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Sept. 3, 2020
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The Plant Science Research Network (PSRN) released its Plant Science Decadal Vision 2020-2030: Reimagining the Potential of Plants for a Healthy and Sustainable Future, a report that outlines bold, innovative solutions to help realize the tremendous potential of plant science discoveries over the next 10 years. Visit plantae.org/PSRN to read the report and watch the Decadal Vision webinars.
ASPB has developed two different nomination processes that are now open for comment. We welcome input on the relative merits of each option, feedback that you may offer via a survey. Your comments will help us develop a more robust process in which we can all participate and support. The nominations process that emerges following community input will be put to the membership for formal approval in the 2021 election as proposed changes to the Society's constitution.
The popular Plantae Presents webinar series resumes on Tuesday, September 8, at 9 p.m. EDT (6 p.m. PDT) with two talks. Alejandra I. Huerta, an Assistant Professor of Phytobacteriology in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at North Carolina State University, will speak on "In pursuit of durable disease resistance in rice: Exploiting effectors, allelic variation and MAGIC," and Paola Reyes-Caldas, a Ph.D. candidate in Gitta Coaker's lab at UC Davis, will speak on "Investigating the role of Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum effectors activity in solanaceous hosts." Be sure to register!
The spotlight is on Janina Braatz, Hans-Joachim Harloff, Martin Mascher, Nils Stein, Axel Himmelbach, and Christian Jung. Their article "CRISPR-Cas9 Targeted Mutagenesis Leads to Simultaneous Modification of Different Homoeologous Gene Copies in Polyploid Oilseed Rape (Brassica napus)" from our June 2017 issue has an Altmetric score of 65 and 24 mentions in the past week.
The spotlight is on Christophe Gaillochet, Ward Develtere, and Thomas B. Jacobs. Their article "CRISPR Screens in Plants: Approaches, Guidelines, and Future Prospects" has an Altmetric score of 31 and 53 mentions in the past week.
The spotlight is on Katja Schneider, Lorena Abazaj, Cornelia Niemann, Laura Schröder, and Thomas Nägele. Their article "Cold Acclimation has a Differential Effect on Leaf Vascular Bundle Structure and Carbon Export Rates in Natural Arabidopsis Accessions Originating from Southern and Northern Europe" shows that acclimation to low but non‐freezing temperature represents an ecologically important process for Arabidopsis thaliana but also for many other plant species from temperate regions.
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We are now recruiting a new cohort of Assistant Features Editors to join the Plant Physiology editorial board, replacing some of the current members who will step down from their roles with the journal. This new cohort will work with the journal for 24 months beginning in January 2021. If you are interested in becoming an Assistant Features Editor, we are welcoming applications through Monday, Oct. 5.
The webinar series #PlantaePresents is introducing a short talk and panel discussion format, where talks are chosen by a reviewing panel from open video submissions, and the discussions continue online after the event. Four themes are planned: plants and their microbiome, Evo-Devo as a discovery tool, heat-proof, drought-proof, flood-proof plants, and specialized metabolites. Read on for more information about how to participate.
The National Science Foundation's Directorate for Biological Sciences released the second solicitation for its Biology Integration Institutes (BII) as part of its continued effort to facilitate a "unification of biology." BII will support research collaborations across disciplines, both within and beyond biology, that address an overarching biological theme and will fund awards of up to $12.5 million over five years with the opportunity for a five-year extension.
This Focus Issue will highlight the recent advances in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms behind membrane transport, its integration with signaling, and its roles in homeostasis. A selection of Update Reviews, included within the Issue, will address new and transformative insights that are driving research beyond the traditional boundaries of transport physiology. We encourage submissions that address quantitative frameworks in understanding membrane transport, transport proteins, and the integration of transport and signaling across scales. Submission deadline: November 2.
This focus issue will include reviews that synthesize the current state of the art and future prospects in sustainable precision agriculture, including but not limited to phenotyping, artificial intelligence and deep learning, robotics, databases and data sharing, pangenomics, genomic selection, and neodomestication. Submission Deadline: December 1.
