This message was sent to ##Email##. To advertise in this publication please click here
Sept. 17, 2020
Please feel free to forward this message to any friends or colleagues who might find it interesting. Was this message forwarded to you? Subscribe today to get The Signal directly in your inbox every Thursday.
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.
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.
Plant science research has tremendous potential to address pressing global issues including climate change, food insecurity, and sustainability. However, without sustained investment in plant science, the necessary research to generate innovative discoveries that solve these urgent problems is at risk. On September 1, the Plant Science Research Network (PSRN) released its Plant Science Decadal Vision 2020-2030, a report that outlines bold, innovative solutions to guide investments and research in plant science over the next 10 years.
The spotlight is on M. Isabel Muro-Pastor, Áureo Cutillas-Farray, Laura Pérez-Rodríguez, Julia Pérez-Saavedra, Ana Vega-de Armas, Ana Paredes, Rocío Robles-Rengel, and Francisco J. Florencio. Their article "CfrA, a Novel Carbon Flow Regulator, Adapts Carbon Metabolism to Nitrogen Deficiency in Cyanobacteria" has an Altmetric score of 18 and 36 mentions in the past week.
The spotlight is on Maria Jazmin Abraham-Juarez, Amanda Schrager-Lavelle, Jarrett Man, Clinton Whipple, Pubudu Handakumbura, Courtney Babbitt, and Madelaine Bartlett. Their article “Evolutionary Variation in MADS-box Dimerization Affects Floral Development and Protein Abundance in Maize" has an Altmetric score of 20 and 22 mentions in the past week.
The spotlight is on Sebastian Schnorrenberg, Hassan Ghareeb, Lars Frahm, Tim Grotjohann, Nickels Jensen, Thomas Teichmann, Stefan W. Hell, Volker Lipka, and Stefan Jakobs. Their article "Live‐cell RESOLFT Nanoscopy of Transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana " has an Altmetric score of 24 and 40 mentions in the past week.
PRODUCT SHOWCASE
Single Leaf Photosynthetic and Respiratory O2 Flux Measurements
Qubit’s S104 DOX can be used to monitor O2 fluxes in single leaves, roots, whole plants and canopies. Add a CO2 analyzer to measure PQ and RQ, and investigate reductant flow. Multichannel systems are available, including all hardware and software.
SciBriteTM LED lighting, one of Percival Scientific’s latest innovations, gives you significantly more features and benefits for your research. Our proprietary LED system provides more flexibility than lighting systems offered by other growth chamber manufacturers. Using our IntellusUltra Controller, you can control the intensities for each color to produce specific light wavelength ratios for your experiments.
Please join us September 30 for a special edition of Plantae Presents featuring four Australian Society of Plant Scientists awardees: the joint winners of the Jan Anderson Award, Crystal Sweetman and Kristine Crous; the winner of the Peter Goldacre Award, Alex Wu; and the winner of the ASPS-FBP Best Paper Award, Karen Frick. Each will present a 15- or 20-minute talk, followed by five minutes of questions.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently released its fiscal year 2020 solicitation for the Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) program. In addition to accepting regular project proposals for grants through the IGE program, NSF for this competition will also be accepting proposals for a one-time cooperative agreement award to create an IGE Innovation Acceleration Hub. The deadline for regular project proposals and the IGE Innovation Acceleration Hub is November 4.
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.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Defense Sciences Office will be holding a proposers day webcast in anticipation of releasing its 2021 Young Faculty Award Program (YFA) research announcement. DARPA's YFA program aims to support rising stars in junior faculty or equivalent positions at academic and non-profit research institutions. The proposers day will be held via a prerecorded webcast on September 25 from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. ET to introduce the YFA's visions and goals, encourage networking and collaboration, and review DARPA program expectations.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has released a Request for Information (RFI) seeking input on possible changes to the Screening Framework Guidance for Providers of Synthetic Double-Stranded DNA (dsDNA), which aims to safeguard against potentially harmful dsDNA products being obtained by parties with malicious intent. Responses to this RFI must be submitted no later than 12:00 p.m. ET on October 25. Comments should be submitted through a web form on the Screening Framework Guidance site.
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 their advice for early career researchers. Today, we feature Elizabeth (Toby) Kellogg. Check the blog for profiles in the coming days.
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.
Scientists have found that the tobacco plant Nicotiana can maintain grafts between a broad range of species. Using Nicotiana as an intermediary, they succeeded in indirectly grafting a tomato scion and a rootstock of Florist's daisy, which bore a small fruit.
