March 4, 2024

🏥 The Week in Botany, March 4 2024

I'm a little fuzzy this week. On Monday, when the last edition came out, I was in a hospital bed recovering from an operation on one of my kidneys. I've been let out, but I'm really slow and easily tired. My plan is to do the easier bits of the newsletter, have a nap, and see what else I can add. I'm aim to spend most of my time resting this week, but I'll try to make time to end another email at the same time next week. Until then, take care.

Alun (webmaster@botany.one)

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In AoBC Journals

• Vertebrates can be more important pollinators than invertebrates on islands: the case of Malva (=Lavatera) arborea L (OA)

• Development and application of an inexpensive open-source dendrometer for detecting xylem water potential and radial stem growth at high spatial and temporal resolution (OA)

• Selfing in epiphytic bromeliads compensates for the limited pollination services provided by nectarivorous bats in a neotropical montane forest (OA)

• Anatomical insights into the vascular lay-out of the barley rachis: implications for transport and spikelet connection (OA)

• Contrasting biomass allocations explain adaptations to cold and drought in the world’s highest-growing angiosperms ($)

• Investigating anatomical traits and molecular mechanisms involved in resistance to Pierce’s disease. A commentary on ‘Xylem-dwelling pathogen unaffected by local xylem vessel network properties in grapevines (Vitis spp.)’ (OA)

• Divergence and reticulation in the Mexican white oaks: ecological and phylogenomic evidence on species limits and phylogenetic networks in the Quercus laeta complex (Fagaceae) ($)

• Macronutrient application rescues performance of tolerant sorghum genotypes when infected by the parasitic plant striga (OA)

• Interactions of moisture and light drive lichen growth and the response to climate change scenarios – experimental evidence for Lobaria pulmonaria ($)

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News & Views

Herbaria’s use and importance grows with climate change
In race against extinction, new agreement supports Harvard’s work to analyze and digitize its medicinal plant collections.

Duke Shuts Down Huge Plant Collection, Causing Scientific Uproar
University officials say they cannot afford to maintain one of the largest herbariums in the United States. Researchers are urging Duke to reconsider.

Plant Health Series: Australia’s plant health and biosecurity system
A Royal Society of Biology Plant Health Series event, via Zoom, focusing on plant health in Australia. Keynote speaker Dr Gabrielle Vivian-Smith, Australia’s chief plant protection officer, will be discussing the policies that are in place to protect Australia’s plant health and biosecurity. This will be followed by an opportunity for an audience Q&A and discussion.
Register to attend this free event at www.rsb.org.uk/OZplanthealth

Eras Forests Could Offset Taylor Swift’s Carbon Footprint
How might Swift leverage her fame to popularize the norm of climate responsibility? Ironically, her carbon footprint controversy might give her this opportunity.

Suspected illegal loggers kill 3 forest rangers on patrol in forest in central Mexico
Suspected illegal loggers have shot and killed three forest rangers and wounded a fourth on patrol in central Mexico, near the slopes of the Iztaccihuatl volcano.

Trees planted at Bradford hospital to boost patients' mental health
Hundreds of trees have been planted at a West Yorkshire mental health facility so patients can enjoy "green therapy".

Pollution produces photosynthetic part-timers…
Nigel Chaffey investigates why plants photosynthesise more at the weekends.

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Scientific Papers

Critical transitions in the Amazon forest system (OA)
The possibility that the Amazon forest system could soon reach a tipping point, inducing large-scale collapse, has raised global concern. Flores et al. analyse existing evidence for five major drivers of water stress on Amazonian forests, as well as potential critical thresholds of those drivers that, if crossed, could trigger local, regional or even biome-wide forest collapse.

♻️ Epigenetic Changes in Hybrids (OA)
Genome-wide approaches to the study of hybrid vigor have identified epigenetic changes in the hybrid nucleus in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), maize (Zea mays), and rice (Oryza sativa). DNA methylation associated with 24-nucleotide small interfering RNAs exhibits transallelic effects in hybrids of Arabidopsis and other species.

Interplay between coding and non-coding regulation drives the Arabidopsis seed-to-seedling transition (OA)
Translation of seed stored mRNAs is essential to trigger germination. However, when RNAPII re-engages RNA synthesis during the seed-to-seedling transition has remained in question. Combining csRNA-seq, ATAC-seq and smFISH in Arabidopsis thaliana Trembley et al. demonstrate that active transcription initiation is detectable during the entire germination process.

