đ±TWiB October 18, 2021
I held on to the cold slightly longer than I would have liked. It means this week has been working around whatever symptom I had. It means that outside of work all the botany news I saw came from people following @BotanyOne on Twitter.
This week I'm hoping we'll have some news on a nutrient that often gets overlooked. It also seems I'll be spending some time reading about arctic plants as a few papers have caught my eye on arctic environments in Annals of Botany and beyond.
All things being well, I'll be sharing links to those, as well as other things you've found interesting next week. Until then, take care.
Alun (webmaster@botany.one)
In Botany One
Flora Incognita shows high identification accuracy in Northern Europe â www.botany.one Plant identification apps are now widely available for smartphones but can we trust them for research and nature conservation purposes?
Seminal roots help maize grab nutrients â www.botany.one When humans selected for bigger seeds in maize, they may have also unintentionally improved its root system.
Allele mining could help improve forage grasses â www.botany.one Botanists demonstrate a novel, effective approach to allele discovery in diverse accessions using a draft reference genome from a single species.
Ready and prepared: climate change may favour the expansion of the invasive species Carpobrotus edulis â www.botany.one Rising temperatures and decreasing levels of precipitation can magnify the invasive potential of this South African plant that has already taken over temperate coasts around the world.
Next generation sequencing of Zanthoxylum leads to rethink of previous generations of Zanthoxylum â www.botany.one Next-generation sequencing using target enrichment reveals that current sectional classifications of Zanthoxylum need revision.
News & Views
El inventariado de las 6.120 plantas ibéricas: la gesta ignorada de dos generaciones de botånicos
Tras 39 años culmina la catalogaciĂłn de la flora de la PenĂnsula y Baleares, de la que cerca de un 22% de las especies no existen en ninguna otra parte del mundo.
After 39 years the cataloguing of the flora of Iberia and the Balearic Islands finds that 22% of the species do not exist anywhere else in the world.
Seven elements of a sensory garden Gardens of sensory delights are trending across Australia because of their unique education experiences and lighthearted approach to designing a beautiful space. Sensory gardens use plants and other materials to create a self-contained area with a variety of aromas, textures, colours, noises and shapes.
New insight into photosynthesis could help grow more resilient plants â globalplantcouncil.org
A research team led by Washington State University has created a computer model to understand how plants store energy in the thylakoid membrane, a key structure to photosynthesis in plant leaves.
Cop26 must not overshadow Kunming: we need joint climate and biodiversity goals Ecosystem collapse is as much a threat as the climate crisis, but valuing nature will help us meet both these challenges
How to Apply for a Tenure-Track Faculty Job in Ecology â www.mordecailab.com
"This post is part of the blog series The Unwritten Curriculum... This post is written by me (Erin Mordecai). Iâm a disease ecologist and a recently tenured associate professor at Stanford University in the Biology department. I applied for my job in 2013, interviewed and got the offer in 2014, and started in 2015."
Flipping the photosynthesis switch A molecular tag turns photosynthesis on and off by changing the colour of leaves.
Invasive Cheatgrass Spreads Under City Lights The prolific plant, which impacts agriculture and spurs wildfire, seems to particularly benefit from streetlights
Surface control Three proteins help control the size, shape and number of pollen apertures on the surface of pollen grains in Arabidopsis thaliana.
Academiaâs ableist culture laid bare â www.nature.com Four group leaders with disabilities share their thoughts on how to make laboratories and fieldwork more accessible and inclusive.
Tropical wetlands reduce storm impacts and save thousands of lives and $600bn each year, study suggests Results showed wetlands provide natural barriers offering protection against speed and turbulence of extreme storms, Australian researcher says
Scientific Papers
Axial variation in flexural stiffness of plant stem segments: measurement methods and the influence of measurement uncertainty The methods presented in this paper can be used to measure the axial variation in flexural stiffness of plant stem segments. However, care must be taken to account for the influence of measurement error as the individual segment method amplifies measurement error. An alternative method involving aggregate flexural stiffness values does not amplify measurement error, but provides lower spatial resolution.
