First 🌽 maize plants for the #MeioCOntrol @fwovlaanderen.bsky.social project are now in soil at the @fbwugent.bsky.social greenhouses in Merelbeke 🌱 Together with ILVO and @kuleuvenplantinst.bsky.social , the EDIT group @mobi-ugent.bsky.social will use these to study meiotic recombination in crops

We just released in #GenomeBiology an important collective work. Improved assembly and annotation of a virus resistance locus in #cassava. @universitedeliege.bsky.social @kuleuvenplantinst.bsky.social @kuleuvenuniversity.bsky.social @inrae-cnrgv.bsky.social @yvdp.bsky.social rdcu.be/et1TZ

Our paper is now published in the latest @newphyt.bsky.social issue. Genomic advanced tools available for our gene mining platform using the world banana collection @bioversityciat.bsky.social nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... @kuleuvenplantinst.bsky.social @fwovlaanderen.bsky.social

🚨 Vacancy PhD student 🚨 Passionate about #CRISPR, plant biotechnology, & breeding? Join our project on meiotic recombination in #maize 🌽 A collaboration of our lab @fbwugent.bsky.social, ILVO & @kuleuvenplantinst.bsky.social 🔗https://www.ugent.be/en/work/scientific/doctoral-fellow-41

What a lovely time we had in Leuven at the Plant Chronobiology meeting! Thanks to all the organisers and attendees for these past 2 days of exciting science, good food, good company and nice talks. @kuleuvenplantinst.bsky.social

Soils on Stage at @nerdland.be festival! So honoured to share the stage with @maikadekeyzer.bsky.social at the biggest science festival in the country, talking about the determining role of 💩 and soil fertility in history! #proudnerd @kuleuvenplantinst.bsky.social @kuleuvenuniversity.bsky.social

New podcast! Dr. Senne Van den Broeck talks about transgene-free genome editing in banana 🍌 and his latest paper in @newphyt.bsky.social (DOI: 10.1111/nph.70044). 🎧 Out now: open.spotify.com/episode/536j... #GenomeEditing #PlantScience #PhDLife #BananaResearch #KUleuven #NewPhytologist

🌱 Biodiversity through the lens of evolution — and a coffee cup. Prof. Steven Janssens (KU Leuven x Meise BG) shares why documenting plant diversity is vital in the face of climate & biodiversity crises. 🔗 Read: lpinewsletter.my.canva.site/lpi-magazine... #PlantScience #LPI

Delighted to announce generous title sponsorship for Plant Chronobiology 2025 from @kuleuvenplantinst.bsky.social! This will help us support our speakers, especially early career researchers! Reminder: Abstract submissions due on the 1st of May, get your's in now! plantclock.wixsite.com/2025

🎓Will you be our new colleague? Interesting position for a research professor in soil-plant-water interactions in agro- and ecosystems. 🌱🌾💧 @kuleuvenplantinst.bsky.social @agmip.bsky.social @thesoilassociation.bsky.social @asa-cssa-sssa.bsky.social www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jo...

Our latest paper is out: peerj.com/articles/cs-.... We added functionality to the #HDBSCAN clustering algorithm to also detect branches hdbscan.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ho... #eda #datavis #clustering

New paper in The Lancet Planetary Health where we show that Nitrogen enrichment not only substantially increases the pollen production of grasslands, but also the pollen allergenicity 🤧.

Each month, we shine a spotlight on one or multiple colleagues in our FNL division 🌳 and share their interesting research topics! 🔍 Today, we present the topic of Ieben Broeckhoven: Unpacking the Agroecological Potential of Robusta Coffee Systems in the DR Congo. 🍃☕

📢 7th International Fascination of Plants Day 2024 🍃 - Success stories – Enjoy the best from over 670 interactive events in over 65 countries. Get inspired to organise an interactive event in your country for the FoPD 2026. 💡 Learn more: bit.ly/4lvTAa2 #PlantDay #PlantScience #SDG #HorizonEU

New tech from @kuleuvenuniversity.bsky.social enables transgene-free genome editing in sterile bananas via CRISPR base editing. A major step for climate-resilient crops. 🧬 @newphyt.bsky.social: nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... #PlantScience #CRISPR #BananaResearch

Coming soon: Wandering Garden in Leuven 🌿 An open maze of steel & climbing plants by Gijs Van Vaerenbergh, with KU Leuven Plant Institute. A living, growing artwork — between structure & wildness. Opens 17 May 2025. www.kuleuven.be/600years/sch...

