For our series of profiles of senior academics, this month we hear from Prof. James McEvoy from @royalholloway.bsky.social He shares valuable tips for early-career staff. To read his profile, join our LinkedIn (note that your institution must be a HUBS member): www.linkedin.com/groups/13191...

"Why is publishing so expensive?" It's a question I hear all the time, so we at @biologists.bsky.social thought we'd try to dispel some of the myths around publishing economics & provide transparency around our costs. Today, we publish editorials in all 5 of our journals - links in the thread below.

🚨📢 Excited to share our back-to-back publications in @natcomms.nature.com! 🧬🌡️ In a fantastic collaboration between @casallab.bsky.social and @luciastrader.bsky.social, we’ve showed how plants "re-tune" the auxin pathway to regulate growth in response to warmth. 🌡️🌱 🧵 rdcu.be/fayYC, rdcu.be/fay0X

Our new experimental evolution study across 30+ locations using the plant Arabidopsis thaliana —— we direct "see" adaptation and extinction to different climates at the genetic as it happens! Read it in Science dx.doi.org/10.1126/scie... @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social @hhmi-science.bsky.social

Published! From a proteomic atlas of the ERECTA signaling network, we show that receptor kinase endocytosis is essential for proper stomatal patterning. Congrats, Pengfei, @edwardmarcotte.bsky.social, @hhmi-science.bsky.social, @texasscience.bsky.social & co-authors! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Our paper is now out in PNAS! Crops often show boron deficiency in volcanic soils. Here, we identified six variants in two key boron transporter genes, BOR1 and BOR2, that increase leaf boron in natural populations of A. thaliana from volcanic islands in Cape Verde. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Did you wake up thinking of someone who is an excellent teacher of planty content?? Nominate them!

Single-Platform Nanopore Sequencing Enables Diploid Telomere-to-Telomere Genome Assembly and Haplotype-Resolved 3D Chromatin Maps https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.19.712851v1

Fungal domestication in action - @benwolfe.bsky.social www.cell.com/current-biol... #Fungal26

“Authors [&] reviewers tell us that they have had a more constructive experience…choosing eLife not because of our impact factor, but because of our process” 👆 eLife comtinues to provoke debate but this is perhaps the most important point elifesciences.org/articles/110...

Here’s the link to Daniil’s thread 🧵 explaining why Stoic is so cool 😎🧪 #AI #ProteinPrediction bsky.app/profile/dani...

If you consider 'hiring’ AI instead of a graduate student, you're saying the quiet part out loud: PhDs are viewed as a PI's labor force not academics studying for an advanced degree... www.science.org/content/arti...

"AI is not a magical tool built by people in San Francisco making millions of dollars a year and pushing their companies to insane valuations. Artificial intelligence is an extractive technology that relies on the brutal labor of underpaid workers around the world" www.404media.co/ai-is-africa...

For the record, this is my comment to the journalist on Colossal’s dire wolf.

Latest from our lab! Detailed and committed work by Jennifer combined with Hiro's special skills👌. Wonderful collaboration with @nikogeldner.bsky.social lab (Damien and Etienne) and @jalonsos.bsky.social 👇

Great news that @ukri.org is substantially supporting @daphnejacksontr.bsky.social - an impactful scheme to re-start careers and access the skills of those who have taken career breaks.

PhDs apply to the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory course Frontiers & Techniques in Plant Science. 1 month of hands-on training with leading experts. A unique opportunity to explore cutting-edge plant science methods and build your network. 🌱 meetings.cshl.edu/courses.aspx...

Curious about the origin of development during the transition to multicellularity? A very belated preprint alert: bit.ly/4rr2mHU Reproduction emerges from ecological interactions at the onset of multicellularity. A short 🧵 with lots of videos...

This is a phrase I’ll hold onto: “Nosotros no estamos solos—somos los primeros. Somos los primeros.”

I’m glad so many people have found my “capybara method” for how to write alt text and image descriptions helpful! However, I know conflicting access needs exist and not everyone can write their own #AltText, so here’s an ongoing thread of tools that can help. Inclusion in thread ≠ endorsement

Happy to see one of my PhD thesis chapters featured on the @eth-dbiol.bsky.social @ethz.ch news channel! 🎉🌱 Congratulations to all co-authors — @tinaschreier.bsky.social, Michaela Fischer-Stettler, Sam Zeeman, and Elisabeth Truernit — and many thanks to everyone who helped make this work possible!

For our series of profiles of senior academics, we hear from Dr. Stephany Veuger, Associate Professor (Education) at @northumbriauni.bsky.social. She shares ideas to support early-career researchers in their journeys. To read her profile, join our LinkedIn group: www.linkedin.com/groups/13191...

Our beautiful work is out in Current Biology! @currentbiology.bsky.social Immune activation suppresses reproductive growth in Arabidopsis through cytokinin signaling: Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...

