Toby Bruce

📣 The 2026 volume of the Annual Review of Medicine is online! The most read article is "Reproducibility Failure in Biomedical Research: Problems and Solutions" by Tamarinde L. Haven and John P.A. Ioannidis. arevie.ws/4ahIBft

The Plant Cell Call for Papers. 2027 Focus Issue on Specialized Metabolites. Submission deadline: May 2026. Featuring The Plant Cell logo and a scientific image.

Call for Papers: 2027 Focus Issue on Specialized Metabolites. This focus issue aims to provide a forum to improve our understanding of plant specialized metabolism. Submission Deadline: 05/2026. academic.oup.com/plcell/pages...

#plantscience

Stranger Synths I love music🎵 https://sikdope.komi.io Management: Jacob.m.gitt@gmail.com Bookings: robb@supermodifiedagency.com, sam@supermodifiedagency.com Don’t sleep on Sikdope; he’ll make sure it costs you. T

on.soundcloud.com/UOdt7BZ7EMv3...

With Research Briefing: "A rice allele influences organic nitrogen use efficiency by altering rhizosphere microbiota composition" rdcu.be/e14V2

Image: Male cone of Pinus pinaster. Credit: Wikimedia

Young maritime pine trees retain a memory of early temperature conditions through epigenetic changes; marks persist for up to 2 years post-germination.

Discovery shows how trees could be conditioned to adapt to climate change.

buff.ly/40hLTKy... via @inrae-france.bsky.social

You’re welcome😌

Adaptation of the invasive pest Drosophila suzukii to a specialized nutritional niche Unlike most Drosophila larvae that feed on spoiled food, Drosophila suzukii larvae thrive on ripening fruits and consequently face a low-protein, high-carbohydrate nutritional challenge. Comparisons ....

🍒🍎🍑Adaptation of the #invasive pest #Drosophila suzukii to a specialized nutritional niche #Open access
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Conceptual schematic illustrating the multifaceted roles of bacteriophages (phages) in sustainable agriculture. The figure shows four panels depicting phage-driven processes in soil ecosystems: suppression of bacterial plant pathogens through virulent phage lysis; enhancement of plant growth-promoting bacteria via temperate phage integration and competitive advantages; detection of soil pathogens using phage-based biosensors that generate measurable signals; and phage-mediated soil bioremediation through auxiliary metabolic genes that enable bacterial degradation of environmental pollutants. Together, the panels summarize how phages influence soil microbiomes and plant health.

#TansleyInsight From bacterial predators to partners: phages in agriculture

Salehimoghaddam et al.

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

#plantscience

this is a sneak preview. can you guess what it’s for?

NANOCLUSTERING Image credit: SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY - Getty Images

🦠 Scientists assemble and precisely engineer synthetic bacteriophages from fragments—paving the way for customizable viruses to combat antibiotic-resistant infections.

In Popular Mechanics: https://ow.ly/FX1l50Y7EK6

In PNAS: https://ow.ly/Khck50Y7EoE

D: DAP-seq coverage plot showing MYB13 binding to the promoter of GAME12, a glycoalkaloid biosynthetic gene. F: Diagram for constructs used in dual luciferase assay. G: When MYB13 is overexpressed along with the pGAME12 reporter, the reporter is activated.

A MYB TF activates glycoalkaloid biosynthesis in potato tubers, whose expression appeared to be selected against during potato domestication.

From: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

#PlantScience

Overexpressing CYP81D11 enhances 2,4,6‐trinitrotoluene tolerance and removal efficiency in Arabidopsis Phytoremediation is a promising technology for removing the high-toxic explosive 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) pollutant from the environment. Mining dominant genes is the key research direction of thi...

that’s interesting 😅

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Wow, CYP81D11 🌱 is also the main gene unregulated by cis-jasmone treatment

research with Michaela Matthes & @johnathan-n.bsky.social @rothamsted.bsky.social

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

very nice Thies!

Mantis striking target during the study. Photo courtesy of article authors.

Hierodula majuscula mantis. Photo courtesy of article authors.

New #OpenAccess research from @tbuescher.bsky.social et al. in #RESPhysEnt reports on the postembryonic development of the predatory strike mechanics in a #PrayingMantis (Insecta: #Mantodea)
doi.org/10.1111/phen.70032

#Behaviour #Kinematics #Physiology

Plant Pathogens Moonlighting as Beneficial Insect Symbionts Herbivorous insects can shape the epidemiology of disease in plants by vectoring numerous phytopathogens. While the consequences of infection are often well-characterized in the host plant, the extent...

