PEQG abstracts due tomorrow! Still frantically working on mine, but will have something to say about how awesome ARGs are for studying evolution (and what a pain they are to work with). genetics-gsa.org/peqg-2026/ab...

New OA Article: "Large-scale multi-omics unveils host–microbiome interactions driving root development and nitrogen acquisition" rdcu.be/e2g8f In Brassica napus, identifying microbe-associated loci and a beneficial bacterium, Sphingopyxis, that promotes N uptake.

If the government really does rug pull us a third time in six months I really don't know where to go with my career. I can't plan ahead on anything. I have no idea how to pay for anything. I have no idea which projects to prioritize. I'm falling apart

Trying to find apt metaphors for the state of 🇺🇸 science rn I had been using “arranging deckchairs on the titanic” but that’s too doomer Right now I’m on “We’re arguing about how to saddle a horse when in reality we all ride emus now.” Things have changed but we’re still chasing the same standards

New paper out! Here's a puzzle: phototrophy, the ability to use light for energy, is one of life's great innovations. It evolved early and transformed the biosphere. But it evolved 2x. Why not just once, why not more? Our work suggests the answer is priority effects. www.nature.com/articles/s44...

It was good to catch up on my reading for this dispatch in Current Biology. Sjoerd Woudenberg in the Weijers lab, Wallner et al. In the Dolan lab and Flores Sandoval et al. In the Bowman lab have done a great job! Evolution and development: What makes a merry stem?: www.cell.com/current-biol...

New Article: "Amino-acid-transporter-mediated assembly of rhizosphere microbiota enhances soil organic nitrogen acquisition in rice" rdcu.be/e14Uv The japonica allele of LHT1 enhances organic N use efficiency by recruiting specific rhizosphere microbiota.

Slim 5 can now simulate genomes with multiple chromosomes like autosomes, sex chromosomes, mitochondria and chloroplast dna academic.oup.com/mbe/article/...

Out in @science.org this week: A decline in epigenetic silencing of TEs in older plant organs but not in the shoot meristem. TCX5 and TCX6 help regulate DNA methylation in this context. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... #plantscience

Very on the nose that in the US, a rodent has replaced scientists. It currently feels like 6 more years of winter.

A data-driven mosaic of our warming planet - now updated through 2025 🥵 Download graphic at zacklabe.com/climate-chan...

How AI assistance impacts the formation of coding skills www.anthropic.com/research/AI-...

Fun debate 🤣

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #plantscience

Please share! PhD position (4 years) available in my group @zmbp-tuebingen.bsky.social. We look for candidates with solid aptitude in computer science to cross disciplines and use cutting edge imaging to understand host infection by destructive plant pathogens. uni-tuebingen.de/universitaet...

“We found that using AI assistance led to a statistically significant decrease in mastery.” Props to Anthropic for studying the effects of their creation and reporting results that are not probably what they wished for www.anthropic.com/research/AI-...

Rewiring vascular patterning through translational control in Arabidopsis https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.29.702522v1

I had intended to post something about this new Google DeepMind paper that appeared yesterday in Nature, but the press coverage has added to what there is to say. So this is a long 🧵 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

ASPT is launching a free 5-part webinar series, “Taxonomy: What is it good for?” on the real-world impacts of systematics. Join us Feb 6 for @sandyknapp.bsky.social's “Of course taxonomy matters! The story of the mega-genus Solanum (Solanaceae).” Register and share! us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

New Article: "Global functional shifts in trees driven by alien naturalization and native extinction" rdcu.be/e1pvY ...pushing forests towards fast-growing, resource-demanding species and highlighting the need to protect slow-growing trees.

New Article: "Unravelling the predominant genetic paths for asexual reproduction in Kalanchoe" rdcu.be/e1pxI With News & Views: "Genomic cradle for thousands" rdcu.be/e1pxK How ‘mother of thousands’ plants sprout new plantlets from their leaves.

Comparing monthly average temperature anomalies in the Northern Hemisphere versus the Southern Hemisphere through all of 2025. The long-term warming trend in all months of the year can be visualized through the blue to red gradient. Data available from @copernicusecmwf.bsky.social ERA5 reanalysis

Join us at the Evolutionary Biology Centre at Uppsala University. We’re searching for an Assistant Professor in Biology. www.uu.se/en/about-uu/...

