I first attended Monogram in Bristol in 2017 and did not have the opportunity to be there in 2018 in Norwich. After the success that Monogram 2017 had been, the expectations were high for the 2019 edition in Nottingham. Monogram is one of these meetings where its reputation precedes itself and I was particularly looking forward to sharing my work and exchanging with other cereals researchers from the UK and other parts in the world.
My work as a PhD student at the James Hutton Institute in Dundee, Scotland, is focusing on the effect of DNA-Methylation in barley, however I had the chance to work with the University of Cambridge on Arabidopsis material to assess how transferable the effect of the epigenome on meiotic recombination is from a model plant (Arabidopsis) to a rather complex cereal widely cultivated in Scotland (barley). Attending Monogram 2019 in Nottingham highlighted even more how crucial it is to maintain the bridge between model species and crops in order to better understand the mechanisms underlying the sustainable food production of tomorrow. This was particularly highlighted by the wide diversity of talks concerning many different species, from Wheat (obviously) to rice, as well as barley, brachypodium, maize, and so many more.
Having
transferred to academia to do my PhD after first working in the breeding world,
which is much more applied, I also truly appreciated the perfect balance
between fundamental research, such as gene and QTL mapping in wheat, by Jemima
Brinton or the role of OsEPF1 in stomatal density, by Umar Mohammed, and
applied projects with Alison Lovegrove’s talk about how to improve fibre
content into white bread and Simon Orford’s description of how to use the
Germplasm resources available at the John Innes Centre for breeders.
Simon Orford introdcues the GRU at the John Innes Centre. Photo @Notts-WRC
The talk which
was the most surprising to me and one of the most interesting from the
conference was given by Laura Gardiner from IBM research UK about how to use AI
and genomics combined to improve crops. It is to me fascinating how much new computing
technologies can bring into areas where you would not expect them, especially
plant science.
The Poster
Session was preceded by a Flash Presentation Session. This exercise is great to
force scientist to condensate their research into a 60 seconds talk and a good
opportunity to try and lure people to visit your poster. The Poster Session
itself was nicely coupled with an outdoor barbecue and allowed for the most
interesting discussions with other scientists and breeders, where the outcome
mostly was some suggestions of what work could be done to complement the
existing results I have generated. It was also a great opportunity to visit
other people’s posters and discover the broad variety of science which people
from the Monogram network do, from roots to flowers, from Arabidopsis to wheat,
or from South to North!
Queuing to present a flash talk. Photo @Amma Simon
Finally, the
organising team of Monogram 2019 in Nottingham did an amazing job with the
choice of the conference and dinner venues. The Exchange building on the
Jubilee Campus in Nottingham is in a charming environment surrounded by water
and the conference dinner was held in the Albert Hall in the centre of
Nottingham, which has splendid rooms and decors! Not to forget the close
proximity to “Ye Old Trip To Jerusalem”, allegedly the oldest pub in the United
Kingdom and definitely a place worth a stop if the occasion presents itself!
The University of Nottingham Jubilee Campus. Photo @mscott0106
All in all, I
would like to deeply thank GARNet for allowing me to attend this conference and
present my work there and will be looking forward to hosting all the Monogram
community next year, in Dundee, Scotland!
In July I attended the XV Cell wall meeting hosted at the University of Cambridge. This was my first time at this meeting, held once every three years, and I was excited to meet so many members of the cell wall research community.
The meeting kicked off on the Sunday with a reception in the
beautiful botanic gardens at Cambridge which provided an informal atmosphere to
meet other delegates which contributed to a relaxed atmosphere in the sessions.
The organising committee did an excellent job in putting together an extensive
scientific programme with almost 90 talks and 170 posters to showcase a
diversity of cell wall research areas and I felt very privileged to be selected
to give a talk.