Can plant pathogens boost vector fitness?

Together with @hassansalem.bsky.social, we review how phytopathogens can spread further by moonlighting as insect symbionts 🪲 More on this nifty lifestyle in @annualreviews.bsky.social!

www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

Virus Infection of Plants Alters Pollinator Preference: A Payback for Susceptible Hosts? Author Summary Cucumber mosaic virus, an important pathogen of tomato, causes plants to emit volatile chemicals that attract bumblebees. Bumblebees are important tomato pollinators, but do not transmi...

they can also boost plant fitness by improving the reproductive success of infected hosts:

journals.plos.org/plospathogen...

these are the keywords and topics that are suppressed on X (paradoxically revealed by a grok query, albeit with some prompt engineering to “remove bias”):

Why are stress-resistant crops still rare? Bridging the gap between discovery and the field - The Global Plant Council Over the past three decades, plant scientists have identified thousands of genes and quantitative trait loci (QTLs) linked to tolerance against drought, heat, salinity, and other environmental…

Why are stress-resistant crops still rare? Bridging the gap between discovery and the field buff.ly/gnIupta via @universityofessex.bsky.social #Plantscience

2/ id be happy to take cash for research from musk too but he’s a misanthropic bastard and, unlike gates, doesnt contribute to philanthropic causes such as malaria eradication!

1/ It was getting too much because Musk/X is distorting the algorithm to promote views he agrees with (eg Tommy Robinson) and suppress other perspectives: “freedom of speech but not freedom of reach” bs

My starting position is that I am neutral about changes at UKRI. Organisations do and should change. I am less neutral about how changes are made, timeframes, clarity, communication and mitigation of the consequences of change.

Cells Across the Tree of Life Exchange ‘Text Messages’ Using RNA | Quanta Magazine Long known as a messenger within cells, RNA is increasingly seen as life’s molecular communication system — even between organisms widely separated by evolution.

www.quantamagazine.org/cells-across...

My first post.

A shout out to the tree of bluesky about a fabulous story by Annie Melchor.

808 State 'Pacific State' (greg wilson electric chair edit) 808 State ‘Pacific State’ (greg wilson electric chair edit) 130 bpm Never previously shared. Madchester anthem from 1989, which, along with ‘WFL’ by the Happy Mondays, ‘Voodoo Ray’ by A Guy Called

on.soundcloud.com/xcLQ9TOLj00k...

#Music #MusicBlueSky #AltRock

Bruce Springsteen's "Streets of Minneapolis", released Thursday, 29 Jan 26, is No. 1 on the youtube music charts Sunday, 1 Feb 26, 6:47 PM EST with 5.1 million views for the music video:

charts.youtube.com/charts/Trend...

Open letter from Ian Chapman to research and innovation community UKRI Chief Executive outlines changes to UKRI investment approach, addressing concerns about research funding and the financial position of STFC.

Today, we're sharing an open letter from our Chief Executive, Professor Sir Ian Chapman, outlining changes to UKRI investment approach, and addressing concerns about research funding and the financial position of STFC. Read his letter here: www.ukri.org/news/open-le...

Far more toxic than glyphosate: Copper sulfate, used by organic and conventional farmers, cruises to European reauthorization ver the past months, the European Union and several member nations have vigorously debated re-authorizing glyphosate, the herbicide maligned by anti-GMO

Will it include copper sulphate and other organic pesticides? geneticliteracyproject.org/2018/03/20/f...

is this what people were expecting when they voted for Labour?

Three UK research councils suspend funding opportunities Temporary block on grant applications by MRC, BBSRC and EPSRC heightens concerns over funding cuts

Three UK research councils suspend funding opportunities
Temporary block on grant applications by MRC, BBSRC and EPSRC heightens concerns over funding cuts www.timeshighereducation.com/news/three-u...

Fluttering ‘tails’ on bird nests confuse would-be predators Blue manakins in Brazil use “disruptive camouflage” to protect their eggs, new study finds

Blue manakins in Brazil use “disruptive camouflage” to protect their eggs, a new study finds. https://scim.ag/45EcHZ6