🌻 TWiB July 18, 2022
The translation management system now works at Botany One. If you want to see it in its early stages, you can see Spanish at https://botany.one/es. I need to start replacing the automated translations with human translations where we have them. Other languages will follow in the coming months once I'm satisfied Spanish is working properly.
This week's plans include plenty of liquids, as the weather is likely to set records for heat where I live. I don't do well with heat so life could be interesting. However, I'm hoping the news will be more interesting so, all being well, there should be another newsletter with you at the same time next week. Until then, take care
Alun (webmaster@botany.one)
In Botany One
Plants – and plant products – promoting global trade — botany.one
Nigel Chaffey reviews Spices, Scents and Silk: Catalysts of World Trade, James F Hancock
Using models to optimize planting density — botany.one The closeness of plants affects architectural plasticity and carbon uptake.
Are Botanists Threatened with Extinction? — botany.one Scientists argue that we won't be able to protect the natural world, if we're not training the next generation of botanists with the necessary skills, writes Sebastian Stroud.
Tree buds need cosy blankets for the spring rather than the winter — botany.one It may be that buds in winter are 'on pause' and they are in fact prepared to protect their contents in the changeable spring weather.
Video-based measurements of maize stalk movement — botany.one Measuring the impact of brace roots on lodging resistance in maize.
Every day is like Christmas for some declining farmland birds — botany.one Novel agriculture provides a refuge for some birds driven out of traditional farmland.
News & Views
Dozens injured in Portugal wildfires as heatwave to intensify More than 3,000 firefighters battle blazes as EU offers emergency help and temperatures could hit 43C
How stressed-out plants produce their own aspirin — phys.org Plants protect themselves from environmental hazards like insects, drought and heat by producing salicylic acid, also known as aspirin. A new understanding of this process may help plants survive increasing stress caused by climate change.
Scientists uncover why urchins are mowing down California's kelp forests — phys.org Purple sea urchins are munching their way through California's kelp forests at a speed and scale that have stunned scientists, fishermen and divers alike. But the kelp forests have long been home to red and purple urchins, so it's clear the three species can get along. Researchers at UC Santa Barbara sought to determine what factors disrupt this harmony.
How to find, read and organize papers Maya Gosztyla decided to rethink her approach to research papers after she had trouble keeping track of the published literature.
A powerful and underappreciated ally in the climate and biodiversity crisis? Fungi — blog.efi.int If we want to tackle the climate crisis, we need to address a global blind-spot: the vast underground fungal networks that sequester carbon and sustain much of life on earth.
93% of employers want to see soft skills on your resume—here are 8 of the most in-demand ones — www.cnbc.com Soft skills include a wide array of abilities. “I would say, in general, communication is very high on that list right now considering how people are working in very different situations, hybrid situations,” says Kristin Kelley, chief marketing officer at CareerBuilder, as an example.
Into the Forbidden Forest — www.smithsonianmag.com Famed American biologist Patricia Wright explores an astonishing breadth of biodiversity in the wilderness of Madagascar
Unexpected gardens grow hope inside detention facilities — www.kpbs.org There are expansive nurseries and vegetable gardens in places you might not expect: the men's East Mesa Reentry Facility in Otay Mesa and at the women's Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility in Santee. The people caring for the plants and vegetables are inmates with less than six months left in their sentences. During the time they spend at those centers, they’re just students learning the art of horticulture, landscaping and farm-to-table sustainable growing.
Can Planting a Trillion New Trees Save the World? To fight climate change, companies and nonprofits have been promoting worldwide planting campaigns. Getting to a trillion is easier said than done.
Why Some of Your Annuals Should Be Native Plants — www.nytimes.com Say the word “annuals” and most gardeners think of subtropical plants like petunias or marigolds. But native annuals do so much more for your garden.
Yosemite wildfire continues to grow as it pushes east into Sierra national forest Giant sequoias still safe as firefighters face challenges from the warm and dry conditions fueling the blaze
The 'world's first library farm' is home to plush gardens and community innovations — www.shareable.net With food costs at near-record prices, the idea of growing your own food has never been so attractive. But food production requires space, and space can be a precious commodity — even a rarity — for people who live in urban areas. For decades, communities in cities around the U.S. have created urban farms and gardens. These spaces make use of empty lots to grow low-cost produce or flowers for communities. These urban farms are not always in high-profile or easily accessible places, however.
Scientific Papers
New data for palaeoclimatic reconstructions in the upper/middle Uruguay River Basin: caesalpinioid Fabaceae woods in the Late Pleistocene — academic.oup.com
Ramos et al. describe and determine 11 fossil woods, including seven new species closely related to modern Parapiptadenia, Microlobius, Anadenanthera, Pseudopiptadenia (Mimoseae, Fabaceae) and Chloroleucon, Enterolobium and Cedrelinga (Ingeae, Fabaceae).
Let there be clades: phylogenetics of Mimosa series Pachycarpae and Setosae (Fabaceae) improves the infrageneric classification of the genus — academic.oup.com
Borges et al. investigated the phylogenetic relationship among species of Mimosa series Pachycarpae and Setosae, two diverse series from the Brazilian Cerrado (savanna) Domain.
