Alex Webb Lab

I think this is a very interesting paper that adds significant understanding in plant water relations.

Aging drives a program of DNA methylation decay in plant organs Plants display a wide range of life spans and aging rates. Although dynamic changes to DNA methylation are a hallmark of aging in mammals, it is unclear whether similar molecular signatures reflect ra...

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

Soils drive convergence in the regulation of vascular tension in land plants Terrestrial vascular plants operate under negative water potential, which results in hydraulic tension in the vascular system. Vascular tension varies with transpiration and soil drying and is regulat...

Out in @science.org this week. Soils drive convergence in the regulation of vascular tension in land plants. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

#plantscience
#ecophysiology

The deadline for submissions on the website has already passed. Has the deadline been extended?

Job opportunity!

Research Assistant / Research Associate in Molecular Physiology

Fixed term

Closes on Wednesday 28 January 2026

www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...

#PlantSci #PlantSciJobs

Chromatin state architecture governs transcription factor accessibility across plant genomes Author summary In eukaryotes, DNA is tightly associated with histone proteins. Histone covalent modifications and histones isoforms, also called histone variants provide most of the complexity of chro...

This is a very special paper for me. I had the idea of combining transcription factor binding with chromatin in 2016/8. It took some time, but thanks to Fred and Vikas, we can finally share the story in @plos.org Genetics looking at chromatin states in Arabidopsis and Marchantia. #PlantScience

Biological timing in photosynthetic organisms The meeting will focus on fundamental advances in photoperiodism, phenology and chronobiology of photosynthetic organisms.

📢 Save the date!

49th New Phytologist Symposium: Biological timing in photosynthetic organisms

📅 24–27 May 2027
📍 @johninnescentre.bsky.social, Norwich, UK

www.newphytologist.org/events/49-nps

#PlantScience #photoperiodism #chronobiology

Data-driven mathematical modelling explains altered timing of EARLY FLOWERING 3 in the wheat circadian oscillator Abstract. Circadian rhythms are endogenous 24 h cycles that allow organisms to anticipate daily environmental changes. In plants, circadian timing is maint

@slcuplants.bsky.social @camplantsci.bsky.social authors made this paper. We had big discussion as what to call a post on Blue Sky. We settled on "bleet". This is a bleet about our new paper. doi.org/10.1098/rsif...

Data-driven mathematical modelling explains altered timing of EARLY FLOWERING 3 in the wheat circadian oscillator Abstract. Circadian rhythms are endogenous 24 h cycles that allow organisms to anticipate daily environmental changes. In plants, circadian timing is maint

Our model of wheat circadian clock based on our finding that orthlogues of ELF3 (Arabidopsis evening complex gene) peak at dawn in the cereals. TOC1 repression of ELF3 explains the different behaviours of Arabidopsis & wheat circadian clocks doi.org/10.1098/rsif...
#plantresearch 🧪

Rhythmic ovulation in Clytia species. Top row: In Clytia hemisphaerica, the oocytes develop (blue arrow) becoming competent to respond to the maturation-inducing hormone (MIH), which triggers meiosis. MIH (red triangle) is released by neurosecretory cells in the gonads when they become exposed to light. After completion of meiosis (about 2 hours), the mature eggs are released. Ovulation (green square) lasts about 10 min. Since light is required to start a cycle, whose duration is regulated by the developmental programme, in C. hemisphaerica rhythmic ovulation is analogous to an hourglass. Bottom row: In Clytia sp.IZ-D light is required for synchronous development of the oocytes (blue arrow). However, the final maturation process, which makes them responsive to MIH, is gated by an unknown mechanism that likely operates individually in each oocyte (black-and-blue arrow). Light also drives the accumulation and progressive release of MIH. Meiosis begins when the oocytes reach the right maturation stage and MIH the right concentration. After about 2 hours ovulation begins, lasting about 60 min (green box). Together, the timing mechanisms controlling oocyte development and MIH release constitute an incipient clock. Two light-dark cycles are shown for reference.

In hydrozoan #jellyfish, the timing of gamete release is often coordinated by light. Ezio Rosato explores a @plosbiology.org study that elucidates a novel, endogenous clock-based mechanism that governs #egg release in a new species of jellyfish 🧪 Paper: plos.io/4btAwpY Primer: plos.io/49eTOya

A drawing of Dr Nicola Patron

Look who is adorning the shopping centre in Cambridge. @camplantsci.bsky.social very own Nicola Patron #plants

New Year. New Office 365. The horrible Co-pilot icon that was present in the bottom right all office documents in December has disappeared from the Office app on my PC in 2026. Things are looking up, perhaps I was not alone in finding it an annoying distraction? Or temporary respite? @microsoft.com

At the end of 2024 I did a chronological round up of all the #plantscience in @science.org that year.
So how did 2025 pan out? This year, I’m grouping papers thematically instead of chronologically so read on to find out what exciting plant science came out over the last 12 months. (1/22)

Happy Solstice

PS "Life, don't talk to me about life."

co-pilot = clippy. I really do not want a brightly coloured icon right in my line of sight whilst trying to read and write a Word document. There menu bar is where to put icons. #Microsoft #Office365 @microsoft.com

That is very nice of you it made me smile.