A diffusible small-RNA-based Turing system dynamically coordinates organ polarity ($)
The formation of a flat and thin leaf presents a developmentally challenging problem, requiring intricate regulation of adaxial–abaxial (top–bottom) polarity. The patterning principles controlling the spatial arrangement of these domains during organ growth have remained unclear. Scacchi et al. show that this regulation in Arabidopsis thaliana is achieved by an organ-autonomous Turing reaction‐diffusion system centred on mobile small RNAs.
ReadCube: https://rdcu.be/dAcRm

♻️ Sensitivity of South American tropical forests to an extreme climate anomaly (OA)
Forests with hotter and drier baseline conditions may be protected by prior adaptation, or more vulnerable because they operate closer to physiological limits. Bennett et al. report that forests in drier South American climates experienced the greatest impacts of the 2015–2016 El Niño, indicating greater vulnerability to extreme temperatures and drought.

Development and implementation of a stand-level satellite-based forest inventory for Canada (OA)
outline the information drivers for forest monitoring, present a set of products aimed at meeting these information needs, and follow to demonstrate the stand-level satellite-based forest inventory concept over the 650-Mha extent of Canada’s forest-dominated ecosystems.

Stomatal response to VPD is not triggered by changes in soil–leaf hydraulic conductance in Arabidopsis or Callitris (OA)
Bourbia and Brodribb examined whether the regulation of whole plant stomatal conductance (gc) in response to typical changes in daytime VPDL (leaf to air vapour pressure deficit) is influenced by dynamic changes in Ks-l soil-to-leaf hydraulic conductance).

Unheard voices speak up: the Arabidopsis community and the representation of researchers from the Global South (OA)
In June 2023, the Arabidopsis community met in Makuhari, Chiba, Japan, for the 33rd International Conference in Arabidopsis Research (ICAR). The meeting, at which more than 1200 researchers gathered, spanned the course of 5 days showcasing three keynote lectures, six plenary sessions, 11 workshops, and 33 concurrent sessions, in addition to two poster sessions.

Trehalose: A sugar molecule involved in temperature stress management in plants (OA)
This review discusses the functions of Tre in mitigating temperature stress—highlighting genetic engineering approaches to modify Tre metabolism, crosstalk, and interactions with other molecules—and in-silico approaches for identifying novel Tre-encoding genes in diverse plant species.

A simple and efficient in planta transformation method based on the active regeneration capacity of plants (OA)
This paper describes the development of the regenerative activity–dependent in planta injection delivery (RAPID) method based on the active regeneration capacity of plants. In this method, Agrobacterium tumefaciens is delivered to plant meristems via injection to induce transfected nascent tissues.

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Careers

Biology Instructor (Full-Time, Tenure-Track) Reedley College, California
Providing instruction in Biology on the Reedley College campus and/or at off-site community campus locations, the instructor will be responsible for educating its racially and socioeconomically diverse student population.

ResM/PhD Studentship: Isles of Scilly Nematode Diseases of Scented Narcissi: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Diagnosis, Characterisation and Control, Plymouth
Applications are invited for a fully funded 12-18 month (24-36 months part-time) ResM studentship. The studentship will start on 15th September 2024. The ResM studentship may be transferred to the PhD route with the agreement of the appointed student and the supervisory team and depending on progress and available funding.

Research Associate/Fellow (Fixed term), Nottingham
A Research Associate/Fellow is required to undertake research as part of BBSRC-funded sLoLa grant titled: “SUMOCode: deciphering how SUMOylation enables plants to adapt to their environment”. The successful candidate will employ genetic, molecular, and physiological approaches in conjunction with omics techniques to elucidate the molecular mechanisms that govern root growth responses to high temperature in model plant arabidopsis and in rice.

Research Associate in Plant-fungal Interactions, Manchester
We seek to appoint an enthusiastic Research Associate on a full-time or part-time basis (e.g. 50% full time equivalent), to work on a NERC-funded project investigating phosphorus turnover in woodlands and forests. This exciting project seeks to enhance our understanding of how symbiotic root-associated fungi help plants acquire phosphorus from both organic and inorganic forms, and will lead to a new understanding of the terrestrial phosphorus cycle.

Postdoctoral Research Associate, Oxford
This is a 5-year postdoctoral post that will form part of an international consortium, the ‘Cassava Source Sink Project (https://cass-research.org/) that is working to improve the yield of cassava plants through transgenic intervention. The ultimate aim of the consortium is to develop improved genotypes in farmer-preferred varieties to be made available to smallholders in Sub-Saharan Africa.