An Open and Continuously Updated Fern Tree of Life (FTOL)
Ferns, with about 12,000 species, are the second most diverse clade of vascular plants after angiosperms. They have been the subject of numerous molecular phylogenetic studies, resulting in the publication of trees for every major clade and DNA sequences from nearly half of all species. Global fern phylogenies have been published periodically, but as molecular systematics research continues at a rapid pace, these become quickly outdated. Nitta et al. develop a mostly automated, reproducible, open pipeline to generate a continuously updated fern tree of life (FTOL) from DNA sequence data available in GenBank.
Regulation of AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR condensation and nucleo-cytoplasmic partitioning — www.nature.com
Jing et al. perform a forward genetics screen for ARF hypercondensation, identifying an F-box protein, which we named AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR F-BOX1 (AFF1). Functional characterization of SCFAFF1 revealed that this E3 ubiquitin ligase directly interacts with ARF19 and ARF7 to regulate their accumulation, condensation, and nucleo-cytoplasmic partitioning.
Oxidative protein folding in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) depends on the coordinated action of protein disulfide isomerases and ER oxidoreductins (EROs). Strict dependence of ERO activity on molecular oxygen as the final electron acceptor implies that oxidative protein folding and other ER processes are severely compromised under hypoxia. Ugalde et al. isolated viable Arabidopsis thaliana ero1 ero2 double mutants that are highly sensitive to reductive stress and hypoxia.
The timing of unprecedented hydrological drought under climate change — www.nature.com
Satoh et al. investigate the changes in the frequency of hydrological drought (defined as abnormally low river discharge) under high and low greenhouse gas concentration scenarios and existing water resource management measures and estimate the time of the first emergence of unprecedented regional drought conditions centered on the low-flow season. The times are detected for several subcontinental-scale regions, and three regions, namely, Southwestern South America, Mediterranean Europe, and Northern Africa, exhibit particularly robust results under the high-emission scenario. These three regions are expected to confront unprecedented conditions within the next 30 years with a high likelihood regardless of the emission scenarios.
PILS proteins provide a homeostatic feedback on auxin signaling output
Feraru et al. show that GASP1 encodes an uncharacterized RING/U-box superfamily protein that impacts on auxin signaling output. The low auxin signaling in gasp1 mutants correlates with reduced abundance of PILS5 and PILS6 proteins. Mechanistically, they show that high and low auxin conditions increase and reduce PILS6 protein levels, respectively.
Democratizing plant genomics to accelerate global food production | Nature Genetics — www.nature.com Building on the fundamental discoveries of Mendel, plant genomics has had a major role in advancing the genetic improvement of crops worldwide, particularly in developed economies where the technologies are easily accessible. From cumbersome to more miniaturized high-throughput sequencing technologies, the field continues to evolve, providing vast opportunities for studying plant genomes with varying levels of complexity and potential real-life applications.
How did Mendel arrive at his discoveries? — www.nature.com
van Dijk et al. review current ideas about how Mendel arrived at his discoveries and then discuss an alternative scenario based on recently discovered historical sources that support the suggestion that Mendel’s fundamental research on the inheritance of traits emerged from an applied plant breeding program.
Careers
Research Fellow (Cellular Biochemistry of CO2 fixation) A Research Fellow position is available in the Mueller-Cajar lab, School of School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. The Mueller-Cajar lab at the School of Biological Sciences seeks to understand the molecular machinery involved in photosynthetic carbon dioxide fixation. The programme aims to study the biochemistry and cell biology of “superior” red-type Rubiscos from marine phytoplankton. We hope to understand the folding and assembly requirements of this enzymes, which will permit their use in plants and potentially enhance the efficiency of photosynthesis.
Plantlife is looking for a skilled advocate and persuasive communicator, who can help us build a strong and influential voice for a world rich in wild plants and fungi. You will have a passion for nature conservation, an understanding of global environmental issues and the ambition to inspire and influence policymakers and partners on the global stage.
Note UK-only applicants.
Professor and Head, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences The College of Agricultural Sciences at Colorado State University invites applications and encourages nominations for Department Head and Professor in Soil and Crop Sciences. This department is one of five in the college, which is also home to ten Colorado Agricultural Experimental Stations.
PhD on the role of the plant circadian clock in latitudinal adaptation The lab of Prof. Devang Mehta conducts research in experimental plant systems biology in the Division of Crop Biotechnics (Department of Biosystems) at KU Leuven (Belgium). We have an open full-time PhD position in Bioscience Engineering to study and engineer the plant circadian clock for enhanced latitudinal adaptation.
PhD position: Novel variation in quinoa with mutation breeding and gene editing Are you interested in research in the field of plant breeding? Do you like to work on novel or underutilised crops like quinoa? Do you have experience in molecular genetics, tissue culture and gene editing or have the skills to become an expert in these fields? Are you interested in developing new selection and gene validation tools aimed at improved abiotic stress tolerance of quinoa? Then we might have an opportunity for you at Wageningen University & Research to start your PhD research in a new Topsector project in collaboration with young companies in this field.
