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.ASPB SPOTLIGHT
Letter Urging Continued Support for AFRI (FY2021)
The AFRI Coalition sent a letter to Congress in support of USDA's Agriculture & Food Research Initiative (AFRI) urging $435 million for AFRI in in the final FY21 appropriations bill. The AFRI Coalition is comprised of organizations representing research institutions, scientific societies (including ASPB), and other food and agricultural stakeholders.
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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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.FROM ASPB & PLANTAE
Plant Physiology Article of the Week
The spotlight is on Hai-Kuan Liu, Yu-Jie Li, Shu-Jie Wang, Ting-Lu Yuan, Wei-Jie Huang, Xin Dong, Jia-Qi Pei, Dong Zhang, Sheila McCormick, and Wei-Hua Tang for their article "Kinase Partner Protein Plays a Key Role in Controlling the Speed and Shape of Pollen Tube Growth in Tomato."
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The Plant Cell Article of the Week
The spotlight is on Kasper van Gelderen, Chiakai Kang, Richard Paalman, Diederik Keuskamp, Scott Hayes, and Ronald Pierik for their article "Far-Red Light Detection in the Shoot Regulates Lateral Root Development through the HY5 Transcription Factor" which has an Altmetric score of 52.
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Plant Direct Article of the Week
The spotlight is on Meng Li, Roma Mukhopadhyay, Václav Svoboda, Hui Min Olivia Oung, Daniel L. Mullendore and Helmut Kirchhoff for their article "Measuring the Dynamic Response of the Thylakoid Architecture in Plant Leaves by Electron Microscopy."
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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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ASPB Joins CNSF in Support for NSF Funding (FY21)
ASPB signs on to the Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF) letter in support of the NSF for fiscal year 2021 (FY21) appropriations legislation. As Congress seeks to finalize FY21 appropriations legislation, we urge Congress to negotiate and pass the FY21 Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill and make a significant funding increase for NSF a high priority.
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Plant Science Research Experiences
Looking for an undergraduate research experience? Plantae Internships is a curated list of over 130 research programs across the U.S. where students can find the program that best fits their research interests. Topics include plant science, computation, molecular biology, ecology, interdisciplinary programs, and more.
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Plant Physiology Call for Papers — Focus Issue on Architecture and Plasticity
This Focus Issue will consider topics ranging from plant development to (plasticity of) architecture, in the context of the organism and its interactions with a dynamic and challenging environment. Contributions might include studies on regulation of shoot or root development and/or architecture, responses of plant development and architecture to include, for example, light, water, nutrients, temperature and (a)biotic stress. Submission deadline: January 8, 2021.
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Botany in Action 2021 Call for Proposals
The Botany in Action Fellowship program at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens fosters the development of the next generation of plant-based scientists who are committed, first, to excellent research, and second, to educational outreach. Open to PhD students enrolled at US graduate institutions and conducting plant-based scientific research, the program provides each fellow with: 1) $5,000 for research-related expenses, 2) an all-expenses paid trip to Phipps for outreach training and 3) subsequent opportunities to connect their research with the public. Learn more!
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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.
.PLANT SCIENCE EVENTS
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
COVID-19 Pandemic Perspectives: A Scientific Silver Lining?
From Research and Practice in Thrombosis and Haemostasis
"Less pipetting and more thinking" and other impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are explored in this short commentary. The authors discuss the potential for long-term shifts in community values and other positive outcomes for the scientific enterprise.
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Integration of Reactive Oxygen Species and Hormone Signaling During Abiotic Stress
From Plant Journal via Plantae
In their review, Devireddy et al. outline the extensive cellular and molecular mechanisms of reactive oxygen species (ROS) interaction with phytohormones in response to drought, heat, cold, and salinity. The responses mediated are complex: they act at cellular, tissue, and organ levels and recruit multiple stress response networks, all to maintain growth and development until the next drop of water arrives or the next cooling breeze passes by.
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The Dark Side of the Genome
From Nature Plants via Kew
Why do some plants have such large genomes? And what impact does it have? This article summarizes new findings about diploid plant genome size (which range from 50x less to 50x more than our genomes). A key finding is that repetitive sequences are not proportional to genome size in the larger genomes. The implications for this finding in terms of species vulnerability are discussed.
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A New Strategy for Salinity Tolerance in Plants
From Plant Journal via CRAG (Center for Research in Agricultural Genomics)
A new study found that plants deficient in the floral repressors TEMPRANILLO1 and 2 show greater salt tolerance. The authors found these genes modulate salt tolerance by regulating hormonal components and photo‐protection.
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Not To Be Sneezed At: How 3D Printing Is Supersizing the Tiny World of Pollen
From The Guardian
As a former secondary school science teacher, Oliver Wilson knows the challenges of communicating big, complex issues. Now, the paleoecologist is reaching global audiences with a project that brings to life the microscopic world of pollen by producing giant 3D-printed models from high-quality scans of pollen grains. He has since created a fast, free and accessible way for anyone to print outsize replicas of pollen grains, magnified 2,500 times, via his online 3D Pollen Project.
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How Plants Compete for Underground Real Estate Affects Climate Change and Food Production
From Princeton University via Science Daily
How do plant roots store carbon? Researchers found that the energy a plant devotes to its roots depends on proximity to other plants: when close together, plants heavily invest in their root systems to compete for finite underground resources; if far apart, they invest less. As about a third of the world's vegetation biomass (and carbon) is belowground, this model provides a valuable tool to predict root proliferation in global earth-system models.
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Researchers Identify New Mechanism Through Which Plants Can Regulate Gene Expression
From Developmental Cell via News-Medical
Just like other organisms, plants must respond dynamically to a variety of cues over their lifetime. Going through different developmental stages, or altering their form in response to a drought or drastic temperature change requires altering which of their genes are expressed into proteins and when those processes occur. In a new paper in Developmental Cell, a research team led by Penn biologists Brian Gregory and Xiang Yu identified a mechanism by which plants can conduct this agile regulation of gene expression. They unpacked the details of a process whereby hormone signaling triggers the removal of a structure called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) from one end, called the 5' end, of certain messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules, the transcripts that give rise to proteins.
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New Plant Species from Amazonia Region Named After Dresden Botanist
From Technische Universität Dresden via EurekAlert
The Chair of Botany at TU Dresden has intensively studied the plant family of pipevines (Aristolochiaceae) for over 20 years. The Dresden scientists are among the few specialists for these plants worldwide and have published significant papers on the evolution and biology of this group. By investigating the plant family, the botanists want to help develop protective measures for particularly endangered species.
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