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)
This edition of the GARNet Research Roundup begins with a study from Nottingham and Leeds that looks at the much-neglected subject of the control of floral arrest. The second paper from Edinburgh identifies a signaling role for the co-opted transposable elements ALP1 and ALP2 in Arabidopsis. Hans-Wilhelm Nützmann from the University of Bath leads the next study that looks at the co-regulation of clustered biosynthetic pathway genes. The fourth paper is from Cambridge and looks at the role of the ASY1 protein during meiotic recombination. The next paper is from Durham and looks at the role of GA-regulated DELLA proteins in the regulation of stomatal aperature.
The next five papers have a methods-type application that should be useful to other researchers. Firstly a research team led from Oxford highlights an improved protocol for the proteome-analysis technique of RNA interactome capture. Secondly researchers from UEA introduce the NATpare tool, which is a pipeline for high-throughput prediction and functional analysis of nat-siRNAs. The third ‘methods’ paper is from the University of Warwick where they have developed novel markers for protoplast-based analyses of hormone signaling. The fourth paper is a protocol for using CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing in Brachypodium. The final ‘methods-type’ paper is from Alison Smith’s group in Cambridge and has developed a riboswitch-based resource for use in the model alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.
The eleventh paper is led from the University of Glasgow and looks at the activity of the circadian clock in Arabidopsis roots. The next paper introduces genes from the parasitic plant Striga hermonthica into Arabidopsis to show that strigolactone signaling can replace GA signaling in the control of seed germination. The final two papers are focused on research in wheat, first led from the University of Leicester that looks at recombination in durum wheat and secondly from Rothamsted in which they have identified a whole family of NPF membrane transporter genes.
Ware A, Walker CH, Šimura J, et al (2020) Auxin export from proximal fruits drives arrest in temporally competent inflorescences Nat Plants. 2020;10.1038/s41477-020-0661-z. doi:10.1038/s41477-020-0661-z
Al Ware and Catriona Walker are co-first authors on this study from the Universities of Nottingham and Leeds. They have looked at the factors that control the timing of floral arrest in Arabidopsis. They discover that there is a minimum number and optimal positioning of fruits that is necessary for floral arrest, as well as looking into the role of auxin transport in this process.
Velanis CN, Perera P, Thomson B, et al (2020) 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) PLoS Genet. 2020;16(5):e1008681. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1008681
Open Access
Christos Velanis is first author on this research led by the Goodrich group at the University of Edinburgh that looked at the function of the Arabidopsis ANTAGONIST OF LIKE HETEROCHROMATIN PROTEIN 1 (ALP1) gene, which has arose by domestication of the Harbinger class of transposable elements (TEs). ALP1 is a component of the POLYCOMB REPRESSIVE COMPLEX 2 (PRC2) but yet its functional significance is not yet known. They also identify the related ALP2 gene and find that it interacts with MULTICOPY SUPPRESSOR OF IRA1 (MSI1) as part of the PRC2.
Nützmann HW, Doerr D, Ramírez-Colmenero A, et al (2020) Active and repressed biosynthetic gene clusters have spatially distinct chromosome states Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020;201920474. doi:10.1073/pnas.1920474117
Hans-Wilhelm Nützmann is a now a member of faculty at the University of Bath but led this research as a member of the Osbourn group at the John Innes Centre. They use Hi-C and related techniques to study the control of expression of clustered biosynthetic pathway genes in Arabidopsis. This study reveals potential mechanisms that suggest gene clustering in the one-dimensional chromosome is accompanied by compartmentalization of the 3D chromosome.
Lambing C, Kuo PC, Tock AJ, Topp SD, Henderson IR (2020) ASY1 acts as a dosage-dependent antagonist of telomere-led recombination and mediates crossover interference in Arabidopsis Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020;201921055. doi:10.1073/pnas.1921055117
Open Access
Christophe Lambing is first author on this study from the Henderson lab at the University of Cambridge that investigates the role of the ASY1 protein in the control of recombination frequency during meiosis. ASY1 is localized in an ascending telomere-to-centromere gradient and this informs the role that it plays to antagonize telomere-recombination to ensure this occurs in more gene-rich regions of the chromosomes.
