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.ASPB SPOTLIGHT
Nominations Open for 2021 ASPB Awards
Nominations are now being accepted for the 2021 ASPB Awards. It is important that ASPB honor the most notable achievements and contributions of plant scientists worldwide — a responsibility that we carry out in large part through our annual awards program. The deadline is February 19, 2021, so please submit your nominations as soon as possible.
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.FROM ASPB & PLANTAE
Applications Open for ASPB's Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Award
Applications are now being accepted for ASPB's Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Award! SURF Awards fund promising undergraduate students so they can conduct research in plant biology during the early part of their college careers. Successful applicants receive a $4,000 summer stipend, membership in ASPB, and $700 (paid to the mentor or institution) for materials and supplies. Each fellowship also provides a stipend to support student travel to Plant Biology 2022, the ASPB annual meeting. Learn more and apply by March 28, 2021.
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Transforming Education in Plant Biology — Request for Proposals 2021
ASPB's Transforming Education in Plant Biology (TEPB) program provides up to $4500 in professional development funding for members building or revising courses or curricula in order to incorporate evidence-based methods of teaching and learning. Application period: January 4-31, 2021.
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SciWhite is Percival’s highest performing and most efficient white LED platform to date. Available in standard output or optional high output, this lighting system provides more uniform light distribution throughout the chamber with a well-balanced spectrum for general plant growth.
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Applications for the 2021 L'Oréal USA for Women in Science Program Are Open
The L’Oréal USA For Women in Science fellowship program honors female scientists at a critical stage in their careers. Since 2003, this program has awarded 80 postdoctoral women scientists with over $4 million in grants. This year the program is seeking exceptional female scientists looking to advance their research and serve as role models for the next generation of girls in STEM. Candidates must have completed their PhD and have started in their postdoctoral research position by the application deadline, January 29, 2021. Applicants must be US citizens or permanent residents and affiliated with a US-based institution.
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Plant Physiology Article of the Week
The spotlight is on Maren Müller and Sergi Munné-Bosch. Their article "Hormonal Impact on Photosynthesis and Photoprotection in Plants" has an Altmetric score of 32 and 25 mentions last week.
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The Plant Cell Article of the Week
The spotlight is on Ji-Yun Kim, Efthymia Symeonidi, Tin Yau Pang, Tom Denyer, Diana Weidauer, Margaret Bezrutczyk, Manuel Miras, Nora Zöllner, Thomas Hartwig, Michael M. Wudick, Martin Lercher, Li-Qing Chen, Marja C.P. Timmermans, and Wolf B. Frommer. Their article "Distinct Identities of Leaf Phloem Cells Revealed by Single Cell Transcriptomics" has an Altmetric score of 106 and 13 mentions last week.
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Plant Direct Article of the Week
The spotlight is on Chi Zhang, Minta Chaiprasongsuk, Andre S. Chanderbali, Xinlu Chen, Jianyu Fu, Douglas E. Soltis and Feng Chen. Their article "Origin and Evolution of a Gibberellin‐Deactivating Enzyme GAMT" discusses the significance of GAMT origination, functional conservation and diversification, and frequent loss during the evolution of flowering plants and has an Altmetric score of 5.
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.#WeAreASPB
Are you a member of ASPB, active on Plantae, and have something to celebrate in the #WeAreASPB Spotlight? Contact Shoshana Kronfeld (shoshana@aspb.org) and send her the details.
.PLANTAE JOBS
To see more jobs, go to jobs.Plantae.org.
.FROM THE FIELD
Slippery Flowers as a Mechanism of Defense Against Nectar-Thieving Ants
From Annals of Botany
Floral antagonists, such as nectar thieves, have the potential to exert an influence upon the selection of floral characteristics, but adaptation against floral antagonists has attracted comparatively little attention. Takeda et al. found that the corollas of hornet-pollinated Codonopsis lanceolata (Campanulaceae) and the tepals of bee-pollinated Fritillaria koidzumiana (Liliaceae) are slippery to nectar-thieving ants living in the plant's habitat; because the flowers of both species have exposed nectaries, slippery perianths may function as a defense against nectar-thieving ants.
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The Surprises of Color Evolution
From University of Groningen via Phys.org
For flowers, displaying color is primarily a means to attract pollinators. Insects use their color vision not only to locate the right flowers to feed on but also to find mates. The evolutionary interaction between insects and plants has created complex dependencies that can have surprising outcomes. Casper van der Kooi, a biologist at the University of Groningen, uses an interdisciplinary approach to analyze the interaction between pollinators and flowers.
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New Variety of Paintbrush Lily Developed by a Novel Plant Tissue Culture Technique
From Hokkaido University via Science Daily
Scientists from Hokkaido University and Chiba University have successfully developed triploid (three chromosome sets) and hexaploid (six chromosome sets) plants of the ornamental plant Haemanthus albiflos, via plant tissue culture (PTC) techniques. In addition to increasing the ornamental value of this plant, this is one of the first studies that use "endosperm culture" — an application of PTC techniques — for non-cereal monocotyledonous plants. Their findings were published in the journal Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture.
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Scientists Address Myths Over Large-Scale Tree Planting
From BBC News
Tree planting is a brilliant solution to tackle climate change and protect biodiversity, but the wrong tree in the wrong place can do more harm than good, say experts at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. They propose a list of 10 "golden" rules that include protecting existing forests first and involving locals.
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Fungi Strengthen Plants to Fend Off Aphids
From New Phytologist via The Free Press Journal
Researchers have demonstrated that unique fungi strengthen the "immune systems" of wheat and bean plants against aphids. Fungi enter and influence the amount of a plant's own defenses, resulting in fewer aphids. The results, published in the journal New Phytologist, could serve to reduce agricultural insecticide use.
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Stickiness Is a Weapon Some Plants Use to Fend Off Hungry Insects
From The Conversation
Imagine the texture of a plant. Many may come to mind — the smooth rubberiness of many tropical houseplants, the impossibly soft lamb's ear, the sharp spines of cacti, or the roughness of tree bark. But stickiness, in the flypaper-stick-to-your-fingers sense, probably isn't at the top of your list. Nevertheless, a great many plants have evolved sticky leaves, stems and seeds, including some you likely know — such as petunias and tobacco.
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Anti-Freeze for Cell Membranes
From University of Freiburg via EurekAlert
A team led by plant biologists at the Universities of Freiburg and Göttingen in Germany has shown for the first time that mosses have a mechanism to protect them against cold that was previously known only in flowering plants. Professor Ralf Reski at the Cluster of Excellence Centre for Integrative Biological Signalling Studies (CIBSS) at the University of Freiburg and Professor Ivo Feussner at the Center for Molecular Biosciences (GZMB) at the University of Göttingen have also demonstrated that this mechanism has an evolutionarily independent origin — mosses and flowering plants use a similar mechanism that hinges on distantly related genes.
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7701 Las Colinas Ridge, Ste. 800, Irving, TX 75063
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Last year, we had an Open Call asking people working on plant specialized metabolites to share their research by submitting a seven-minute video. We've selected eight of these to share with you, in two consecutive weeks. Each week will feature four speakers' short talks, followed by a live panel discussion led by Gita Yadav from Cambridge University. 
If you're a first author with a recently accepted manuscript in 
