six species in the UK endangered, you’ve got to start somewhere.
Small fern species has a genome 50 times larger than that of humans
A small fern found only on a few Pacific islands has more than 100 metres of DNA in every single cell, more than any other organism that we know of.
AI uncovers how plant science evolved
A new AI analysis of plant biology papers reveals what research topics countries are prioritizing and how different tools and technologies have steered the field.
‘A catastrophe’: Greenpeace blocks planting of ‘lifesaving’ Golden Rice
Thousands of children could die after court backs campaign group over GM crop in Philippines, scientists warn.
Only the Hardiest Trees Can Survive Today’s Urban Inferno
In a rapidly warming world, cities need more tree cover to stay cool—but only certain species can handle soaring temperatures, and often they aren’t native species.
Where the wild things are: the untapped potential of our gardens, parks and balconies
Gardens could be part of the solution to the climate and biodiversity crisis. But what are we doing? Disappearing them beneath plastic and paving.
AI helping find 'world's loneliest plant' a partner
Artificial intelligence is being used in the hunt to find an endangered male plant, described as the world's loneliest, a female partner.
Vt. wildlife botanists ‘rediscover’ false mermaid-weed
A rare plant not seen in the state since 1916 and believed to be locally extinct has been found along a stream in Addison County.
Tropical plants return to the SS Great Britain
Tropical plants that were once transported on board the SS Great Britain have returned to the Bristol-based ship, for the first time in more than a century.
Scientific Papers
Physiochemical interaction between osmotic stress and a bacterial exometabolite promotes plant disease (OA)
Getzke et al demonstrate that application of sodium chloride (NaCl) in natural and gnotobiotic soil systems is sufficient to induce plant disease caused by an otherwise non-pathogenic root-derived Pseudomonas brassicacearum isolate (R401).
Microbial nitrogen immobilization as a tool to manage weeds in agroecosystems (OA)
Harnessing the activity of soil microorganisms is currently underutilized in sustainable agricultural management. One such underutilized microbial approach, referred to as reverse fertilization, is a practice that involves introducing substantial quantities of high carbon:nitrogen (C:N) amendments into the soil.
Parental conflict driven regulation of endosperm cellularization by a family of Auxin Response Factors (OA)
Butel et al uncover the involvement of a family of clustered auxin response factors (cARFs) as dosage-sensitive regulators of endosperm cellularization. cARFs, maternally expressed and paternally silenced, are shown to induce cellularization, thereby restricting seed growth. Their findings align with the predictions of the parental conflict theory, suggesting that cARFs represent major molecular targets in this conflict.
Twenty years of big plant genera (OA)
Moonlight et al use data from the World Flora Online (WFO) to provide an updated list of big (more than 500 species) and megadiverse (more than 1000 species) flowering plant genera and highlight changes since 2004.
After silencing suppression: miRNA targets strike back ($)
Silvestri et al review how plant miRNA targets play a crucial role in immune responses against different pathogens.
The need for mechanistic explanations in (seed) ecology (OA)
Researchers with sufficient technical skills in data management can now study global patterns and produce numerically sophisticated and apparently robust papers, without a clear hypothesis to test nor attempt to interpret any patterns from a mechanistic perspective.
Are Northern Hemisphere boreal forest fires more sensitive to future aerosol mitigation than to greenhouse gas–driven warming? (OA)
Allen et al use the Community Earth System Model version 2 to show that future anthropogenic aerosol mitigation yields larger increases in fire activity in the Northern Hemisphere boreal forests, relative to a base simulation that lacks climate policy and has large increases in greenhouse gases.
A Near Infrared Fluorescent Nanosensor for Spatial and Dynamic Measurements of Auxin, Indole-3-Acetic Acid, in Planta
Thinh Khong et al introduce a novel near infrared fluorescent nanosensor for spatial and temporal measurement of IAA in planta using Corona Phase Molecular Recognition.
Beyond the visible: Accounting for ultraviolet and far-red radiation in vegetation productivity and surface energy budgets ($)
Wang et al explored how canopy radiative transfer (RT) and photosynthesis are impacted when explicitly implementing UV in the canopy RT model and accounting for UV and FR in the photosynthesis models within a next-generation land surface model that can simulate hyperspectral canopy RT.