Research and Grants Manager The Good Food Institute Europe (GFI Europe) is looking for a Research and Grants Manager to mobilise research funding to build a sustainable, secure and just food system. GFI Europe is at the forefront of the movement to advance plant-based and cultivated (grown from cells) meat to help solve some of the world’s biggest problems, from climate change and global hunger, to antibiotic resistance and animal suffering.
PhD student (f/m/d) - EPSO The potato shoot tip viability after cryopreservation is affected by a number of stresses including mechanical wounding, cold, dehydration and the plant microbiome. The aim of the DFG funded project ‘PotEND’ (Potato – endophyte interaction in response to complex abiotic stress) is to study plant-microorganism interactions and the influence of endophytic microorganisms on the potato plant metabolism, growth and regeneration potential.
Senior Researcher Product Quality and Flavour Greenhouse Horticulture Would you like to contribute to the competitiveness of the horticultural value chain (vegetables, fruits and flowers), by achieving a better quality of greenhouse horticultural products? Is your passion development and application of innovative measuring methods for quality aspects such as flavour? Do you have a relevant network in the horticultural sector and do you like to connect with internal and external project partners? Then Wageningen Plant Research is looking for you!
University Professorship (W3) for Molecular Plant Physiology We are looking for internationally recognized candidates whose research is molecularly and interdisciplinarily oriented. Possible research fields include: physiology of primary metabolism; genetic regulation and mechanisms of evolution; adaptation of plants to biotic and abiotic stress; plant immunity; plant-microbe interaction; functional aspects of plant systems.
AI4Missions PhD Scholarships Job in Canberra We are inviting applications for the AI for Missions PhD scholarship program. We are looking for diverse and creative scholars, who can demonstrate academic and research excellence, and are capable of driving our impactful research projects that help shape Australia's digital future. Students will have the opportunity to be part of a cohort and participate in the coursework program offered by the Next Generation Graduates Programs.
Postdoctoral Researcher Safe Plant-based Products Do you want to improve the safety of plant-based products? Do you get excited about quantitative microbiology? At the laboratory of Food Microbiology of Wageningen University you can work on these topics. We are looking for an ambitious Postdoctoral researcher with a great interest in designing models to predict growth of pathogens in foods. Will you be our new colleague? This postdoc project focusses on the design of mathematical models to predict the growth of pathogens in plant-based foods to safely design novel protein-rich foods. The project funded by Top Sector Agri&Food involves multiple industrial partners (food manufacturers and ingredient suppliers) and the research institute Wageningen Food & Biobased Research.
Funded PhD Project: Mass extinction dynamics This study will reveal the ecologic and climatic signatures during the recovery phase of a major mass extinction event. Data collection will focus on plant microfossils and a range of geochemical proxies of climate change. Building upon previously collected fossil and geochemical data sets, this project will form an integral part of a growing research collaboration between Ireland, Australia, Sweden and the USA.
W3-Professor in Ecophysiology Two new professorships are being appointed at the Institute to strengthen the Department of Biology`s research focus on "Stress and Resilience of biological Systems". The professorship in ecophysiology will investigate the resilience of plants to biotic and abiotic challenges at the ecosystem level as well as resilience-related interactions between plants, other organisms and their environment. The professorship should cover one or more of the following research approaches: ecosystem monitoring, functional plant diversity, experimental approaches and Big Data analyses of environmental, ecological, physiological or biochemical parameters to elucidate plant performance before, during and after stress.
Research Assistant (PhD Student, m/f/d) in the area Plant Biochemistry The Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Leibniz University Hannover invites applications for the position of a Research Assistant (PhD Student, m/f/d) in the area Plant Biochemistry (Salary Scale 13 TV-L, 67 %) to start at the next possible date. The position is part of the group “Biochemistry of Plant Specialised Metabolites” (Prof. Dr. Jakob Franke). The initial contract is for 3 years with a possibility for extension.
Assistant Professor Predicting vegetable quality in controlled environment agriculture (Tenure Track) Can you imagine a future with autonomous crop production systems that provide nutritious fresh fruits and vegetables locally and on-demand? Are you devoted about bringing together crop physiology and data science? Then the chair group Horticulture and Product Physiology of Wageningen University & Research is offering a Tenure Track position which is the opportunity you are looking for.
Nature Network Manager We’re looking for a Nature Network Manager to support the development of Edinburgh Nature Network (ENN), improving its impact through coordinated delivery. ENN is delivered by a working group of Edinburgh Living Landscape, whose secretariat is provided by Scottish Wildlife Trust.
Privacy Policy
We store your email in order to know who to send the emails to. We have to share that list with Revue because they’re the company that actually sends the emails out. We get information about how many emails open, so it might be 50% one week, but we wouldn’t be able to tell if you were in the half that opens the email or the half that didn’t. Revue have their own longer privacy policy.
The email is funded by the Annals of Botany Company.