🌻 The Week in Botany October 14, 2024
My trip to Kew didn’t go as well as I would have liked. What I saw of the plant health event was interesting, but I didn’t see much as I was unwell, and the long trip into London didn’t improve matters. It’s a pity as it sounded interesting. I now have an interest in grey squirrel bark stripping.
There’ll be a slightly slow start to the week, but there will be another collection of the stories and papers you’re sharing on Twitter, Mastodon, Bluesky and Threads, at the same time next week. Until then, take care.
Alun (webmaster@botany.one)
On Botany One
How rising temperatures threaten plant sex lives
A new study shows that higher temperatures could seriously hurt plants’ ability to reproduce by damaging their pollen and reducing fertilization success, threatening both wild plant populations and crop yields.
From Complexity to Simplicity: Assessing Light Interception Models
A new study reveals that a simple block model can achieve comparable results to complex models in assessing light interception for maize.
Leveraging High-Quality Data for Improved Crop Simulations
Researchers improve model prediction accuracy by closing existing data gaps.
How Plants Endure Wildfires and Floods in the Pantanal
Unravelling the complex relationship between fire frequency, flooding, and plant diversity in the world’s largest flooded savanna.
Effective traps in bladderworts may come at the cost of genome size
A mutation affecting mitochondrial efficiency of carnivorous plants’ cells helps them survive but also causes their DNA to get smaller over time, making their genomes some of the tiniest in the plant world.
News & Views
Wanted: expedition botanist to follow in Darwin’s footsteps and look for plants
If you have a sense of adventure and know your squills from your spurges, Cambridge University Botanic Garden may have the job for you.
Dinoša Mulberry Tree
Water gushes from the trunk of this miraculous mulberry tree about once a year.
How eastern US forests look almost a century after chestnut trees started disappearing
A century ago, the forests of the Eastern U.S. looked very different. They were packed with towering chestnut trees. But since then, those trees have largely disappeared, and the forests have evolved in a new direction, and relatively rapidly.
Fewer than 10 of these orchids remain in the wild. Victoria was about to burn them into extinction
Critically endangered flowers get stay of execution after local environmental group threatens legal action against Victorian government.
Who wants to be a bad botanist?
Nigel Chaffey reviews How to be a bad botanist by Simon Barnes.
A surprising $3,000 water bill ended their lawn. Then fire torched their yard. What next?
After years of living in a condo, the Hinch family was ecstatic about the giant backyard of their new Porter Ranch home. Then they got their first water bill of $3,000 and tore out much of their lawn.
Congo looks to monetize its high-integrity forests
The Republic of Congo’s Ministry of Forest Economy, in partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society, has launched an investment plan for high-integrity forests in Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park.
Paramotorists collect rare plant species from Peruvian desert oases
Scientists from Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, in the UK have worked with a team of Brazilian paramotorists in the Peruvian desert to recover and study endangered species from fragile and inaccessible ecosystems.
Ukraine's Vast Forests Devastated in Hellscape of War
Serhiy Tsapok surveyed the smouldering ruins of pine trees, blackened stumps as far as the eye can see that bear witness to a scorched nation.
Decolonising the Durban Botanic Gardens: A New chapter in conservation
The Durban Botanic Gardens, Africa's oldest surviving botanic garden, celebrated its 175th anniversary with a two-day symposium held on October 2 and 3.
Scientific Papers
Evolution of Thylakoid Structural Diversity (OA)
Perez-Boerema et al highlight the structural diversity of thylakoids, following the evolutionary history of phototrophic species. We begin with a molecular inventory of different thylakoid components and then illustrate how these building blocks are integrated to form membrane networks with diverse architectures.
Diversity and development of domatia: Symbiotic plant structures to host mutualistic ants or mites (OA)
Chomicki et al propose hypotheses to explain the formation of these structures, based on anatomical studies of domatia and developmental genetic analyses in model species.
Diminishing warming effects on plant phenology over time ($)
Lu et al conducted a meta-analysis of 103 experimental warming studies around the globe to investigate the responses of four phenophases – leaf-out, first flowering, last flowering, and leaf coloring.
Enhanced woody biomass production in a mature temperate forest under elevated CO2 (OA)
Norby et al show that a 180-year-old Quercus robur L. woodland in central England increased the production of woody biomass when exposed to free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) for 7 years.
Little owl (Athene noctua) pellets enhance seed germination under salinity stress in two leguminous plant species ($)
Saada et al conducted germination assays on two plant species from south Tunisia to assess whether a prior treatment of the seeds with the filtrate of little owl (Athene noctua) pellets affected germination rates under different salinity conditions.
