Plant Biology

17 incredible Australian women in botany - Australian Geographic Australia is home to many talented botanists, many of whom are women. Here are just a few of their stories.

www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2019/03...

Driving forward the restoration of an American icon Genome-informed breeding and new transformation approaches could improve disease resistance of the American chestnut tree

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

Helping the iconic American Chestnut

#PlantScience #PlantNGTs

'Dead rat': Foul-smelling flower in full bloom in Adelaide Cheese, fermented cabbage, roadkill – these are how some people have described the smell emitting from a corpse flower that has finally bloomed at the Adelaide Botanic Garden.

Smellanie - Adelaide Botanic Garden’s favourite corpse flower now in full bloom reeking of cheese, roadkill and more. #plantscience 🧪 www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...

Extinct For 58 Years: How One Phone Snap Just Solved A Major Botanical Mystery - Karmactive Thought gone since 1967, a rare Australian shrub is back. See how one phone snap and a global app solved a 58-year botanical mystery in seconds, proving nature still holds major surprises.

www.karmactive.com/extinct-plan...

The 'Hell-Plant' of Death Valley offers hope to a hotter world We humans are a delicate bunch. We don’t have bark, boney exo-plates, or lush fur to protect us from hostile environments, so we have to steal what other creatures produce just to survive in regions a...

"Tidestromia oblongifolia took only two days to increase its photosynthetic capacity to produce energy and thrive in extreme heat, and by day 14 reached its ideal photosynthetic temperature of 45 °C (113 °F)"

#PlantScience #PlantStress #ClimateChange

Original paper: www.cell.com/current-biol...

Urban dandelions have evolved to stay close to home. That’s bad news Small seed “parachutes” may be causing inbreeding

Dandelions living in downtown areas of Japan have adapted to life in the big city—perhaps a bit too much.

Urban seeds have evolved to float shorter distances than rural ones, potentially leading to inbreeding problems that could threaten these metropolitan populations. https://scim.ag/49mV964

Plants are master synthesisers of defensive compounds. So are spruce trees producing anti-microbial compounds that are protecting them against fungal infection. 🧵1/5

Image credit: Benjamin Weiss, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology

Scientists have identified Tidestromia oblongifolia in Death Valley as the most heat-tolerant plant ever recorded, capable of surviving temperatures above 120°F, according to a study published in Current Biology.

#ClimateChange #ExtremeHeat #PlantScience #AgricultureFuture #GlobalWarming

New Zealand has 2,200 native flowering plants and 85% of them grow nowhere else, including some spectacular displays that open just in time for the festive season.

👉 theconversation.com/most-of...

Why mangoes fall before they’re ripe – and how science is helping them hang on

Each season, mango growers across Australia watch helplessly as millions of mangoes fall to the ground too early. Here’s why – and how science can help.

‘Borrowed time’: crop pests and food losses supercharged by climate crisis Heating means pests breeding and spreading faster, warn scientists, with simplified current food system already vulnerable

The key global crops, wheat, rice and maize, are expected to see the losses to pests increase by about 46%, 19% and 31% respectively when global heating reaches 2C 👇 www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

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Products Norfolk Healthy Produce

New GM tomato available for sale!!!

www.norfolkhealthyproduce.com/collections/...

Food will be more affordable — if we double funds for agriculture research now A global drop in public and private investment in agricultural science in the past four decades is partly to blame for high food prices, an analysis reveals.

Comment in @nature.com: "Food will be more affordable — if we double funds for agriculture research now" www.nature.com/articles/d41...

A global drop in public and private investment in agricultural science in the past four decades is partly to blame for high food prices, an analysis reveals.

Over a pint in Oxford, we may have stumbled upon the holy grail of agriculture | George Monbiot I knew that a revolution in our understanding of soil could change the world. Then came a eureka moment – and the birth of the Earth Rover Program, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

1. Some good news at last. This week’s column is about the amazing thing a couple of us stumbled into three years ago, which we’ve now developed into a global research programme. It doesn’t change everything, of course, but it could help change quite a lot. + 🧵 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Arabidopsis thaliana, plant biology's ubiquitous model organism, came from the Harz Mountains of northern Germany.

It was discovered in 1542 by Johannes Thal and, over the next 500 years, spread through labs around the world.

