Inspiring the next generation of plant scientists: What we learned from 421 plant biologists @joannakacprzyk.bsky.social and Rainer Melzer nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... @plantmemories.bsky.social @ucdflowerpower.bsky.social #PlantScience

Motivation for choosing botany-related education? My father left school at 14 and my (more intellectual) mother at 18, and I was born in a council house, so there was little expectation that I would explore tertiary education.

What a fantastic story...

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Motivation for choosing a plant related career: "𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙢𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙩-𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙚𝙡𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙨 (𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣) 𝙖 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙞𝙚𝙡𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙟𝙤𝙗."

Check out this AMAZING hoodie I got from @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social! Keep an eye out on openflower.bio Thank you Nick!

We are #hiring! Join Miltos Tsiantis’s lab within the IMPRS @mpipz.bsky.social to identify genes driving root sucker formation in crucifer plants — combining evolution & genetics. 📆 Deadline: Jan 5, 2026 ✏️ Apply via: gradschool.mpipz.mpg.de ℹ️ More info: mpipz.mpg.de/imprs

Applications close soon for the @aries-dtp.bsky.social #PhD programme! We have two projects available: 🌿 Evolutionary genomics under sexual and clonal reproduction in hybrid wild grasses 🍄 Genomic signatures underlying functional diversity in root symbiotic fungi Find out more here 👇

As someone who’s probably on Bluesky blocklists for saying something other than "burn it all down" about AI, it also seems clear that asking for more nuance in these discussions in Dec 2025 is like asking for more nuanced discussion of immigration as masked ICE agents toss people in unmarked vans+

Most wholesome paper I have ever worked on. Made me feel awesome about being part of this community.

Just in time for Christmas a new paper in @plantspeopleplanet.bsky.social by @joannakacprzyk.bsky.social and myself. We asked 421 plant scientists why they study plants! Check it out and also check @plantmemories.bsky.social where we post lovely survey responses.

Are you an experienced PhD student or postdoc in plant science looking to connect, present your work, and discuss career paths? Join us at the 3rd Early Career Plant Researchers Network Meeting, Halle (Saale), 20–21 April 2026 Deadline: 23 January 2026 plant-ecr-networking.eu

Pleased to share this thoughtful essay by Jess on my flower design project🌹🧬 As a small thank-you for spreading the work, I'm randomly giving away 5 of these new morphogenesis hoodies to whoever reposts this!

🧪🌱 Sooo… our paper on how SPOROCYTELESS/NOZZLE controls the onset of megasporogenesis is finally out in @natcomms.nature.com 🎉🎉! This is one of the major projects of my postdoc at #LuciaColombo’s lab at #UniMI. www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧶 1/7

Check our new preprint! How the petal identity gene PhDEF behaves differently in the epidermis and mesophyll, in petunia flowers (1/n) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

What rubs me the wrong way about the AI criticism: Where were you when bakers lost their jobs to kneading machines? When carpenters lost their jobs to laser cutting machines? Now when the machines eventually come for us (academia and writers) you are outraged?

We are looking for a Head of Cell Biology here at @kwsgroup.bsky.social Vegetables. This is a permanent, full-time position located in Wageningen, Netherlands. jobs.kws.com/job/Wagening... #PlantScience #PlantSciJobs #PlantScienceJobs #PlantCellBiology #PlantBreeding #PlantSciJob #PlantScienceJob

We (Nordborg & Weigel labs) need input on the next generation of genome browsers & data download modes for the #Arabidopsis #1001GenomesPlus project. We have now a curated collection of over 500 long read genomes. Please help us by filling out this questionnaire: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Postdoc positions focused on gene editing using protoplasts and plant regeneration for genetic improvement of forest trees at NC State 🌳 jobs.ncsu.edu/postings/225...

🧬 SPECIAL ISSUE REVIEW 🧬 Kearly & Nelson discuss historical and modern approaches and their limitations for identifying and characterizing plant short open reading frame-encoded peptides, and how improved techniques are rapidly changing the field 🌱 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/... #PlantScience 🧪

I'm offering a PhD project together with Sarah McKim on temperature-controlled stomata formation within EASTBIO DTP www.findaphd.com/phds/project... #plantscience #plantscijobs Deadline 15 Feb. Please share/RP

Great PhD opportunity at Sheffield - a key place for plant science for ~ 100 years #PlantScience

🌸 RESEARCH 🌸 Comparative RNA-seq and metabolite analysis of feminized male cannabis plants revealed alterations in the expression of class B and E floral homeotic homologues and preferential development of sessile trichomes - Garcia-de Heer et al. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/... #PlantScience 🧪

Ecological stoichiometry and life history theory, not the identity of genomic variants, predict rapid adaptation https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.11.687836v1

Applications due by Dec. 1

Out First Release in @science.org Exploring how MKK3 variation affects the balance between dormancy and preharvest sprouting in barley: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... #plantscience

Maybe we should entertain some counterfactual history when trying to evaluate scientific genius? Which discoveries would have been made only much later if a particular person would not have existed? My money is on Barbara McClintock. Also Gregor Mendel (quite literally rediscovered decades later).