Sukiran NA, Steel PG, Knight MR (2020) Basal stomatal aperture is regulated by GA-DELLAs in Arabidopsis J Plant Physiol. 2020;250:153182. doi:10.1016/j.jplph.2020.153182
Nur Afiqah Sukiran is the first author of this study from the Durham University that investigates the role of DELLA proteins in the regulation of stomatal aperature. They also find that the GID1 gibberellin receptor is necessary for optimal basal stomatal aperture.
Professor Marc Knight will be discussing his labs work on the #GARNetPresents webinar on June 30th 2020
Bach-Pages M, Homma F, Kourelis J, et al (2020) Discovering the RNA-Binding Proteome of Plant Leaves with an Improved RNA Interactome Capture Method. Biomolecules. 2020;10(4):661 doi:10.3390/biom10040661
Open Access
Marcel Bach-Pages is first author on this research led from the University of Oxford that has improved the proteome-analysis technique of RNA interactome capture (RIC) to identify 717 RNA Binding Proteins (RBP) from Arabidopsis. Many of these RBPs exhibit unconventional modes of RNA binding and uncovered greater diversity in the number of proteins for which RNA binding is an important part of their function.
Thody J, Folkes L, Moulton V (2020) NATpare: a pipeline for high-throughput prediction and functional analysis of nat-siRNAs Nucleic Acids Res. 2020;gkaa448. doi:10.1093/nar/gkaa448
Joshua Thody leads this work from the University of East Anglia in which the authors present a new software pipeline, called NATpare, for prediction and functional analysis of Natural antisense transcript-derived small interfering RNAs (nat-siRNAs) using sRNA and degradome sequencing data. Although this tool could be used to analyse data from different experimental systems it is benchmarked using Arabidopsis data and the authors show that it could rapidly identify a comprehensive set of nat-siRNAs from different tissues and that are produced in response to different stresses.
Lehmann S, Dominguez-Ferreras A, Huang WJ, Denby K, Ntoukakis V, Schäfer P (2020) Novel markers for high-throughput protoplast-based analyses of phytohormone signaling. PLoS One. 2020;15(6):e0234154. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0234154
Open Access
Silke Lehmann leads this work from the University of Warwick that has generated a community-resource of 18 promoter::luciferase constructs that respond to different phytohormones. In addition they suggest an experimental setup for high-throughput analyses in which these new reporter constructs might be used to screen for biological and environmental stimuli that effect hormone-mediated gene expression.
Hus K, Betekhtin A, Pinski A, et al (2020) A CRISPR/Cas9-Based Mutagenesis Protocol for Brachypodium distachyon and Its Allopolyploid Relative, Brachypodium hybridum. Front Plant Sci. 2020;11:614. doi:10.3389/fpls.2020.00614 Open Access
This Polish project is led by Karolina Hus and includes co-authors from Cambridge and Aberystwyth. They have developed a protocols for CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing in Brachypodia species. As proof of concept they target two cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKG1 and CDKG2) that are involved in DNA recombination.
Mehrshahi P, Nguyen GTDT, Gorchs Rovira A, et al (2020) Development of Novel Riboswitches for Synthetic Biology in the Green Alga Chlamydomonas ACS Synth Biol. 2020;10.1021/acssynbio.0c00082. doi:10.1021/acssynbio.0c00082
Open Access
Payam Mehrshahi is the first author on this Academia-Industry collaboration led from the University of Cambrige. They have used a synthetic biology approach to assess the effectiveness of riboswitchs (RNA regulatory elements) in the control of gene expression in the model alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.
Nimmo HG, Laird J, Bindbeutel R, Nusinow DA (2020) The evening complex is central to the difference between the circadian clocks of Arabidopsis thaliana shoots and roots Physiol Plant. 2020;10.1111/ppl.13108. doi:10.1111/ppl.13108 Open Access
Hugh Nimmo from the University of Glasgow is lead author on this UK-USA collaboration that has looked at the operation of the circadian clock in root tissues and in particularly how it responds to light quality. They found that plants with mutations in certain genes that make up the circadian clock evening complex have root-specific effects, confirming that the shoot and root clocks response to differently to light signals.
