Ben Long

Fig. 1.Micro-Tom flower, pollen, and pollen tube growth in vitro and semi-in vivo. (A) Micro-Tom plant growing in a reach-in chamber. (B) Structure of a mature flower (top), showing the conic anther surrounding the style and the ovary at the base (bottom). (C) Pollen release by the vibration method. (D) Bright field (top) and fluorescent field (bottom) of a bicellular pollen stained with DAPI, showing the generative cell and the vegetative nucleus. (E) Micro-Tom pollen tubes growing in vitro and (F) in semi-in vivo. GCN, generative cell nucleus; PG, pollen grain; PT, pollen tube; St, stigma; Sty, style; VN, vegetative nucleus. Scale bars: (B) 75 mm; (D) 10 µm; (E and F) 100 µm.

🌟🔬 TECHNICAL INNOVATION 🔬🌟

Flores-Tornero et al. have created the first double fluorescent marker line for generative cell and sperm cells of tomato, as well as a protocol to isolate those cells using fluorescence-activated cell sorting 🍅

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪

A PBS News tweet explains how two laid-off USAID employees created a website to match donors with canceled programs, keeping nearly 80 projects running in 30 countries. Below the text is an image of two people—Caitlin Tulloch and Rob Rosenbaum—appearing in a split-screen video interview, each seated in their respective rooms.

Meet two heroes of our times.

Ripe tomato fruit on its truss (credit: Marine Honoré).

📝 SPECIAL ISSUE EDITORIAL 📝

🍅 Tomato 🍅

🔎 Guest editors Gibon, Beckles, Osorio & Ezura dive into the reviews, technical innovations and original research articles in this special issue that address the major challenges facing the tomato industry 🍅

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪

New scientific journal!!

“In honor of extinct & imperiled species, the Journal of Lost Species is a new, peer-reviewed record of the contemporary #biodiversity crisis.” (UNR Professor Matt Forsister)

JLS is currently accepting submissions for the first issue.

🧪 #Science #Extinction

mille grazie silvia @sbulgheresi.bsky.social for your permission to "borrow" from your fabulous book 𝘽𝙧𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 for this post 🙏

it took so long because we had to repair our website first. this task is not yet over&done, but all entries down to 2017 are available again now.
#MicroSky

The cover of Vol 76 | Issue 21 | 2025 of the Journal of Experimental Botany, Special Issue: Tomato. Purple banners border the top and bottom of the page and in the centre is an image of a ripe tomato fruit on its truss (credit: Marine Honoré).

📣 Check out the Journal of Experimental Botany's newest special issue 📣

🍅 Tomato - Issue 21 of 2025 🍅
📘 Guest edited by Yves Gibon, Diane Beckles, Sonia Osorio & Hiroshi Ezura

🔗 academic.oup.com/jxb...

#JXBspecialissues #PlantScience 🧪 @sebiology.bsky.social @dianemariabeckles.bsky.social

"During a reading of the poem, four audience members died of internal haemorrhaging and the President of the Mid-Galactic Arts Nobbling Council survived by gnawing one of his own legs off. Grunthos was reported to have been "disappointed" by the poem's reception."

The double life of brown algae Brown algae show life-cycle-related patterns of gene expression, which may be – at least partially – conserved between different species.

Brown algae are incredibly useful, in part for their potential to feed us, but also because they are one of a few lineages that evolved multicellularity. Research into the genes behind their lifecycles could hold secrets to evolution.

The small protein SbtC is a functional component of the CO2 concentrating mechanism of cyanobacteria Oxygenic phototrophs fix CO2 via the enzyme ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RubisCO) that shows relatively low CO2 affinity and specificity. To circumvent low and fluctuating CO2 conc...

The small protein SbtC is a functional component of the CO2 concentrating mechanism of cyanobacteria

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Celebrating 30 Years of the Don McNair Herbarium Thirty years ago, a local auto-electrician’s passion for native flora laid the foundation for one of the Hunter region’s most significant botanical collections. Today, the Don McNair Herbarium holds m...

Celebrating 30 Years of the Don McNair Herbarium

www.newcastle.edu.au/news/2025/11...

😱

Graphical abstract: Rhizobia–soybean symbiosis is essential for agriculture and ecosystems, yet it is vulnerable to disruption by cadmium (Cd) pollution. Here, we investigated the protective role of non-nitrogen-fixing bacteria on soybean (Glycine max) under Cd-induced stress. Three Cd-immobilizing bacteria were identified: Arthrobacter sp. CC3, Pseudarthrobacter sp. CC12, and Mesorhizobium sp. CC13. These bacteria reduced the bioavailable Cd content in the soil, decreased Cd accumulation in soybeans, and increased nodule nitrogenase activity. However, no nitrogenase genes were identified in the genomes of the three strains. Soil metabolomics showed increased levels of octanoic acid, propafenone, and levonorgestrel after introducing bacteria. Subsequent soybean pot experiments demonstrated the ability of these strains and compounds to enhance nodule nitrogenase activity and reduce Cd content in soybeans.

🫘🦠 RESEARCH 🦠🫘

Non-nitrogen-fixing bacteria and specific compounds enhance the abundance of Xanthobacteraceae within root nodules under cadmium stress and Xanthobacteraceae support the nitrogen-fixing activity of Bradyrhizobium bacteria - Wang et al.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪

Fig. 1.Research flowchart and summary. ASV, amplicon sequence variant; MB, Marine Broth.

