🌻 The Week in Botany September 16, 2024
My head’s spinning a little this week after reading Jacob White & Felipe Yamashita’s paper on Boquila trifoliolata. They found that Boquila trifoliolata can change the shape of its leaves to fit into its surroundings. People have suggested that there’s some sort of chemical signal that the plant picks up on. They tested this idea by giving Boquila trifoliolata a plastic plant to mimic. They found that the plant tried mimicking the plastic leaves, which indicates some form of sight. It’s work that has won White & Yamashita the Ig Nobel Prize for Botany.
There’ll 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
The Salty Secret: How Sodium-Enriched Nectar Boosts Pollinator Visits and Diversity
Discover how adding a dash of sodium to nectar transforms pollinator behaviour and plant interactions.
News & Views
In Nepal, a humble edible fern is at heart of human-tiger conflict
News reports of fatalities related to niuro collection frequently highlight the risks involved, as harvesters frequently put their lives in danger to collect more ferns for financial gain.
California city approves development project near Earth’s oldest living oak tree
An Inland Empire city has approved a development project 450 feet away from the third oldest known living organism in the world — a sprawling, shrub-like oak tree that is more than 13,000 years old.
To build back burned forests, California needs a lot more seeds
As forests succumb to ever-fiercer wildfires, the state seeks to scale up the growth of new seeds and sprouts.
Her native plant garden brings all the butterflies to the yard — and local admirers too
When Aurora Anaya bought her little Art Deco house on a corner lot in Whittier, Calif., she was excited about the chance to create her own garden. Then she met a man at the farmers market who introduced her to the plants that help endangered monarch butterflies survive.
How Do Scientists Find Out Where Colombia’s Palm Trees Came From?
A botanist from Colombia has been studying the origins of palms in her country and working with indigenous groups to exchange scientific knowledge.
The meadow mutiny: why a rewilding scheme sparked a residents’ revolt
A council in Derbyshire decided to let grass grow wild - and a group of vigilante mowers fought back. What can be done to make sure essential environmental schemes get the local support they need?
Scientific Papers
Impact of species selection on plant community, sod tensile strength, and translocation rooting of a pollinator-garden sod (OA)
The objective of this study is to evaluate the influence of four foundational species treatments on 3-year floral biodiversity of pollinator-serving plants, sod tensile strength, and transplant rooting strength. Results suggest that polycultures of pollinator-serving forbs can produce a marketable sod with sufficient tensile strength for lifting and translocating and sufficient ability to establish once relocated.
The auxin efflux carrier PIN1a regulates vascular patterning in cereal roots (OA)
Barley (Hordeum vulgare) is an important global cereal crop and a model in genetic studies. Fusi et al’s phenotypic screening of a TILLING mutant collection identified line TM5992 exhibiting a short-root phenotype compared with wild-type (WT) Morex background.
Nitric oxide action in the digestive fluid of Nepenthes × ventrata is linked to the modulation of ROS level (OA)
The aim of the work was to verify the beneficial effect of NO application into the trap on the dynamics of protein digestion and ROS homeostasis.
Pollinator response to yellow UV-patterned versus white UV-patternless flower dimorphism in Anemone palmata (OA)
RodrÃguez-Castañeda et al analysed the distribution of colour morphs of A. palmata across its range. We also characterised their colours and compared their vegetative and sexual reproductive traits, pollinator attention and fitness.
Application of deep learning for the analysis of stomata: a review of current methods and future directions (OA)
Gibbs & Burgess review the published literature on the application of deep learning for stomatal analysis. We discuss the variation in pipelines used, from data acquisition, pre-processing, deep learning architecture, and output evaluation to post-processing.
Community ionomics reveals a diversity of mineral nutrition in a species-rich shrubland on infertile soil (OA)
Using ionomics, Hocedez et al investigated whether there were nutritional variations between plant species that coexist in a shrubland located in an edaphically extreme environment.
Seed functional ecology in Brazilian rock outcrop vegetation: an integrative synthesis (OA)
Ordóñez-Parra et al provide the first quantitative and phylogenetically-informed synthesis of the seed functional ecology of Brazilian rock outcrop vegetation, with a particular focus on quartzitic and ironstone campo rupestre.
The importance of competition theme in reducing taxonomic bias in the Threatened Species Bake Off (OA)
The 2023 theme, ‘Loving the unlovely and getting to know the unknown’, aimed to increase participation by focusing on plants and the under-represented. Results indicated a notable increase in representation of these groups compared with previous years, suggesting theme selection significantly influences public engagement.
Boquila trifoliolata mimics leaves of an artificial plastic host plant
Upon discovery that the Boquila trifoliolata is capable of flexible leaf mimicry, the question of the mechanism behind this ability has been unanswered. Here, we demonstrate that plant vision possibly via plant-specific ocelli is a plausible hypothesis.
