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Sept. 24, 2020
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The American Society of Plant Biologists is proud to celebrate Peer Review Week 2020, which recognizes peer reviewers and focuses on the theme "Trust in Peer Review." Despite lab shutdowns, fields that weren't planted, parenting and caring for loved ones, and so much more, our reviewers persevered. They have continued to turn in quality reviews of their peers' work in a timely fashion despite their own hardships. We salute this dedication and thank our reviewers for continuing to make our journals the best in the world.
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.
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.
After a brief hiatus, the popular Plantae Presents research webinar series has resumed. We have a fantastic set of talks lined up and are adding more all the time. We all miss "live" departmental seminars, but this series provides you and your team access to scientists from across the globe, with a much smaller carbon footprint!
With an explosion of new models and genomic resources, Evo-Devo (evolutionary developmental biology) is one of plant science's hottest topics. If you would like the opportunity to contribute to a special Evo-Devo event to be held October 28, submit a seven-minute video of your work.
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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.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has released a new cross-agency solicitation for Sustainable Regional Systems Research Networks (SRS RNs) to advance convergent science, engineering, and education research to create more sustainable regional systems. The creation of the SRS RN program will "enable broader, more extensive, and more comprehensive SRS research and education than is currently possible elsewhere in NSF's portfolio." Full proposals are due by January 11, 2021.
The spotlight is on Lingyao Kong, Yanna Liu, Pengfei Zhi, Xiaoyu Wang, Bo Xu, Zhizhong Gong, and Cheng Chang. Their article "Origins and Evolution of Cuticle Biosynthetic Machinery in Land Plants" has an Altmetric score of 17 and 32 mentions last week.
The spotlight is on Baoqing Ding, Rui Xia, Qiaoshan Lin, Vandana Gurung, Janelle M. Sagawa, Lauren E Stanley, Matthew Strobel, Pamela K. Diggle, Blake C. Meyers, and Yao-Wu Yuan. Their article "Developmental Genetics of Corolla Tube Formation: Role of the tasiRNA-ARF Pathway and a Conceptual Model" has an Altmetric score of 20 and 39 mentions last week.
The spotlight is on Iny Elizebeth Mathew, Richa Priyadarshini, Arunima Mahto, Priya Jaiswal Swarup K. Parida, and Pinky Agarwal. Their article "SUPER STARCHY1/ONAC025 Participates in Rice Grain Filling" has an Altmetric score of 11 and 10 mentions in the past week.
The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) released a $25 million funding opportunity for new technologies to improve the carbon efficiency of bioconversion platforms. The Energy and Carbon Optimized Synthesis for the Bioeconomy (ECOSynBio) program seeks to establish pathways for low-, zero-, or negative-carbon fuels, chemicals, and materials for a robust and secure U.S. bioeconomy. Awards may range between $250,000 and $7 million with a period of performance not exceeding 36 months. Concept papers are required by October 26.
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: October 5.
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 Loren Rieseberg. 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.
The Science & Technology Policy Fellowships (STPF) program provides opportunities to outstanding scientists and engineers to learn first-hand about policy making and contribute their knowledge and analytical skills in the policy realm. Fellows represent a broad range of backgrounds, disciplines, and career stages. Each year, STPF adds to a growing corps well over 3,400 strong of policy-savvy leaders working across academia, government, nonprofits, and industry to serve the nation and citizens around the world. The application is currently open! The deadline to apply is November 1.
Although it may seem early, fellowship deadlines are right around the corner — with many deadlines in October and early November for funding for the 2021/2022 academic year. Pathways to Science features STEM funding opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students and is curated by the Institute for Broadening Participation to increase diversity in the STEM workforce.
William Henry Danforth, M.D., Founding Chairman of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and Chancellor Emeritus of Washington University in St. Louis, passed away on September 16, 2020, at the age of 94. Dr. Danforth believed that advances in plant science and improved agriculture are key to ensuring a healthy planet for, as he often said, "our grandchildren and great-grandchildren." Danforth received ASPB's Leadership in Public Service Award in 2009 in recognition of his many contributions to plant science research and engagement.
In most angiosperms, flowering is promoted by a mobile signal, FT. Some parasitic plants, such as dodders, coordinate their flowering time with that of their diverse hosts, but little is known about how this is coordinated. In this study, Shen and co-workers found that dodders do not have a functional FT gene and instead obtain FT directly from their hosts, which allows them to align their flowering time accordingly.
If humans are to stand a chance of successfully setting up a colony on Mars, we're going to need to figure out a way of producing food on the Red Planet. James Romero investigates how scientists plan to cultivate Mars by using simulation soils here on Earth.
Drs. Chris Thorogood at the University of Oxford Botanic Garden and Fred Rumsey at London's Natural History Museum have just described a new form of a strange vampire plant known as common broomrape. Broomrapes are sap-sucking plant pilferers that steal their food from the roots of other plants, their so-called hosts. In this case, the new variety has a peculiar affinity for Ikea and Tesco carparks.
Biologists observing the formation of leaves noticed the nuclei moved in bewildering ways. Further investigation uncovered proteins that act as compasses and motors, guiding the divisions of individual cells to create the overall pattern of the leaf.
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The American Society of Plant Biologists is proud to celebrate Peer Review Week 2020, which recognizes peer reviewers and focuses on the theme "Trust in Peer Review." Despite lab shutdowns, fields that weren't planted, parenting and caring for loved ones, and so much more, our reviewers persevered. They have continued to turn in quality reviews of their peers' work in a timely fashion despite their own hardships. We salute this dedication and thank our reviewers for continuing to make our journals the best in the world.
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.
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.
After a brief hiatus, the popular Plantae Presents research webinar series has resumed. We have a fantastic set of talks lined up and are adding more all the time. We all miss "live" departmental seminars, but this series provides you and your team access to scientists from across the globe, with a much smaller carbon footprint!
The spotlight is on Lingyao Kong, Yanna Liu, Pengfei Zhi, Xiaoyu Wang, Bo Xu, Zhizhong Gong, and Cheng Chang. Their article "Origins and Evolution of Cuticle Biosynthetic Machinery in Land Plants" has an Altmetric score of 17 and 32 mentions last week.
The spotlight is on Baoqing Ding, Rui Xia, Qiaoshan Lin, Vandana Gurung, Janelle M. Sagawa, Lauren E Stanley, Matthew Strobel, Pamela K. Diggle, Blake C. Meyers, and Yao-Wu Yuan. Their article "Developmental Genetics of Corolla Tube Formation: Role of the tasiRNA-ARF Pathway and a Conceptual Model" has an Altmetric score of 20 and 39 mentions last week.
The spotlight is on Iny Elizebeth Mathew, Richa Priyadarshini, Arunima Mahto, Priya Jaiswal Swarup K. Parida, and Pinky Agarwal. Their article "SUPER STARCHY1/ONAC025 Participates in Rice Grain Filling" has an Altmetric score of 11 and 10 mentions in the past week.
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: October 5.
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 Loren Rieseberg. Check the blog for profiles in the coming days.
