It’s easy to get lost among a sea of negative stories. We potentially have one later today, when a story by Andrés Pereira-Guaqueta on the danger of climate change to cacao, goes live. However, there are some solutions as well as gloom. It made it a pleasure to read through. So much so, that any typos that survived edits are my fault for spending too much time getting caught up in the meaning of the paragraphs instead of the shape of the words.
There’s also a post on Hanami, the Japanese tradition of enjoying the blossoms, by Mareike Jezek. She looks at the genetics of cherry blossom, and why that matters in a warming world. That’s out on Friday.
Because of holidays, there could be disruption to the email next week. My plan is to get it written and scheduled before the weekend. But then my plan this week was to get the email written before Sunday, so I could have the day off. It’s 7pm on Sunday as I write this, instead of the usual 10pm, so it’s not a complete failure, but I could do better.
Whenever it arrives, there will be another email of the papers you’re sharing on Mastodon, Bluesky, and Twitter next week. Until next time, take care.
Alun (webmaster@botany.one)
On Botany One
Why Pedigree Matters for the Survival of Endangered Plants Like Titan Arum
Scientists built a pedigree of Titan Arum, a rare and endangered plant, and found that botanic gardens might be unintentionally reducing its genetic diversity.
Marcelo A. Aizen: “Pollination is More Than Just Animals Visiting Flowers”
Botany One interviews Dr Marcelo A. Aizen, an Argentinian researcher fascinated for the interactions between plants and pollinators.
Why Would A Tree Taunt Thor?
Some tropical trees not only survive lightning strikes but use them as weapons against competitors.
The Wisdom of Green-Thumbed Crowds Brings Expertise to Western Australia
News & Views
RILAB / statements
All the job and grant applications here are successful, hopefully providing a diverse perspective on what has worked in jobs and funding.
Guardians of the glades: protecting Europe’s forests against climate change
EU-funded researchers are combining cutting-edge research with sustainable forestry practices to protect our forests and preserve the many environmental benefits they provide.
Microbes as hidden or prominent players in plant life
Join us for a three-day Symposium hosted by New Phytologist’s new Editor-in-Chief, Maarja Öpik. University of Tartu, 8–10 July 2025.
International Student Visas Revoked
As of April 12, over 170 colleges and universities have identified 950-plus international students and recent graduates who have had their legal status changed by the US State Department.
9th Annual Computational Biology Workshop
Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU) and the Plant Reproduction and Development Lab, ENS Lyon jointly host the International Plant Computational Biology Workshop. The annual meeting is spearheaded by members of the Computational Morphodynamics group and aims to bring together scientists interested in modelling plant development and will feature invited speakers from multiple disciplines and those working on other model systems in life sciences. The workshop features seminars based around a different theme each day and ample time for group discussions on current and future challenges in modelling development and morphogenesis. The meeting also includes more technical discussions and hackathons, where model developers aim to integrate software from different groups on image processing, meshing, and modelling.
Those Dire Wolves Aren’t an Amazing Scientific Breakthrough. They’re a Disturbing Symbol of Where We’re Heading.
We shouldn’t be celebrating “de-extinction.” We should be focused on the species that are currently in danger.
I’ve seen Australia’s beloved gumtrees dying and it makes me wonder: if they can’t survive, how can we?
Even the hardy eucalypts are finding their limits as we experience more frequent bushfires, heatwaves and droughts.
Surprising discovery in world’s most studied plant can make seeds bigger
An overlooked “gate” governs nutrient transport to seeds and might one day boost harvests.
Kent botanist saved Japanese blossom from extinction
The story of how a botanist from Kent saved a variety of Japanese cherry trees from extinction in the 1920s will be told through a series of walks.
The phytoplanktonic paradox
What is the connection between phytoplankton free-floating in the ocean and earth-bound rice plants?
Scientific Papers
Cell cycle follows “pause and play” mechanism in environment stress recovery in diverse plant species (FREE)
Hazelwood et al tested the cell cycle regulation during control, stress, and recovery period for salt, osmotic, cold, and heat stresses using eudicot Arabidopsis thaliana and monocots Brachypodium distachyon and Lolium multiflorum(annual ryegrass). They identified a conserved “pause and play” mechanism of cell cycle during environmental stress and recovery.
Also see thread by Arif Ashraf.
