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@sebiology.bsky.social
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The Society for Experimental Biology aims to promote, and increase the influence of Experimental Biology within the scientific community and Society.
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SEBiology @sebiology.bsky.social · 15d
New funding opportunities are here! 🌟

Check out inspiring grant stories and see how SEB grants are making a difference:
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jxbotany.bsky.social
📣 NEW SPECIAL ISSUE 📣

🌱 Issue 19 of 2025 - Peptides: A Treasure Chest of Structures and Functions

📘 Edited by Aleksandra Skirycz, Andrew Nelson & Alyssa Kearly

🔗 academic.oup.com/jxb...

#JXBspecialissues #PlantScience 🧪 @sebiology.bsky.social
Vol 76 | Issue 19 | 2025 Journal of Experimental Botany Peptides: A Treasure Chest of Structures and Functions Cover illustration: Plant peptides play critical roles in a plethora of developmental processes and stress responses. These biomolecules, derived from either the translation of short open reading frames or the proteolytic cleavage of protein precursors, can act as key signaling molecules, metabolic regulators, and structural components of larger complexes. With potential applications in agriculture, medicine, and beyond, the power of peptides and the importance of their study cannot be understated. (Image courtesy of Alyssa Kearly.)
November 20, 2025 at 9:43 AM
Reposted by SEBiology
jxbotany.bsky.social
🫛 RESEARCH 🫛

Iron retention, coupled with symbiotic associations driven by the enrichment of Variovorax and Paecilomyces in the roots, confers tolerance to combined iron deficiency and drought in soybean - Hasan et al.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 10 (shortened, full legend in paper): A model of stress resilience in Clark exposed to Fe deficiency and drought. The model illustrates the mechanisms underlying stress resilience, including enhanced Fe and N retention mediated by root-localized symbiotic interactions with Bradyrhizobium, Paecilomyces, and Variovorax. Key transporters such as Ammonium transporter 1;2, EamA-like transporter, Sugar transporter 1, and SWEET10 facilitate nutrient exchange and carbon flow. Fe homeostasis is maintained through the activity of ferric chelate reductase (FCR), Fe-regulated protein 3, and siderophore-mediated Fe acquisition. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are scavenged by Peroxidase 19, Glutaredoxin 4, and Glutathione peroxidase 6, while ferritin provides additional protection by inhibiting Fenton reactions.
November 19, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Reposted by SEBiology
jxbotany.bsky.social
🛡️ RESEARCH 🛡️

Endoplasmic reticulum stress induced by necrotrophic fungal pathogens activates the unfolded protein response pathway in Arabidopsis via the IRE1-bZIP60 arm, and this is required for immunity to these pathogens- Blanchard et al. 🍄

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 10 (shortened, full legend in paper): Schematic representation of the role of the unfolded protein response (UPR), endoplasmic reticulum (ER) quality control (ER-QC), and ER-associated degradation (ERAD) during Botrytis cinerea infection of Arabidopsis thaliana plants. Infection with B. cinerea induces ER stress, which activates the canonical IRE1-bZIP60 branch of the UPR and the expression of the genes encoding the ER-QC machinery (BiP, ERDJ3, SDF2). We hypothesized that the activation of these signalling pathways might control the secretion of defence proteins that are necessary to establish defence against B. cinerea. Our data also indicate that active bZIP60 suppresses the expression of NAC053, a negative regulator of defence against B. cinerea. However, NAC053 expression depends on IRE1.
November 19, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Reposted by SEBiology
jxbotany.bsky.social
❄️🌱 RESEARCH 🌱❄️

Ice spreads in a predictable pattern through young L. tulipifera, governed by anatomy and vein architecture. Leaf lethality always involves damage to photosynthetic tissues and can involve air embolism - Johnson et al.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 8.Comparative progression of drought- and freeze–thaw-induced embolism in leaves of young L. tulipifera. (A–C) The spread of embolism during three periods from 5 h to ∼25 h after the beginning of drought. (D–F) The spread of embolism during three periods from 5 min to 15 min after thawing began. Embolisms are colour-coded according to when they occurred, as indicated by the scale at the bottom of the figure.
November 19, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Reposted by SEBiology
jxbotany.bsky.social
🔥 RESEARCH 🔥

Shrub resprouting depends on pre-disturbance condition, with aridity, soil fertility & fire history as secondary drivers. Repeated disturbance reduces resprouting, & adult plants are more resilient under low water conditions - Zomer et al.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 1.Location of the study area (boxed region in inset map) in the Iberian Peninsula, showing the gradient of historical aridity (lower aridity index values are indicative of less aridity); location of field populations (left map) of Anthyllis cytisoides (n=6, brown circles) and Globularia alypum (n=10, teal triangles); and location of common garden seed provenances (right map) of A. cytisoides (n=4) in Low aridity (blue circles) and High aridity (red circles) areas. Borders in the inset map are countries, and in main maps are provinces.
November 19, 2025 at 9:21 AM
sebiology.bsky.social
🧪 Last chance to secure your spot

Join tomorrow’s free webinar by @sebiology.bsky.social : “Creating positive laboratory learning environments”.

