Bitter gourds (or bitter melon) have been a childhood nightmare of mine. I remember that as a child, my grandparents used to force me to consume these really bitter gourds (Momordica charantia) telling me that they had ‘many benefits’. In addition to being a rich source of antioxidants, M. charantia…

Physical dormancy is imposed by an impermeable seed coat that prevents water uptake. For germination to occur, this coat must be broken. Fire passage, for example, breaks physical dormancy in ecosystems where such events are recurrent. However, the mechanisms behind how fire achieves this has yet to…

Review: Hypes, hopes, and the way forward for microalgal biotechnology Microalgae are small, photosynthetic algae that have emerged as important contributors to food and nutrient production. This review describes the many ways they can be grown (e.g., autotrophic, with sunlight or artificial light;…

Min Gao, co-first author of “The Flowering Time Regulator FLK Controls Pathogen Defense in Arabidopsis thaliana” Current Position: Associate professor, College of Horticulture, Northwest A & F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China  Education: Ph.D. from Northwest A & F…

Matthew L. Fabian. co-first author of “The Flowering Time Regulator FLK Controls Pathogen Defense in Arabidopsis thaliana” Current Position: ORISE Postdoctoral Scholar, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service Education: Ph.D., Biological Sciences Non-scientific…

Sarathi M. Weraduwage, first author of "Characterization of promoter elements of isoprene-responsive genes, and the ability of isoprene to bind START domain transcription factors" Current Position: Assistant Professor (tenure-track), Department of Biology and Biochemistry, Bishop’s University, QC,…

Eva Dvořák Tomaštíková, first author of "SMC5/6 complex-mediated SUMOylation stimulates DNA-protein crosslink repair in Arabidopsis" Current Position: Postdoctoral Researcher, Centre of Plant Structural and Functional Genomics, Institute of Experimental Botany, Olomouc, Czech Republic Education:…

Jingru Li, first author of "BASIC PENTACYSTEINE2 fine-tunes corm dormancy release in Gladiolus" Education: Ph.D. student in the Department of Ornamental Horticulture at China Agricultural University (since September 2022). Non-scientific Interests: Gourmet and traveling Brief bio: My current…