For a #dataviz course I'm looking for scientific images in #SVG that could be improved by different colour schemes, removing unnecessary elements, better fonts, titles, etc. The students in the course can then use #inkscape to improve those images. If you know of good examples, let me know!

Each month, we shine a spotlight on one of our colleagues in our FNL division 🌳 and share their interesting research topics! 🔍 Today, we present the topic of Margot Verhulst: Forest monitoring with Sentinel-2 time series in Flanders. 🌳🌲

🔥🌱If you want to read more in-depth posts about our plant science, please consider following us on LinkedIn where we can write longer nuanced posts and where we can give our scientists a platform to talk about their work in full: www.linkedin.com/company/ku-l...

The Belgian Plant Science Community (BPSC) is here! 🌿 Yesterday, over 100 plant scientists met at Meise Botanic Garden to launch BPSC—a network to unite Belgian plant research, boost visibility, and create a shared voice. Thanks to all involved. Let’s grow this together. 🌱

The Belgian Plant Science Community is kicked off at Meise Botanic Garden today, to spark integrative plant research in the many Belgian institutes. Timely initiative to battle climate change, biodiversity loss and foster food security. @kuleuvenplantinst.bsky.social @universitedeliege.bsky.social

📢 New research alert! How does reducing competition affect drought stress & growth in European beech and pedunculate oak? 🌳💦 A study led by Sanne Verdonck at @dfornatlan.bsky.social in @forestecosyst.bsky.social explores this in National Park Brabantse Wouden (Belgium). 🏞️ 🔗 doi.org/10.1016/j.fe...

New paper out on biodiversity in apple farming led by @robind6.bsky.social. Organic farming had rather limited benefits for local biodiversity as compared to conventional farming, and effects were inconsistent across taxa. Semi-natural habitats were more important for biodiversity conservation.

Ben jij benieuwd naar hoe publiek toegankelijk groen (zoals parken en bossen) jouw sociaal welzijn beïnvloedt? Wij ook! Draag als student in het hoger onderwijs bij aan ons onderzoek door deze enquête (15') in te vullen: survey.kuleuven.cloud/88?lang=nl Deel gerust! @kuleuvenplantinst.bsky.social

Please share: We're hiring up to FIVE Postdocs or PhD students for a number of #plantsci #proteomics #genomics projects between my lab and that of Hervé Vanderschuren at @kuleuvenuniversity.bsky.social and @universitedeliege.bsky.social! Come join us in the land of 🍫 & 🍻 for some exciting science!

Just released a first version of my #graph #anywidget at pypi.org/project/grap... for displaying (and brushing) force-directed node-link diagrams in #marimo. With a little help from @manzt.sh

Are you an expert in deep learning and eager to push the boundaries of species distribution modeling? 🌍🔍 We’re looking for a motivated candidate to apply for a Marie Curie postdoctoral fellowship!

Does being in a forest make you feel good? We are looking for participants to fill in a quick online survey on well-being linked to forest walks. You can find the survey here: survey.kuleuven.cloud/SVY_EN Sharing is appreciated!

Bacterial cell differentiation during plant root colonization: the putative role of fructans Physiological Plantratum - review o #Bacillussubtilis #plant #interaction by Erin Dobrange & Wim Van den Ende @kuleuvenplantinst.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Congratulations to Dr. Eva Beele for the successful defense of her PhD thesis! Eva presented her research on the role of urban green in mitigating the Urban Heat Island, and how the amount, shape and configuration of urban green impacts heat stress and sleep quality. A 🧵 in Dutch and English

This looks highly promising: ‘Pathways to African Food Security Challenges, Threats and Opportunities towards 2050’. By @kengiller.bsky.social and many others. And open access! Can’t wait.