Lecturer/Senior Lecturer - Plant-Microbe Interactions - School of Biological Sciences Company Description: Waipapa Taumata Rau | The University of AucklandKo te whare Pūtaiao | The Faculty of Science at the University of Auckland is the leading science faculty in New Zealand and one of...

JOB ALERT - Join us as a lecturer/senior lecturer in plant-microbe interactions in the School of Biological Sciences at Waipapa Taumata Rau The University of Auckland. Applications close 31st January 🌱🧪
jobs.smartrecruiters.com/TheUniversit...

W1-Juniorprofessur für Plastidäre Homöostase (m/w/d) - Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU) Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU) bietet Stelle als W1-Juniorprofessur für Plastidäre Homöostase (m/w/d) in Kaiserslautern - jetzt bewerben!

Junior Professorship Plastid Homöostasis. Kaiserslautern, Germany.
#plantscijob #PlantSciJobs
www.academics.de/jobs/w1-juni...

W2-Professur für Pflanzenphysiologie (m/w/d) - Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU) Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU) bietet Stelle als W2-Professur für Pflanzenphysiologie (m/w/d) in Kaiserslautern - jetzt bewerben!

Professorship Plant Physiology. Kaiserslautern, Germany.
#PlantSciJobs #plantscijob
www.academics.de/jobs/w2-prof...

W3 Professorship for Functional and 3D Modeling of Plants - Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn - Landwirtschaftliche Fakultät Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn - Landwirtschaftliche Fakultät bietet Stelle als W3 Professorship for Functional and 3D Modeling of Plants in Bonn - jetzt bewerben!

Professorship for Functional and 3D Modeling of Plants. Bonn, Germany.
#PlantSciJobs #plantscijob
www.academics.de/jobs/w3-prof...

W3-Universitätsprofessur Stressresilienz von Pflanzen - RWTH Aachen University RWTH Aachen University bietet Stelle als W3-Universitätsprofessur Stressresilienz von Pflanzen in Aachen - jetzt bewerben!

Professorship Stress resilience of plants. Aachen, Germany.
#PlantSciJobs #plantscijob
www.academics.de/jobs/w3-univ...

Nice interdisciplinary #plantscience -related paper in Science handled by our neuroscience editor, @mattiamaroso.bsky.social
Infrared heat from cycads as a pollination signal before flowers evolved.
Paper here
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Perspective here
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Locating the missing chlorophylls f in far-red photosystem I The discovery of chlorophyll f–containing photosystems, with their long-wavelength photochemistry, represented a distinct, low-energy paradigm for oxygenic photosynthesis. Structural studies on chloro...

This week in @science.org
Structural insight into the incorporation of far-red chlorophyll f in cyanobacterial photosystem I
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#cyanobacteria
#plantscience

Wonderful work.

Infrared radiation is an ancient pollination signal Color and scent are well-known pollinator cues. Some plants also produce heat, but its role remains unclear. Here, we report that plant-generated thermal infrared radiation serves as a pollination sig...

share.google/MY8xlmhQ7kj4... fascinating and detailed study explaining how cation channel receptors allow beetles to detect thermogenesis in Cycads as a pollination signal.

Infrared as a pollination signal Relying on infrared communication over visual color could have limited cycad evolution

#PlantResearch Enjoyed writing with @beverleycubg.bsky.social a perspective about wonderful paper by Valencia-Montoya et al. in this week's Science. Cycads use thermal radiation to affect pollinators. Is this why Cycads are not as diverse as angiosperms? share.google/Xj8iH9E4tqvN...

Cell wall patterning regulates plant stem cell dynamics The plant cell wall regulates development through spatiotemporal modulation of its chemical and mechanical properties. Pectin methylesterification is recognized as a rheological switch controlling wal...

Out in @science.org this week:
PME5 is sequestered in the nucleus and released during cytokinesis allowing its activity to be timed with cell division.

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

#PlantScience
#PlantSci

as anyone found anything useful that the Co-pilot built into Windows can do? I have tried it a couple of times to do simple things, like find an email I know exists, and it can't. Standard search works. All this hard push for something broken.

W1-Juniorprofessur für Plastidäre Homöostase (m/w/d) - Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU) Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU) bietet Stelle als W1-Juniorprofessur für Plastidäre Homöostase (m/w/d) in Kaiserslautern - jetzt bewerben!

Junior Professorship Plastid Homeostasis. Kaiserslautern, Germany.
#plantscijobs #plantscijob
www.academics.de/jobs/w1-juni...