This Focus Issue will capture up-to-date views and perspectives of recent developments and will highlight important gaps in understanding the involved processes to catalyze future studies. Invited Updates will review areas that continue to add new and pertinent insights and highlight nascent and transformative areas of future development. Submission deadline: September 4.
This year, nine plant scientists were elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. We asked the newly elected plant scientists about how the news of their election to the NAS reached them, what inspires their research, and for their advice for early career researchers. Today, we feature Xiaofeng Cao. Check the blog for profiles in the coming days.
McHughen wrote DNA Demystified to sort the facts from fiction for non scientists. Here he is posing with Echium candicans while social distancing and keeping six feet (the length of a DNA strand from a human cell) away from others.
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.
The Arabidopsis Network #GARNetPresents webinar series is morphing into the #UKPlantSciPresents webinar series. This series has the aim of promoting plant science excellence across the U.K.! Read on for more information and to sign up to present your work.
The hormone salicylic acid (SA) binds to several NPR proteins, but many questions have persisted about these interactions. Now, Wang et al. have analyzed the crystal structure of the core of NPR4 bound to SA. Notably, the structure showed that SA is completely buried within the binding site with no obvious entry point, suggesting that there may be a major conformational remodeling of NPR4 upon SA binding.
From the Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics via Plantae
Plant defense theory investigates how plants allocate resources to defense against pests and pathogens but it has largely been investigated in seedlings or mature plants. In this review, Dalling et al. synthesize the different defense mechanisms employed by seeds and how they are balanced with other critical seed traits including dispersal.
Josh Anadu had been at the receiving end of uncomfortable stares before. As a Black environmental-science undergraduate, he had become "pretty used to" being regarded with suspicion while collecting field data in the predominantly white areas surrounding his institution, Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. But he never expected to come face-to-face with white supremacists.
Plants interact with certain microbes, such as bacteria and fungi, in mutually beneficial ways that scientists are only beginning to fully understand. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have discovered a way to gain new insights about these interactions using a newly designed microfluidic device, a chip etched with tiny channels. This device can help support research to uncover better ways of promoting plant growth, engineering drought-resistant crops, remediating the environment and even boosting bioenergy feedstock production.
New insight on how an enzyme ensures the correct growth of pollen tubes in flowering plants has been published in the open-access journal eLife. The study reveals an unexpected role of KATANIN in moderating the mechanical properties of the papilla cell wall in Arabidopsis thaliana, thereby preventing disordered pollen tube growth and allowing the tube to find its correct path to the underlying female plant tissues. These findings suggest that KATANIN has likely played a major role in the success of flowering plants on earth more widely.
Enzymes that control a plant's response to lower oxygen levels could be manipulated to make vital crops resistant to the impacts of flooding triggered by climate change, new research shows. Co-author Dr. Mark White in the School of Chemistry at the University of Sydney said: "Climate change is a major global issue, not least for its impact on food security. We hope these findings can help produce flood-tolerant crops to help mitigate the devasting social and economic impact of extreme weather events on food production."
In this study, Kitomi et al. revealed that a cloned rice quantitative trait locus associated with root growth angle, qSOR1, is a DRO1 homolog involved in root gravitropic responses. The loss-of-function allele qSOR1 resulted in roots that developed on the soil surface and enabled plants to avoid the reducing stress found in saline paddy soils and, consequently, increased yields.
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The Plant Science Research Network (PSRN) released its Plant Science Decadal Vision 2020-2030: Reimagining the Potential of Plants for a Healthy and Sustainable Future, a report that outlines bold, innovative solutions to help realize the tremendous potential of plant science discoveries over the next 10 years. Visit plantae.org/PSRN to read the report and watch the Decadal Vision webinars.
