đ» TWiB August 15, 2022
I think a lot of you have been on holiday this week, judging by the share counts for a lot of stories. Today I've compiled the newsletter at half-past ten, which seemed like a really good idea when the home office was baking in the afternoon. I'm now wondering if it was such a good idea.
However, I have managed to get a little ahead with work, so that I know next week there'll be stories on graveyards and restoring rare plants in wetlands.
Assuming COVID, flash floods or anything similar doesn't strike next week, the next newsletter will be with you at the same time. If you are on holiday at the moment, I hope it's a good one.
Alun (webmaster@botany.one)
In Botany One
Which ornamental plants perform best for pollinators? â botany.one Guides suggest some species are better than others for pollinators, but when you get to the plant nursery you're confronted by half a dozen cultivars of the same species. How do you pick between them?
Photosynthesis on the far side of the rainbow â botany.one Light you cannot see, in the infrared part of the spectrum, is surprisingly important for plant photosynthesis.
Connecting rhythmic gene circuits to metabolism explains the slow growth rate of a slow-clock mutant â botany.one A model designed to study circadian effects on physiology becomes more broadly useful when the clock regulates metabolites.
Bromeliads offer ants a summer residence in Costa Rica â botany.one Myrmecophobes might want to avoid studying bromeliads in the forests of Costa Rica during the summer. There are plenty of plants, but they seem to attract fire ants.
News & Views
She trains formerly incarcerated people to work with plants â www.latimes.com At 25, Genea Richardson lived in a 400-square-foot concrete cell, along with seven other women, four bunk beds, four lockers, a toilet and a shower. She felt like she was suffocating. But outside, in a small garden at the Central California Womenâs Facility in Chowchilla, amid the grass, weeds, soil and trees, she could breathe easy. She felt grounded when she volunteered to water the plants.
Molecular Feedback-Loop for Plant Growth â globalplantcouncil.org Plant growth is not a uniform process: Plants grow in length at the shoot and root tip in particular, while in other places they form new leaves or flowers. These different processes must be coordinated with each another and at the same time react to external influences such as temperature and light
How my lab went from 4,000 kg to 130 kg of waste a year â www.nature.com Cutting out single-use plastics was the beginning of a sustainability transformation, says Jane Kilcoyne.
Cornell, together with CIMMYT, presents advanced wheat improvement course CIMMYT and Cornell University are offering an innovative online course to empower global scientists with the most advanced training in wheat improvement.
Biodiversity Stripes â A Journey from Green to Grey | Finding Nature â findingnature.org.uk Iâve been hoping to see a biodiversity version of the stripes for a couple of years. So recently, after only finding a pair of biodiversity striped socks online, and encouraged by Edâs support, I set out to find some suitable historical data and create some biodiversity stripes.
Stanford researchers have designed synthetic genetic circuits that could help plants adapt to pressures from climate change â news.stanford.edu Using synthetic genes, researchers at Stanford have been able to modify the root structures of plants. Their work could make crops more efficient at gathering nutrients and water, and more resilient to increasing pressures from climate change.
How a harmful fungus renders its host plant defenseless â phys.org The fungus Ustilago maydis attacks corn and can cause significant damage to its host. To do this, it first ensures that the plant offers little resistance to the infection
Salvation of New Zealandâs dying giant kauri trees may have roots in MÄori wisdom The countryâs largest trees, kauri are threatened by dieback and climate change. But there is hope for the revered species
Bullied abroad: how foreign researchers can fight back â www.nature.com Most international scholars do not report experiences of bullying because they fear retaliation, including threats to cancel visas. But they can take action.
Wetlands: the unsung heroes of the planet Wetlands are some of the planetâs most important ecosystems. Theyâre a haven for wildlife, they filter pollution and theyâre important stores of carbon.
Scientific Papers
Intimate mixtures of Scots pine and Sitka spruce do not increase resilience to spring drought
Using a long-term experiment where tree-level mortality and the neighbourhood composition of each tree was known, Ovenden et al. assessed the radial growth response of 24-year-old Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) trees in intimately mixed and monospecific stands to a short-duration, high-intensity spring drought in Scotland. Mixing proportions included 25:75, 50:50 and 75:25 of P. sylvestris and P. sitchensis. At the species level, Scots pine was more drought resistant and resilient than Sitka spruce, while Sitka spruce showed higher recovery. Surprisingly, neither pre-drought tree size nor neighbourhood competition were significantly associated with resistance or resilience to drought, and trees of both species within monospecific stands showed higher recovery and resilience than trees growing in mixed stands.