The first species, the Missouri roundleaf mud-plantain, has blue flowers and is found in the southern Great Plains — Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. The second, the few-flowered roundleaf mud-plantain, has white flowers, is less common and found on the Atlantic coast from New Jersey to North Carolina. These plants grow in water or in wet soil, such as freshwater marshes and river margins.
Tanisha Williams, a botanist at Bucknell University, knows exactly which plants she's looking for. But after being questioned by strangers in public parks, Williams, who is Black, has started carrying her field guides with her. "I've been quizzed by random strangers," she said. "Now I bring my wildflower books and botanical field guides, trying to look like a scientist. It's for other people. I wouldn't otherwise lug these books."
As we approach the fall, diverse disease symptoms are visible on many plants, including spots, blotches, or fuzzy growth caused by bacteria, viruses, or fungi. A key to surviving in the wild is fighting off infection — and not just once. As in humans, one infection may or may not leave a plant with lasting immunity. In fact, an early infection might make things worse.
From Heinrich-Heine University Duesseldorf via EurekAlert
If you open up a pea pod, you will find that all of the peas inside are the same size and the same distance apart. The same is true of princess beans, runner beans, and soybeans as well as various other peas and beans, and it also applies to non-pulses. A team of researchers based in Germany, Australia, Japan, the U.S., and Italy, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Simon from HHU's Institute of Developmental Genetics, has analyzed the genetic mechanisms behind this phenomenon.
Over the past 20 years, Cal State Fullerton ecologist Darren R. Sandquist and scores of his students, in collaboration with University of Utah scientists, have studied the brittlebush, a common desert shrub with silvery leaves and showy small yellow flowers. Found throughout the Southwest and northern Mexico, the shrub can live up to 30 years. The study, which began in the 1980s, examined the long-term physiological changes in response to climate variability in order to predict how the species will survive with changing climate conditions in the future.
An eastern U.S. project focused on developing improved white oak (Quercus alba) and understanding its genetic potential has been established at the University of Kentucky. The project is working with forest, wood, and distilling industries and forestry, conservation, and wildlife agencies and organizations to answer a wide variety of questions associated with genetic variation in white oak.
The Signal
Connect with the American Society of Plant Biologists
American Society of Plant Biologists 15501 Monona Drive | Rockville, MD 20855-2768 USA 301-251-0560 | Click here to access our Terms and Privacy Statement | www.aspb.org
The Signal is produced in affiliation with MultiView, Inc.
Disclaimer: The media articles and/or advertisements featured in The Signal do not express or reflect the opinions of the American Society of Plant Biologists or any employee thereof.
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.
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.
Plant science research has tremendous potential to address pressing global issues including climate change, food insecurity, and sustainability. However, without sustained investment in plant science, the necessary research to generate innovative discoveries that solve these urgent problems is at risk. On September 1, the Plant Science Research Network (PSRN) released its Plant Science Decadal Vision 2020-2030, a report that outlines bold, innovative solutions to guide investments and research in plant science over the next 10 years.
The spotlight is on M. Isabel Muro-Pastor, Áureo Cutillas-Farray, Laura Pérez-Rodríguez, Julia Pérez-Saavedra, Ana Vega-de Armas, Ana Paredes, Rocío Robles-Rengel, and Francisco J. Florencio. Their article "CfrA, a Novel Carbon Flow Regulator, Adapts Carbon Metabolism to Nitrogen Deficiency in Cyanobacteria" has an Altmetric score of 18 and 36 mentions in the past week.
The spotlight is on Maria Jazmin Abraham-Juarez, Amanda Schrager-Lavelle, Jarrett Man, Clinton Whipple, Pubudu Handakumbura, Courtney Babbitt, and Madelaine Bartlett. Their article “Evolutionary Variation in MADS-box Dimerization Affects Floral Development and Protein Abundance in Maize" has an Altmetric score of 20 and 22 mentions in the past week.
The spotlight is on Sebastian Schnorrenberg, Hassan Ghareeb, Lars Frahm, Tim Grotjohann, Nickels Jensen, Thomas Teichmann, Stefan W. Hell, Volker Lipka, and Stefan Jakobs. Their article "Live‐cell RESOLFT Nanoscopy of Transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana " has an Altmetric score of 24 and 40 mentions in the past week.
Please join us September 30 for a special edition of Plantae Presents featuring four Australian Society of Plant Scientists awardees: the joint winners of the Jan Anderson Award, Crystal Sweetman and Kristine Crous; the winner of the Peter Goldacre Award, Alex Wu; and the winner of the ASPS-FBP Best Paper Award, Karen Frick. Each will present a 15- or 20-minute talk, followed by five minutes of questions.
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 their advice for early career researchers. Today, we feature Elizabeth (Toby) Kellogg. Check the blog for profiles in the coming days.