📅 19 Nov 2025, 14:00 UK time.

Register now :
www.sebiology.org/events/ems-e...

Don’t miss out!
Creating positive laboratory learning environments
Sarah Rayment from Nottingham Trent University will explore how students perceive technology in the lab and how we can mitigate lab anxiety.
www.sebiology.org
November 18, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Reposted by SEBiology
jxbotany.bsky.social
🌱 RESEARCH 🌱

The overexpression of the nitrate transporter NRT2.7 stimulates growth by increasing the export of nitrate from the vacuole, the main cell compartment for nitrate storage - Armengaud et al.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪 @annekrapp.bsky.social
Fig. 1 (shortened, full legend in paper): Growth effect of NRT2.7 overexpression in clca-2 and wild-type backgrounds. (A) Pictures of the wild type (WS), clca-2, the complemented line [CLCa-Ox (clca-2)], and NRT2.7-overexpressing line in clca-2 [NRT2.7-Ox (clca-2)] on the left side, and WS and the two NRT2.7-overexpressing lines, NRT2.7-Ox1 (WS) and NRT2.7-Ox2 (WS), on the right side. Plants were grown on 2 mM nitrate for 12 d (scale bars=1 cm). Shoot FW (B) and total root length (C) were measured on the wild type (WS), clca-2, CLCa-Ox (clca-2), and NRT2.7-Ox (clca-2) (left side of the panel) or WS, NRT2.7-Ox1 (WS), and NRT2.7-Ox2 (WS) (right side of the panel). The number of samples was 4–5 for shoot FW (one sample=a pool of 3–4 plants) and n=15–17 for total root length on individual plants. One representative experiment out of three is shown. The numbers above the bars shows the percentage increase or decrease compared with WS.
November 17, 2025 at 12:19 PM
sebiology.bsky.social
The new SEB Magazine is coming out this week!

This issue, themed Real World Changes, highlights how biology drives impact!

From restoring ecosystems and improving education to space farming and inclusion in science.

Keep an eye out for its release!
November 17, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Reposted by SEBiology
jxbotany.bsky.social
🌿🔥 INSIGHT 🔥🌿

✍️ "Legacies of stress and altered disturbance regimes threaten shrubland resilience" - Jacobsen & Pratt comment on recent research by Zomer et al.

Insight 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
Research 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 1.Resprouting plants differ in their success in resprouting post-fire as well as in the vigour of resprouting shoots. Some plants may (A) not survive the fire and will not resprout (plant 1), or will successfully resprout and subsequently die (plant 2), while yet others will resprout but with differing degrees of vigour, as evidenced by different crown heights and volumes (B–D). The images are the California Mediterranean-type climate region shrub, Adenostoma fasciculatum Hook. & Arn. (Rosaceae), during the first winter post-fire. (Photo credit: A.L. Jacobsen.)
November 16, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Reposted by SEBiology
jxbotany.bsky.social
🍈🥒 RESEARCH 🥒🍈

Thermotolerant and thermosensitive cultivars of melon and zucchini plants exhibit differentially expressed genes that respond to the combination of watermelon mosaic virus infection and temperature stress - De Moya-Ruiz & Pedro Gómez

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 1.Schematic representation of the experimental design and workflow using thermotolerant/susceptible melon and zucchini plants. Three replicates, each consisting of a pool of three plants, were maintained at low (20/14 °C), medium (26/20 °C), and high (32/26 °C) temperature ranges under both uninfected and WMV-infected conditions. Plant material was collected at 30 dpi, and WMV accumulation was determined using absolute quantitative RT-PCR. Additionally, differential gene expression analysis was conducted using 3′ mRNA-seq via Illumina (NovaSeq X).
November 14, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Reposted by SEBiology
jxbotany.bsky.social
⚙️🌿 TECHNICAL INNOVATION 🌿⚙️