Resurgence of wheat stem rust infections in western Europe: causes and how to curtail them (OA)
Ten years ago, (black) stem rust – the most damaging of wheat (Triticum aestivum) rusts – re-emerged in western Europe. Disease incidences have since increased in scale and frequency. Lewis et al investigate the likely underlying causes and used those to propose urgently needed mitigating actions.
Careers
Research Scientist, Norwich
As part of the Cellular Genomics institute-wide programme, the candidate will join a multi-disciplinary team to analyse single-cell and spatial transcriptomic datasets. They will use these approaches to explore circadian clock function with single-cell resolution.
Research Associate in Quantitative Genetics, Biometrics, and Breeding, Edinburgh
The Roslin Institute (Edinburgh) has been awarded an Impact Acceleration Award (IAA) with a global plant breeding company to further develop stability metrics for crop breeding programmes. We seek an independent and motivated Research Associate to drive this impactful project. The post-holder will conduct research and implementation of quantitative genetics, biometrics and breeding with a focus on state-of-the-art statistical models and tools for improving and developing more stable crop genotypes.
Research Associate/Research Assistant - Plant Microbial Interactions, Cambridge
Applications are invited for a Post-doctoral Research Associate/Assistant position in the group of Dr Sebastian Schornack (www.schornacklab.net, twitter: @dromius) at the Sainsbury Laboratory (SLCU), Cambridge University, to study plant cell and developmental processes underpinning microbial colonisation.
Research Assistant/Research Associate in Biosecurity, Newcastle
The Cyanobacteria Engineering for Restoring Environments (CYBER) project aims to develop the foundational multidisciplinary tools needed to de-risk environmentally focused engineering biology and ultimately support its future deployment into real-world ecosystems. We are looking for candidates with a background in microbial (and ideally plants) bioinformatics.
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Oxford
We are recruiting a Postdoctoral Research Associate to co-ordinate and undertake a programme of research as part of a new project entitled ‘A Biodiversity Baseline for the Begbroke Innovation District’. Our project will focus on the site of a major new infrastructure project near Oxford comprising an expanded Science Park alongside new homes, schools, businesses, community facilities and public green space. This development provides a unique opportunity for impactful research on implementing sustainable infrastructure and housing developments, including their potential to achieve nature recovery.
Research Assistant - Pest & Pathogen Ecology, Kent
We are recruiting an organised, hard-working individual to join our friendly and busy team to help in the delivery of a wide range of research projects and commercial trials in the area of Horticultural Trials within the Pest and Pathogen Ecology Team.
Post Doc Research Fellow, North Dakota
We seek a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to join the Geddes lab in the Department of Microbiological Sciences at North Dakota State University. The Postdoctoral Research Fellow will investigate how microbes successfully colonize plant microbiomes including phylosphere, root endosphere compartments.
Assistant Professor of Agronomy - Aquatic Plant Management Specialist, Florida
This is a 12-month tenure-accruing position, appointed as 60% research (Florida Agricultural Experiment Station) and 40% extension (Florida Cooperative Extension Service), available in the Agronomy Department, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, at the University of Florida. The assignment may change in accordance with the needs of the unit.
Plant and Soil Science Instructor, Washington
Walla Walla Community College (WWCC) is seeking applicants for a full-time, tenure-track Plant & Soil Science Instructor at the Walla Walla campus beginning fall quarter 2024.
Agricultural/Food Scientist II, Florida
Work closely with lab personnel, PI, and collaborative farm managers to plan and conduct research and extension in water resources and quality. Current research includes two programs on Best Management Practices to improve water quality out of these collaborative farms and evaluation of ecosystem services of bioenergy cane.
Postdoctoral Research in Tree-Fungal Mutualism, California
Applications are invited for a postdoctoral scholar to engage in research on tree-ectomycorrhizal mutualisms. The postdoc will have the opportunity to work on one of a number of active research projects in the Moeller Lab at the University of California, Santa Barbara, using greenhouse and/or field studies to understand the community ecology of plant-fungal associations.
Visiting Assistant Professor, Botany, Texas
The Department of Biology seeks candidates to teach junior level Botany. Teaching responsibilities will also include instruction in lower courses as needed. This position will provide a one-year, terminal contract that begins in Fall 2024.
Unit 18 Lecturer Academic Year 2024-2025, Dept Of Plant Sciences, California
The Department of Plant Sciences offers temporary Lecturer positions in the Plant Sciences.