Lee et al. show by a systems approach that DICARBOXYLATE CARRIER 2 (DIC2) facilitates mitochondrial malateâcitrate exchange in vivo in Arabidopsis thaliana. DIC2 knockout (dic2-1) retards growth of vegetative tissues.
Harant et al. describe a vector system of 72 plasmids that enables functional studies of the ZAR1 resistosome in N. benthamiana. We showed that ZAR1 stands out among the coiled coil class of NLRs (CC-NLRs) for being highly conserved across distantly related dicot plant species and confirmed NbZAR1 as the N. benthamiana ortholog of Arabidopsis ZAR1.
A glossary of plant cell structures: Current insights and future questions
In this glossary of plant cell structures, Kang et al. asked experts to summarize a present-day view of plant organelles and structures, including a discussion of outstanding questions. In the following short reviews, the authors discuss the complexities of the plant cell endomembrane system, exciting connections between organelles, novel insights into peroxisome structure and function, dynamics of mitochondria, and the mysteries that need to be unlocked from the plant cell wall.
Structural basis of microRNA processing by Dicer-like 1 â www.nature.com
Wei et al. report the single-particle cryo-electron microscopy structures of Arabidopsis DCL1 complexed with a pri-miRNA and a pre-miRNA, respectively, in cleavage-competent states. These structures uncover the plasticity of the PAZ domain, which is critical for the recognition of both pri-miRNA and pre-miRNA. These structures suggest that the helicase module serves as an engine that transfers the substrate between two sequential cleavage events. rdcu.be/czn3f
Explainable machine learning models of major crop traits from satellite-monitored continent-wide field trial data â www.nature.com
Newman and Furbank assemble and analyse a continent-wide database of field experiments spanning 10âyears and hundreds of thousands of machine-phenotyped populations of ten major crop species. Training an ensemble of machine learning models, using thousands of variables capturing weather, ground sensor, soil, chemical and fertilizer dosage, management and satellite data, produces robust cross-continent yield models exceeding R2â=â0.8 prediction accuracy. In contrast to âblack boxâ analytics, detailed interrogation of these models reveals drivers of crop behaviour and complex interactions predicting yield and agronomic traits. rdcu.be/czn3M
Analysis of canopy phenology in man-made forests using near-earth remote sensing In different areas of the same forest, differences in the micro-ecological environment in the canopies were prevalent, with their internal growth mechanism being affected by different cultivation ways and the external environment. Besides, the optimal color index also varies with species in phenological response, that is, different color indexes are used for different forests. With the data of color indexes as the training set and forecast set, the feasibility of the LSTM model in phenology forecast is verified.
Carbon dioxide responsiveness mitigates rice yield loss under high night temperature
Bahuguna et al. conducted field experiments to identify [CO2] responsiveness from a diverse indica panel comprising 194 genotypes under different planting geometries in 2016. Twenty-three different genotypes were tested under different planting geometries and e[CO2] using a Free Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) facility in 2017. The most promising genotypes and positive and negative controls were tested under HNT and e[CO2]+HNT in 2018. [CO2] responsiveness, measured as a composite response index on different yield components, grain yield, and photosynthesis, revealed a strong relationship (R2=0.71) between low planting density and e[CO2].
Genome evolution of the psammophyte Pugionium for desert adaptation and further speciation â www.pnas.org
Hu et al. present a genomic analysis of two congeneric desert plant species that clarifies their evolutionary history and shows that their common ancestor arose from a hybrid polyploidization, which provided genomic foundations for their survival in deserts. The whole-genome duplication was followed by translocation-based rearrangements of the ancestral chromosomes. Rapid evolution of genes in these reshuffled chromosomes contributed greatly to the divergences of the two species in desert microhabitats during which gene flow was continuous.
Widespread vulnerability of flowering plant seed production to pollinator declines
Rodget et al. quantify pollinator contribution to seed production by comparing fertility in the presence versus the absence of pollinators for a global dataset of 1174 plant species. They estimate that, without pollinators, a third of flowering plant species would produce no seeds and half would suffer an 80% or more reduction in fertility.
