The Week in Botany June 30, 2025
After a couple of weeks being on top of the newsletter, this week is a late night, as I try to finish so I can take a week off.
I’ve been trying to do something with press releases to help me make time. I know some blogs are happy with reproducing press releases, but I’m not comfortable with that. One reason is that I should at least try to add something more that you won’t get from just reading the press release. Another is that if I’m going to be lazy, why not just point people to the original source instead of copy / pasting it?
The result this week is that some of the stories are press releases, but with added context. In the longer term, I’ve tended to avoid looking at press releases when I look for papers to blog, as I prefer to decide what’s interesting myself - but this does mean missing some interesting stories because they had a press release. What I’ll look at when I’m back is whether I can mix in up to one press release with context story in with original blog posts each day, so the press release posts are extra, instead of in place of original posts.
Despite taking the week off, there will be another email of the papers and the news stories you’re sharing on Mastodon and Bluesky next week. Until next time, take care.
Alun (webmaster@botany.one)
On Botany One
Rocío Deanna: Tracing Plant Diversity from Fossils to Ecosystems
Botany One interviews Dr Rocío Deanna, an Argentinian botanist fascinated by the evolution of the Solanaceae family.
Desert cities get powerful tree shade but miss out on the cooling effect that works elsewhere
Las Vegas trees create 17°C shade oases but can't cool city air like temperate climates due to desert adaptations that limit transpiration.
Caterpillars Deploy Molecular Sabotage Against Plants
Scientists have discovered caterpillars inject chemical weapons into plants that shut down defences before they can even form.
Early Agriculture Was About Innovation Not Desperation
Isotope analysis reveals agricultural transition in the Andes was marked by remarkable stability, not the crisis archaeologists long assumed drove farming elsewhere.
…and last’s week’s Week in Botany that had extreme weather in the Amazon, extreme control of agriculture, David Alors on the challenges of expeditions, and more...
News & Views
“Rates of Warming are Unprecedented” Scientists Warn in Latest Dire Assessment
Unless carbon emissions and fossil fuel use are slashed drastically, global heating could surpass the limits set out in the Paris Agreement.
Heat domes and flooding have nearly tripled since the ’50s
New research led by Michael E. Mann links a surge in stalled jet stream events to human-driven climate change, with major implications for future heatwaves, wildfires, and floods.
I published my first letter-to-the-editor as part of the McClintock Letters initiative!
To change minds, we need to reach people with our message. A group of graduate students came up with the idea to encourage scientists to publish letters in local newspapers in towns where they have a connection. The goal was to reach people outside of our academic bubbles.
‘This is bull——': National Science Foundation employees protest HUD's takeover
The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced it's moving into the foundation's building in Alexandria, Virginia.
AI, peer review and the human activity of science
When researchers cede their scientific judgement to machines, we lose something important.
Mountains can meet: farming the desert with microbes, not fertilizers
In the harsh deserts of southern Algeria, scientists like Nadjette Djemouai are uncovering the power of native microbes to support sustainable agriculture. With support from GetGenome, they’re bringing genomics to the frontlines of climate resilience.
The Doñana Biological Station urges world leaders to act swiftly on biodiversity loss and climate change
“We feel a responsibility to speak out,” declares the scientists of the Doñana Biological Station (CSIC) in a statement, as they witness daily the alarming and accelerating loss of biodiversity and ecosystem degradation in Doñana and across many regions of the world.
Can evolution save ash trees from dieback?
How a group of scientists have found hope for ash trees by proving a 100 year-old evolutionary concept.
Exotic plant blooms for first time in world garden
An exotic plant from Mexico has flowered for the first time in more than 15 years after being donated to a Kent tourist attraction.
Native trees to bring back green cover on 50 hectares of forest
The Forest Department will plant a total of 30,000 saplings of native trees in forest patches of Madukkarai forest range where invasive plant species were removed before the onset of the southwest monsoon.
Scientific Papers
Brassinosteroids promote pollen tube guidance by coordinating gene expression in male and female reproductive tissues (FREE)
This study characterizes the molecular functions of both brassinolide and castasterone in promoting pollen tube guidance by regulating gene expression in male and female reproductive tissues.
KIL transcription factors facilitate embryo growth in maize by promoting endosperm elimination via lytic cell death ($)
Using single-cell transcriptome analysis, Doll et al identified two NAC transcription factors, KIRA-LIKE 1 (KIL1) and 2 (KIL2), as specifically upregulated in the EAS. Analyses using dominant and recessive loss-of-function kil mutants demonstrate that these genes redundantly promote cell death and corpse clearance in the EAS, but are not required for SE cell death.
Root water uptake depth in temperate forest trees: species-specific patterns shaped by neighbourhood and environment (FREE)
Hackmann et al used stable water isotopes to study water uptake depth in pure and mixed stands of European beech (Fagus sylvatica), Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), and Norway spruce (Picea abies). Investigations included natural abundance sampling at four sites, and a weekly subsoil tracer experiment (1 m mineral soil depth) at one of these sites.
Gene regulatory network analysis of somatic embryogenesis identifies morphogenic genes that increase maize transformation frequency (FREE)
Renema et al co-expressed BABY BOOM and WUSCHEL2 in zygotic maize (Zea mays L.) embryos and studied gene regulatory networks in induced somatic embryos at the single-cell level.
High tree diversity exposed to unprecedented macroclimatic conditions even under minimal anthropogenic climate change ($)
Trees play key roles in terrestrial ecosystems but are sensitive to large climatic changes. Boonman et al’s work quantifies end-of-century climate change exposure–shifts to species’ currently unoccupied climate zones–for 32,089 tree species globally.
