Entries by Plantae Community

The Plant Cell Features January, February and March 2026 First Authors

Behind the manuscripts are researchers, professors, professionals, and students dedicated to advancing the field of plant science. You’ve seen our First Authors on Bluesky, X and Facebook— now, read more about why they chose to pursue plant sciences and click on the links to read their articles. Vinod Kumar Vinod Kumar (he/him)  is the First […]

Why Does Plant Science Need More Storytellers?

The world has grown impatient, especially with science. People want information about things they care about, from people whom they can trust. Trust is built through stories that connect scientific research to everyday life. These stories must feel relevant, told by people who show what they care about and why, in language people generally understand.  Science journalist and author Helen Pearson notes that […]

Saying No in Academia: Setting Boundaries Without Guilt

In research, work never really ends “Happy to give this presentation.”  “Sure, I can take on teaching hours.” “I can do an extra side project.” “I’ll take care of this experiment over the weekend.” Do phrases like that sound familiar? Whether it comes from enthusiasm or guilt, the answer to every demand in academia is […]

Visualizing Female Meiosis in Arabidopsis

In plants, compared to male meiosis, female meiosis has remained largely unexplored. In our recent study published in The Plant Cell (Hu and Prusicki et al., 2026), by live cell imaging, we visualize female meiosis in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, advancing the knowledge of reproductive development. Background: To sexually reproduce, multicellular organisms have to […]

How to Negotiate Your First Lab Manager Offer?

Competition for scientific job positions is increasingly fierce nowadays. That pressure is felt even more strongly in the global south, where stable and well-funded jobs for highly trained scientists are limited, often available in a select few cities (Kent et al, 2022[1]). Major employers include public organizations such as health research-oriented institutions, government institutions, and […]

Building Cell Walls for Explosive Seed Dispersal

We are putting our spotlight in this section on how secondary cell walls acquire the precise shape, structure, and polarity necessary for explosive seed dispersal in the small weed Cardamine hirsuta. Specifically, we wanted to understand the role of cellulose- a major structural component of plant cell walls- in creating these specialized wall patterns. Plants […]