Allopolyploidy enhances survival advantages for urban environments in the native plant genus Commelina
Urbanization-induced environmental changes affect the geographical distribution of natural plant species. This study focused on how polyploidization, a dynamic genome change, influences the survival and distribution of Commelina communis L. and its subspecies.
In AoBC Publications
Careers
Senior Research Technician, Birmingham
The McDonald Lab at the University of Birmingham is seeking a motivated person to assist with experiments that explore the function of Starship transposons in fungal plant pathogens. The post is available on a fixed-term basis for 1-year and is suitable to a person with a background in Biological sciences, especially microbiology.
Research Associate: Botanical Collections (Fixed Term), Cambridge
The post-holder will lead on researching an aspect of the botanical collection, ensuring improved documentation and accessibility of these collections, working closely with our Documentation and Photography teams. They will have the opportunity to formulate new research projects, building partnerships in the University of Cambridge and beyond, and participating in research networks such as Collections-Connections-Communities.
Gene editing to improve salt tolerance in legumes - PhD, Cranfield
With the support of Azolla Biotech Ltd. and Cranfield University the student will use CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing and Agrobacterium-mediated transformation methods to genetically improve the resilience and yield of legume crops under saline conditions and test their performance under glasshouse conditions.
Associate Professor/Professor in Plant Sciences, Southampton
With expertise in plant biochemistry, physiology or developmental biology your research will address fundamental questions in the field, potentially addressing today's key societal challenges. You will join a growing team of researchers investigating areas from fundamental plant science to the interactions of plants with their environment.
Research Technician, Warwick
Warwick University seek an enthusiastic Research Technician to support exciting plant cell biology research projects focused on: Understanding interactions between the actin cytoskeleton and organelles within plant cells, and Investigating endoplasmic reticulum mediated immunity.
Lecturer, Essex
The University of Essex is recruiting colleagues with expertise in the field of Evolutionary Biology. The successful candidate would join, and ideally work across, any of our research groups: Ecology and Environmental Microbiology, Genomics and Computational Biology, Plant Productivity, Protein Structure and Mechanisms of Disease.
Postdoctoral Researcher for X-ray scattering analysis of bio-based materials, Espoo
Aalto University is searching for a Postdoctoral Researcher to support us in small and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS and WAXS) analysis of (ligno)cellulosic bio-based materials. Your role includes, Planning and conducting scattering experiments both inhouse and at synchrotron beamlines, Analyzing large quantities of scattering data using advanced methods and reporting the results, Writing and publishing high-quality papers, Interacting closely with other team members and collaborators from different fields.
PhD Student in Plant Breeding, Alnarp
As a PhD student at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, you will combine research with education, providing you the opportunity to develop your expertise in bioinformatics, plant genetics, and plant breeding through both theoretical courses and practical elements in the research project.
Postdoc position in plant molecular biology and genetics, Uppsala
A postdoctoral position in plant molecular biology and genetics is available at Prof. Markus Schmid's group at the Swedish University of Agriculture (SLU) in Uppsala, Sweden. Research in the Schmid lab focuses on the regulation of RNA splicing and how it contributes to temperature acclimation in plants.
Post Doctoral Research Fellow, North Dakota
North Dakota State University is seeking a highly motivated and independent postdoctoral researcher to work in computational biology research programs. The candidate will work in multiple cereal crops and be responsible for generating genomic and phenotyping data sets, applying proper analytic tools for genomic/phenomic data and developing computational scripts/programs to address biological questions from novel perspectives in plant breeding/genetics.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow - Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation
North Dakota State University is seeking a postdoctoral research fellow to work in dry bean breeding/genetics program. The research project will focus on the genetic improvement of Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation (SNF) by using new/modern tools to identify and select optimal combinations of Rhizobia strains and dry bean genotypes.
Plant Physiology-Assistant Professor, California
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona invites applications for a tenure-track ASSISTANT PROFESSOR position in Plant Physiology, beginning in the Fall semester 2025.
Assistant Professor – Controlled-Environment Agriculture, Utah
Utah State University invites excellent scientists to apply for an opportunity to pursue basic and applied science towards the development and optimization of controlled environment production systems. The successful candidate should also collaborate across disciplines to investigate plant/environment interactions relevant to field agriculture and plant biology.
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Arizona
The University of Arizona is seeking a qualified and highly motivated Postdoctoral Research Associate I/II (depending on experience) with expertise in conducting research on plant adaptation to changing environmental conditions, with a specific focus on metal hyperaccumulation, including nickel, cobalt, rare earths and other elements.
PhD Project: Plant disease diagnostics in tissue culture, Canberra
The project aims to develop a reliable plant disease assay that is directly applicable to tissue culture material. The focus will be on viruses and bacteria that are non-culturable or very challenging to culture (such as Xylella fastidiosa).