📣We're very excited to be sponsoring the first ever #PlantScience #chronobiology meeting of its kind 🕓🌱 The clock is ticking, so register here 👇 (NB. early bird registration ends March 1st): plantclock.wixsite.com/2025

Congratulations to Robrecht Van Der Bauwhede for the successful defense of his PhD thesis! 🎓👏 Robrecht presented his research on the potential of rock dust as a restoration measure for acidified forests.🌲🌱

🚨 Researcher Highlight! 🚨 Each month, we shine a spotlight on one of our colleagues in FNL, sharing their interesting research topics! 🔍 Today, we present Stef Boogers' topic: Forest resources and environmental impact assessment of human activities in the Sagalassos territory of the past. 🍃

Are you a biologist interested in data visualisation to help you explore complex data or create effective visuals? If so, make sure to register for the course that we're organising at the EBI in June www.ebi.ac.uk/training/eve... #biovis #viz #dataviz

❓ Although promising, it is uncertain when to amend rock dusts, which type to select, and what the effects are on newly planted tree saplings. Robrecht Van Der Bauwhede and colleagues investigated these questions in this new paper: link.springer.com/article/10.1... Read more below! 🧵

New study alert! Drylands are critical to ~1/3 of the global population, but risk abrupt shifts due to climate change & land degradation. Can we predict these shifts? In a paper led by Paulo Bernardino in @natclimchange.bsky.social, we tackle this challenge: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Dear Friends of the KU Leuven Plant Institute, We wish you 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘫𝘰𝘺 this holiday season and a flourishing New Year full of growth, discovery, and success!

🍾Funded! Almost can't believe it! 2 (!!) FWO Grants (the max. allowed/PI) allowing us to deploy our proteomics toolkit to 1️⃣ better understand how viruses 🦠 interact with their insect vectors and plants and 2️⃣ understand circadian clock ⏰ gene regulation under changing environments! www.mehta-lab.com

Seminar Recap 🌱: Exploring NGT regulation in plants - Last week, the KU Leuven Plant Institute & DG SANTE (European Commission) hosted a seminar on New Genomic Techniques (NGTs) in plants. A multidisciplinary audience came together to discuss the science and policy shaping plant biotech.

Delighted to announce the registration is now open for Plant Chronobiology 2025, the first-ever dedicated conference for plant circadian biology! Please share #plantscience plantclock.wixsite.com/2025

Trees are each their own little worlds, teeming with all sorts of microbes, animals and other plants as well. Lose a tree, and this entire world dies too. A shocking 1/3rd of all tree species are currently teetering on the edge of existence... 🌱 🧪 🌏 #NatureWriting #wildlife

KU Leuven researchers from PME&BIM use multi-locus sequence analysis (MLSA) and average nucleotide identity (ANIb) to improve the classification of rhizogenic Agrobacterium, the cause of hairy root disease. Better insights, better solutions for plant health! 📖 Read more: doi.org/10.1371/jour...

Anna Bens' Master's Thesis Nominated for ie-net Awards Her research involves a systemic evaluation of the product 𝐁𝐢𝐨𝐎𝐫𝐠 as a Biological Plant Protection Product on lettuce and tomato plants. You can help her by interacting with the following video: lnkd.in/eGvsp68E

New paper out where we report that inoculating Tilia tomentosa (Silver lime) seedlings with ectomycorrhizal fungi (EcM) in a nursery setting enhances resistance to water stress, with outcomes influenced by both substrate pH and the specific EcM strain.

The impact of extraction method and pollen concentration on community composition for pollen #metabarcoding New in #AppsPlantSci by Devriese, Peeters, Brys & Jacquemyn bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... @kuleuvenplantinst.bsky.social #pollen #botany #plantjoy

You wouldn't expect it, of course.

Full tenured professor for plant breeding methodology position at the University of Goettingen, please share widely :) international applicants welcome 🧪 uni-goettingen.de/en/682123.html

Super excited to announce the 38 community organized ICAR sessions! We grouped some that overlapped so more people could participate. 35 of the sessions are accepting abstracts. Deadline to submit for a talk is April 15. Come join us in San Diego! icar2024.weebly.com/mini-symposi...

Check out the latest #plantscience @jxbotany.bsky.social issue (and especially Kevin's review on Root responses to Waterlogging ;) academic.oup.com/jxb/article/...