The other day I was talking to a friend about the need to demystify plants, so that teachers feel as confident in their teaching of plant biology as they do about animal biology. I wonder if sometimes we teach plants too much in isolation, so it’s not always clear how plants relate to other organisms […]
We’ve assembled a collection of relatively accessible talks by scientists. These include: TED talks, which are directed at a general audience, the iBiology series, where speakers deliver a general talk followed by a research-focused talk, and videos of lectures at the Gatsby Plants summer school for undergraduate students. Most of these talks would be suitable […]
2015 TED talk by Pamela Ronald.
“Career Planning for Research Bioscientists” is an excellent resource for anyone who is pursuing a scientific career. Written by Sarah Blackford, head of Education and Public Affairs at the Society for Experimental Biology, it provides checksheets, case studies, sample CVs, interview tips and guides to help you identify and get your next position, and the […]
Sarah Blackford’s list of suggestions for casting a wide net when job hunting, from her blog. 10 ways to find your next job
IN BRIEF by Gregory Bertoni [email protected] Autophagy, or “self eating,” is the process cells use to consume unwanted intracellular structures such as damaged organelles, excess membranes, and unneeded cellular proteins (Mizushima and Komatsu, 2011). Typically, the unwanted structure becomes surrounded by an autophagosomal membrane, which then fuses with the membrane of either the vacuole (yeast […]
How does ecosystem restoration affect ecosystem services such as pollination? Kaiser-Bunbury et al. analysed 64 plant-pollinator networks across four restored and four unrestored communities. Restoration involved the removal of all exotic plants (nearly 40,000 individuals). After restoration, over a period of several months, they recorded pollinator-plant interactions: a total of more than 12,000 pollinator visits. […]
The indigenous Chinese rice variety Gumei 4 (GM4) shows durable and specific resistance to the rice blast fungal pathogen Manaporthe oryzae. Deng et al. mapped and sequenced the resistance locus Pigm, and found that it contains a cluster of 13 NLR (nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat) genes, three of which appear to be transcribed. One of these, […]
Without eyes, mouths or noses, how do carnivorous plants know that they’ve captured prey? Previous studies in various carnivorous species have shown that electrical signals as well as the jasmonate defense hormones contribute to prey detection. Krausko et al. examined these signals in leaves of the sundew Drosera capensis, which has leaves covered with sticky […]