Predicting agronomic performance of maize landraces in various and future environments by combining genomic prediction and ecogenetics https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.28.699851v1

Threw my comp-genomics class into a sea of Bayesian math today to explain base-calling algorithms. I think I might have lost and drowned a few of them in the process. 😞

LETTER: The stunt of stunted silk: A novel pollination control mechanism in maize (Siddique I Aboobuckerصديق أبوبكر , Sidramappa C Talekar , Ursula K Frei , Bing Yang , Thomas Lübberstedt) doi.org/10.1093/plph... #PlantScience @aspbofficial

Let's celebrate researchers of mycorrhizas! Several awards for a variety of career stages offered by the IMS. Pls see links below

One day left to apply⬇️

Rye is the most commonly cited example of this. (See, for example, www.smbc-comics.com/comic/vavilov ). Oats are another. Both rye and oats have different environmental tolerances than wheat and barley do, so there are locations where they're a far more reliable crop than what they were mimicking.

I'm thinking about this right now because of the most recent Eons episode. But it's really cool that humans domesticated a few crops that we were originally trying to *not* grow. Confused? Let me explain.

Having fun with the microscope lately. Here’s one of my favourite artsy and slightly psychedelic shots of #Marchantia chloroplasts and a fluorescent membrane reporter. (z-stack maximum projection)

ecology vs. ecological models

Led by Roel Brienen, our paper in @natcomms.nature.com "Contrasting pathways to tree longevity in gymnosperms and angiosperms" is finally out and formatted. Other bluesky folks contributing to the paper were @yellowbuckeye.bsky.social and @rmtrr.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

How many STEM Ph.D.s were lost from the U.S. federal government last year? My colleagues @mghersher.bsky.social and @policyhound.bsky.social dug into a recent data release to find the answer. A @science.org exclusive. www.science.org/content/arti...

It could take a generation to recover the talent lost from federal science. But it doesn't have to. We should be ready to scale up the Presidential Management Fellowship program to triple what it once was and rebuild U.S. capacity by 2030.

"The reason these aspects of our jobs have been so challenging to automate is that they rely on something even more precious than our time: namely, our capacity for scientific decision-making. It is worth considering what we lose when we cede that—and our agency—to machines."

Are you anywhere in the world (other than Canada) and want to do a PhD in my lab in Canada at Queen's University? We have a prestigious scholarship for 3-years of PhD funding. Get in touch, applications due early February. Must love plants and evolution! friedmanlab.ca

🦠🌽 RESEARCH 🌽🦠 Overexpression of LOX4 in maize enhances resistance to Fusarium verticillioides via a marked increase in the production of oxylipins together with activation of the jasmonic acid biosynthetic pathway - Ottaviani et al. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/... #PlantScience 🧪

NEWS & VIEWS: An unknown apocarotenoid signal alters plant development by modulating shoot and root apical meristem activities (James M Bradley) doi.org/10.1093/plph... #PlantScience @aspbofficial

PhD position available in my group at Durham! So exciting! PLEASE do email me if you're thinking of applying for tips on cover letters and to find out more about the lab, the uni and the project. #phd #plantphd #plantscijobs #plantsci #crops #climate www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Just saw this new preprint - includes flow ctyometry on 45,000 silica-dried samples for 1135 species - this is amazing and such a great resource for anyone attempting to do flow cytometry: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

I am excited to offer a postdoctoral research position in my lab in Oxford studying the distribution of small RNAs during plant sexual reproduction. shorturl.at/7Goxt Reposts appreciated! Obligatory cat video to brighten your day. :-)

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/JAIVZX... Excited to share my latest work in @newphyt.bsky.social. Here, we used TurboID proximity labeling with CLAVATA receptors FEA3 and BAM1D in maize meristems to better understand the signaling pathways important for meristem regulation. #PlantScience

The Sainsbury Laboratory is delighted to announce that it has received $2 million in funding as part of Google.org's $20 million AI for Science Fund to support organizations focused on cutting-edge AI for science research. @kamounlab.bsky.social @amiralito.bsky.social www.tsl.ac.uk/news/the-sai...

My most frequent interaction with Proteaceae is eating macadamia nuts! 😛 Here's Macadamia integrifolia. Note how the perianth curls back to reveal the exserted style. The tip of the style scrapes pollen from the anthers as it elongates & presents the pollen to visitors. #Proteaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

A quorum-sensing molecule from Pseudomonas aeruginosa induces defensive multicellularity in a coinfecting pathogen -in PNAS from @anukharelab.bsky.social www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

You are absolutely right. Paul Dirac, discoverer of antimatter and the Mr Spock of physics, was in the same class in school in Bristol as Hollywood movie star, Cary Grant.