The talks were grouped by different research themes and were
full of exciting science with lots of cutting edge unpublished research on
display which was great to see. With no parallel sessions I was able to attend
all the talks and was particularly interested in the composition, structure and
architecture sessions where I learnt about a range of emerging new tools for
studying cell wall structure which I hope to incorporate into my future work. I
presented my work on the second day and this was my first talk at a major
conference, an experience I found both daunting but incredibly valuable. Getting
the chance to present my research led to a number of interesting conversations
in the coffee/lunch breaks throughout the week both with new people and old
collaborators which gave me a valuable different perspective on my data.
It was nice to see sessions specifically focused around
equality and diversity and research ethics and it was great that these sessions
were about as full as the other sessions. The talk of Professor Dame Athene
Donald DBE, FRS was a particular highlight and I would encourage everyone to
read her excellent blog (http://occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald/).
Putting these issues at the heart of a conference raises their profile and
helps to make everyone aware of how we can ensure a diverse and ethical
community and all the associated benefits that brings.
Professor Donald provides an inspiration talk. Photo @donohoho
One of the excellent aspects of this meeting was how much
time was dedicated to viewing the numerous posters making them an integral part
of the meeting. This gave people the chance to engage with as many people as
possible and I spoke to a wide range of people during these sessions making new
contacts that will hopefully remain contacts as I progress through my career.
Networking is an important part of the Cell Wall meeting. Photo @meninatoxica
It was a pleasure to attend such an interesting meeting and
meet so many excellent cell wall researchers. On the back of this meeting I
have already embarked upon a new and exciting collaboration and I would like to
thank GARNet for the travel grant to help me be able to afford to attend. I am
already looking forward to the 2022 meeting in Malaga, Spain.
The Botanical Microscopy Meeting is an international event organised by the Royal Microscopical Society (RMS). This year’s edition ran from the 14-18th April and was held in the Kenneth Wheare Hall, conference venue at Oxford Brookes University. The format of the meeting consisted of eight sessions: each of which was opened with a lecture from an invited speaker and followed by presentations from selected speakers. The sessions covered a variety of research areas in plant cell biology, ranging from fundamental cell biology to plant-pathogen interactions to new advances in botanical microscopy.
My abstract was selected for a presentation within the “Cytoskeleton” session. I’m particularly happy with the feedback provided during question time and useful discussions that arose, which helped me identify key experiments to be carried out during my future research. I also had the opportunity to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of some of my results with some of the world experts on the plant cytoskeleton who were present at the meeting.
Another highlight was the presentation by Dr. Jordi Chan (JIC, Norwich), whose research combines imaging and computer modelling and aims to unravel the mechanisms responsible for cell wall synthase deposition and how these can modulate cell shape and plant morphogenesis.
Overall, the Botanical Microscopy Meeting was extremely relevant not only to present my research to
a community of experts but also, as a final year PhD student, as a chance to establish a contact with
potential future employers.
I would also like to thank GARNet for providing a travel grant and facilitating my participation in the meeting.
Researchers
at the James Hutton Institute and the University of Dundee-Plant
Sciences have developed the 3D RNA-Seq Analysis Tool for the
comprehensive differential expression, alternative splicing analysis and
visualisation of RNASeq Data.
This program runs the analysis through a user-friendly graphical
interface, can handle complex experimental designs, allows user setting
of statistical parameters, visualizes the results through graphics and
tables, and generates publication quality figures and customerised
analysis reports.
It is designed to be run by biologists with minimal bioinformatics experience (or by bioinformaticians) allowing lab scientists to take control of the analysis of their RNA-seq data.
1.30pm: Runxuan Zhang– A suite of computational solutions for improved gene and transcript level analysis using RNA-seq.
2.30pm: Presenter fropm Earlham Institute- Data management hands-on session: Taking care of your data.
4.00pm: Tea Break
4.30pm: Pingtao Ding,
The Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich- Proof of Concept: Using the 3D
RNA-Seq app to analyse expression changes under different immune
activation conditions.
