Pamela Ronald: The case for engineering our food
2015 TED talk by Pamela Ronald.
Author Archive for: Mary Williams
Entries by Mary Williams
Career Planning for Research Bioscientists by Sarah Blackford
“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 […]
Ten ways to find your next job (by Sarah Blackford)
Sarah Blackford’s list of suggestions for casting a wide net when job hunting, from her blog. 10 ways to find your next job
Photodamaged Chloroplasts Are Targets of Cellular Garbage Disposal
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 […]
Ecosystem restoration strengthens pollination network resilience and function ($)
How does ecosystem restoration affect ecosystem services such as pollination? Kaiser-Bunbury et al. analysed 64 plant-pollinator networks across four restored and four unrestored communities. Restoration involved the removal of all exotic plants (nearly 40,000 individuals). After restoration, over a period of several months, they recorded pollinator-plant interactions: a total of more than 12,000 pollinator visits. […]
Two clustered NLR genes with opposing functions in rice blast resistance and yield ($)
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, […]
Electrical and hormonal signals of prey capture in sundew ($)
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 […]
Convergence in the molecular basis of carnivory
Cephalotus follicularis is a heterophyllous pitcher plant that makes two types of leaves, carnivorous and non-carnivorous. By growing plants at different temperatures, Fukushima et al. were able to get plants to produce one of the two leaf forms. They sequenced the plant’s genome and compared transcriptomes between the two types of leaves. Carnivory-specific (or enriched) […]
Rewiring carotenoid biosynthesis in plants using a viral vector
A healthy human diet should include phytonutrients such as carotenoids. Several approaches including classical breeding and transgenic plant production have been used to increase carotenoid abundance in plant tissues; challenges to these approaches include feedback controls, cell toxicity due to abnormally high compound levels, and compartmentalization of enzymes and intermediates. Majer et al. demonstrate high […]