Mary Williams @PlantTeaching

“As a public university, we are stewards of taxpayer resources, and a payment of this scale would completely devastate our country’s greatest public university system as well as inflict great harm on our students and all Californians.” —UC President James B. Milliken

Genetically engineered chestnut tree, grown in Syracuse, moves one step closer to release SUNY ESF's transgenic American chestnut tree could help save the tree from the brink of extinction.

"The result of decades of research, Darling-54 is a genetically-engineered American chestnut tree designed to withstand a fungal blight that all but wiped out American chestnut trees more than a century ago."

www.syracuse.com/outdoors/202...

The molecular evolutionary basis of species formation revisited How do new species arise? This is among the most fundamental questions in evolutionary biology. The first genetic model for how reproductive barriers lead to the origin of new species was proposed nea...

The molecular evolutionary basis of species formation revisited
www.cell.com/trends/genet...

New executive order puts all grants under political control All new funding on hold until Trump administration can cancel any previously funded grants.

All scientific grant funding must now be approved by a political appointee and "demonstrably advance the President's policy priorities."

I wonder where innovation will happen in the future? It won't be in the US

arstechnica.com/science/2025...

What are US faculty search committees looking for in a DEI statement today?
Aspirational and progressive?
Or are they looking for statements that are written in such a way as to avoid being flagged by funders/FOIA for including "wrong words"?
(I know many don't ask for a statement, some do).

A diverse and distinct microbiome inside living trees - Nature Microbiome analyses of living trees show that a single tree can host approximately one trillion bacteria, with microbial communities distinctly partitioned between heartwood and sapwood and with minim...

#NatMicroPicks

Hidden microbial world in trees🌳

Living wood hosts trillions of bacteria making trees a complex ecosystems with major roles in forest health and function.

#PlantMicro #MicroSky

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

On the emergence of metabolism: the evolution of proteins that powered life | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Unprecedented continental drying, shrinking freshwater availability, and increasing land contributions to sea level rise Drying continents, extreme drought, and groundwater depletion are shrinking water availability and increasing sea level rise.

The recent paper on continental drying suggested the 2014 El Niño was a tipping point that broke the usual drying/wetting cycles in many arid places

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Taking my first steps on #Bluesky 🌾
As a plant biologist, I believe science, like plants, thrives in supportive ecosystems.
Grateful to be here. Let’s grow together.

Thank you for reposting my research! @plantteaching.bsky.social @jchrispires.bsky.social and @apaterlini.bsky.social :) 🌱🌾🌼

This was the result of a bunch of hard work. I’m excited to be working on the manuscript rn!

Mesopolyploidy as a taxonomic clade marker for Brassica and relatives (tribe Brassiceae) AbstractBackground and Aims. Whole Genome Duplications (WGD) are rampant in flowering plant genomes. Within Brassicaceae, the genus Brassica (including cro

Our latest pub on #Brassica #Genome #Evolution and the systematics of Tribe Brassiceae (broccoli, cabbages, canola, & more; aka "The dogs of the plant world") led by @shawnkthomas.bsky.social
#PlantScience #Botany #PlantBiology #AgSky #AcademicSky #Crops 🌾🌱🧪
academic.oup.com/aob/advance-...

A grandmother and two cute granddaughters looking at a laptop zoom meeting

Zoom meeting whilst on vacation. Luckily it was a lively meeting that kept their attention 😊❤️

Great opportunities for early-career researchers looking to get into science communication and publishing 🧪🌿

#plantscijobs #scicomm

It was incredible experience meeting past and present Plantae fellows in #PlantBiology2025, If you are looking for the opportunity to be part of early career global plant science community, applications are open for #Plantaefellow #Plants @aspbofficial.bsky.social, @plantteaching.bsky.social

💚

I recommend everybody, especially early career researchers, to apply for these wonderful opportunities. Mary is a wonderful mentor!

Two happy plant biologists.

Krishna Chaitanya Alamuru won the ASPB ARN "Seeds for change" poster competition for his work on disease resistance in mung bean using genomics. He won a trip to join us next year at #PlantBio2026! 👏

Before this #PlantBio2025 thread closes: two exciting opportunities now open for early-career plant scientists.
1. Plantae Fellows program, apply by Aug 31 plantae.org/2026fellowsa...
2. @theplantcell.bsky.social Assistant Features Editor program, apply by Sep 15.
blog.aspb.org/the-plant-ce...