A Global Synthesis of How Plants Respond to Climate
Warming From Traits to Fitness ($)
Despite intensive research, our understanding of how plants respond to warming by coordinating their full arsenal of traits to adjust fitness is lacking. To fill this gap, Jia et al applied a trait-based framework with three clusters (two functional clusters: “carbon-fixation rate” and “carbon-fixation area”; a third cluster: “total carbon fixation”) to a global dataset compiled from 572 studies of warming experiments with 677 species and a comprehensive list of traits and fitness components.
Possibly free access via the link above.
From the Shenzhen Code to the Madrid Code: New rules and recommendations for naming algae, fungi, and plants (FREE)
This commentary supplements the technical reports already published and provides an overview of some of the new or amended rules and recommendations in the upcoming Madrid Code.
Investigating the accuracy of tropical woody stem CO2 efflux estimates: scaling methods, and vertical and diel variation (FREE)
Stem CO2 efflux (EA) significantly contributes to autotrophic and ecosystem respiration in tropical forests, but field methodologies often introduce biases and uncertainty. This study evaluates these biases and their impact on scaling EA at the stand-level.
Water immunity overrides stomatal immunity in plant resistance to Pseudomonas syringae (FREE)
The bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae (Pst) exploits open stomata for entry into its host. However, it can also induce stomatal closure at post-invasive stages to enhance apoplastic hydration, creating a favorable environment for Pst proliferation, evident as water-soaked lesions on leaves. During the post-invasive stages of Pstinfection, plants reopen their stomata to promote apoplastic dehydration, establishing the second layer of stomatal defense termed water immunity. To evaluate the relative importance of stomatal versus water immunity, Kemppinen et al utilized a diverse set of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) mutants with impaired stomatal function and monitored bacterial growth, stomatal behavior, and water-soaking capacity after Pst pv. tomato DC3000 infection.
Leaf Excision and Exposure Duration Alter the Estimates of the Irreversible Photosynthetic Thermal Thresholds ($)
Didion-Gency et al determined the critical temperature (Tcrit), the temperature causing a 50% reduction (T50), and the maximum tolerable temperature (Tmax) of photosystem II in Mediterranean cypress, Aleppo pine, and Scots pine saplings using 15- or 30-min heat exposure curves performed on living plants (in-vivo), excised needles (ex-vivo), and excised needles continuously exposed to each rising temperature (ex-vivo continuous).
Extensive N4 cytosine methylation is essential for Marchantia sperm function (FREE)
N4-methylcytosine (4mC) is an important DNA modification in prokaryotes, but its relevance and even its presence in eukaryotes have been mysterious. Walker et al show that spermatogenesis in the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha involves two waves of extensive DNA methylation reprogramming.
Auxin and tryptophan trigger common responses in the streptophyte alga Penium margaritaceum (FREE)
Carrillo-Carrasco et al. explore auxin responses in the unicellular streptophyte alga Penium margaritaceum. By assessing physiological, transcriptomic, and cellular responses, they found that auxin triggers cell proliferation, gene regulation, and acceleration of cytoplasmic streaming.
MetaFlowTrain: a highly parallelized and modular fluidic system for studying exometabolite-mediated inter-organismal interactions (FREE)
Chesneau et al present MetaFlowTrain, an easy-to-assemble, cheap, semi-high-throughput, and modular fluidic system in which multiple media can be flushed at adjustable flow rates into gnotobiotic microchambers accommodating diverse micro-organisms, ranging from bacteria to small eukaryotes.
IQ-TREE 3: Phylogenomic Inference Software using Complex Evolutionary Models (FREE)
IQ-TREE (http://www.iqtree.org) is a widely used open-source software tool for efficiently inferring phylogenetic trees under maximum likelihood. Here, we present IQ-TREE version 3, the third major release of the software.
In AoBC Publications
- An updated phylogeny of Boraginales based on the Angiosperms353 probe set: a roadmap for understanding morphological evolution (FREE)
- Seeing right through it: X-ray analyses of Uniola paniculata L. spikelets reveal seed production patterns across a wide spatial distribution (FREE)
- Phenotypic integration of post-germination traits in Quercus suber: morphology is mediated by acorn mass and leaf physiology by populations’ climate ($)
- A Spatio-Temporal Model Of Embolism Propagation In Leaf Vein Networks (FREE)
- Roots go through rapid hydraulic recovery following moderate water stress ($)
Careers
Note: These are posts that have been advertised around the web. They are not posts that I personally offer, nor can I arrange the visa for you to work internationally.