ASPB has developed two different nomination processes that are now open for comment. We welcome input on the relative merits of each option, feedback that you may offer via a survey. Your comments will help us develop a more robust process in which we can all participate and support. The nominations process that emerges following community input will be put to the membership for formal approval in the 2021 election as proposed changes to the Society's constitution.
The popular Plantae Presents webinar series resumes on Tuesday, September 8, at 9 p.m. EDT (6 p.m. PDT) with two talks. Alejandra I. Huerta, an Assistant Professor of Phytobacteriology in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at North Carolina State University, will speak on "In pursuit of durable disease resistance in rice: Exploiting effectors, allelic variation and MAGIC," and Paola Reyes-Caldas, a Ph.D. candidate in Gitta Coaker's lab at UC Davis, will speak on "Investigating the role of Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum effectors activity in solanaceous hosts." Be sure to register!
The spotlight is on Janina Braatz, Hans-Joachim Harloff, Martin Mascher, Nils Stein, Axel Himmelbach, and Christian Jung. Their article "CRISPR-Cas9 Targeted Mutagenesis Leads to Simultaneous Modification of Different Homoeologous Gene Copies in Polyploid Oilseed Rape (Brassica napus)" from our June 2017 issue has an Altmetric score of 65 and 24 mentions in the past week.
The spotlight is on Christophe Gaillochet, Ward Develtere, and Thomas B. Jacobs. Their article "CRISPR Screens in Plants: Approaches, Guidelines, and Future Prospects" has an Altmetric score of 31 and 53 mentions in the past week.
The spotlight is on Katja Schneider, Lorena Abazaj, Cornelia Niemann, Laura Schröder, and Thomas Nägele. Their article "Cold Acclimation has a Differential Effect on Leaf Vascular Bundle Structure and Carbon Export Rates in Natural Arabidopsis Accessions Originating from Southern and Northern Europe" shows that acclimation to low but non‐freezing temperature represents an ecologically important process for Arabidopsis thaliana but also for many other plant species from temperate regions.
We are now recruiting a new cohort of Assistant Features Editors to join the Plant Physiology editorial board, replacing some of the current members who will step down from their roles with the journal. This new cohort will work with the journal for 24 months beginning in January 2021. If you are interested in becoming an Assistant Features Editor, we are welcoming applications through Monday, Oct. 5.
The webinar series #PlantaePresents is introducing a short talk and panel discussion format, where talks are chosen by a reviewing panel from open video submissions, and the discussions continue online after the event. Four themes are planned: plants and their microbiome, Evo-Devo as a discovery tool, heat-proof, drought-proof, flood-proof plants, and specialized metabolites. Read on for more information about how to participate.
This Focus Issue will highlight the recent advances in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms behind membrane transport, its integration with signaling, and its roles in homeostasis. A selection of Update Reviews, included within the Issue, will address new and transformative insights that are driving research beyond the traditional boundaries of transport physiology. We encourage submissions that address quantitative frameworks in understanding membrane transport, transport proteins, and the integration of transport and signaling across scales. Submission deadline: November 2.
This focus issue will include reviews that synthesize the current state of the art and future prospects in sustainable precision agriculture, including but not limited to phenotyping, artificial intelligence and deep learning, robotics, databases and data sharing, pangenomics, genomic selection, and neodomestication. Submission Deadline: December 1.
This Focus Issue will capture up-to-date views and perspectives of recent developments and will highlight important gaps in understanding the involved processes to catalyze future studies. Invited Updates will review areas that continue to add new and pertinent insights and highlight nascent and transformative areas of future development. Submission deadline: September 4.
Recognizing Plant Direct author 
This year, nine plant scientists were elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. We asked the newly elected plant scientists about how the news of their election to the NAS reached them, what inspires their research, and for their advice for early career researchers. Today, we feature Xiaofeng Cao. Check the blog for profiles in the coming days.
McHughen wrote DNA Demystified to sort the facts from fiction for non scientists. Here he is posing with Echium candicans while social distancing and keeping six feet (the length of a DNA strand from a human cell) away from others.