Yao et al. describe the development and application of an automated leaf stomatal trait measurement tool for canola called SCAN for faster and more accurate trait screening towards breeding climate-resilient crops 🌾 🌼

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 1 (shortened, full legend in paper): SCAN measurement pipeline and system design. SCAN automates stomatal trait measurement from digital images collected via a Dino-lite portable microscope. The parallel system design of SCAN enables users to provide a main folder containing multiple subfolders of the micrograph dataset as an entrance. SCAN works through the structure from the entry point and enables parallel processing of each subfolder. Within each subfolder, SCAN sequentially processes each microscopy image through a single pipeline. The pipeline of SCAN involves several key steps to process and analyse microscopy images for stomatal traits.
November 13, 2025 at 3:30 PM
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jxbotany.bsky.social
📢 NEW ISSUE ALERT 📢

🌷✨ JXB Issue 18 of 2025 is out now ✨🌷

On the cover: A beautiful watercolour painting of a Tulip Poplar sapling by @kateplantphys.bsky.social - see Johnson et al. this issue!

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

#PlantScience 🧪 @sebiology.bsky.social
The cover of Vol 76 | Issue 18 | 2025 of the Journal of Experimental Botany. Light green banners border the top and bottom of the page and in the centre is an image of a watercolour painting. "Sapling of North American tree species and common city tree Liriodendron tulipifera (Tulip Poplar). This watercolour painting depicts the young potted trees of this species used in Johnson et al., pp. 5573–5587. Trees were placed in freezers while their leaves were imaged to track ice formation and spread. This research revealed that the pattern of ice spread in these leaves is governed by vein anatomy and provided the first visualisation of freeze-induced xylem embolism (air bubble formation) in leaf veins. (Image credit: Kate Johnson.)"
November 13, 2025 at 9:29 AM
sebiology.bsky.social
⏰ Only a few days left!

Join our free webinar Creating positive laboratory learning environments on 19 Nov (14:00–15:00 GMT) with Dr Sarah Rayment.

Learn how to boost student confidence & engagement in labs. Register here:
www.sebiology.org/resource/onl...
Only a few days left to register for the OED Webinar 2: Creating positive laboratory learning environments
Join us and Sarah Rayment on 19 November 2025 🗓️
www.sebiology.org
November 13, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Reposted by SEBiology
jxbotany.bsky.social
🌻🫛 SPECIAL ISSUE RESEARCH 🌻🫛

Soybean transformed with the sunflower gene encoding transcription factor HaHB11 show increased grain setting due to an increased number of pollinated flowers, an effect that persists under heat stress - Raineri et al.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 4.Pollen grains germinate better than the wild type under heat stress. Grains from the W82 wild type and from two transgenic lines expressing HaHB11 (H11-1 and H11-2) and a line expressing HaHB4 (H4) were incubated on germination medium at two different temperatures. (A) Representative images of pollen grains from wild type control (C), H11-1, and H4 plants at 30 °C (normal) and 45 °C (heat stress). G, germinated (solid arrows); NG, not germinated (open arrows). (B): Quantification of pollen tube lengths. (C) Percentage of germinated pollen observed at 45 °C for each genotype. Data are means (±SEM) of at least 10 (B) or four (C) biological replicates. Significant differences between the WT control and each transgenic line were determined using two-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s test: *P<0.05; **P<0.01; ***P<0.001.
November 12, 2025 at 2:55 PM
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jxbotany.bsky.social
🌾💧 SPECIAL ISSUE RESEARCH 🌾💧

Zhen et al. discovered that the density of small openings—called stomata—located on barley stems is associated with whole-canopy water use much more than those located on the leaf blades 🌿🌾💧

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 2.Relationship between stomatal density of the abaxial side of the leaf sheath (SD SheathAb) and water use traits. Linear regression of whole-plant transpiration rate (TR, A) and canopy conductance (Gs, B) against SD SheathAb. Different colors refer to groups of genotypes belonging to one of the five families of the AB-NAM population that were phenotyped, with squares indicating the parents of the five nested association mapping (NAM) families. The BLUP values of each genotype were used in the regression analysis. ***Significant at P<0.001. The solid blue line indicates the regression line, and the shaded gray area indicates the 95% confidence intervals.
November 12, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Reposted by SEBiology
jxbotany.bsky.social
🔴 🌿 SPECIAL ISSUE RESEARCH 🌿 🔴

