🌻 TWiB April 25, 2022
I've taken a lot of time off this week, initially through dizziness, and later due to a trapped nerve in my shoulder causing agony in a finger. I'm thinking of it as efficiently consolidating all my problems into one period of time off. As a result, this week's newsletter has little editing.
I'd like to highlight a call for papers from in silico Plants: Integrative and Multiscale Modelling Special Issue. This will tie in with the Crops in silico Symposium and Hackathon in May.
Assuming the doctors don't find a new problem this week, there should be another email with you at the same time next week. Until then, take care.
Alun (webmaster@botany.one)
In Botany One
News & Views
Scientists resurrect ancient enzymes to improve photosynthesis — cals.cornell.edu A Cornell study describes a breakthrough in the quest to improve photosynthesis in certain crops, a step toward adapting plants to rapid climate changes and increasing yields to feed a projected 9 billion people by 2050.
How Nature Becomes a Casualty of War — www.nytimes.com Research on past conflicts suggests that the war in Ukraine could have a profound environmental impact.
‘Lawless logging’ in DRC raises concerns over $500m forests deal signed by Boris Johnson Critics say cash from UK, Norway, France and Germany could be wasted as damning report reveals illegalities, corruption and environmental crimes
Wildflower Gasteranthus extinctus, long believed extinct, found in Ecuador — www.washingtonpost.com Botanists found patches of rainforest in Ecuador long believed to have been wiped out
Career Change: When dreams don’t come true As she closes the door on her time in academia, a neuroscientist faces unexpected grief.
Recognizing Plant Families of the West — www.blm.gov Recognizing Plant Families of the West is an extensive 215-page field guide created to identify 54 of the most prolific plant families in the West. This beautiful guide offers the basics to plant identification, vocabulary, and over 1,000 beautiful images to assist in recognizing the diagnostic features of each plant family. Each plant family includes a description of general taxonomic, ecological, economical, and ethnographic information. This easy-to-follow plant guide is a must-have for any botanist, field specialist, or hobbyist.Â
Scientific Papers
Elevated extinction risk of cacti under climate change — www.nature.com
Pillet et al. assess the hypothesis that cacti will benefit and expand in potential distribution in a warmer and more drought-prone world. They quantified exposure to climate change through range forecasts and associated diversity maps for 408 cactus species under three Representative Concentration Pathways (2.6, 4.5 and 8.5) for 2050 and 2070. Their analyses show that 60% of species will experience a reduction in favourable climate, with about a quarter of species exposed to environmental conditions outside of the current realized niche in over 25% of their current distribution.
ReadCube: https://rdcu.be/cLXoE
Rediscovery of Gasteranthus extinctus L.E.Skog & L.P.Kvist (Gesneriaceae) at multiple sites in western Ecuador — phytokeys.pensoft.net
Pitman et al. report the rediscovery of the Critically Endangered cloud forest herb Gasteranthus extinctus, not seen since 1985.
Importation of chloroplast proteins under heat stress is facilitated by their SUMO conjugations Chloroplasts are hypersensitive to heat stress (HS). SUMOylation, a critical post-translational modification, is conservatively involved in HS responses. However, the functional connection between SUMOylation and chloroplasts under HS remains to be studied. The bioinformatics, biochemistry, and cell biology analyses were used to detect the SUMOylation statuses of Arabidopsis nuclear-encoded chloroplast proteins and the effect of SUMOylation on subcellular localization of these proteins under HS. PSBR, a subunit of photosystem II, was used as an example for a detailed investigation of functional mechanisms.
Spatial control of potato tuberization by the TCP transcription factor BRANCHED1b — www.nature.com
Potato tubers are natural carbon reserves in the form of starch that have evolved to allow propagation and survival over winter. They form from stolons, below ground, where they are protected from adverse environmental conditions and animal foraging. Nicolas et al. show that BRANCHED1b (BRC1b) acts as a tuberization repressor in aerial axillary buds, which prevents buds from competing in sink strength with stolons.
