Keith Duncan

3D volume rendering from an X-ray microscope scan of a single Arabidopsis flower, digitally cut away to show the individual pollen grains computationally segmented and displayed in bright pink, contained in anthers arranged around the central stigmatic carpel.

@nickdesnoyer.bsky.social I've enjoyed following your development of these flowers, wonderful. Any random aesthetic interest in pairing with some XRM imaging?

Revisiting the Source of Wilt Symptoms: X-Ray Microcomputed Tomography Provides Direct Evidence That Ralstonia Biomass Clogs Xylem Vessels | PhytoFrontiers™ Ralstonia causes wilt diseases by colonizing xylem vessels and disrupting water transport. The dogma is that bacterial biomass clogs vessels and reduces the flow of xylem sap due to Ralstonia abundanc...

When I had the opportunity to perform X-ray microCT on infected tomato plants, I was excited to directly test the dogma in my field -- Does Ralstonia actually cause wilt symptoms by clogging the xylem?

apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/full/10....

(Yes)

Simons Postdoctoral Fellowships in Plant Biology Simons Postdoctoral Fellowships in Plant Biology on Simons Foundation

🌿 Amazing opportunity for scientists from any field to move into plant biology! I might host a fellow in the area of root-microbe or root-environment interactions (DM me). 👉 simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons-postdoctoral-fellowships-in-plant-biology

#PlantScience #ClimateChange #HarnessingPlants

As promised, here's a 3D volume rendering from an XRM scan of a single Arabidopsis flower, showing the anemone-like stigmatic structures on top of the carpel and array of ovules within. The carpel is ~300um in diameter.
@danforthcenter.bsky.social
@zeiss-microscopy.bsky.social

MacArthur Foundation Announces 2025 ‘Genius Grant’ Winners

This week, I was awarded a MacArthur ‘Genius’ Grant. So proud to be included among individuals recognized for “extraordinary originality & dedication in their creative pursuits”. This research has been possible because I collaborate with the most incredible teams.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/a...

I'm frequently asked if we can use XRM imaging to study Arabidopsis, and the answer is absolutely yes. The pollen grains were segmented using basic grayscale thresholding. This scan used the 4X lens, stayed tuned for results from the 20X.
@danforthcenter.bsky.social
@zeiss-microscopy.bsky.social

Congrats to Executive Director @tobykiers.bsky.social on being named a 2025 #MacFellow by the MacArthur Foundation (buff.ly/HOU1qb7). Also called the “Genius Grant,” it’s one of the largest awards in the US, honoring exceptionally talented and creative individuals.

Shout out to fellow awardees! 👏

Defining the pre-symbiotic transcriptional landscape of rice roots Plants interact with a plethora of organisms in the rhizosphere, with outcomes that range from detrimental to beneficial. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis is the most ubiquitous beneficial plant ...

It's been a busy time in the Paszkowski lab!

First, a pre-print on how rice distinguishes friend (AM fungi)🍄 from foe (pathogens)👾: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

And second, a review on single-cell omic approaches to understand the spatially and temporally complex AM symbiosis 🔬: doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

This is exciting, lately I've been doing numerous XRM scans of nodules to provide cell-level 3D imaging to inform and guide spatial research.

Giles Oldroyd | Donald Danforth Plant Science Center Giles Oldroyd, PhD, is the President at the Danforth Center. Learn more about his plant science research. For Danforth Center President Giles Oldroyd, curiosity about plants was a seed planted at a very young age. He picked up his love of flora from his grandfather, who was both an avid gardener and amateur botanist. He still recalls many happy times accompanying him in the garden or on walks in the Yorkshire, UK, landscape, where he learned to identify countless plants they encountered toget...

Today we welcome our new President, Giles Oldroyd, PhD! A world-leading scientist with a global perspective, Giles is laser focused on plant-powered solutions to today’s challenges. Get to know Giles: https://loom.ly/fjVT5ic

Jonesy?

