This message was sent to ##Email## To advertise in this publication please click here November 4, 2021 .ASPB SPOTLIGHT Last Call: Request for Concurrent Symposium Proposals for Plant Biology 2022 We are looking forward to Plant Biology 2022, a meeting organized jointly by the Canadian and American societies of plant biology, returning to a primarily in-person format in Portland. New for this year, the ASPB/CSPB/SCBV Program Committee is soliciting proposals from the community to convene and organize concurrent symposia. The Program Committee will evaluate the proposals and select the ones that will best help to create an interesting, impactful, and well-balanced overall program. If you are interested in convening a concurrent symposium, follow the link above to learn more and prepare a proposal. Submissions due tomorrow — Friday, Nov. 5, 2021. Update Your ASPB Member Profile — We'll Make It Worth the Time! As you may have heard, ASPB has implemented a new database to track memberships and other activities within ASPB. This database is also the source for our member-facing directory, so it's a vital tool in ensuring society members can find each other. To make this database as accurate and useful as possible, we are inviting ASPB members to update their profile information — and offering an incentive to encourage you all to do so. .FROM ASPB & PLANTAE Submissions Open for Plant Physiology Focus Issue on Evolution of Plant Structure and Function Plant Physiology seeks research article submissions by January 1, 2022, for inclusion in a Focus Issue on the topic of Evolution of Plant Structure and Function. Recent progress in understanding the proximate basis of plant evolution has revealed a myriad of underlying mechanisms, ranging from the genetic and epigenetic to the biophysical and micro-biotic. This focus issue calls for review or research articles, short letters, and reports that provide novel insights into evolutionary mechanisms underpinning plant phenotypic variation.  SPONSORED CONTENT Promoted by PhytoTech Labs Media Optimization - Optimize your formulation with our Media Optimization Kit. Click here to get started! Bulk Savings – Complete the form to tell us more and save on your bulk components Antibiotics – Save big on high quality antibiotic powders and sterile filtered solutions Plant Growth Regulators – We have the largest selection of cytokinins, auxins, gibberellins and much more Plantae Webinar: Translational Plant Science: We All Want to Achieve It, but How? Plant biologists are inundated with the message to develop "translational" research but given little guidance on how to achieve that. This panel, representing nonprofit and commercial agricultural research, will provide expertise on how the translation from fundamental to applied research works, what the applied needs are, and how to shape a career for translational work. Join us Tuesday, November 16, 2021 at 3 PM EST for an interesting discussion! Plantae Webinar: A Guide to Political Activism for Early Career Plant Scientists Join us Monday, November 15, 2021 at 1 PM EST for a webinar and discussion that focuses on how Early Career Researchers can get involved with their communities through political action or activism. Guest speaker Hallie Thompson will share her experiences recently running for United State House Representative and distribute resources to help webinar attendees understand the opportunities and resources available for them to become more politically active.  PRODUCT SHOWCASE Colored LEDs With Unparalleled Performance Colored LEDs in linear arrangements can cause lighting flaws that may affect your research. Percival has solved this problem with SciBrite – colored LED lighting with unparalleled uniformity and up to eight evenly mixed colors. No other colored lighting measures up to SciBrite! LEARN MORE Plantae Webinar: Highlighting Plant Physiology Focus Issue on Architecture and Plasticity Join us Thursday, November 18, 2021 at 11 AM EST for a special webinar to celebrate the this month's Plant Physiology Focus Issue on Architecture and Plasticity. The webinar will be hosted by the Focus Issue editors, Ronald Pierik, Christian Fankhauser, Lucia Strader, and Neelima Sinha; and it will feature talks from three of the authors whose work is included in the issue, Jiani Yang, Sebastian Soyk, and Miyo Morito. Plant Physiology Article of the Week: WRKY transcription factors and ethylene signaling modify root growth during the shade avoidance response The spotlight is on Daniele Rosado, Amanda Ackermann, Olya Spassibojko, Magdalena Rossi, and Ullas V. Pedmale. They have demonstrated that low red:far-red light in shade induces genes in roots regulated by WRKY transcription factors and ethylene, restricting primary and lateral root growth. Their article has an Altmetric score of 164!  