PhD How plants and microbes synchronize their daily rhythms to keep fit, Norwich
Did you know that almost all life on Earth, from plants to humans, has a 24-hour biological clock? Until recently, we thought that most bacteria- despite making up 12% of global biomass- lacked biological clocks. We have made a game-changing discovery: a true circadian clock in Bacillus subtilis, a non-photosynthetic bacterium. This challenges everything we thought we knew about bacterial life and its relationship with other organisms. In this PhD, you will take this discovery further. Could bacteria and plants be synchronizing their clocks to benefit each other?
Lecturer in Field Ecology, Reading
The Division of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology seeks to appoint a highly motivated and successful scientist or practitioner working on aspects of field ecology including identification of animals and plants. Duties will include: contributions to research including applications for funding, teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate level, and to administrative duties as normally expected in a University environment.
Research Associate (Fixed Term), Cambridge
Applications are invited for a post-doctoral Research Associate position in the group of Dr Sarah Robinson at the Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU). The aim of the Robinson lab is to investigate plant development, particularly from a mechanical point of view. We are looking for someone who is excited about plant development and interested in developing biomechanical methods for plant applications.
PhD Studentship: Revitalising British Hops: Harnessing Wildflowers for a Greener Future, Cirencester
This is a collaborative PhD project between the Royal Agricultural University and the University of Warwick. Applications are invited for this full-time PhD studentship, which for UK home students is fully funded by the Brewers’ Company, Asahi, and the Royal Agricultural University. International students are welcome to apply but the difference in home and international fees would have to be paid by the student.
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Edinburgh
To conduct research in cellular and molecular chronobiology, contributing to the development of new ideas, approaches, concepts or techniques.
Researcher (M/F) in genomics and epigenomics of photosynthetic organisms (H/F), Paris
The person recruited will develop experimental and bioinformatics analyses in functional genomics. He/she will apply molecular genetic, epigenomic and confocal microscopy approaches, as well as their complete bioinformatics analyses. She/he will also propose and develop original strategies for targeted bioinformatics analyses, adapted to the biological questions posed by the ChromatinPhotoDynamics project coordinated by Fredy Barneche and funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR).
Post-Doc Research Position (M/F) in microbial ecology and metabolomics of bacteria-plant interactions (H/F), Lyon
The young researcher (M/F) will be integrated into the Rhizo team of the Microbial Ecology laboratory in Lyon. He/she will work in close collaboration with C. Prigent-Combaret, DR CNRS, coordinator of an innovative project “SensOrCol”, supported by the CNRS ‘Prematuration’ programm and with the members of the platform ‘Centre d’Etude des Substances Naturelles’ (CESN). He/she will (i) develop a method for the high-throughput screening of the sensibility of rapeseed cultivars to Phelipanche ramosa, and (ii) identify the molecular mechanisms involved in the interaction between different rapeseed cultivars grown in France and a plant-beneficial bacterium.
PhD Position in Plant Genomics, Bonn
Goal of this DFG-funded project is to understand the genetic and molecular basis of the systemic modulation of maize (Zea mays L.) root system architecture by seminal roots to better adapt to drought.
Postdoctoral Position – in the field of Molecular biology of plant-microbial associations, Kiel
We study the adaptation and ecology of plant associated microorganisms of cultivated and wild plants. A main focus of our research is plant pathogenic fungi. We have recently demonstrated that infection of plant tissues by pathogenic fungi strongly impacts the composition of the plant microbiota. With this project we seek to further understand the tri-partite interaction of pathogenic fungi with plant associated microorganisms and the plant immune system. In particular this project will address the underlying molecular mechanisms whereby plants accommodate associated microorganisms. The research will build on molecular and experimental approaches, and statistical analyses of high-throughput data.
PhD Research Fellow in Arctic-Boreal vegetation modeling, Oslo
We are looking for a motivated candidate who will work as part of an interdisciplinary team to improve the demographic vegetation model FATES, coupled to the land surface model CLM – part of the Norwegian Earth system model (NorESM) framework. The successful candidate will collaborate with worldleading experts on the Arctic-boreal carbon cycle, vegetation modeling, and plant physiology. The candidate will improve a cold hardening scheme and the plant hydraulics in FATES using plant physiological data from a controlled climate experiment and field experiments, in collaboration with project partners in Norway, Greenland and the USA.