Humidity gradients in the air spaces of leaves â www.nature.com
Stomata are orifices that connect the drier atmosphere with the interconnected network of more humid air spaces that surround the cells within a leaf. Accurate values of the humidities inside the substomatal cavity, wi, and in the air, wa, are needed to estimate stomatal conductance and the CO2 concentration in the internal air spaces of leaves. Both are vital factors in the understanding of plant physiology and climate, ecological and crop systems. However, there is no easy way to measure wi directly. Out of necessity, wi has been taken as the saturation water vapour concentration at leaf temperature, wsat, and applied to the whole leaf intercellular air spaces. Wong et al. explored the occurrence of unsaturation by examining gas exchange of leaves exposed to various magnitudes of wsatâââwa, or Îw, using a double-sided, clamp-on chamber, and estimated degrees of unsaturation from the gradient of CO2 across the leaf that was required to sustain the rate of CO2 assimilation through the upper surface.
Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria Eliminate the Effect of Drought Stress in Plants: A Review â www.frontiersin.org Drought is the most hazardous abiotic stress causing huge losses to crop yield worldwide. Osmotic stress decreases relative water and chlorophyll content and increases the accumulation of osmolytes, epicuticular wax content, antioxidant enzymatic activities, reactive oxygen species, secondary metabolites, membrane lipid peroxidation, and abscisic acid. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) eliminate the effect of drought stress by altering root morphology, regulating the stress-responsive genes, producing phytohormones, osmolytes, siderophores, volatile organic compounds, and exopolysaccharides, and improving the 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase activities.
Cyclic nucleotide-induced helical structure activates a TIR immune effector â www.nature.com
Hogrel et al. show that a bacterial antiviral defence system generates a cyclic tri-adenylate that binds to a TIRâSAVED effector, acting as the âglueâ to allow assembly of an extended superhelical solenoid structure. Adjacent TIR subunits interact to organize and complete a composite active site, allowing NAD+ degradation.
Rhipidoglossum pareense (Orchidaceae: Epidendroideae), a new species from Tanzania â link.springer.com Rhipidoglossum pareense, a new species, is described from the Pare mountains of NE Tanzania and compared with R. leedalii (P.J.Cribb) FarminhĂŁo & StĂ©vart. Its habitat requirements and conservation status are assessed.
Radiation use efficiency increased over a century of maize (Zea mays L.) breeding in the US corn belt â academic.oup.com In the absence of stress, crop growth depends on the amount of light intercepted by the canopy and the conversion efficiency [radiation use efficiency (RUE)]. This study tested the hypothesis that long-term genetic gain for grain yield was partly due to improved RUE.
Identifying transcription factor-DNA interactions using machine learning
Bang et al. surveyed a variety of methods for classification of epigenomics data in an attempt to improve the detection for 12 members of the Auxin Response Factor (ARF) binding DNAs from maize and soybean as assessed by DNA Affinity Purification and sequencing (DAP-seq).
The evolution of chromosome number during the diversification of the tribe Vernonieae (Asteraceae) â academic.oup.com
Angulo et al. carried out a phylogenetic analysis of Vernonieae in a temporal framework, assessing patterns of diversification and establishing possible relationships with chromosome events. Chromosomal evolution was analysed with ChromEvol, from a phylogenetic tree dated in BEAST.
Comparative analyses of growth-regulatory mechanisms between Arabidopsis and maize revealed that even when the gene space is conserved, the translation of knowledge from model species to crops is not trivial. Based on these insights, Inzé and Nelissen formulate future opportunities to improve the interpretation of curiosity-driven research towards crop improvement.
Liang et al. demonstrate that the MpERF15 transcription factor gene is instantly activated after wounding and is essential for gemmaling regeneration following tissue incision. MpERF15 operates both upstream and downstream of the MpCOI1 oxylipin receptor by controlling the expression of oxylipin biosynthesis genes.
Synthetic genetic circuits as a means of reprogramming plant roots
Synthetic engineering offers the opportunity to build new functional circuits into existing developmental programs. Brophy et al. have now designed a collection of synthetic regulatory elements that they can use to control gene expression.
Gas exchange analysers exhibit large measurement error driven by internal thermal gradients
Garen et al. characterised temperature measurement errors in the Li-Cor LI-6400XT and LI-6800, and estimated downstream errors in derived quantities, including stomatal conductance (gsw) and leaf intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci).
Careers
Editor-in-Chief (Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society)
The Linnean Society of London is the worldâs oldest active society devoted to âthe cultivation of the science of natural history in all its branchesâ. Today, we publish a variety of journals relevant to our sector, and deliver a range of education, public engagement and heritage programmes. The Society is welcoming applications for the role of Editor-in-Chief of the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, which publishes original papers on systematic and evolutionary botany and comparative studies of both living and fossil plants.
Journal Officer, The Linnean Society The Journal Officer is a new role, responsible for supporting the Journal Editorial Manager in the delivery and production of the Linnean Society Journals. With a keen attention to detail, they assist with the management of all the online systems and processes to ensure the journals are published in a timely manner and adhere to high standards of editorial quality.
Senior Editor - Methods in Ecology and Evolution To complement our Editor team, we are looking an active researcher with a core background in either ecology or evolutionary biology. Expertise in the following areas is particularly welcomed, but not required: quantitative genetics, genomics, movement ecology, remote sensing, camera traps.