SPONSORED CONTENT Promoted by Agrisera Save 15% off Environmental stress antibodies Free Posters! Respiration, PSII, Rubisco Save 25% off On epitope tag antibodies: FLAG, GFP, YPF, HA, 3xHis, 6xHis Find the antibody for Arabidopsis thaliana, algae, barley, rice, maize and many more Short videos about Western blot and antibodies The Plant Cell Article of the Week: Heat stress reveals a specialized variant of the pachytene checkpoint in meiosis of Arabidopsis thaliana The spotlight is on Joke De Jaeger-Braet, Linda Krause, Anika Buchholz, and Arp Schnittger. Their research shows that live cell imaging of plants exposed to different heat stresses provides a temporal framework of meiosis at high temperatures in wild type and mutants for several meiotic recombination factors. Applications Now Open for Plant Biology 2022 Travel Grants and Women's Young Investigator Travel Awards ASPB is offering a limited number of awards in each of these two programs to attend Plant Biology 2022 in Portland, Oregon, July 9-13, 2022. Read more about both programs on the ASPB Funding page. Deadlines for both are in early December. .CHANGING CULTURES AND CLIMATES The mission of Changing Cultures and Climates is to provide information that supports and promotes diversity, inclusivity, and equity in the international plant science community so that it grows to more accurately reflect that of our larger, global society. Hanna H. Gray Fellows Program Applications Now Open HHMI seeks to increase diversity in the biomedical research community. We know that the biggest challenges in science call for diverse perspectives and original thinking. The goal of the Hanna H. Gray Fellows Program is to recruit and retain individuals from gender, racial, ethnic, and other groups underrepresented in the life sciences, including those individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. Applicants must have been accepted to join a laboratory as a postdoctoral researcher at a research institution located in the U.S. (including Puerto Rico) at the time of the application due date (December 1, 2021). Academia's Ableist Mindset Needs to Change From Nature In the United States, 25% of adults live with a disability, but in 2020 those with impaired hearing or vision earned just 4% of US STEM PhDs, and those with a mobility limitation earned just 1% of STEM PhDs. Here, four junior researchers with disabilities describe their career experiences to date, and how colleagues can act as allies. This article complements an earlier article that focused on the experiences of disabled group leaders. Disabled in Higher Ed Resources and Conversations Throughout October, the organization "Disabled in Higher Ed" has been hosting panel discussions and blog posts raising awareness of scientists with disabilities, sharing their stories, and providing tips for how to support students and scientists with disabilities. Their most recent discussion concerned accessible fieldwork. You can find this and other recordings on their YouTube channel. Decoloniality and Anti-oppressive Practices for a More Ethical Ecology From Nature Ecology & Evolution Ecologists (and other scientists) must expand their knowledge, both in theory and practice, to incorporate varied perspectives, approaches and interpretations from, with and within the natural environment and across global systems. The authors outline five shifts that could help to transform academic ecological practice: decolonize your mind; know your histories; decolonize access; decolonize expertise; and practice ethical ecology in inclusive teams. We challenge the discipline to become more inclusive, creative and ethical at a moment when the perils of entrenched thinking have never been clearer. PRODUCT SHOWCASE Reach Your Prospects Every Week Thousands of industry professionals subscribe to association news briefs, which allows your company to push messaging directly to their inboxes and take advantage of the association's brand affinity. Connect with Highly Defined Buyers and Maximize Your Brand Exposure   LEARN MORE   Plant Genetic Transformation Gene Isolation and Cloning Vector Construction Plasmid Transformation T0 Generation Culture Positive Seeding Screening Acclimation Transplant   LEARN MORE   .#WeAreASPB Sarah O'Connor to Receive the 2022 Ernest Guenther Award in the Chemistry of Natural Products of the American Chemical Society Sarah O'Connor is the director of the Department of Natural Product Biosynthesis at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, and a frequent contributor to Plant Physiology. Her research group develops methods to elucidate the biosynthesis of specialized metabolites, many of which exhibit valuable medicinal effects, in the organism. They are also working to genetically engineer specialized and sometimes novel metabolic pathways. Share Your Moment in the Spotlight with ASPB Members! ASPB would like to highlight news coverage about plant science. If you or your research is being highlighted in newspapers, magazines, television, radio, movies, online, or other sources, please let us know! Just send a quick note, URL, and other relevant information to ASPB News production manager, Diane McCauley, at diane@aspb.org. .PLANTAE JOBS The Plantae Job Center offers job seekers and employers a great resource for finding the right match of people to careers. Job seekers get free access to a searchable list of jobs specific to science careers, as well as access to the Mentoring Center and to a list of available internships. Employers who post a job get access to over 500 searchable profiles of job seekers. With over 140,000 unique page views in 2020, the Plantae Job Center is your resource for finding your next opportunity or your next hire. Below are just a few of the jobs currently listed on the site. Postdoctoral Associate   University of Florida Gainesville, FL Learn more Research Biologist/Plant Physiologist/Geneticist GS-0401/0435/0440-12/13   USDA Dairy Forage Research Center Madison, WI Learn more .PLANT SCIENCE EVENTS November 8-11, 2021   XIX National Plant Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Congress, XII