ReadCube: https://rdcu.be/cLXo8
Crop phenotyping in a context of global change: What to measure and how to do it
Araus et al. address spectral and red–green–blue sensing as the most popular remote sensing approaches, alongside stable isotope composition as an example of a lab-based tool, and root phenotyping, which represents one of the frontiers for field phenotyping. Further, they consider the two most promising forms of aerial platforms (unmanned aerial vehicle and satellites) and some of the emerging data-processing techniques.
Xylella fastidiosa’s relationships: the bacterium, the host plants, and the plant microbiome
Landa et al. discuss recent strain genetic typing and plant transcriptome and microbiome analyses, which have advanced our understanding of factors that are important for X. fastidiosa plant infection.
Shift in tree species changes the belowground biota of boreal forests
Mundra et al. examined which effects a tree species shift from birch to spruce stands has on belowground microbial communities, soil fungal biomass and relationships with vegetation biomass and soil organic carbon (SOC).
Evolutionary footprint of plant immunity
Han and Tsuda summarize recent advances in the co-evolution between plants and microbes with emphasis on the plant side and point out future research needed for understanding plant-microbial co-evolution.
Making forest data fair and open — www.nature.com
Data on tropical forests are in high demand. But ground forest measurements are hard to sustain and the people who make them are extremely disadvantaged compared to those who use them. de Lima et al. propose a new approach to forest data that focuses on the needs of data originators, and ensures users and funders contribute properly.
The receptor kinase FERONIA (FER) is a versatile regulator of plant growth and development, biotic and abiotic stress responses, and reproduction. To gain new insights into the molecular interplay of these processes and to identify new FER functions, Wang et al. carried out quantitative transcriptome, proteome, and phosphoproteome profiling of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) wild-type and fer-4 loss-of-function mutant plants
Decoding family-level features for modern and fossil leaves from computer-vision heat maps
Angiosperm leaves present a classic identification problem due to their morphological complexity. Computer-vision algorithms can identify diagnostic regions in images, and heat map outputs illustrate those regions for identification, providing novel insights through visual feedback. Spagnuolo et al. investigate the potential of analyzing leaf heat maps to reveal novel, human-friendly botanical information with applications for extant- and fossil-leaf identification.
Solanum galapagense-derived purple tomato fruit color is conferred by novel alleles of the anthocyanin fruit and atroviolacium loci Anthocyanin fruit and atroviolacium confer purple pigmentation in Solanum galapagense LA1141, confirming a mechanism described for green-fruited tomatoes. LA1141 alleles cluster with red-fruited homologs suggesting an independent gain of pigmentation.
Autophagy modulates apical growth and development in the moss Physcomitrium patens
Different to root hairs and pollen tubes, Physcomitrium patens apical growing protonemal cells have the singularity that they continue to undergo cell divisions as the plant develops, allowing to study autophagy in the context of a multicellular apical growing tissue coupled to development. Pettinari et al. showed that the core autophagy machinery is present in the moss P. patens, and deeply characterized the growth and development of wild-type, atg5 and atg7 loss-of-function mutants under optimal and nutrient-deprived conditions.
An engineered prime editor with enhanced editing efficiency in plants — www.nature.com
Prime editing is a versatile genome-editing technology, but it suffers from low editing efficiency. In the present study, we introduce optimized prime editors with substantially improved editing efficiency. Zong et al. engineered the Moloney–murine leukemia virus reverse transcriptase by removing its ribonuclease H domain and incorporated a viral nucleocapsid protein with nucleic acid chaperone activity.
Declining growth of natural history collections fails future generations — journals.plos.org Article Authors Metrics Comments Media Coverage Abstract Acknowledgments References Reader Comments Figures New additions of vertebrate specimens to natural history collections are declining in the midst of widespread and accelerating environmental change. Reversing these trends in collecting efforts is essential for addressing future unforeseen ecological issues.
The great acceleration of plant phenological shifts — www.nature.com The world’s longest time series of plant blooming and leaf-out in spring reveal unprecedented shifts since the middle of the 1980s in line with the acceleration of global warming. These long-term time series provide powerful evidence of the impact of global warming on life on Earth and can help raise awareness of the urgent need to mitigate greenhouse-gas emissions among citizens, decision makers and future generations.
