The urgent need to support and sustain plant research is indisputable, but sometimes plant education, the foundation upon which research rests, doesn’t get the same support. In January 2025, a group of dedicated educators (mostly higher education and outreach) spent two days together to strategize…

Opinion: Genomic studies hint at what makes a tree a tree This is such an engaging and though-provoking review article. I’d love to ask a group of students to think about what makes a tree a tree, including such questions as: How do we define trees? Do woody plants share a single origin? How many…

An academic career is multifaceted. Academics combine research and teaching with mentoring, grant-writing, publishing, community service, and administrative roles. One of the first questions aspiring academics must ask themselves is how much time they want to devote to teaching versus research, alongside…

Plantae Presents: How to Build a Productive Lab Featuring Yuchen Long and Carl Ng When: Wednesday, November 26, 2025, at 4:30 AM PST | 7:30 PM EST | 12:30 PM GMT | 8:30 PM Beijing About this Webinar Many early-career researchers (ECRs) and new PIs receive little to no formal training in lab management,…

This is an interesting and engaging review article, written by a team from Bayer US Crop Science, on how mutations (broadly defined) have benefited plant domestication and breeding. While it briefly covers the basics, such as population genetics, it really focuses on demystifying and normalizing the…

This review by Somssich et al., part of a forthcoming Focus Collection on Metabolites, provides an overview of the chemical arsenal of defense compounds in plants. Playfully titled “Guns in Rosettes”, it focuses on the well-characterized model plant Arabidopsis. The article discusses defense metabolites…

I was initially drawn to this review by curiosity about its title; I realized I hadn’t ever wondered how and why viral infections cause symptoms in plants. I’m so glad I looked into it! This is a compelling and fascinating review that takes a broad look at plant-virus interactions. It starts with…