|
What to do with the plant vandals?
Just a few more days until the threatened destruction of a field trial of GM wheat in England. At this point it's not certain if the demonstration will include vandalism, but should it, what happens next? My fantasy is to take the vandals (and the people who encourage them, like her http://tinyurl.com/83v6me2) to a quiet place for four years. During that period, they'd have to pass courses in chemistry (general, organic, and physical, because without understanding chemistry you know nothing...), statistics, economics, ecology, environmental science, genetics, cell biology, biochemistry and plant physiology. Oh, and they'd have to spend a year doing experimental work (something really hard, like proteomics or electrophysiology, or whole-organismal physiology) AND come up with a publication-quality figure. If that fail the last task, a year in a refugee camp where people know what it means to really worrry about their food could substitute..... At the end of their four years, I'd let them go. What do you think the chances would be that they'd rush off to destroy someone's experiment? I think ZERO. Via Mary Williams, Anne Osterrieder 
Two leading scientists will be logging on to FWi Thurs 24 May for an exclusive Q&A about Rothamsted Institute's controversial GM wheat trials. Via John Innes Centre 
New Content includes:
Photomorphogenesis (update) Carotenoid biosynthesis in Arabidopsis: a colorful pathway Shade Avoidance
The Female Gametophyte
Salicylic Acid Biosynthesis and Metabolism
Molecular Biology, Biochemistry and Cellular Physiology of Cysteine Metabolism in Arabidopsis
The Phenylpropanoid Pathway in Arabidopsis
Plant ABC Transporters
Brassinosteroids (update)
Cytochromes P450 (major update)
Small Post-Translationally Modified Peptide Signals in Arabidopsis
The Function of the CLE Peptide in Plant Development and Symbiosis
Phytochrome Signaling Mechanisms(update) Via Mary Williams 
A paper published this month in New Phytologist summarises the development of the UK Plant Science Federation (UKPSF) and explains its importance. 
One farmer argues that when Monsanto sells a seed, farmers are free to do as they please with it—and its descendants. Monsanto claims patent infringement. The Supreme Court may decide. Via Annals of Botany: Plant Science Research 
With buds bursting early, only for a mild winter to turn Arctic and wipe them out, we are witnessing how warm weather can trigger flowering, even out of season, and how important it is for plants to blossom at the right time of year. BBSRC-funded scientists have unpicked why temperature has such a powerful affect on how plants flower. In research published in the journal Nature, scientists from the John Innes Centre on the Norwich Research Park have identified the switch that accelerates flowering time in response to temperature. Via John Innes Centre 
Very thorough summary of best practices for growing Arabidopsis. What size pots? What temperature? How much light? With photos and references. Good resource for student researchers!
Don't forget to share this one with them too: The top 10 ways to kill Arabidopsis, by Sean May at NASC. (http://arabidopsis.info/information/kill.pdf) Via Mary Williams, Annals of Botany: Plant Science Research 
We are big fans of the BIO fortified blog (and their GENERA database). You've probably seen the term "Agent Orange Corn" kicked around - what's that all about? Steve Savage explains, and explains again in the comments section. Good reading, and fascinating issues, both scientific and social. Opening line: Mark Twain once said, “A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” Via Mary Williams 
lants are one of the most fascinating and important groups of organisms living on Earth. They serve as the conduit of energy into the biosphere, provide food, and shape our environment. If we want to make headway in understanding how these essential organisms function and build the foundation for a more sustainable future, then we need to apply the most advanced technologies available to the study of plant life. In 2009, a committee of the National Academy highlighted the “understanding of plant growth” as one of the big challenges for society and part of a new era which they termed “new biology.” The aim of this article is to identify how new technologies can and will transform plant science to address the challenges of new biology. We assess where we stand today regarding current technologies, with an emphasis on molecular and imaging technologies, and we try to address questions about where we may go in the future and whether we can get an idea of what is at and beyond the horizon. Via GMI Vienna "Rusts never sleep" warned the Nobel Prize winner Norman Borlaug, referring to the crop-destroying fungi that rank among humankind's most formidable agricultural foes. A prescient warning it remains – Borlaug was father of the 1940s-70s 'green revolution' that saved millions from starvation by developing new varieties of wheat that were resistant to these rust diseases. While always present, the spectre of fungal attack has returned to haunt cereal growers the world over in the form of rusts that can destroy wheat varieties that were until very recently still immune to the major rust pathogens. Via International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center 
Scientists in Russia have grown plants from fruit stored away in permafrost by squirrels over 30,000 years ago. The fruit was found in the banks of the Kolyma River in Siberia, a top site for people looking for mammoth bones. The Institute of Cell Biophysics team raised plants of Silene stenophylla - of the campion family - from the fruit. Via Annals of Botany: Plant Science Research UK Plant Sciences Federation Executive Officer Via Annals of Botany: Plant Science Research 
Plants regularly face adverse growth conditions, such as drought, salinity, chilling, freezing, and high temperatures. These stresses can delay growth and development, reduce productivity, and, in extreme cases, cause plant death. Plant stress responses are dynamic and involve complex cross-talk between different regulatory levels, including adjustment of metabolism and gene expression for physiological and morphological adaptation. In this review, information about metabolic regulation in response to drought, extreme temperature, and salinity stress is summarized and the signalling events involved in mediating stress-induced metabolic changes are presented. Via GMI Vienna |