Too poor to science: How wealth determines who succeeds in STEM (FREE)
STEM is profoundly shaped by wealth, yet financial privilege is rarely acknowledged in discussions of diversity and inclusion. Wealth influences participation, persistence, and recognition in science, affecting not just who enters the pipeline but also who can afford to stay.
Rapid polygenic adaptation in a wild population of ash trees under a novel fungal epidemic ($)
Metheringham et al. looked at genomic changes in the European ash, Fraxinus excelsior, the numbers of which have been decimated in recent decades by a fungal pathogen, Hymenoscyphus fraxineus. They found that a previously generated list of about 8000 potential variants showed significant differences in allele frequencies between juvenile and adult trees, and these differences were larger than randomly selected variants. This result suggests that polygenic adaptation may indeed be occurring in this population and that some of these variants may point to intervention targets.
Transgene- and tissue culture-free heritable genome editing using RNA virus-based delivery in wheat ($)
Qiao et al engineered barley yellow striate mosaic virus (BYSMV) into a negative-strand RNA virus-based vector system for delivery of both Cas9 and single guide RNA to achieve heritable gene editing in different wheat cultivars.
UVC-Intense Exoplanets May Not Be Uninhabitable: Evidence from a Desert Lichen (FREE)
Many of the recently discovered Earth-like exoplanets are hosted by M and F stars, stars that emit intense UVC, especially during a flare. Singh et al studied whether such planets are nevertheless habitable by irradiating a desert lichen, Clavascidium lacinulatum, with 254-nm 55 W/m2 UVC nonstop for 3 months in the laboratory. Only 50% of its algal photobiont cells were inactivated.
Genome Architecture and Speciation in Plants and Animals (FREE)
There have been numerous treatments of specific topics in speciation, but surprisingly few papers have compared patterns and processes of speciation across different organismal groups. In this review, Wang et al partially address this gap by asking how variation in genome architecture impacts speciation across the plant and animal kingdoms.
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.
Post Doctoral Research Fellow (Hydrosensing) (Fixed Term), Nottingham
Applications are invited for a Post Doctoral Research Fellow position to work on a muti-institutional ERC SYNERGY project ‘HYDROSENSING’ which seeks to uncover how plants sense and respond to water stress.
Horticultural Technician, Bristol
Assist in the provision of essential core facilities support: working to support and assist the day to day running of the School of Biological Sciences glasshouses. To provide essential technical support to the Greenhouse Manager to ensure the smooth and effective running of the service.
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Exeter
The Faculty wishes to recruit a Postdoctoral Research Associate to support the work of Prof. Daniel Kattnig, Dr Jonathan Phillips and Prof. Vinod Kumar. This job is part of an Advanced Research + Invention Agency-funded project, subject to contract negotiations, available immediately for 18 months. The successful applicant will conduct biophysical, biochemical, plant biological research of stress responses and magnetic field effects in plants.
Research Associate (Fixed Term), Cambridge
We are seeking a Postdoctoral Research Associate to develop manuscripts for publication from PhD research. The successful candidate with carry out experimental and theoretical analyses to study the diversity of photosystem II subunit S across the green lineage. The position will focus on the study of transgenic Arabidopsis lines expressing diverse PsbSs, as well as marchantia and maize lines with adjusted expression levels of PsbS.
Lecturer (Teaching) in Biological Sciences, London
We seek to appoint a teaching lecturer in the Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment (GEE) at UCL. The appointment will complement and build on our existing teaching and research strengths in GEE and will be based at UCL’s Bloomsbury campus. You will primarily be responsible for the delivery of teaching throughout the Biological Sciences degree programmes (Biological Sciences; Biological Sciences: Computational Biology; Biodiversity and Conservation; Cell and Developmental Biology; Genetics; Human Genetics; Zoology). In particular, you will be tasked with leading and delivering our undergraduate “Plant Biology” module.
Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Applied Plant Biology, Dublin
Applications are invited for the post of Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Applied Plant Biology. This is a temporary post (maternity leave cover) in the UCD School of Agriculture & Food Science within the Environment & Sustainable Resource Management Section. The appointee will join a team of 19 full-time academics within the Section who are involved with teaching and research in agri-environmental sciences, crop protection, soil science, nutrient management, wildlife conservation, forestry and horticulture.
M/F - Biological engineer in data processing, Lyon
The successful candidate will provide support in confocal image analysis and mathematical modeling as part of an ANR-funded research program aimed at understanding the early stages of fertilization in the Arabidopsis thaliana plant. This mission, at the frontier between biology and mathematics, will be co-supervised by a biologist and a computer scientist.
Associate Senior Lecturer in plant physiology with focus on plant embryo development, Umeå
The Associate Senior Lecturer is expected to develop their own research line within the subject area. The department will provide the holder with development opportunities to be able to qualify as docent and Senior Lecturer in the subject of the position. The research shall aim to develop the subject area to also include conifer embryo development and the use of somatic embryogenesis as a research tool.
Staff scientist in Bioinformatics and Data Science, Umeå
We are now looking for an outstanding candidate with expertise in machine learning, bioinformatics or advanced statistical methods, to help explore molecular, imaging, clinical and/or epidemiological data. You will apply, adapt and develop machine learning approaches to provide data analysis support to data-driven Swedish research projects of scientific excellence, as well as being a driver of advanced postgraduate data analytics training on a national level. You will join one of the main bioinformatic sites at Umeå university with over 20 bioinformaticians supporting multiple research fields, hosted at the Department of Plant Physiology.