5.30pm: Runxuan Zhang and Wenbin Guo– Preparation for the hands on session: downloading the data, etc
7pm: Evening meal and drinks in Leeds
Friday October 25th 2019
9.00am: Runxuan Zhang and Wenbin Guo- Hands on session with 3D RNA-Seq App
10.30am: Tea Break
11.00am: Hands on session with 3D RNA-Seq App, continued
11.45am: Recapping main features of 3D RNA-Seq App and General Q+A
This April I attended Monogram 2019, my first conference, and I have to say that I had a great time. I didn’t know what to expect, but I was very pleased to discover how friendly and welcoming the UK cereal research community is. In addition to academic researchers, representatives from plant breeding companies were present.
The conference talks were grouped
into sessions each with a different focus. I was fascinated to learn about all
the exciting developments in cereal research from across the UK, and how varied
these areas are. From grain size to root morphology to nutritional gain, the
field is vast and brimming with new discoveries and technological developments.
I was especially interested in the work being carried out at NIAB, as presented by Alison Bentley. As my research is focussed on how plants respond to physical aspects of the rhizosphere such as soil volume and the presence of neighbouring plants, I found Vera Hecht’s work on field sowing density to be of particular interest. As highlighted by Vera, space is a valuable commodity in farming and over sowing can have costly, negative effects on plant growth. Research into this subject area has highly valuable applications to crop production.
On the second day, there was an open
discussion about the current and future requirements needed to facilitate
advances in cereal research. Issues raised included the need for improvements
in database access and use, in order to aid the exchange of knowledge amongst
the research community.
On the first day I had the
opportunity to present my poster titled ‘’Root
density sensing allows pro-active modulation of shoot growth to avoid future
resource limitation’’. During the poster session, and indeed during the
following few days, I was able to have incredibly interesting and thought-provoking
discussions with many of the delegates about both my own and their research. I
certainly found this opportunity to discuss ideas with people from different
areas of crop research highly valuable for project progression and forming new
connections.
Despite being a Masters by Research
student, I achieved highly commended for my poster in the PhD category, several
months before embarking on my PhD. I found this to be a brilliant validation of
my hard work and dedication to this area of research and I am incredibly
grateful for the recognition.
I would like to thank GARNet for
providing me with a travel grant to attend this year’s conference and I hope to
see you all next year!
This summer-time-reading bumper edition of the GARNet Research Roundup begins with two papers from the University of Sheffield that each use advanced imaging techniques. Firstly Andrew Fleming’s group leads a study on the link between stomatal function and mesophyll space morphology. Second is a study from Matthew Johnson’s group that looks at the dynamic arrangement of thylakoid stacks.
Next are two papers that include Alison Smith from the JIC as a corresponding author. The first also includes Vasilios Andriotis from the University of Newcastle and looks at the role of the plastidial pentose phosphate pathway during post-germination growth. Second uses a gene-editing strategy to generate potatoes with altered starch morphologies.
The fifth paper also looks at starch; researchers from Cambridge and Norwich are involved in a study that characterises the role of the LIKE SEX4 1 protein in starch degradation.
The sixth paper is from Aberystwyth University and identifies a transcription factor that alters secondary cell wall composition in Brachypodium and maize. Next is research from the University of Bath that looks at the role of a protein S-acyl transferase during seed germination.
The eighth and ninth papers are led by Spanish research groups and include contributions from UK-based co-authors in Cambridge and Nottingham, working on photoperiod perception or phosphate signaling respectively.
The tenth paper features work from Cardiff University and looks at the role of heterologous expression of the Arabidopsis WEE1 protein. The Bancroft lab from the University of York leads the next paper that investigates glucosinolate signaling in Brassica napus.
The final three manuscripts are methods papers. The first from Edinburgh introduces a new NanoLUC reporter whilst the other two include techniques involved in the investigation of light-regulated growth processes.
