đ± TWiB July 19, 2021
Welcome to another collection of the stories shared by people following @BotanyOne on Twitter. I felt dizzy compiling the newsletter this week, either due to all the eyecatching botany, or because I haven't set up a fan to cool the office.
If it is the botany making me dizzy, then next week will be bad. I'll be at Botany 2021. Lorena Villanueva Almanza will be Plant Biology 2021 and Juniper Kiss will be at ATBC 2021. Though given the time difference, I'll probably follow many of the talks on catch-up. If you 'see' any of us, feel free to say hello.
I'll be back next week, possibly a little later than usual. I'll have to make time to sing âȘHappy Birthdayđ” to Oxford Botanic Garden, which will be celebrating 400 years on Sunday.
Alun (webmaster@botany.one)
In Botany One
Woolly, cushion, rosette: drivers of diversity in the alpine Saussurea genus â www.botany.one What are the mechanisms driving speciation and adaptative evolution in Saussurea, a highly diverse genus of alpine herbaceous plants?
The wonders of mixing and matching pigments and colourful flowers â www.botany.one A review in The Biochemist draws attention to the importance of flower pigments to help plants cope with environmental stresses.
The bright side of Facebook: users catalogue rare plant species in Italy â www.botany.one A new study in the Journal of Applied Ecology highlights how photos in a Facebook group can complement plant scientistsâ sightings.
Trade-offs among growth, reproduction and defence in dioecious juniper â www.botany.one Can variation in the essential oil yield of juniper be explained by a trade off between growth, defence and reproduction?
Grapes, mind the (cell wall) barricades against grey mould! â www.botany.one Grape cell walls could explain their susceptibility to fungal disease.
News & Views
Neskowin Ghost Forest â www.atlasobscura.com The eerie remnants of an ancient forest were hidden under the sand for centuries.Â
US heatwave: Wildfires rage in western states as temperatures soar â www.bbc.co.uk Wildfires are raging in the west of the United States as the region is hit by a heatwave that has brought record temperatures to several areas.
Our climate change turning point is right here, right now People are dying. Aquatic animals are baking in their shells. Fruit is being cooked on the tree. Itâs time to act
Climate change: 'Forever plant' seagrass faces uncertain future The green, underwater meadows of Posidonia seagrass that surround the Balearic Islands are one of the world's most powerful, natural defences against climate change.
The secret parallel lives of parasitic plants and fungi â www.newphytologist.org In this guest post, Chris Thorogood writes about the evolution of parasitic plants and fungi, and the secret parallel lives they lead, all of which are discussed in his recent Viewpoint.
Why TV Is So Bad at Covering Climate Change On Saturday, Katharine Hayhoe, a climate scientist at Texas Tech University, tweeted that sheâd be appearing on CNN to talk to Fareed Zakaria about the record-breaking heat wave gripping the West. The next day, she announced her segment had been cut. âBumped, due to billionaire going to space,â she wrote.
What we can learn from Parisâs oldest tree The landmark tree, brought to France from Appalachia, shows the spread of invasive species, even in the shadow of the Notre Dame cathedral.
Banana Made With CRISPR Offers Hope for Besieged Fruit The plant has the potential to prevent billions of dollars in economic losses.
Replicating how plants move Once studied by Charles Darwin, the Venus flytrap is perhaps the most famous plant that moves at high speed. But as Daniel Rayneau-Kirkhope explains, researchers are still unearthing new scientific insights into plant motion, which could lead to novel, bio-inspired robotic structures
Brazil's Amazon is now a carbon source, unprecedented study reveals â news.mongabay.com According to a study published July 14 in Nature, the Brazilian Amazon is emitting more carbon than it captures.
Scientific Papers
Abley et al. show extensive variation in seed germination time variability between Arabidopsis accessions and use a multiparent recombinant inbred population to identify two genetic loci involved in this trait. Both loci include genes implicated in modulating abscisic acid (ABA) sensitivity. Mutually antagonistic regulation between ABA, which represses germination, and gibberellic acid (GA), which promotes germination, underlies the decision to germinate and can act as a bistable switch.
Recovery of a cultivation grazer: A mechanism for compensatory growth of Thalassia testudinum in a Caribbean seagrass meadow grazed by green turtles This study presents novel insight for assessing the underlying mechanisms of plant compensatory growth responses to cultivation grazing and proposes potential thresholds that may be used to evaluate the sustainability of in situ grazing pressure by a recovering mega-herbivore.
Endoparasitic plants and fungi show evolutionary convergence across phylogenetic divisions
Thorogood et al. review life history, anatomy, and molecular genetics across the four independent lineages of endoparasitic plants. They highlight convergence across these clades and a striking trans-kingdom convergence in life history among endoparasitic plants and disparate lineages of fungi at the molecular and physiological levels.
