In 2011, a group of scientists published an article called “One hundred important questions facing plant scientists”. Now, Armstrong et al. have provided an updated version of this, with an additional effort to draw on contributions from the global community, including non-specialists, to identify key questions. An interesting outcome is the notable increase in the […]
Short-format training (SFT) provides opportunities for people to acquire knowledge and skills outside of traditional degree-granting programs. Unfortunately, in spite of good intentions, there’s evidence to suggest that the SFTs aren’t always very effective, and that the knowledge gained doesn’t necessarily persist. A group of experts and practitioners of SFT have crafted a set of […]
Special feature: Harnessing crop diversity Don’t miss this excellent set of articles on the topic of crop diversity, organized by Susan McCouch, Loren Rieseberg, with Pamela Ronald. It includes five perspectives and six research articles, on topics such as breeding technologies and international policies. As the editors observe, having a very narrow range of crop […]
Plant Physiology Webinar: How Respiratory Energy Can Drive *Everything* Celebrating the April 2023 Focus Issue on Respiration Recorded Thursday April 6, 2023 About this webinar Respiration is central to plant metabolism and consumes roughly half the carbon fixed by photosynthesis. As the climate warms, rates of respiration will increase, which has implications for plant […]
Few topics are as inherently interesting from both fundamental and applied perspectives as salt tolerance in crop plants. From the basic science side, cells have several strategies that they use to keep Na+ levels low in their cytosol in spite of what can be a very steep concentration gradient from out to in. Furthermore, at […]
Like all organisms, plants respond to changes in temperature by activating pathways that enable them to stay alive in spite of rising or lowering temperatures. Interestingly though, there is no universal temperature sensing mechanism across the domains of life. Changes in membrane fluidity (think of melting butter) are common sensors, as are rates of reactions […]
The vertebrate adaptive immune system is truly an evolutionary marvel. With its ability to mix-and-match segments of immunoglobulin genes, a nearly unlimited diversity of antigens can be recognized. Plants lack this ability, greatly limiting the number of antigens (and pathogens) any individual can recognize. Kourelis et al. did a “what if” experiment; what if plants […]
Review: Salt-tolerant crops: Time to deliver Few topics are as inherently interesting from both fundamental and applied perspectives as salt tolerance in crop plants. From the basic science side, cells have several strategies that they use to keep Na+ levels low in their cytosol in spite of what can be a very steep concentration gradient […]
On January 6, 2023, the plant community was deeply saddened by the passing of Dr. Todd C. Mockler, Member and Geraldine and Robert Virgil Distinguished Investigator at the Danforth Center since 2011. Todd was a wonderful colleague, collaborator, and friend to so many of us. He was a scientist-entrepreneur who had a positive impact on […]