Meenu is sharing highlights from their recent paper, "Diverse plant RNAs coat Arabidopsis leaves and are distinct from apoplastic RNAs" | PNAS share.google/0JIys5ogRJo4...
Great work!!

In a fun and engaging manner, @kcox-bioguy.bsky.social shared how we can use expansion microscopy to effectively study stress responses in duckweed! What I really loved was how his lab organizes various outreach activities to make such complex mechanisms easier to young students! #aspb #pb2025

Purinergic signaling in plants: More important than generally realized. Gary Stacey Division of Plant Science and Technology I hope to convince each of you today of two facts: 1. That purinergic signaling is as central to plant growth and development as photosynthesis, auxin, cytokinin, or the myriad of other features that we commonly associate as critical functions in plants. 2. That many of you, indeed most, are likely unaware that you are studying purinergic signaling, especially those of you studying any type of stress response in plants.

Gary Stacey starts his talk with the take-home message. Nice way to get the point across! #PlantBio2025

Tatsuya spoke about some amazing tools to study plant-microbe interactions. As I was taking a photo of this summary slide, I noticed about 20 additional people in the rows in front of me doing the same thing.
Technology can drive innovative and understanding! #PlantBio2025

I’ve been enjoying the daily email summaries. Thanks to whoever is putting them together #PlantBio2025

Enjoyed a lovely week of scientific discussions at #PlantBio2025. Heading home inspired with a long list of new manuscripts to dig into and some new friends.

Molecular Exchange between Plants and their Interacting Microbes.

Cara Haney, Tatsuya Nobori, Gary Stacy, and Meenu Singla-Ragstogi

I'm excited for the final plenary at #PlantBio2025!
Cara Haney, Tatsuya Nobori, Gary Stacy, and Meenu Singla-Ragstogi speaking on Molecular Exchange between Plants and their Interacting Microbes. 🌱🦠
@tatsuyanobori.bsky.social
@carahaney.bsky.social
@msr20.bsky.social

Promotional image with a transparent, leafy green background. The text on the image reads, "Tatsuya Nobori, The Sainsbury Laboratory. 'Understanding Plant Immune Cell States' Wednesday July 30, 2025 9:40PM. Grand Ballroom ABC." The promo also has an image of Tatsuya, a man with dark hair, wearing a gray shirt and black jacket, as well as the logos for the ASPB Plant Biology Conference and the Plant Cell Atlas.

Don't forget to stop by for one of the last talks of the @ASPB conference with PCA member Tatsuya Nobori!

#PlantBio2025

@tatsuyanobori.bsky.social

Bernard is up bright and early coz he needs to leave for Illinois today. Safe travels to everyone who came to #PlantBio2025! Bernard will see you in Ottawa next year for #PlantBio2026!

Teaching Tools in Plant Biology Teaching Tools in Plant Biology, published by the American Society of Plant Biologists, combines up-to-date peer-reviewed research-based content with flexible p

3) Teaching Tools in Plant Biology
academic.oup.com/plcell/pages...
General interest topics include
academic.oup.com/plcell/pages...
How To Be a *Plant (*Photosynthetic, Multicellular, Terrestrial)
Medicinal Plants: Past, Present and Future
Plants, food and human health: You are what you eat?
Etc.

“How to Read a Scientific Paper” and “Case Study: Reading a Plant Physiology article” | Plant Science Today One of the most important skills a young scientist needs to learn is how to read (and write) scientific papers. Some students begin to learn this in a high school biology classes, and others as they…

“How to Read a Scientific Paper” and “Case Study: Reading a Plant Physiology article”
blog.aspb.org/how-to-read-...

From LUCA to Lily: 12 perspectives for teaching about plants | Plant Science Today The other day I was talking to a friend about the need to demystify plants, so that teachers feel as confident in their teaching of plant biology as they do about animal biology. I wonder if sometimes...

Lots of talk about teaching yesterday at #PlantBio2025.
A few resources that might be useful.
1) From LUCA to Lily: 12 perspectives for teaching about plants
blog.aspb.org/from-luca-to...