@AlexandraBalwit tells the story in a new essay.🔻

How a humble weed became a superstar of biology Arabidopsis thaliana was always an unlikely candidate for the limelight. But 25 years ago, the diminutive thale cress launched the botanical world into the molecular era.

Arabidopsis thaliana was always an unlikely candidate for the limelight. But 25 years ago, the diminutive thale cress launched the botanical world into the molecular era.

✍️ Rachel Ehrenberg

knowmag.org/4hImL8e

Biological Laboratory | LEGO® Ideas This is a two-floor realistic Biological Laboratory building. In this design, I try to tell stories about biologists, introduce biology concepts to general publ…

I just made an account and voted for this biology laboratory made of LEGO to "promote biological research and inspire more people into the world of biology". They need 10K votes. Reposting and/or voting below would be helpful. 🤗
beta.ideas.lego.com/product-idea...

Blooms supersized - Nature Biotechnology Nature Biotechnology - Blooms supersized

A tiny white-petalled weed beloved of plant biologists has received a CRISPR-fueled makeover, turning it into a supersized ruby-colored bloom www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Plant that mimics odour of half-eaten ants to attract pollinators discovered Botanist says new Japanese species of dogbane is first evidence of plants copying ants

In @theguardian.com : "Plant that mimics odour of half-eaten ants to attract pollinators discovered"

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘These people do it naturally’: President Trump’s views on immigrant farmworkers reflect a long history of how farming has been idealized and practiced in America Historically, farm work in the United States has been carefully constructed to appear natural, including the racism and labor exploitation that characterizes it, a scholar writes.

Trump’s contradictions on farmworkers echo a long history of romanticizing farming — one bound up with race, nature, exploitation, and the nation’s identity, says a historian of agriculture and labor.

buff.ly/jPCOu6z

By @dcsackman.bsky.social, University of Puget Sound

New Zealand had some of the most restrictive laws when it came to genetically engineered food crops. This move once again demonstrates how the NZ Government makes Science-based decisions.

Take note, European Union!

#PlantGMOs #PlantNGTs #PlantScience #Agroculture #Sustainability #PlantBreeding

‘This wasn’t obvious’: the potato evolved from a tomato ancestor, researchers find Hybridisation event took place about 9 million years ago, helping to ‘spark the emergence of a new organ’

www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Potatoes Evolved From … Tomatoes? Dipping fries into ketchup just got a little more mind-bending.

Scientists have spent decades puzzling over potatoes’ origin story. The answer was juicier than anyone expected, @katherinejwu.com reports.

Scientists reportedly hiding AI text prompts in academic papers to receive positive peer reviews Research papers found carrying hidden white text giving instructions not to highlight negatives as concern grows over use of large language models for peer review Academics are reportedly hiding prompts in preprint papers for artificial intelligence tools, encouraging them to give positive reviews. Nikkei reported on 1 July it had reviewed research papers from 14 academic institutions in eight countries, including Japan, South Korea, China, Singapore and two in the United States. Continue reading...

Scientists reportedly hiding AI text prompts in academic papers to receive positive peer reviews

This came up today. Wondering about genetically modified GMO food?Watch « Well fed » vimeo.com/188913344

Greenpeace warnt vor grüner Gentechnik – zu Recht? | SWR Wissen YouTube video by SWR Wissen

This is a fantastic documentary on #PlantBiotechnology, genetically engineered #PlantGMOs, & the anti-scientific disinformation campaigns that #Greenpeace has been running against them.
In German, but there are English subtitles.

SWR is German public broadcaster, & I don't see a COI.

#PlantScience

Drought Is Hurting Global Food Supplies Staples including wheat, beef and coffee are all being affected by the lack of rainfall. In some cases, prices are climbing to record highs.

Around the world, food staples — including wheat, beef and coffee — are being affected by widespread drought, with some prices climbing to record highs.

URGENT The Naked Scientists needs your help. This is one of the best #science #podcast out there. #Cambridge University is planning to make Dr. Chris Smith redundant, which would likely kill the podcast. More info and how you can help here:
www.thenakedscientists.com/sos-cambridg...

Climate crisis could hit yields of key crops even if farmers adapt, study finds Production of staple crops projected to fall by as much as 120 calories per person per day for every 1C of heating

Climate crisis could hit yields of key crops even if farmers adapt, study finds www.theguardian.com/environment/...