From research breakthroughs to expanded facilities to startup launches, Danforth Center President & CEO Jim Carrington leaves behind an incredible legacy. Read more on our blog: https://loom.ly/QfeILIU

👀 #3DThursday: Cross your eyes to see this super res pollen dataset in 3D! Good old fashioned stereo pairs in #syGlass bringing science to life. 🌿✨

🔬: Zeiss LSM 980 with Airyscan 2
🥼: Nat Prunet, @nat-prunet.bsky.social
🏛️: UNC Biological Microscopy Core: tarheels.live/biologymicro...
🎬: syGlass.io

Party with the Plants: Plants in Paradise is tomorrow! 🎉 Join us for science demos, local food and drinks, and an end-of-summer fundraising celebration. Get your tickets now! 🎟️ bit.ly/4kXoRSn
#PartyWithThePlants #STLEvents

The live collections @mobotgarden.bsky.social offer myriad opportunities to learn more about plants. Dr. Mónica Carlsen shared her botanical scent research in #SmellingTheBouquet @mobotmuseum.bsky.social. She conducted headspace/scent trapping to gather data about the variety of tropical plants.

Now more than ever it's crucial to support scientific research. And remember, Plant Science is only important for those who like to eat, drink, wear clothes, have medicines & vaccines, or breathe.

Smelling the Bouquet: Plants & Scents in the Garden at the Stephen and Peter Sachs Museum - Discover + Share A new interdisciplinary exhibition at the Stephen and Peter Sachs Museum at the Missouri Botanical Garden explores the botanical, cultural, and olfactive history of the spectrum of scents created by p...

Blog post on plants & scents is up! 👃💐#DiscoverAndShare

The #SmellingTheBouquet exhibition @mobotmuseum.bsky.social explores the spectrum of scents plants create, and is inspired by the collections @mobotgarden.bsky.social.

Pix: Virginia Harold

discoverandshare.org/2025/09/05/s...

This is very exciting, I used the 20X obj lens on our ZEISS 520 Versa XRM to image a fixed and contrast-enhanced intact soybean flower, then trained a Deep Learning model to segment and measure the developing embryo within a single ovule.
@danforthcenter.bsky.social
@zeiss-microscopy.bsky.social

Nat always has exceptional imaging data. @nat-prunet.bsky.social @brandy-syglass.bsky.social

Pivot to Plants: Training Program for Plant and Data Science | Danforth Plant Science Center The Pivot2Plants Fellows Program is a 1-year training program for people interested in pivoting to a career in plant science or data science but have limited research experience.

Applications open now for our Pivot 2 Plants program! Please share widely, 1 year paid opportunity to transition to careers in plant and data science. www.danforthcenter.org/our-work/edu...

Although it's visually unremarkable, this is an animation from phase contrast geometry scan on our Versa XRM, of fixed maize pollen with NO CONTRAST AGENT.
@danforthcenter.bsky.social
@zeiss-microscopy.bsky.social

Last call! ⏰ Today’s your final chance to snag early bird tickets for Party with the Plants 2025! Don’t miss out on all the tropical-themed fun 🎟️ bit.ly/4kXoRSn #PartyWithThePlants #STLEvents

Global Team of Experts Publish Guide to Elevate Plant Fluorescence Microscopy - Danforth Plant Science Center A team of expert scientists led by Kirk Czymmek, PhD, director of the Advanced Bioimaging Laboratory at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and Heather E. McFarlane, assistant professor at the Un...

Members of PCA Publish A Guide to Elevate Plant Fluorescence Microscopy.

Read More Here:
www.danforthcenter.org/news/global-...

This brings me Joy...

It’s back! Our annual night of fun and fundraising, Party with the Plants, is September 26. 🌺 Theme is “Plants in Paradise.” 🍍
Discounted tickets on sale now: bit.ly/4kXoRSn
#STLEvents #PartyWithThePlants

The Hierarchical Structure of Sheep Wool and Its Impact on Physical Properties Sheep wool, a prevalent α-keratinous fiber, is an essential model for studying protein-based fibers. Its genetic diversity across breeds enables the establishment of multiscale structure-property rel...

I'm pleased to have contributed to this paper from Cecile's lab, using a wide range of imaging and analysis tools to characterize wool from multiple sheep varieties.
@craftymatsci.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1002/adfm...

YES!!

#ASPBPlantCellTuesday #ICYMI

RFK Jr. doesn’t like that a study of every child born in Denmark from 1997-2018 showed no link between aluminum in vaccines and 50 adverse health outcomes. This study included more than a million kids.

RFK Jr. wants the study retracted.

The journal, which is a very prestigious one, refused.

In a new collaboration, we're using XRM to study soybean embryo development. The entire flower was fixed, contrast enhanced, mounted in agarose, and this ovule scanned at technical voxel res of 0.7um.
@danforthcenter.bsky.social
@zeiss-microscopy.bsky.social