"The Scientist's Guide to Writing" has a 3rd edition on the way! New chapter on "AI" writing tools (I have opinions...(and evidence)). Updated coverage of preprints, graphical abstracts, humour in titles, and lots more. Watch for it!

Arabidopsis thaliana was always an unlikely candidate for the limelight. But 25 years ago, the diminutive thale cress launched the botanical world into the molecular era. ✍️ Rachel Ehrenberg knowmag.org/4hImL8e

Ein spannendes Stellenangebot für die #Games-Branche: Das Bundesministerium für Forschung, Technologie und Raumfahrt sucht eine Leitung für das Referat #Games. Eine Schlüsselrolle für die zukünftige #Games-Förderung und -Strategie des Bundes. 👉 Jetzt bewerben: service.bund.de/IMPORTE/Stel...

The University of Hamburg has opened 14 PhD positions focused on ecological and evolutionary research, including climate change impacts on aquatic populations. Details here: https://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/en/forschung/grk2530/openpositions.html #phd

Happy Halloween!

We are hiring: Software and Product Manager (f/m/x) – Digital Twin for Bird Diversity (BirdTwin) https://recruitingapp-5128.de.umantis.com/Vacancies/3290/Description/2 #job #ecoevojob #xp

The deadline for abstract submissions is TODAY… 😃

50 years ago, King & Wilson published a foundational paper that underlies the cis-regulatory paradigm (CRP) of #DevoEvo #EvoDevo, i.e., that *almost* all morphological evolution is driven by mutations in regulatory elements, rather than proteins, and it all arose from simple misunderstanding 🧪 🧵

This preprint shows that the huge recent progress of non-coding effect predictions is likely going to help tremendously in this area. A must read. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

1/2 Want to become up to date with pangenomes and genome graphs and their history? Check out this fantastic review by @zbao.bsky.social! Complexity welcome: Pangenome graphs for comprehensive population genomics #pangenomes #plantscience #genomegraphs www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

I think this is one of the most powerful displays of what genetic engineering can do. Flower size and organ identity changed. And flower colour changes in a temporal order. It shows we really understand flower development to a remarkable extent. Awesome @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social!

Genetically engineered color-changing Arabidopsis 🧬📷- attempt #3 I think I finally nailed it with this one.

I cannot believe our work is finally out there and in @journal-evo.bsky.social ! This was an enormous group effort! We provide an updated estimate of the number of buzz pollinated angiosperm species, genera, and families, look at consequences for diversification, number of transitions, and more!

🌱 Open PhD Position in Plant EvoDevo 🌱 Thinking about a PhD in plant evodevo? The Becker Research Group (JLU Giessen, Germany) has a fully funded 4-year PhD position in the ICIPS II research unit! 🎓 📍 Where? Gießen, Germany – great research environment & vibrant plant science network.

Are you interested in tooth evolution and evodevo? Ben Auerbach and I would like to direct your attention to our new preprint “The inhibitory cascade model and evolution in segmentally organized tissues.” www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 🦴🐭🐒🧪🦷🧬 @nsvitek.bsky.social @kevinlala.bsky.social

I don't know whether it will boost productivity or not, but reading and discovering connections, isn't that a core fun part of the job? If that's done now by a machine, is this how horse carriage drivers felt when cars became a thing?

New post: All The Things I Was Never Trained To Do. Which turns out to be a sneakily disguised meditation on what university education is for, and thus what university is, and what it isn't - despite the persistence of idiots who don't understand that!

Come join the #LondonEvoDevo network half day meeting, hosted at @ucl.ac.uk on Friday November 7th, 2025. Submit your abstract by Oct 27th (or your interest in joining) here: forms.gle/TRbdrCkQTcY2.... Friendly vibes and free registration. More info here: londonevodevo.co.uk.

Paper alert. In which we study FT-like genes in #Cannabis and #hops doi.org/10.1186/s128...

🌸 FLOWERING NEWSLETTER REVIEW 🌸 Quentin Cronk looks at how and why so many eudicot lineages jettisoned the petal, often to reinvent it via petaloidy of the remaining perianth whorl 🌼 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/... #PlantScience 🧪 @ubcbotany.bsky.social

Check out the new flowering newsletter and why California poppy flowers are @plantevodevo-ab.bsky.social's 'favourite flowering image'.