Head of Research Unit Forest and Soil Ecology 90-100% (f/m/d), Zürich
You will lead and inspire an internationally recognized Research Unit comprising seven well-established, strong Research Groups and approximately 100 collaborators from around 20 countries. As a distinguished ecologist, you will play an important role in national and international projects focusing on forest or soil science. In the unit, you will integrate diverse research fields, while facilitating and promoting the scientific and strategic development of the research groups.
PhD position in Paleoecology & Paleogenomics, Bern
As a PhD student you will study vegetation responses to climate change and human disturbance using innovative paleoecological and paleogenomic methods. The position involves fieldwork such as ice coring in the Pyrenees and the European Alps, microscopic analyses of pollen and plant macrofossils, the isolation of aDNA in a designated clean-air laboratory, and the analysis of paleoecological and paleogenomic data using advanced bioinformatic tools to assess genetic diversity variation. The project offers the opportunity to work on the forefront of the rapidly developing field of aDNA research and provides an inspiring and interdisciplinary environment for Early Career Scientists.
Professeure ou professeur en biologie moléculaire et cellulaire, Canada
L’Université de Sherbrooke sollicite des candidatures pour un poste de professeur(e) adjoint(e) en biologie moléculaire et cellulaire menant à la permanence au Département de biologie de la Faculté des sciences.
GIS Scientist, Remote; Preference for candidates based in the northeastern US
Calling all outdoor enthusiasts! Join the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) in our mission to protect the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Appalachian region, ongoing since 1876. We seek a permanent, full-time GIS Scientist who will provide a wide range of services.
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Tennessee
The Tianhu Sun Plant Synthetic Biology Lab at East Tennessee State University is seeking a highly motivated, independent researcher for a postdoctoral position. The position is part of the project funded by Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) to increase nutritional value in seeds. The position is initially for one year but with the possibility of being renewed for additional years.
Assistant/Associate Professor, Plant Science, Louisiana
The successful applicant will be teaching a variety of undergraduate plant science courses, which may include (but may not be limited to) introductory plant science, crop production, pest management, landscape design, and landscape plants. Responsibilities will also include conducting applied research, academic advising, student recruitment, curriculum development, and may also involve advising student clubs and organizations.
Plant Science Full-Time Tenure-Track Faculty Position, Pennsylvania
The successful applicant will primarily serve students in our biology program, Environmental Science/Biology, and Environmental Science/Regenerative Organic Agriculture concentrations. They will be expected to teach introductory courses in biology and botany as well as advanced courses including Plant Taxonomy and/or Plant Physiology. The applicant would also be expected to develop courses in their area of expertise.
Post Doc Fellow – Plant Pathology, Arkansas
The candidate will lead research on chemical nematicides, host plant resistance, and cultural practices to mitigate yield losses by plant-parasitic nematodes in cotton, corn, and/or soybean production systems across multiple locations in the state. Emphasis will be placed on host plant resistance characterization in soybean against the southern root-knot nematode. Further, the candidate will collect and analyze multi-year data to validate management options that are extended to farmers and scientists.
Assistant/Associate Professor of Genetics Teaching and Discipline-Based Education Research (DBER), Nebraska
The Department of Agronomy and Horticulture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources (IANR) is seeking applications for an assistant/associate professor in Genetics Teaching and Discipline-Based Education Research (DBER). This 12-month (calendar year), tenure-track appointment will lead the teaching of core undergraduate plant and animal genetics courses and upper-level plant genetics courses and conduct plant sciences education research. The apportionment is 60% teaching and 40% research.
Post Doctoral Scholar, North Carolina
This is a full-time Postdoc position that will lead an applied research and extension project focused on advancing climate-resilient agriculture through improved soil health, cover cropping systems, and bioeconomy development. The Postdoc will take a leading role in designing, developing, and implementing demonstration and on-farm projects that promote sustainable and climate-smart practices, including cover crops and innovative biorefinery systems, while providing training and resources to small-scale and underserved farmers.
Research Associate – DEPP, North Carolina
The Research Associate will be mainly responsible for performing lab, computational, greenhouse, and field research in sweet potato and cucurbit diseases. The incumbent will independently generate and analyze data for projects, write publications, and present at scientific conferences and grower meetings. Will assist with securing funding for the lab through grant writing and contract research.
Agriculture Researcher II, Marshall Islands
Research into Sweet Potato.
The post The Week in Botany April 14, 2025 appeared first on Botany One.