Lundgren
MR, Mathers A, Baillie AL, Dunn J, Wilson MJ, Hunt L, Pajor R,
Fradera-Soler M, Rolfe S, Osborne CP, Sturrock CJ, Gray JE, Mooney SJ,
Fleming AJ (2019) Mesophyll porosity is modulated by the presence of functional stomata. Nat Commun. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-10826-5
Open Access
This UK-wide study is led from Andrew Fleming’s lab in Sheffield and includes Marjorie Lundgren as first author (now working in Lancaster). They use microCT imaging alongside more traditional measurements linked to analysis of gas exchange to show that mesophyll airspace formation is linked to stomatal function in both Arabidopsis and wheat. This allows the authors to propose that coordination of stomata and mesophyll airspace pattern underpins water use efficiency in crops.
Wood WH, Barnett SFH, Flannery S, Hunter CN, Johnson MP (2019) Dynamic thylakoid stacking is regulated by LHCII phosphorylation but not its interaction with photosystem I. Plant Physiol. doi: 10.1104/pp.19.00503
Open Access
William Wood is the first author on this study from the University of Sheffield that uses 3D structured illumination microscopy (3D-SIM) to look at the dynamics of thylakoid stacking in both Arabidopsis and spinach. They show that the processes they observe are dependent on light harvesting complex II phosphorylation.
Andriotis VME, Smith AM (2019) The plastidial pentose phosphate pathway is essential for postglobular embryo development in Arabidopsis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1908556116
Open Access
Vasilios Andriotis (now at the University of Newcastle) is the lead author of this work performed in Alison Smith’s lab at the JIC. They look at the role of the plastidial oxidative pentose phosphate pathway (OPPP) during embryo development. This involved demonstrating that production of ribose-5-phosphate (R5P), which in turn leads to synthesis of purine nucleotides, is a critical function of the OPPP.
Tuncel A, Corbin KR, Ahn-Jarvis J, Harris S, Hawkins E, Smedley MA, Harwood W, Warren FJ, Patron NJ, Smith AM (2019) Cas9-mediated mutagenesis of potato starch-branching enzymes generates a range of tuber starch phenotypes. Plant Biotechnol J. doi: 10.1111/pbi.13137
Open Access
Alison Smith and Nicola Patron who work in Norwich Research Park are corresponding authors of this study that includes Aytug Tuncel as
first author. They have used Cas9-mediated gene editing to generate
potato plants that have a range of different tuber starch structures.
This shows that gene-editing techniques allows the transgene-free
alteration to generate potentially healthier crops.
Schreier TB,
Umhang M, Lee SK, Lue WL, Shen Z, Silver D, Graf A, Müller A, Eicke S,
Stadler M, Seung D, Bischof S, Briggs SP, Kötting O, Moorhead GB, Chen
J, Zeeman SC (2019) LIKE SEX4 1 acts as a β-amylase-binding scaffold on starch granules during starch degradation. Plant Cell. doi: 10.1105/tpc.19.00089
Open Access
Tina Schreier
from the University of Cambridge is the first author on this
international study led from Switzerland that also includes Alexander
Graf and David Seung
from the JIC as co-authors. This study defines a precise role for the
LIKE SEX FOUR 1 (LSF1) protein that binds starch and is required for
normal starch degradation. Through a variety of experiments they show
that the glucan binding, rather than phosphatase activity, is required
for LSF1 function during starch degradation.
Bhatia R, Dalton S, Roberts LA, Moron-Garcia OM, Iacono R, Kosik O, Gallagher JA, Bosch M (2019) Modified
expression of ZmMYB167 in Brachypodium distachyon and Zea mays leads to
increased cell wall lignin and phenolic content. Sci Rep. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-45225-9
Open Access
Rakesh Bhatia is the first author on this work from the lab of Maurice Bosch
at Aberystwyth University. They overexpress the maize MYB transcription
factor ZmMYB167 in both Brachypodium and maize. Both species show
increased lignin content with Brachypodium but not maize showing a
biomass deficit. This indicates that ZmMYB167 could be a useful
molecular tool for the alteration of secondary cell wall biosynthesis.