Combining approaches of genetics, biochemistry and advanced confocal microscopy, Kashkan et al. describe the impact of alternative splicing on the PIN7 gene in the plant model Arabidopsis thaliana. PIN7 encodes a polarly localized transporter for the phytohormone auxin and produces two evolutionary-conserved transcripts PIN7a and PIN7b.
Careers
Principal Ecologist EcoĂireann is a small consultancy seeking to appoint a Principal Ecologist to enable the delivery of the extensive range of work opportunities which have been developed across our operations since 2016. This will be a lead role within the company and comprises a great opportunity to shape the organisation and the projects we work on, lead complex elements of project delivery, promote staff recruitment and development, and contribute towards the organisationâs Quality, Health & Safety, and Environmental Management systems. EcoĂireann will offer you the opportunity to work on a variety of exciting and challenging projects from habitat creation schemes and small developments to some of the largest construction projects in Ireland and the UK, and to contribute in a meaningful way to nature conservation.
3-year fully funded Phd position in plant-microbe interaction, GWAS and bioinformatics With the final aim of identifying genes, alleles and their impact in molecular processes regulating microbe-induced plant resilience to phosphate starvation, the PhD student will be involved in phenotyping 134 fully sequenced Lactuca sativa varieties. Plants will be grown under phosphate starvation with microbial biostimulants at the private greenhouse of the industrial project partner.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Plant Functional Ecology The Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Plant Functional Ecology to contribute towards the ARC Centre of Excellence node for Plant Success in Nature & Agriculture, which aims to understand climate-adaptations to heat and drought in Australian native plant species including eucalypts and Andropogoneae grasses.
Postdoctoral Research Scientist The successful candidate will be responsible for the biochemical and molecular analysis of plants including the identification and characterisation of biosynthetic pathways. They will also assist in the training of PhD students. They will work in collaboration with other scientists at the Earlham Institute and John Innes Centre.
Post-doctoral Researcher A position is available in the 2Blades group for a post-doctoral researcher at the interface of plant disease resistance and biotechnology. The development of new technology has made genome sequencing and gene identification more accessible and affordable. Resistance genes can be easily sequenced from diverse germplasm, however functional characterisation of those genes remains a challenge.
Lecturer, Senior Lecturer or Reader We are now looking to appoint a Lecturer, Senior Lecturer or Reader to join any one of our research groups. These groups are Protein Structure and Mechanisms of Disease, Genomics and Computational Biology, Ecology and Environmental Microbiology and Plant Productivity. Â However, we particularly encourage applicants with a skillset and research interests which complement and expand those of the current Plant Productivity group, including photosynthesis, plant molecular physiology, plant environmental stress, plant genomics and crop science.
Senior Ecologist Wiltshire Council are looking for a Senior Ecologist to support the work of the Landscape and Design Team for 12 months whilst the Local Plan Review is being completed.
Post-Doc modelling cocoa ecophysiology and production We are looking for an enthusiastic and highly motivated postdoc to work on a multidiciplinary research project on Crop growth simulation models. These models can be used to identify yield limiting factors, as decision support to farmers and other stakeholders, as a tool in crop breeding and to make prediction about future cocoa yields.
PhD student virus-insect-plant interactions We are looking for a PhD candidate in the field of virus-insect-plant interactions, who is interested in studying insect behaviour, plant viruses and molecular mechanisms underlying plant resistance to herbivorous insects. The project aims to study the effects of plant viruses on plant defenses to aphids and will compare different viruses for their effects on aphid behaviour and the signaling pathways they activate in the plant. The research will involve the use of biosensors and transcriptome analyses.
The Department of Biology at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), an R2 Carnegie Classification Hispanic-Serving Institution with an enrollment of over 32,000 students, invites applications for 4 (four) tenure-track positions with specific research expertise:
Plant functional genomics: modern genomic approaches such as biogeography and/or molecular phylogenetics, functional genomics, and metabolomics to complement and collaborate with a well-established plant science research group.
Vector-borne disease biology: research in vector-borne diseases, including viruses, bacteria, or parasitic diseases. Preferred candidate will have strong background in molecular biology and research foci may include areas such as disease transmission, surveillance, diagnostics, or general virology/microbiology.
Developmental biology: basic developmental mechanisms, which may include molecular/genetic (model system-based), comparative, and/or evolutionary developmental approaches.