Phylogenomic discordance suggests polytomies along the backbone of the large genus Solanum
Evolutionary studies require solid phylogenetic frameworks, but increased volumes of phylogenomic data have revealed incongruent topologies among gene trees in many organisms both between and within genomes. Some of these incongruences indicate polytomies that may remain impossible to resolve. Gagnon et al. investigate the degree of gene-tree discordance in Solanum, one of the largest flowering plant genera that includes the cultivated potato, tomato, and eggplant, as well as 24 minor crop plants.
Careers
2 Two PhD Full Scholarships (5 PhD projects) in Microbiology and Biotechnology at Aix-Marseille University in France The Institute of Microbiology, Bioenergies and Biotechnology (IM2B) is financing 2 PhD positions starting in October 2022.
Reserve Officer (Woodlands) The role of Reserve Officer (Woodlands) is to be a key member of the Reserves Team working all aspects of practical management of the Reserve this role has a particular focus on the Woodland, working on a comprehensive program of surveying and management. The role works within a dedicated team and works alongside staff, volunteers and trainees.
Research Associate II - Harkess Lab
The main duties of this position will be general molecular biology to assist our Lab Manager, Postdoctoral Associates and Fellows, graduate students and undergraduates to complete projects in a timely fashion. These duties include DNA and RNA isolation from diverse plants, High Molecular Weight DNA extractions for genome sequencing, and Illumina sequencing library preparation.
Post-Doctoral Researcher The Post-Doctoral Researcher will focus on the development of functional genomic tools for investigating sex chromosome function. The ideal candidate will have interest and experience in plant genomics, construct design, tissue culture, and plant transformation techniques.
Plant Pathologist We seek a dynamic and visionary scientist investigating important topics in plant pathology for a 9-month academic year tenure-track faculty position in the Department of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology at Montana State University. The successful candidate will work both independently and collaboratively, and will use innovative and interdisciplinary approaches in studies that span from the cellular and molecular levels to the greenhouse and field.
JXB Editorial Internships – Call for Applicants JXB is excited to announce that we are inviting applications for six part-time Editorial Internships. The aim of these internships is to provide early career researchers with experience of scientific publishing from the editorial side, as an opportunity for career development as a researcher or with a view to a career in scientific publishing.
École doctorale SEVAB Candidates with experience or interest in molecular and RNA biology, chromatin immunoprecipitation or generation and/or analysis of high-throughput sequencing are especially encouraged to apply. Previous experience with the Medicago-Rhizobia system would be an asset but not essential. Candidates are expected to develop their ability to work independently, have good organizational and communication skills, work in an interdisciplinary team, and manage multiple tasks. English is our working language. Knowledge of French is not required.
Professor Job in Plant Biotechnology and Molecular Biology In the framework of the mutual agreement (raamovereenkomst) between VIB and Ghent University, the Department Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics is looking for a candidate with expertise in biotechnology for the development of sustainable agriculture in the context of developing economies.
Assistant/Associate Professor Jobs We seek individuals who work professionally and effectively with diverse individuals, possess effective interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills and have the ability to contribute positively to the academic success of the students and the mission of Montana State University.
Post-Doc Position : Analysis of stress epigenetic memory in perennials A 18 months position supported by Bordeaux Plant Science (BPS) research program is available in UMR Ecophysiology and Grape Functional Genomics (EGFV) and in UMR Biodiversity, Genes and Communities (BIOGECO) in Bordeaux, France. This post-doc position is one of 19 offered positions as part of Bordeaux University excellence BPS program, which will provide access to many scientific events and resources.
Postdoc Position in Temperature Signaling The laboratory of Meng Chen in the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences at the University of California Riverside is seeking a talented postdoctoral fellow to study temperature signaling in Arabidopsis. Research in the Chen lab centers on the signaling mechanism of the red/far-red photoreceptor phytochrome B. Because the activity of phytochrome B can be largely modulated by temperature, phytochrome B also acts as a thermosensor.
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