Li Y, Xu J, Li G, Wan S, Batistic O, Sun M, Zhang Y, Scott R, Qi B (2019) Protein S-acyl Transferase 15 is Involved in Seed Triacylglycerol Catabolism during Early Seedling Growth in Arabidopsis (2019) J Exp Bot. doi: 10.1093/jxb/erz282
First author on this UK-Chinese collaboration is Yaxiao Li who works with Baoxiu Qi at the University of Bath. The authors characterise the function of Arabidopsis Protein Acyl Transferase 15, AtPAT15. This protein is involved in essential β-oxidation of triacylglycerols during post-germination growth.
Ramos-Sánchez JM, Triozzi PM, Alique D, Geng F, Gao M, Jaeger KE, Wigge PA, Allona I, Perales M (2019) LHY2 Integrates Night-Length Information to Determine Timing of Poplar Photoperiodic Growth. Curr Biol. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.06.003
Open Access
This
Spanish-led study includes co-authors from the Sainsbury Laboratory in
Cambridge and attempts to define the factors that control photoperiod
perception in trees, using poplar as a model system. FLOWERING LOCUS T2
(FT2) has been previously shown to be involved in this process and this
study builds on that work to show that night-length information is
transmitted by the clock gene LATE ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL 2 (LHY2) and is
able to control FT2 expression.
Silva-Navas J, Conesa CM, Saez A, Navarro-Neila S, Garcia-Mina JM, Zamarreño AM, Baigorri R, Swarup R, Del Pozo JC (2019) Role of cis-zeatin in root responses to phosphate starvation. New Phytol. doi: 10.1111/nph.16020
Ranjan Swarup
from the University of Nottingham is a co-author on this Spanish-led
study that has Javier Silva-Navas as first author. Through analysis of
dark-grown seedlings they have identified a set of new genes involved in
root phosphate signaling. In addition they provide evidence of a links
between cytokinin and phosphate signaling through modulation of the cell
cycle.
Siciliano I, Lentz Grønlund A, Ševčíková H, Spadafora ND,
Rafiei G, Francis D, Herbert RJ, Bitonti MB, Rogers HJ, Lipavská H
(2019) Expression of Arabidopsis WEE1 in tobacco induces unexpected morphological and developmental changes. Sci Rep. 2019 Jun 18;9(1):8695. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-45015-3
Open Access
Ilario Siciliano leads this work that includes colleagues from Hilary Rogers’
lab at Cardiff University. The WEE1 protein regulates the cell cycle
across eukaryote lineages. In this work they show that overexpression of
AtWEE1 in tobacco causes precocious flowering and increased shoot
morphogenesis of stem explants whilst in cell culture this WEE1 OX
causes smaller cell sizes.
Kittipol V, He Z, Wang L, Doheny-Adams
T, Langer S, Bancroft I (2019) Genetic architecture of glucosinolate
variation in Brassica napus. J Plant Physiol. doi: 10.1016/j.jplph.2019.06.001
Open Access
This study from the Bancroft labat the University of York is led by Varanya Kittipol. Through use of Associative Transcriptomics (AT) across a diversity panel of 288 Brassica napus genotypes they are able to identify a set of genes involved in synthesis of glucosinate hydrolysis products.
Urquiza-García U, Millar AJ (2019). Expanding the bioluminescent reporter toolkit for plant science with NanoLUC. Plant Methods. doi: 10.1186/s13007-019-0454-4
Open Access
This
study from the University of Edinburgh introduces NanoLUC, a new more
stable luciferase-based reporter for use by the plant community.
The
final two papers are methods papers that focus on different aspects of
light-regulated growth. These are from the University of Southampton and
University of York.
Terry MJ, Kacprzak SM (2019) A Simple Method for Quantification of Protochlorophyllide in Etiolated Arabidopsis Seedlings. Methods Mol Biol. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-9612-4_14
Oakenfull RJ, Ronald J, Davis SJ (2019) Measuring Phytochrome-Dependent Light Input to the Plant Circadian Clock. Methods Mol Biol. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-9612-4_15
In April this year I attended the Monogram meeting hosted by the University of Nottingham. This was my second time attending the meeting and I was looking forward to hearing about the new research conducted by the UK small grain community.