The first International Fascination of Plants Day was celebrated at JIC with over 550 children from 23 Norfolk schools. Via John Innes Centre 
Approval of a ‘biologic’ manufactured in plant cells may pave the way for similar products. Via Annals of Botany: Plant Science Research 
Taxonomy usually refers to the theory and practice of describing, naming and classifying living things. Such work is essential for the fundamental understanding of biodiversity and its conservation. Yet the science behind delimiting the natural world into “species” is often neglected, misunderstood or even derided in some quarters. The paper give the example of rattans of Africa, leading to the publication of a taxonomic monograph of these climbing palms. Taxonomic work of this kind is not purely an academic exercise. It is an essential basis for the conservation, development and management of the resource itself. It is important that the differences between species are clearly understood so that we know which species are of commercial importance and how they can be distinguished from other species that are not utilised and why. This knowledge is essential in order to undertake meaningful inventories of commercially important species and to be able to assess the potential of each species for cultivation and sustainable management. A structured taxonomic framework also ensures that any experimental or development work undertaken is replicable. Via Luigi Guarino, Annals of Botany: Plant Science Research 
A plant pathologist and an organic farmer co-author a book about how agricultural biotechnology and organic farming can coexist to produce abundant food and enhance the ecologic sustainability of farms. Via Annals of Botany: Plant Science Research 
Super way to introduce developmental genetics! Also check out the Nature News summary: http://www.nature.com/news/gene-behind-van-gogh-s-sunflowers-pinpointed-1.10364 Via Mary Williams 
The New Phytologist Tansley Medal is awarded annually in recognition of an outstanding contribution to research in plant science by an individual in the early stages of their career. The winner will receive a prize of £2000 (GBP) and will author a Minireview that will be published in New Phytologist, accompanied by a comment from the Editor-in-Chief and Tansley reviews Editor. Applications for 2012 should be received by 15 April. Via Annals of Botany: Plant Science Research 
The goal of this work was to identify genetic variants underlying a well-characterized environmental response, the elongation of Arabidopsis thaliana hypocotyls (seedling stems) in response to shade, otherwise known as shade avoidance. We performed a genome-wide association study with four phenotypes: absolute hypocotyl height of plants grown in both simulated sun and shade and two measures of how height responded to shade. With this study, we confirmed previous findings that variants in two photoreceptors were associated with hypocotyl height variation. We also found associations with genetic variants in previously-identified shade avoidance genes, as well as with variants in genes not typically considered part of the shade avoidance pathway. By examining patterns of which of the four phenotypes were associated with each gene, we were then able to discriminate between genetic variants that have a general role in hypocotyl height variation and variants that are specifically involved in the shade avoidance response. We also found that shade avoidance was not broadly associated with geography, suggesting that variation in this trait may be due to local differences in light quality. Via GMI Vienna "An epifluorescent attachment improves whole-plant digital photography of Arabidopsis thaliana expressing red-shifted green fluorescent protein" Somebody built a cheaper mousetrap! Via Mary Williams 
I met Geraint Parry on Twitter, where he tweets under @LiverpoolPlants about his research. Fortunately, my colleagues were able to confirm that he indeed ... Via Anne Osterrieder 
It was Carolus Linnaeus back in the 18th century who, fond of personifying plants (mostly in regard to sex) named this phenomenon “sleep” in plants. Soon, he switched his focus from movements of leaves to the daily opening and closing of flowers and performed a broad study of the times of day when each flower species opened and closed. Via Annals of Botany: Plant Science Research 
Evolutionary biologists at the University of Sheffield and Brown University have documented for the first time that plants pass genes from plant to plant to fuel their evolutionary development. The evolution of plants and animals generally has been thought to occur through the passing of genes from parent to offspring and genetic modifications that happen along the way. However, the new research has documented another avenue, through the passing of genes from plant to plant between species with only a distant ancestral kinship. How this happened is unclear but the researchers show that not only did a grouping of grasses pass on enzymes key to photosynthesis multiple times over millions of years, but that some of the genes that were transferred became integral cogs to the plants' photosynthetic machinery. This is a critical distinguishing feature in C4 plants, which dominate in hot, tropical climes and now make up 20 per cent of the earth´s vegetational covering. Dr Colin Osborne, an evolutionary biologist from the University of Sheffield´s Department of Animal and Plant Sciences and senior author on the paper, said: "We've long understood how evolutionary adaptations are passed from parents to offspring. Now we´ve discovered in plants that they can be passed between distant cousins without direct contact between the species." 
Biologists at Rice University have discovered that while plants might look fairly inactive in the day, they are surreptitiously preparing for battle with hungry insects. Via Annals of Botany: Plant Science Research |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|
Next |