Computational biology: basic research in systems biology, metabolomics, computational neuroscience, bioinformatics, etc. as part of the interdisciplinary Biochemistry and Molecular Biology MS program.
Each of the four positions will involve establishing an independent research program, in addition to teaching and service activities, and will benefit from a highly competitive salary and start-up package
PhD position 'Intracellular control of intercellular communication during plant development' We are looking for an enthusiastic and motivated PhD candidate to work on an interdisciplinary project to study the impact of inter-organellar signalling on inter-cellular communication. You will work in the departments of Plant Physiology and Cell Biology and combine a range of methods to unravel the long-distance developmental effects of chloroplast-to-nucleus signalling.
Research Assistant III The CRoPS project aims to develop crop plants that sequester more carbon via extensive root systems containing recalcitrant carbon polymers to fight climate change. A major component of this research is to phenotype plant traits for conducting genetic analysis and confirm trait changes of genetic changes. The Research Assistant III will supervise one or more research support staff members, and work with other members of the CRoPS project and the Busch laboratory to conduct screening of root traits to identify genetic mechanisms that lead to optimal root systems for carbon sequestration, and assess phenotypes of genetically engineered crop plants.
PhD position to study regulation and transport of a novel anti-diabetic plant derived metabolite The plant metabolite montbretin A (MbA) is being developed as a novel therapeutic for diabetes and obesity. To overcome the MbA supply issues, this PhD projects aims at understanding MbA regulation and transport in the native plant and aims to use this knowledge in a synthetic biology approach towards improvement of engineered heterologous MbA production systems.
Assistant Professor - Ecology and Evolutionary Biology New York Universityâs Department of Biology invites applicants for a tenure track position beginning ideally on September 1st 2022, pending budgetary and administrative approval. We are interested in applicants whose research is in the area of Ecology and Evolution, with a focus on urban environments. This search is part of a cluster hire in Transforming Ecologies in Urban Environments that also includes the Department of Environmental Studies and will likely expand to other Departments in future years.
Research Geneticist (Plants) This position is located in the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (ARS),Field Organization, Northeast Area, Plant Genetic Resources Unit in Geneva, NY. The incumbent functions as a team member of the Research Project Conservation and Utilization of Hemp Genetic Resources and Associated Information in the Unit.
Research Geneticist (Plants) The Department of Plant Science at the University of Manitoba invites applications for a full-time tenure track position at the rank of Assistant Professor in the area of plant genomics and genetics. The candidate will lead a research program in Brassica genetics and genomics, and conduct both basic and applied research in the same area. The position start date is January 1, 2022, or as soon as possible thereafter. Salary will be commensurate with experience and qualifications.
PhD student (f/m/d) in plant genomics The independent research group Grain Legume Genomics investigates the genetic basis of nutritional value in grain legumes. Research is mainly focussed on faba bean (Vicia faba). We will apply genebank genomics and pan-genomics approaches to drive the informed genetic improvement of agronomic traits, protein quality and nutritional value.
Research Associate in Plant Molecular Physiology (Full-time, 3 year fixed term contract) Applications are invited for a Research Associate in the Crop Molecular Physiology group headed by Dr Stéphanie Swarbreck, at NIAB Cambridge Crop Research, starting in January 2022.
Laboratory Technician Applications are invited for the position of Laboratory Technician in the research group of Dr. Sebastian Schornack at the Sainsbury Laboratory, Cambridge University (www.schornacklab.net). The group studies processes of plants which permit colonization by filamentous pathogens and symbiotic fungi. Our work is based on genetic, molecular biological, cell biological and developmental approaches.
Ph.D. Position in Plant Immune Signalling and Ubiquitination Applications are invited for a Ph.D. position to join the Group of Marco Trujillo at the University of Freiburg. Research in the Trujillo lab (www.trujillolab.com) focuses on understanding ubiquitin signalling and its roles in the regulation of immune responses, as well as general protein homeostasis. Previous and ongoing research in the lab has uncovered key roles of ubiquitination in the regulation intracellular vesicle transport and its interplay with signalling networks triggered by receptor kinases.
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