Keith Edwards, from the University of Bristol, kicked off the meeting with a fantastic plenary talk focusing on genetic variation in hexaploid wheat. I had never previously considered the consequences of mixed cultivation of tetraploid and hexaploid wheat before and certainly would never have thought that mixed cultivation was still occurring in some areas of the world today. I felt that Keith Edwards put in perspective the opportunities that high levels of genetic diversity in wheat present for both academia and industry and set an upbeat tone for the rest of the meeting.
In the next session, entitled ‘Below and above ground processes’, Tom Bennett from the University of Leeds presented work completed by his group on hormone signalling in wheat roots (Biorxiv linkto this research). He presented data which demonstrated that plants can sense root density and alter shoot growth accordingly via root-to-shoot hormonal signalling.
Looking back
to my own work, I have in the past noticed that plants accumulate less biomass
when grown in small pots or not potted up quickly enough. This talk highlighted
to me the importance of considering factors such as root restriction when
growing plants in pots in controlled environment conditions. Moving into the
field, Tom Bennett also clearly framed his work in the context of agricultural
practice and crop breeding through a discussion on nutrient use efficiency.
Tom Bennett explains how root sensing impact shoot biomass. Photo @AlisonRBentley
Simon Orford, based at the John Innes Centre Germplasm Resource Unit (GRU), spoke in the ‘Phenotyping’ session. He gave an insight into the work completed in the unit and described the methods used to maximise seed viability. Having used the GRU myself during my PhD work and communicated with Simon over e-mail many times before, it was nice to finally hear him speak in person.
At the meeting a variety of other resources and tools were presented; Knetminer, CerealsDB, International Plant phenotyping network (IPPN), The Wheat Expression Browser plus more were discussed. Laura-Jayne Gardiner from IBM Research UK gave a highly interesting talk on uses of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in life sciences and agriculture. As a circadian biologist, I enjoyed hearing about the work she had completed in using AI to predict genes which show rhythmic expression patterns.
Finally, I would like to thank GARNet for awarding me the travel bursary to attend the Monogram meeting this year. I had a fantastic time and I am already looking forward to next year (meeting to be held at the James Hutton Institute)!
For my first conference since starting this PhD I attended the triennial XV Cell Wall Meeting, which in its latest iteration was at the University of Cambridge, with Professor Paul Dupree as the chair of the local organising committee. Along with my lab the Edinburgh Cell Wall Group and my supervisor Professor Stephen C. Fry, we came down for the week to present posters on our work and for Stephen to give a talk.
Stephen C. Fry showing Thuryya Al Hinai’s work studying the enzymes behind fruit ripening
The meeting covers all disciplines related to plant cell
wall research so there was a diverse mix of expertise in attendance, ranging
from physicists studying secondary cell wall structure in poplar wood using
atomic force microscopy, to geneticists over-expressing or supressing genes to
uncover the effect of certain enzymes on cell wall structure. Even though I
come from a mainly chemistry background this was of no hindrance as the 15-minute
talks were all well designed and approachable for anyone with a scientific
background.
Posters were hung and left standing all week to allow for casual
browsing/lurking during lunches and coffee breaks. This relaxed ambiance carried
across into the poster presentations, allowing for easy introductions and
bustling halls of conversation throughout each session. I managed to engage
with many posters and their presenters, mainly focusing on cell wall structure but
the posters themselves were again were well written, so even the mass spec
analysis posters that spared no detail were understandable when guided by the
author.
Throughout the years the meeting has been running there have been certain themes as the field has progressed, and currently it is said to be the ‘practical age’ of plant cell wall research – taking the tools and discoveries from the past 40 years and applying them in fields such as modifying cotton cell walls for physical improvements of the collected fibres, or the genetic optimisation of crop development for biofuel production. A particular highlight was from PhD student James Cowley from the University of Adelaide, looking the utilisation of seed mucilage of the plantago for better gluten-free bread.