PhD: Regulation of Low Risk Pesticides Are you concerned about the long-term environmental impact of human activities and agriculture, the trade-offs with food security and the role of EU Green Deal policies? Are you interested in exploring how promising new technologies in agriculture could contribute to more safe and equal world in the future? Are you motivated to work with an established international team of researchers? Than we might have an interesting Phd position for you at Wageningen University & Research.
Assistant Professor of Cooperative Extension â Plant Pathology This is a 100% Cooperative Extension (CE) Specialist appointment in the Department of Plant Pathology. The successful candidate will be expected to develop an externally funded, applied research program in diseases of nursery and greenhouse plants including native plants for ecological restoration, ornamentals, vegetable transplants, and hemp/cannabis, provide in-service diagnostics support, and to develop an extension education and outreach program that extends information to diverse clientele groups (e.g., growers, farm advisors, commodity groups, Pest Control Advisers (PCAs), state agencies). This individual will be expected to work closely with academic and extension colleagues, including academic senate faculty, government scientists, and other cooperative extension academics, working in related fields. The incumbent would provide support to the plant pathology (and related) graduate program through the mentorship of graduate students on thesis/dissertation research.
Computational biologist and PhD student
The Papenfort laboratory (www.papenfortlab.org) at the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena (Germany) studies gene regulation in microbial pathogens. We focus on the molecular mechanisms underlying post-transcriptional gene control in bacteria and how these affect complex regulatory processes, such as quorum sensing, virulence, and biofilm formation. We are currently recruiting a Post-doc and a PhD student in the following areas of research: âComputational Biologyâ (Post-doc), âBacterial Biofilmsâ (PhD student).
4 years PhD Fully Funded in Plant Biochemistry at The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences PhD student in subject Biology specialized in plant lipid metabolism, Ref SLU.ua.2022.2.5.1-2886 at the Department of Plant Breeding: SLUâs Department of Plant Breeding (VF), located in Alnarp (near Lund and Malmö, in SkĂ„ne, southern Sweden), focuses on research, education and innovation work of strategic importance for a sustainable and profitable cultivation of crops for production of plant-based food, feed and industrial products in a changing climate.
3 Three PhD Fellowships in Plant Immunity Fully Funded at University of Copenhagen in Denmark The three projects aim to generate more insight in these processes to allow us to exploit them in sustainable disease control. Effectors targeting membrane trafficking. We have previously identified powdery mildew fungal effectors interfering with the immunity-associated membrane trafficking and a PhD project has been designed to study this targeting in detail. Pre-invasive immunity-signalling. An Arabidopsis mutant with resistance to powdery mildew and strong pre-invasive immunity has been identified. A PhD project has been designed for genetic and molecular studies of the signaling cascade behind this immunity. Multivesicular bodies in disease resistance. Previous studies in the lab have shown that molecular components involved in the formation of multivesicular bodies are required for correct execution of disease resistance. A PhD project has been designed to analyse this phenomenon more closely to uncover how the requirement is manifested.
Fellow (Post Doc) The Department of Agronomy seeks a Post-Doc to support the scientific mission of the PI. The individual will conduct research on integrating mycorrhizal symbiosis on the allocation and storage of C belowground, soil aggregation and soil health.
Postdoctoral Researcher: Plant-Microbial Interactions in the Rhizosphere and Hyphosphere We are seeking two Postdoctoral Researchers to join a team of scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Lab studying plant-microbial interactions and the nutrient resource economy in sustainable bioenergy systems, with an emphasis on rhizosphere and fungal-hyphosphere interactions
Research Associate (Fixed Term) Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral mathematical and computational modeller to join the Theoretical and Computational Epidemiology group in the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge. The post is for 15 months starting as soon as possible and will involve developing a spatially explicit model for the large scale spread of a major disease of citrus.
Postdoctoral Scholar A postdoc position is available in the laboratory of Dr. Shuai Huang at the Ohio State University beginning on or after January 3rd, 2023. The Huang lab of plant systems immunology focuses on the molecular and biochemical mechanisms of phase-separated assemblies in plant health and disease.
Post Doctoral Research Associate in Genomic Selection We are seeking a post doctoral research associate to work on genomic selection in Miscanthus. Miscanthus is an important contributor to the UKs aim to achieve a net zero balance of carbon emissions. The project aims to use genomic selection and speed breeding to improve both breeding and seed production to ensure improved Miscanthus crops are deployed to meet this challenge.
Postdoctoral Research Associate in Speed Breeding We are seeking a highly motivated postdoctoral scientist to work within the Miscanthus breeding programme and apply modern breeding techniques to the leading perennial biomass crop Miscanthus at Aberystwyth University. Miscanthus is an important contributor to the UKs aim to achieve a net zero balance of carbon emissions. The project aims to use genomic selection and speed breeding to improve both breeding and seed production to ensure improved Miscanthus crops are deployed to meet this challenge.
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