Bunsick M, Toh S, Wong C, et al (2020) SMAX1-dependent seed germination bypasses GA signalling in Arabidopsis and Striga Nat Plants. 2020;10.1038/s41477-020-0653-z. doi:10.1038/s41477-020-0653-z
Michael Bunsick is first author of this Canadian-led study that includes Julie Scholes from the University of Sheffield as a co-author. Leading from a curiosity about the relationship between host root exudates and the parasitic plant Striga hermonthica, they were led to find that expression of Striga strigolactone-hormone receptor proteins in Arabidopsis is able to bypass the requirement for GA in seed germination. This demonstrates both how the Striga might sense host signals and that there is no absolute requirement for GA-during seed germination.
Desjardins SD, Ogle DE, Ayoub MA, et al (2020) MutS homologue 4 and MutS homologue 5 maintain the obligate crossover in wheat despite stepwise gene loss following polyploidization Plant Physiol. 2020;pp.00534.2020. doi:10.1104/pp.20.00534
Open Access
Stuart Desjardins is first author on his research led from the University of Leicester. They work with allotetraploid (AABB) durum wheat and show that this plant undergoes two pathways of meiotic recombination. They show that the class I pathway requires the MSH4 and MSH5 (MutSγ) proteins and the authors show that these genes are absent in hexaploid (AABBDD) wheat. These findings enable the authors to speculate about the function of these proteins in allopolyploid wheat.
Wang H, Wan Y, Buchner P, King R, Ma H, Hawkesford MJ (2020) Phylogeny and gene expression of the complete NITRATE TRANSPORTER 1/PEPTIDE TRANSPORTER FAMILY (NPF) in Triticum aestivum L J Exp Bot. 2020;eraa210. doi:10.1093/jxb/eraa210 Open Access
Huadun Wang is first author on this manuscript that is led from Rothamsted Research and includes Chinese collaborators. They investigate the 331 member family of wheat NPF genes that encode membrane transporters that transport a diverse range of substrates. Phylogenetically these wheat NPF genes are closely clustered with Arabidopsis, Brachypodium and rice orthologs and this study and lays the foundation for their further functional analysis in wheat.
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.
The 2019-2020 MASC Annual Report includes reports from three stakeholder groups:
This bumper GARNet Research Roundup begins with two sets of papers in related areas. First are three papers that investigate the biology of plasmodesmatata. These include work from the Faulkner lab at the JIC, the Band lab at Nottingham and a broad European collaboration that includes co-authors from Durham, Cambridge and St Andrews.
The second set of two papers features work on different species of Kalanchoë, which is a key model for the study of CAM. This research is from the Hartwell lab in Liverpool and the Borland lab in Newcastle.
The fifth paper is from RHUL and looks at the relationship between nucleus and chloroplast signaling. The sixth paper is from QMUL and introduces research suggesting that a rethink is needed in our understanding of the relationship between chloroplast movement and photoprotection.
The next paper is from the University of the West of England and looks at the effect of ionising radiation on multiple generation of Arabidopsis growth whilst the eighth paper investigates the relationship between starch degradation and stomatal movements in guard cells and includes co-authors from Essex and Glasgow.
The next two papers include research undertaken in Cambridge; firstly looking at the integration of signalling between karrikin and strigolactone signaling in rice and secondly identifying a novel mRNA thermoswitch that controls thermomorphogenesis.
The next paper is a pan-European project led from Nottingham that has characterised the role of the CEP5 peptide during regulation of osmostic stress, drought and auxin signaling.
The twelveth paper is from the University of Warwick and also looks at the auxin response, this time during senescence. The next paper as well includes co-authors from Warwick in a study that investigates the global regulatory role for the histone acetyltransferase GCN5.