🦠 RESEARCH 🦠

The growth and morphogenesis of the giant coenocytic green alga Bryopsis can be promoted by bacteria of the genus Ruegeria 🦠

✍️ Ochiai & Goshima

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪

Loss of conductance between mesophyll symplasm and intercellular air spaces explains nonstomatal control of transpiration | PNAS The conventional assumption is that stomatal conductance (gs) dominates the regulation of water and carbon dioxide fluxes between leaves and the at...

www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...

Congratulations Dr. Liu Yin!

Cryptic signals: substomatal architecture influences stomatal responses to red light and CO2 The mesophyll provides a critical signal for stomatal responses to red light (RL) and CO2 in angiosperms. By contrast, the stomatal response to blue light (BL) is largely guard cell-specific. It is .....

📢 New publication 'Cryptic signals: substomatal architecture influences stomatal responses to red #light and #CO2' by Muhammad Haroon, Caroline Ivsic, Frances Sussmilch, Anju Manandhar and Scott McAdam in @newphyt.bsky.social 🌱🧪

doi.org/10.1111/nph....

#mesophyll

One university boosted gender diversity in advanced maths by over 30% in 5 years – here’s how A lack of gender diversity in maths means technologies such as AI and quantum computing are mainly designed by – and for – men.

One university boosted gender diversity in advanced maths by over 30% in 5 years – here’s how share.google/cTRgAHPHJiPn...

Fig. 4.Growth phenotype of S. viridis wild type (WT) and Rubisco activase α and β knockouts (αKOs, βKOs). Plants were germinated and grown at 9000 ppm CO2 for 28 d, after which they were transferred to growth chambers at ambient air (approximately 400 ppm CO2) at either 25 °C or 40 °C until maturity. DAS, days after sowing. Representative plants of each genotype are shown at left. Scale bar: 15.24 cm. The αKO and βKO data in the graphs (right) are averages from events 1 and 2. Plant height was measured from the top of the soil to the base of the youngest fully expanded leaf on the primary panicle (right; n=6–36) after 2, 7 and 14 d at 400 ppm CO2 and either 25 °C or 40 °C. Different lowercase letters show significant differences (P<0.05) determined by one-way ANOVA with Tukey's HSD test (28 DAS) or two-way ANOVA with Tukey's HSD test (35–49 DAS).

🌡️🌾 EDITOR'S CHOICE 🌾🌡️

In the C4 grass Setaria viridis, the β form of Rubisco activase is essential for growth at 25°C, while the α form supports photosynthesis under heat stress - Hotto et al.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪

A must read ....

Feeding from the sun 🌞—Successes and prospects in bioengineering #CO2 fixation and #photosynthesis for food security
#RubisCO

www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

In memory of the late Amy Marshall-Colon and Stephen Long, who both inspired and supported so many in the plant sciences and beyond.

A cowpea study (genetic mapping of photosynthetic responses associated with cold stress) I was involved with a while ago. Good to see it in print!

Feeding from the sun—Successes and prospects in bioengineering photosynthesis for food security

www.sciencedirect.com:5037/science/arti...

⏰ Starting very soon at #ASPS2025!
🏆 Peter Goldacre Award Talk
📅 Tuesday 11:00am | Chair: Brent Kaiser (UoS)
🎤 Dr. Stephanie Watts-Fawkes (Wageningen University, Netherlands)
One of our most prestigious awards - don't miss it!
#AusPlantSci #PlantScience #PeterGoldacreAward

Day 1 wrapped! So many amazing sessions, but the real highlight was the student-led discussions, such sharp ideas and energy!

Capped off the evening with a great welcome mixer. Excited for the rest of the conference! 🧬 #ConferenceLife #ASPS2025

Haha. Totally me.

The cover of Vol 76 | Issue 20 | 2025 of the Journal of Experimental Botany. Dark brown banners border the top and bottom of the page and in the centre is an image of a vineyard. August, 2020: wildfire smoke lingers in a vineyard in Davis, California (photo credit: Arran Rumbaugh). Grapes absorb compounds in smoke leading to changes in berry composition and wine quality, termed smoke taint. See Paineau et al., pp. 6032–6050.

📢 NEW ISSUE ALERT 📢

🌍 JXB Issue 20 of 2025 is out now 🌍

🍇🔥 On the cover: Wildfire smoke lingers in a vineyard in Davis, California in August 2020 - see Paineau et al. in this issue 🔥🍇

🔗👉 Read the full issue now: academic.oup.com/jxb...

#PlantScience 🧪 @sebiology.bsky.social

Screenshot of tweet from the ARC saying they’ll announce DECRA and LIEF outcomes on Tuesday 25th Nov.

ARC says they’ll announce DECRA and LIEF outcomes tomorrow (Tuesday 25th Nov).

In recent times these announcements have been around 11am Canberra time. With 2 schemes on the same day, I assume they’ll announce one of them later in the day (probably DECRA first).

Session 2 - Plant Organelle & Energy Biology

Invited: Maria Ermakova (Monash)

New Passport Rule Sends Blunt and Sweeping Message to Trans Americans

The Trump administration has said that the U.S. passports of transgender people must now reflect the sex on their original birth certificate, reversing a decades-old policy.

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/u...

Recent advances in the mechanism, transduction and function of oxygen sensing in plants Abstract. Response to reduced ambient oxygen is a key component of plant adaptation in natural and farmed environments and is regulated by oxygen dependent

Recent advances in the mechanism, transduction and function of oxygen sensing in plants
#nendrule #hypoxia #plantscience
academic.oup.com/jxb/advance-...