Camelina [Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz] is an oilseed crop in the Brassicaceae family that is currently being developed as a source of bioenergy and healthy fatty acids. To facilitate modern breeding efforts through marker-assisted selection and biotechnology, Li et al. evaluated genetic variation among a worldwide collection of 222 camelina accessions. They performed whole-genome resequencing to obtain single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers and to analyze genomic diversity.
Antonelli et al. present a phylogenomic analysis based on nuclear genes targeted by the Angiosperms353 probe set for approximately 150 species, representing all families and approximately 85% of the formally recognized tribes. They were able to retrieve partial plastomes from off-target reads for most taxa and infer phylogenetic trees for comparison with the nuclear-derived trees.
Comparative transcriptomic analysis reveals conserved programmes underpinning organogenesis and reproduction in land plants â www.nature.com
The appearance of plant organs mediated the explosive radiation of land plants, which shaped the biosphere and allowed the establishment of terrestrial animal life. The evolution of organs and immobile gametes required the coordinated acquisition of novel gene functions, the co-option of existing genes and the development of novel regulatory programmes. However, no large-scale analyses of genomic and transcriptomic data have been performed for land plants. To remedy this, Julca et al. generated gene expression atlases for various organs and gametes of ten plant species comprising bryophytes, vascular plants, gymnosperms and flowering plants.
ReadCube link: rdcu.be/coqNv
Rammer et al. applied a novel simulation approach assimilating data-driven fire projections with vegetation responses from process modeling by means of deep neural networks. They (i) quantified the future probability of regeneration failure; (ii) identified spatial hotspots of regeneration failure; and (iii) assessed how current forest types differ in their ability to regenerate under future climate and fire.
Can arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi speed up carbon sequestration by enhanced weathering? â nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Verburggen et al. propose that mycorrhizal fungi may critically contribute to the success of enhanced weathering in agricultural systems. Fundamental lab-based experiments now need to go hand in hand with real-world field trials, with the goal to optimize both decarbonization and environmental sustainability of agricultural ecosystems.
Systems biology for crop improvement
Pazhamala et al. present recent progress made in the area of various omics studiesâintegrative and systems biology approaches with a special focus on application to crop improvement. They have also discussed the challenges and opportunities in multiomics data integration, modeling, and understanding of the biology of complex traits underpinning yield and stress tolerance in major cereals and legumes.
The role of plantâpollinator interactions in structuring nectar microbial communities
de Vega et al. explore the importance of plantâpollinator interactions in the assembly of nectar microbiome and study the role of plant geographic location as a determinant of microbial community composition. They intensively sampled the nectar of 282 flowers of 48 plant species with beetles, birds, long-tongued and short-tongued insects as pollinators in wild populations in South Africa, one of the world's biodiversity hotspots, and using molecular techniques we identified nectar yeast and bacteria taxa.
Careers
PhD Position: Molecular Ecology of Plant-Pathogen Interactions This project will integrate molecular biology, bacterial genetics, evolution and ecology principles, and omics tools to advance our understanding of plant-bacterial interactions.
Postdoctoral Research Associate: New Guinea TIPAs - Careers | Kew Gardens
"We are seeking a full-time Post-Doctoral Research Associate to work on a recently awarded philanthropic grant for Kewâs Tropical Important Plant Areas (TIPAs) programme in New Guinea, specifically in West Papua Province, Indonesia."
Project Placement - Rooted in history: Understanding Leeds' plant collection - Casual - Grade A1 Leeds has a large and interesting plant collection. This project will investigate this collection, and the people who put it together, with the intention of making the plants and their histories more accessible to everyone.
Postdoctoral Fellows - ANU The Plant Sciences Team is looking to fill three Postdoctoral Fellow positions for an initial period of 3 yrs with a possibility of extension dependent on the Laureate project objectives.
Technische*n Assistent*in (w/m/d)
It is a 40-50% position that will be advertised as a substitute until December 1st, 2025. After this time, permanent employment of up to 100% is possible.
Faculty Position in Computational Genetics/Genomics job with Johns Hopkins University The Department of Biology is conducting a broad and inclusive search for an Associate or Full Professor, in the broad area of Computational Genetics and Genomics. We are committed to identifying candidates who, through their research, teaching and service will contribute to the diversity and excellence of the academic community.
Professor in Molecular Cell Biology with specialization in plants
A position as Professor in Molecular Cell Biology with specialization in plants is available at the Department of Plant Biology, at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala. SLU is located in the vibrant scientific community of Uppsala Sweden, which includes centers of excellence and world leaders in the field of molecular processes, genomics, biophysics, structural biology, evolutionary biology and ecology.Â
Senior Lecturer/Lecturer (Research & Teaching Track) The College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences is seeking to appoint a Senior Lecturer/Lecturer to join the Institute of Molecular Cell and Systems Biology. We are particularly interested in candidates who would enhance our existing strengths in Translational Pharmacology, Molecular Basis of Cell Function, Plant Sciences, Functional Genomics or Cellular Microenvironment.