The penultimate paper includes co-authors from Norwich Research Park looks at the evolution of immune NLR signaling between closely related species. The final paper includes Patrick Hussey from Durham as a co-author in a Spanish study that identifies an uncharacterized compartment of the plant vacuolar trafficking pathway.
Cheval C, Samwald S, Johnston MG, de Keijzer J, Breakspear A, Liu X, Bellandi A, Kadota Y, Zipfel C, Faulkner C (2020) Chitin perception in plasmodesmata characterizes submembrane immune-signaling specificity in plants. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020 Apr 28;117(17):9621-9629. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1907799117 Open Access
Cecilia Cheval, Sebastian Samwald and Matthew Johnston are co-first authors on this work from the Faulkner lab at the John Innes Centre. They looked at a plasmodesmata-localised plasma membrane microdomain, which hosts specific receptors and responses. They showed that immune chitin signalling requires the plasmodesmal PM localised LYM2 and LYK4 proteins. Overall this demonstrates that distinct membrane domains can integrate common signals to produce a localized response.
Brault ML, Petit JD, Immel F, Nicolas WJ, Glavier M, Brocard L, Gaston A, Fouché M, Hawkins TJ, Crowet JM, Grison MS, Germain V, Rocher M, Kraner M, Alva V, Claverol S, Paterlini A, Helariutta Y, Deleu M, Lins L, Tilsner J, Bayer EM (2020) Multiple C2 domains and transmembrane region proteins (MCTPs) tether membranes at plasmodesmata. EMBO Rep. 2019 Aug;20(8):e47182. doi: 10.15252/embr.201847182 Open Access
Marie Brault works with Emmualle Bayer is first author on this French-led pan-European study that includes co-authors from Durham, Cambridge and St Andrews. They investigate the plasmodesmal plasma membrane and show that Multiple C2 domains and transmembrane region proteins (MCTP) are needed to tether ER-PM linkages at this location. They show Atmctp3/Atmctp4 loss of function double mutants have plant developmental defects demonstrating that MCTPs also play a significant role in cell-to-cell signalling.
Mellor NL, Voß U, Janes G, Bennett MJ, Wells DM, Band LR (2020) Auxin fluxes through plasmodesmata modify root-tip auxin distribution. Development. doi: 10.1242/dev.181669Open Access
Nathan Mellor leads this research from the University of Nottingham that has developed a model to explain auxin movement around the Arabidopsis root tip. They propose that carrier mediated movement is not sufficient foir this and that there must be a symplastic route via plasmodesmata. This introduces plasmodesmata as playing a key role in hormone signaling.
Boxall SF, Kadu N, Dever LV, Kneřová J, Waller JL, Gould PJD, Hartwell J (2020) Kalanchoë PPC1 Is Essential for Crassulacean Acid Metabolism and the Regulation of Core Circadian Clock and Guard Cell Signaling Genes. Plant Cell. doi: 10.1105/tpc.19.00481
Susie Boxall leads this study from the Hartwell lab at the University of Liverpool in which they investigate the role of the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase gene in the CAM-plant Kalanchoë laxiflora. They use RNA interference to silence the PPC1 gene and show that these transgenic plants have defects in guard cell signaling and regulation of the circadian clock. These findings provide direct evidence that the regulatory patterns of key guard cell signaling genes are linked with the characteristic inverse pattern of stomatal opening and closing during CAM.
Abraham PE, Hurtado Castano N, Cowan-Turner D, Barnes J, Poudel S, Hettich R, Flütsch S, Santelia D, Borland AM (2020) Peeling back the layers of Crassulacean acid metabolism: functional differentiation between Kalanchoë fedtschenkoi epidermis and mesophyll proteomes. Plant J. doi: 10.1111/tpj.14757 Open Access
Paul Abraham is first author on this work from the Borland lab at the University of Newcastle. They are working with the CAM species Kalanchoë fedtschenkoi and here perform a large-scale proteomics analysis of the epidermis and mesophyll cell layers. This reveals that different proteins and biological processes are enriched in each layer, showing how plants adapt to hot and dry environments by modifying leaf physiology for improved plant sustainability.