Joint Symposium Mexico-USA, and the 2nd ASPB Mexican Section Meeting Virtual Learn more November 17, 2021   AG2PI Industry Event - Industry Collaborations Field Day Learn more For plant science events, make sure to check out the Global Plant Science Events Calendar. Also, check the calendar for the latest cancellations and postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as webinars and online events you can join. .FROM THE FIELD Featured Book: Pioneering Women in Plant Pathology From KamounLab A new book has been published by the American Phytopathological Society, Pioneering Women in Plant Pathology. In a recent blog post, Sophien Kamoun shares stories of three of the women featured in this book, along with information about how to buy it. You can also watch a short talk by Sophien about this new book. Fascinating! How Plants Survive in the Atacama From PNAS via Cosmos In the harsh, arid conditions of Chile's vast Atacama Desert — the driest non-polar desert on the planet — only the most resilient plant life can cling on among the water-parched rocks and sand. How these plants came to thrive in such a hostile place is of particular interest to scientists hoping to understand how plant life might adapt to changing ecosystems in a warming world. Now, in a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, an international team of researchers has identified the smoking gun: key genes that have helped Atacama's hardy shrubs adapt to their desiccated homelands. How Legumes Give Oxygen to Symbiotic Bacteria in Their Roots From the John Innes Centre Scientists have discovered the genetics inside legumes that control the production of an oxygen-carrying molecule, crucial to the plant's close relationships with nitrogen-fixing bacteria. The finding offers the potential to give other plants the ability to produce ammonia from bacteria — reducing the need for the fossil fuel-dependent and polluting practice of applying synthetic fertilizer to crops. Why Roots Don't Grow in the Shade From Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Plants need sunlight to survive. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Assistant Professor Ullas Pedmale and his lab discovered that when plants are grown in the shade, they turn on hundreds of stress-related genes. The researchers found that a specific group of proteins called WRKYs are responsible for stunting root growth so the plant can focus on growing taller. Pedmale's lab hopes that their findings will help researchers design plants that can still thrive without sunlight, which may help farmers grow more crops in denser fields. Alien Balsams, Strawberries, and Their Pollinators in a Warmer World From BMC Plant Biology Strawberries are a common crop whose yield success depends on the availability of pollinators. Invasive alien plants, such as Impatiens glandulifera and I. parviflora, are also attractive for bees and hoverflies, respectively, and occur in close proximity to strawberry cultivation areas. The aim of the study was to test whether alien plants may decrease pollination of strawberry cultivation. However, even if the pollinators are abundant, efficiency of their pollination may decrease as a result of revisits of flowers that were already probed. Artificial Intelligence Accelerates Search for Markers of Resistance to Sugarcane Yellow Leaf Disease From Agência FAPESP Yellow leaf disease, a major sugarcane pest in Brazil, is caused by a virus resistant to thermal treatment. An infected plantation can be saved only by growing plantlets in tissue culture in the laboratory and planting them out, a time-consuming process that requires specialized infrastructure and personnel. According to a group of scientists who have long studied the problem, the most effective way to control the disease is to develop varieties that are resistant to the sugarcane yellow leaf virus. This is the purpose of a project that is being conducted with FAPESP's support. Why Strawberries Turn a Ghostly Shade of White From The New York Times Strawberries are not always red. Fragaria nubicola, native to the Himalayas, can produce a vivid red fruit or a ghostly white one; another species, F. vesca, can produce a white fruit with brilliant scarlet seeds, as well as a conventional red type. What gives some strawberries such a ghostly pallor? One answer has been uncovered by scientists curious about the humble strawberry's genetic material. Researchers Develop New Robot Pollinator as a Backup for Declining Insect Populations From West Virginia University The shortage of natural pollinators, such as bees, is threatening global food production around the world, making it difficult to feed an ever-growing human population. Researchers at West Virginia University have come up with a plan B to this decline in pollinators by creating a robotic pollinator. A team led by Yu Gu, associate professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, is creating StickBug, a six-armed robot to assist humans in greenhouse environments by pollinating various crops.   The Signal Connect with ASPB 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. Hailey Golden, Director of Publishing, Multiview, 469-420-2630 | Download media kit Tory Barringer, Assistant Executive Editor, Multiview, 469-420-2660 | Contribute News Click here to unsubscribe.  Learn how to add us to your safe sender list so our emails get to your inbox. 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