Postdoctoral position in light control of RNA modification
Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Fellow position in the laboratory of Prof. Ullas Pedmale at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York.
Postdoc FRB-CESAB - Disentangling landscape and local factors in shaping the taxonomic and functional plant community diversity of roadside corridors, river corridors and cultivated field margins across a European gradient The post-doc will be hosted in Montpellier (France) by the CESAB (see description above). The job holder will be under the supervision of Eric Tabacchi (CNRS, Toulouse) and Guillaume Fried (Anses, Montpellier) and will benefit from the expertise of all project members (8 persons from 6 countries with specialists in botany, land use planning, invasive species and functional ecology) and from the methodological and logistic support of the CESAB.
PhD in Postharvest Biology on Volatilome Changes During Postharvest False Codling Moth Infestation of Citrus Fruit The MeBioS postharvest group of the Department of Biosystems, is looking for a motivated PhD candidate to study the changes in volatile production of citrus fruit in response false codling moth infestation closely working together with Citrus Research International (CRI) from South Africa.
Youth Employment Program - Technical Assistant (Australian Grains Genebank) The Technical Assistant - Australian Grains Genebank role is a new role within Agriculture Victoria and is part of the Working for Victoria Youth Employment Program, an initiative providing job opportunities in the Victorian Public Service to unemployed young people.
The Ancient Tree Forum is seeking new Trustees â www.ancienttreeforum.org.uk We are now seeking up to four new trustees to embrace the exciting opportunity to strengthen the future of an expert-powered and influential environmental charity.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow We seek a highly motived individual to join the ARC Centre of Excellence for Plant Success in Nature and Agriculture as a Research Fellow examining the genetic underpinnings of the critical relationships between plants and nutrient-acquiring microbes.
Technicien(ne) de recherche en expériementation végétale
In the framework of a project financed by the Fund Support to the Obtaining Plant (FSOV), you'll screen a panel of varieties of wheat ancient and modern in their interaction with the fungus mycorrhizal to arbuscules.
PhD Assistantship Erin Sparksâ laboratory at the University of Delaware is seeking a PhD student for an interdisciplinary project that aims to link the genetic underpinnings of brace root development to function.
Senior Agricultural Officer We have an opportunity for a Senior Agricultural Officer to be part of the Agronomy Program in the Crop Sciences research division within the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI). The role contributes to delivering SARDIâs priority of leading and conducting innovative research to increase productivity of our primary industries for the benefit of South Australia.
Multiple Academic Positions in Biological Sciences To sustain and grow the Research School of Biologyâs program of research and teaching, we are seeking to appoint up to three new continuing faculty members at Academic Levels B, CÂ or D (equivalent to Assistant or Associate Professor).
Institute/Center Director-Management
We invite applications for the position of Director of the Plant Resilience Institute, to be appointed at the level of Associate or Full Professor.
Centre Postdoctoral Researcher / Research Fellow - Plant Molecular Physiology This Plant Molecular Physiology position will work with Centre Director and ARC Georgina Sweet Laureate Fellow Professor Christine Beveridge FAA and their research group and collaborators within the ARC CoE for Plant Success.
Postdoctoral Research Associate in Multiomic Analysis of Plant Sugar Systems We are currently seeking a highly-motivated postdoctoral researcher to join a collaborative project with Rothamsted Research, as well as other industrial and academic collaborators and experts in the UK and beyond, including University of Oxford where the group is jointly based.
Research Associate in Auxin Biology Applications are invited for a Research Assistant/Research Associate position in the group of Dr Alexander Jones at the Sainsbury Laboratory, Cambridge University.
Assistant Professor The Department of Biology at California State University San Bernardino invites applications for a tenure track position at the rank of Assistant Professor in Biology with research expertise in evidence-based STEM pedagogy to begin August 2022.
Research Laboratory Technician (Fixed Term) Applications are invited for a Research Laboratory Technician to work in the brand new Crop Science Building located on the NIAB site, off Huntingdon Road.
Senior Scientist in Biodiversity Research (m/w/d) Fixed term of 3 years (possible extension by another 2 years), based on the German Act on Fixed-Term Employment Contracts in Academia (WissZeitVG)
Full Professor and Chair of the Crop Physiology group Wageningen University & Research is looking for a full professor (0.8 - 1.0 fte) to lead the Crop Physiology Chair group of our University, one of the leading universities on food, health and environment worldwide.
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