Loudya N, Okunola T, He J, Jarvis P, López-Juez E (2020) Retrograde signalling in a virescent mutant triggers an anterograde delay of chloroplast biogenesis that requires GUN1 and is essential for survival Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2020;375(1801):20190400. doi:10.1098/rstb.2019.0400Open Access
Naresh Loudya from Royal Hollaway University of London is first author on this work that investigates the relationship between nucleus and chloroplast gene expression in the control of chloroplast biogenesis. They analyse the cue8 mutant that shows differential changes in the activity of plastid-encoded and nucleus-encoded polymerases.
Wilson S, Ruban AV (2020) Rethinking the influence of chloroplast movements on non-photochemical quenching and photoprotection. Plant Physiol. 2020 May 13. pii: pp.00549.2020. doi: 10.1104/pp.20.00549Open Access
Sam Wilson is first author on this work from the Ruban lab at the Queen Mary University of London. In this study they have assessed the relationship between blue light induced chloroplast relocation and high-light tolerance. Their data argues against the existence of a chloroplast movement-dependent component of the non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) respose. Therefore the authors suggest that thinking on the influence of chloroplast movements on photoprotection should be reevaluated.
Caplin NM, Halliday A, Willey NJ (2020) Developmental, Morphological and Physiological Traits in Plants Exposed for Five Generations to Chronic Low-Level Ionising Radiation. Front Plant Sci. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2020.00389 Open Access
Nicol Caplin is first author on this research from the University of the West of England that looked at the effects of ionising radiation (IR) on seven generations of Arabidopsis growth. They found that although chronic exposure to IR caused some individual trait changes, these are not carried across generations at the population level but still call for more research in this area to be sure of the current regulations provided by the International Commission for Radiological Protection (ICRP).
Flütsch S, Wang Y, Takemiya A, Vialet-Chabrand SR, Klejchova M, Nigro A, Hills A, Lawson T, Blatt MR, Santelia D (2020) Guard Cell Starch Degradation Yields Glucose for Rapid Stomatal Opening in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell. doi: 10.1105/tpc.18.00802
This Swiss-led study has Sabrina Flütsch as first author and co-authors from Essex and Glasgow. They looked at the integration of starch degradation in guard cells with the kinetics of stomatal reopening. The timing of rapid stomatal unopening was unchanged in starch degrading mutants but there were alterations in slower responses, most likely due to alterations in the composition of guard cell starch metabolites.
Choi J, Lee T, Cho J, Servante EK, Pucker B, Summers W, Bowden S, Rahimi M, An K, An G, Bouwmeester HJ, Wallington EJ, Oldroyd G, Paszkowski U (2020) The negative regulator SMAX1 controls mycorrhizal symbiosis and strigolactone biosynthesis in rice. Nat Commun. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-16021-1 Open Access
This research is led from the Paszkowski lab at the University of Cambridge by Jeongmin Choi. They have found that the rice ortholog of Arabidopsis Suppressor of MAX2-1 plays a novel role to link the pre-symbiotic perception of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi with karrikin and strigolactone signaling. This response functions through a modification of the D14L signalling pathway.
Chung BYW, Balcerowicz M, Di Antonio M, Jaeger KE, Geng F, Franaszek K, Marriott P, Brierley I, Firth AE, Wigge PA (2020) An RNA thermoswitch regulates daytime growth in Arabidopsis. Nat Plants. doi: 10.1038/s41477-020-0633-3
This Wigge lab-led collaboration includes Betty Chung as first author and investigate the role of the PIF7 messenger RNA as a thermoswitch that activates the thermomorphogenesis pathway. This is controlled by the formation of an RNA hairpin within the mRNA and they show that this mechanism is conserved so controls translation of other mRNAs, enabling the plant to respond and adapt rapidly to high temperatures.