Another highlight for me was the focus on personal workplace responsibility, equalities, and ethics that were discussed in busy well-attended sessions. Starting with Dame Professor Athene Donald and keeping pace from there, the talks covered a wide range of important issues that are usually only quietly acknowledged, and it was good to see open challenges to the biases of today people face, with clear instructions for how to help those around you. #just1action4WIS
From a early postgrad perspective, the diversity at the senior levels of research does not reflect the broad range of PhD students currently studying or graduating – by discussing these issues, putting in the time to listen, and vigilant self – criticism we can all work to improve this.
Edinburgh Cell Wall Group Back: Marie Rapin, Ninni Nuorti, Stephen C. Fry Front: Christian Donohoe, Thuryya Al Hinai, Lenka Frankova, Rifat Ara Bergum Photo @donohoho
In all, it was a pleasure and a privilege to attend such a
meeting, special thanks to the GARNet travel grant for helping me afford to attend
the meeting. For the next meeting I am greatly looking forward to presenting my
entire PhD work in 2022, when the meeting will be held in beautiful Malaga,
Spain.
Over the past thirty years the Multinational Arabidopsis Steering Committee (MASC) has represented the global Arabidopsis community through its collaborative oversight of the annual International Conference on Arabidopsis Research (ICAR), production of a MASC annual report and preparation of the series of decadal Roadmaps that have helped coordinate the future activities of the community. In[…]
https://meetings.embo.org/event/20-plant-systems This EMBO Workshop on international Plant Systems Biology (iPSB) is the central gathering of plant systems biology researchers from across the world. Climate change poses unique challenges for how to feed and power humanity without further degrading the environment. Plant science therefore is a key discipline in meeting the challenge of adapting food and[…]
The spring season of #UKPlantSciPresents begins on January 12th and we have a strong schedule set until the end of April! Each webinar is at Tuesday afternoon at 3pm GMT (or BST)! Registration is free and webinars will be made freely available soon after the event. Although closed captioning/subtitles are not available for live webinars,[…]
The previously awesome #GARNetPresents webinar series is morphing into the #UKPlantSciPresents webinar series. This series has the aim of promoting plant science excellence across the UK! UK plant science research uses many different experimental organisms such as Arabidopsis, Wheat, Brassicas, Brachypodium, Marchantia, Physomitrella and many others. This webinar series is supported by both GARNet and[…]
Contents: – Society Updates– Introducing Quantitative Plant Biology– Congratulations to Ottoline Leyser– Conference Updates– Bacterial Plant Diseases Programme– Introducing CHAP– Twenty Years of GARNet– GARNet Research Roundup– MASC Publication Update– Plant RNA Interactome Capture– Update on new BBSRC Projects– Spotlight on University of Nottingham Download here: https://www.garnetcommunity.org.uk/sites/default/files/newsltr/GARNish33_Online_Final_0.pdf
Marcel Bach-Pages works with Gail Preston at the University of Oxford and we discuss a new protocol to identify the RNA-Binding Proteome from Arabidopsis leaves. This community-focused work includes full instructions for use of the protocol and they provide an accessible list of proteins that they have identified. This research is published in Biomolecules and[…]
This edition of GARNet Research Roundup begins with a remarkable four papers that include work from Caroline Dean’s lab at the John Innes Centre. The first two papers are collaborations with members of Martin Howard’s lab and look at the molecular mechanisms that control long-term cold sensing or the antisense regulation of FLC respectively. The[…]
Christos Velanis works at the University of Edinburgh and discusses work published in PloS Genetics entitled ‘The domesticated transposase ALP2 mediates formation of a novel Polycomb protein complex by direct interaction with MSI1, a core subunit of Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2)‘. http://blog.garnetcommunity.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Velanis_edit-13072020-09.32.mp3Pumi Perera is co-first author on this work from the Goodrich lab that[…]
This has been a challenging time for both conference organisers and conference venues. Most 2020 plant science conferences have cancelled, postponed or majorly changed their events. Below is a non-exhaustive list of the changes that have been made to different conferences. Up to date as July 6th 2020. (download)
Not logged in