I can say with full confidence that engaging with Pokemon games as a child laid the foundation for my interest in the living world, of exploring biological systems, and curration of living collections. I am who I am today in part due to this game. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Job losses at UK research-intensive universities double in two years. Exclusive: Scale of redundancies branded a “disaster”. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

The fundamental flaw with @holdenthorp.bsky.social’s argument is thinking that organizations and people can only do one thing at a time (even though he is really close to acknowledging it!) Let’s break it down, bc I’m tired of this. 🧵 (cred: @ianlmorgan.bsky.social)

What to learn more about the enigmatic organism Prototaxites?? Have a read of our new Quick Guide in @currentbiology.bsky.social It includes another great palaeo-reconstruction of the Rhynie ecosystem from @matt-humpage.bsky.social

This is a good article, gift link. It illustrates the real impacts that are occurring from the current US government's attacks on science funding 👍 www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/o...

In these surreal political times, I find myself re-watching the excellent lecture @maitlis.bsky.social gave in Edinburgh. Highly recommended. We shall not normalise this moment. youtu.be/e0dRBtSAvLM

⚙️Technical Advance How are plasmodesmata distributed across tissues? 🌱 Davis et al. developed a 3D quantitative imaging pipeline to map pit fields at cell-type resolution in Arabidopsis roots. They’re developmentally reallocated and spatially patterned by BR signaling. 👉 doi.org/10.1111/tpj.70726

"In a university ecosystem that breeds hunger for status, Epstein made scholars feel like celebrities... Too many people – even those who were not involved directly in exploitation – took the deal because it was easy to do and because it felt good." #AcademicSky www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Evolution of moss leaf-like organs through variations in deeply conserved developmental principles https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02.18.706666v1

🎉📣 #TAIR12, the latest reannotation of the Arabidopsis thaliana genome, is now available under accession number PRJEB100887 on ENA and NCBI! Thank you all the volunteer researchers whose hard work has made this possible! #plantscience #plantbiology 🧪 bit.ly/3ZHtneT

New publication! My report in @hepi-news.bsky.social looks at racial equity in UK higher education, and finds that even in TEF Gold institutions there are large awarding gaps and serious underrpresentation of Global Majority staff #HigherEducation #Equity www.hepi.ac.uk/reports/maki...

Does hidden protein biology live in the suboptimal alignment space? When we align two divergent proteins, we usually trust a single optimal alignment. 🧬 But what if the real structural signal lies in the space of near-optimal solutions? With EMERALD-UI you can unfold this perspective.

A #manifesto for #PlantScience #education @lizalvey.bsky.social, @apaterlini.bsky.social and @PlantTeaching.bsky.social, et al. nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... #LatestIssue

It was a joy to bring together a community of plant science educators to write this manifesto now out in @plantspeopleplanet.bsky.social - so much potential for plant science education if we come together and address the really key issues. #PlantScience #STEMeducation

Ah, surprise, surprise. Our VC's second job at a UoE spin-off *is* paid after all. We'd like to know since when, and why his SFC declaration of interests has only recently been updated. www.theferret.scot/edinburgh-jo...

If like us you are in need of a pick-me-up, take a lunch break and join us for: Wellbeing for Early Career Lecturers on 26.02.26 1-2pm. Join us for an hour of top tips and some live relaxation techniques (including some takeaway short videos for quick breaks). Sign up here: tinyurl.com/ECLBio

Botanist Marie Clark Taylor transformed plant science education, modernizing curricula, advancing microscopy, and mentoring generations of scientists at Howard University. 🔬 #BlackHistoryMonth #PlantScience

A new blog is out on our website! Go check it out! For International Women and Girls in STEM day (11.02) @hee-kyung-ahn.bsky.social reflects on the gender gap in science, highlighting achievements and remaining challenges. biology.ed.ac.uk/plant-scienc...

OryzaNet is a new BBSRC-funded rice research network launching Spring 2026. We are inviting researchers, social scientists, stakeholders & innovators to register interest ahead of launch. www.oryzanet.com

Registrations now open for #SLS26 Sainsbury Laboratory Symposium 2026 in Cambridge, UK — Shaping Life: Mechanisms of Morphogenesis! Join us explore how cellular, genetic & mechanical forces sculpt plant form 📅 22–24 Sept 2026 In-person + livestream Limited fee waivers www.slcu.cam.ac.uk/sls #plantsi

An evaluation and certification system for scientific journals is proposed, building on the growing concept of journal accreditation #ScholarlyPublishing #JournalPublishing #JournalAccreditation

Can confirm

How plants control fleshy & woody tissue growth🥕🪵 Ykä Helariutta’s labs at @slcuplants.bsky.social & @helsinki.fi reveal how plants fine-tune xylem development to balance growth — with big implications for crops and forestry 📜@science.org www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... ℹ️ shorturl.at/YLnUw

Recruitment of bifunctional regulator thermospermine to methylated ribosomes directs xylem fate | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

🚨 Positions available in Plant Science! Please share. We’re hiring: 1. Postdoc 2.PhD (UK applicants only) Focus: root oxygen dynamics, developmental signalling. Come help us uncover how O2 shapes root development. More info here- sites.google.com/view/root-re... #plantscijobs #plantscience

📣 Check out JXB's newest Special Issue 📣 📜 Issue 3 of 2026 📜 🔬 Plasmodesmata: Current perspectives on plant intercellular communication and signalling 🔬 📘 Guest edited by Jake Brunkard & Tessa Burch-Smith 🔗 academic.oup.com/jxb... #JXBspecialissues #PlantScience 🧪 SEBiology