Spatial heterogeneity of fire and flooding patterns can support higher diversity of floral functional traits in an indigenous-managed landscape ($)
dos Santos Ferreira et al evaluate how a set of floral traits that influence and are related to the pollination systems of tree and non-tree species varies in response to spatial patterns of fire frequency in a landscape with floodable and flood-free areas.
AlphaFold-guided redesign of a plant pectin methylesterase inhibitor for broad-spectrum disease resistance (OA)
Xia et al show that dynamic remodeling of pectin methylesterification of plant cell walls is a component of the physiological and co-evolutionary struggles between hosts and pathogens.
PaWOX3 and PaWOX3B Regulate Flower Number and the Lip Symmetry of Phalaenopsis ($)
To study orchid flower development, two WUSCHEL-related homeobox (WOX) genes, PaWOX3 and PaWOX3B, were identified in Phalaenopsis. PaWOX3 and PaWOX3B mRNAs accumulate abundantly during early reproductive development and perianths of young buds, significantly decreasing in mature flowers and absent in vegetative leaves and roots.
Compensating for the corolla? Pollen exposure is not associated with pollen-collecting hair length (OA)
Makowski et al used phylogenetic comparative methods to test for associations between pollen-collecting hair length, floral shape and size metrics, and pollen exposure traits across 39 species.
3DFin: a software for automated 3D forest inventories from terrestrial point clouds (OA)
Laino et al have developed 3DFin, a novel free software program designed for user-friendly, automatic forest inventories using ground-based point clouds.
Tree Germination Sensitivity to Increasing Temperatures: A Global Meta-Analysis Across Biomes, Species and Populations (OA)
Vicente & Garzón reviewed 50 papers addressing 63 species and 250 populations. Then, they conducted a meta-analysis to assess warming effects on germination percentage and time, and how germination is modulated by climate at seed origin.
In AoBC Publications
Responses of oak seedlings to increased herbivory and drought: a possible trade-off? ($)
Offspring may succeed well next to their relatives, but it needs particular traits ($)
Careers
Expedition Botanist (Fixed Term), Cambridge
Cambridge University Botanic Garden is searching for an enthusiastic and dynamic Expedition Botanist to lead our plant-collecting expeditions around the world. This is a unique role that combines international travel, conservation, research, and teaching in a vibrant, supportive team.
Conservation Scientist [Temporary Cover], Cambridge
The Endangered Landscapes & Seascapes Programme (ELSP) is seeking a skilled and flexible Conservation Scientist (maternity cover) to support science and monitoring across an inspiring set of landscape and seascape restoration projects.
Research Associate in Plant-Fungal Ecology, London
The Waring Lab at the Silwood Park Campus of Imperial College London is seeking a community ecologist interested in field-testing a new approach towards suppressing the pathogens of one of the world’s most important staple crops, wheat (T. aestivum).
Research Associate/Fellow, Nottingham
Applications are invited for a Research Associate/Fellow to work on a project leading to the development of a hybrid wheat system at the Nottingham Wheat Research Centre (Sutton Bonington Campus, University of Nottingham, UK).
PhD in modelling plant-environment and plant-plant interactions, Uppsala
PhD position based at the Dept of Ecology, part of the Ecology Centre of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), in Uppsala. The student will join a stimulating and dynamic research environment and have access to an extensive national and international network with colleagues who focus on multiple aspects of sustainable agriculture. At the Ecology Centrum, we generate knowledge on how land use and climate affects plants, nutrient cycling, greenhouse gas balance, and animals, and develop sustainable solutions for the future.
Research Associate, Oklahoma
The successful candidate will work within the context of the Oklahoma State University applied soil physics research group and will be expected to contribute to and develop grant proposals for future research funding. See https://agriculture.okstate.edu/departments-programs/plant-soil/soil-physics/ for information related to our research team and research activities.
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Washington
The primary responsibility of this position is to manage ongoing field trials, collect soil and plant samples, collect data, analyze the samples and data, and write reports and peer-reviewed publications. The position involves working on dryland agronomy, fertility, and soil health aspects of wheat, canola, peas, camelina, and other potential dryland crops in the region.
Harvard University Herbaria Research Fellowship, Massachusetts
The Harvard University Herbaria (HUH; http://huh.harvard.edu) invites nominations and direct applications for the Harvard University Herbaria Research Fellowship, a fellowship in plant and/or fungal science. We especially seek outstanding early-career scientists and collections professionals who see new opportunities and innovations for collections-based research.
Research Fellow, Alabama
The Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at Auburn University is seeking a highly motivated individual to assist with and conduct original research including planning, maintaining, and completing research projects involved in generation of new knowledge and concepts. The candidate will provide professional research assistance in basic and translational aspects of plant-associated nematology.