Smith S, Zhu S, Joos L, Roberts I, Nikonorova N, Vu LD, Stes E, Cho H, Larrieu A, Xuan W, Goodall B, van de Cotte B, Waite JM, Rigal A, R Harborough SR, Persiau G, Vanneste S, Kirschner GK, Vandermarliere E, Martens L, Stahl Y, Audenaert D, Friml J, Felix G, Simon R, Bennett M, Bishopp A, De Jaeger G, Ljung K, Kepinski S, Robert S, Nemhauser J, Hwang I, Gevaert K, Beeckman T, De Smet I (2020) The CEP5 peptide promotes abiotic stress tolerance, as revealed by quantitative proteomics, and attenuates the AUX/IAA equilibrium in Arabidopsis. Mol Cell Proteomics. 2020 May 13. pii: mcp.RA119.001826. doi: 10.1074/mcp.RA119.001826Open Access
Stephanie Smith at the University of Nottingham is first author on this collaboration between researchers in 8 different countries. They use quantitative proteomics to assess the role of the CEP8 peptide in the response to osmotic and drought stress and in the control of auxin signaling.
Gören-Sağlam N, Harrison E, Breeze E, Öz G, Buchanan-Wollaston V (2020) Analysis of the impact of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) on gene expression during leaf senescence in Arabidopsis thaliana. Physiol Mol Biol Plants. doi: 10.1007/s12298-019-00752-7
Nihal Gören-Sağlam is first author on this study from the University of Warwick in which they investigate the role of externally applied auxin on senescence in Arabidopsis thaliana. They show that PSII activity, as a determinant of chlorophyll fluorescence, declined after auxin treatment and that this response changed across different leaves.
Kim S, Piquerez SJM, Ramirez-Prado JS, Mastorakis E, Veluchamy A, Latrasse D, Manza-Mianza D, Brik-Chaouche R, Huang Y, Rodriguez-Granados NY, Concia L, Blein T, Citerne S, Bendahmane A, Bergounioux C, Crespi M, Mahfouz MM, Raynaud C, Hirt H, Ntoukakis V, Benhamed M (2020) GCN5 modulates salicylic acid homeostasis by regulating H3K14ac levels at the 5′ and 3′ ends of its target genes. Nucleic Acids Res. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkaa369Open Access
This French-led study includes Soonkap Kim as first author and co-authors from the University of Warwick. They analysed the role of the histone acetyltransferase GCN5 in global control of gene expression. They used several methodologies (ATAC-seq, ChIP-seq and RNA-seq) to assess the effect of GCN5 loss-of-function on the expression and epigenetic regulation of its target genes.
Baggs E, Monroe JG, Thanki AS, O’Grady R, Schudoma C, Haerty W, Krasileva KV (2020) Convergent Loss of an EDS1/PAD4 Signaling Pathway in Several Plant Lineages Reveals Co-evolved Components of Plant Immunity and Drought Response. Plant Cell. doi: 10.1105/tpc.19.00903Open Access
This research is led by Erin Baggs in the Krasileva lab at the University of California Berkeley and includes co-authors from Norwich Research Park. They assessed the variation in nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat receptors (NLRs) involved in plant immunity, focusing on closely related species that have different NLR compositions. Loss of NLRs corresponds to other changes in downstream immune signaling complexes. This excellent extensive multi-omic analysis provides evolutionary evidence for the rewiring of immunity in some plant lineages.
Delgadillo MO, Ruano G, Zouhar J, Sauer M, Shen J, Lazarova A, Sanmartín M, Lai LTF, Deng C, Wang P, Hussey PJ, Sánchez-Serrano JJ, Jiang L, Rojo E (2020) MTV proteins unveil ER- and microtubule-associated compartments in the plant vacuolar trafficking pathway. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1919820117
María Otilia Delgadillo is first author on this Spanish-led study that includes Patrick Hussey from Durham as a co-author. The study identifies 13 components of the vacuolar trafficking machinery through a genetic screen for mutants that abnormally secrete the synthetic vacuolar cargo VAC2. Eight of these components localize at the interface between the trans-Golgi network (TGN) and the multivesicular bodies (MVBs), which excitingly reveals a previously uncharacterized compartment of the plant vacuolar trafficking pathway.
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)