The protein kinase SnRK1 acts on PRODUCTION OF ANTHOCYANIN PIGMENT1 to regulate anthocyanin accumulation - Dieckmann et al.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪 @andreasrichter.bsky.social
Fig. 5.PAP1 overexpression in a chalcone synthase (tt4) mutant background during high light acclimation. (A) Expression of PAP1 in the indicated genotypes. (B) Phenotype and (C) anthocyanin content in WT and mutant plants after 24 h high light exposure. (D) Expression of TT8, DFR, and LDOX, and (E) expression of MYB11, MYB12, MYB111, CHI, and FLS1 after 8 h high light exposure. Relative gene expression in relation to Col-0 before the high light shift expressed as 2–ΔΔC(t) using SAND and PEX4 as reference genes. The graphs show the mean of values (n≥3 samples each composed of 12 randomly selected leaves). Letters indicate significance groups identified with one-way ANOVA (Tukey’s multiple comparison tests, adj P<0.05).
November 12, 2025 at 9:13 AM
sebiology.bsky.social
Only a few hours left to join our event on interdisciplinary collaboration.

Explore how cross-field partnerships drive new scientific insights.

Register now:
www.sebiology.org/events/ems-event-calendar/interdisciplinary-collaboration.html
Interdisciplinary collaboration
Learn the mindset and supporting skills required for productive interdisciplinary working, from effective communication to group problem-solving to develop solutions to complex challenges.
www.sebiology.org
November 10, 2025 at 9:26 AM
sebiology.bsky.social
Do not miss this great upcoming event from @globalplantgpc.bsky.social and the Plant Biotechnology Journal !
globalplantgpc.bsky.social The Global Plant Council @globalplantgpc.bsky.social · 14d
🌿 Exciting news! Our new webinar series with #PlantBiotechJ kicks off 24 Nov!

"Translating Research from Lab-to-Field-to-Application"

Prof Edgar Cahoon & Dr Hyojin Kim

🗓️ 24 Nov 2025 | 🕔 17:00 CET

Register now: buff.ly/L6n7YGx #PlantScience

@sebiology.bsky.social @aabiologists.bsky.social
November 10, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Reposted by SEBiology
jxbotany.bsky.social
SPECIAL ISSUE RESEARCH

🌾 SUB1-mediated energy conservation (quiescence) combined with higher tissue tolerance is a more favourable mechanistic acclimation than energy expenditure (ion exclusion) under saline water submergence in rice - Chakraborty et al.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 9. A hypothetical diagram outlining the mechanistic differences of Na+ management and energy balance under combined salinity and submergence stresses in rice. Possible mechanistic differences in ion exclusion and tissue tolerance strategies in SUB1-containing rice genotypes under saline water submergence (SWS) conditions are shown. An active SUB1 gene in the genetic background of rice induces a thicker leaf gas film and thus manages to delay the stress effect. On the other hand, an energy-expensive ion exclusion process negatively affects survival under SWS by increased utilization of carbohydrate reserves, resulting in decreased regeneration ability. Rather than ion exclusion, the presence of the tissue tolerance trait may aid survival under SWS in rice as this can help in managing the deleterious effect of Na+ imbibed into the mesophyll tissue under SWS conditions.
November 9, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Reposted by SEBiology
jxbotany.bsky.social
🧪 SPECIAL ISSUE RESEARCH 🧪

Clusters of phytocytokine & receptor protein family genes evolved in Salicaceae. Phytocytokines show antifungal & immune elicitation activities, with elicitor activity being dependent on clustered receptor proteins - Lintz et al.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience
Fig. 1 (shortened, full legend in paper): Clusters comprising RISP and RALR genes evolved specifically in Salicaceae. (A) Alignment of 24 RISP amino acid sequences identified in the Salicaceae genomes. The alignment matches the phylogenetic tree represented on the left side: Populus and Salix sequences are highlighted in blue and green, respectively (Supplementary Datasets S1, S4).
November 7, 2025 at 1:32 PM
sebiology.bsky.social
New funding opportunities are here! 🌟

Check out inspiring grant stories and see how SEB grants are making a difference:
www.sebiology.org/grants/grant...

Feeling inspired? Apply for your own grant today!
All available funding opportunities are listed here: www.sebiology.org/grants/apply...
Grant Stories
Hear stories from previous grant winners
www.sebiology.org
November 7, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Reposted by SEBiology
jxbotany.bsky.social
🏔️ SPECIAL ISSUE REVIEW 🏔️

Flexas et al review the findings of recent ecophysiological campaigns at remote sites at the limits of plant life and discuss their interest in the context of climate change ❄️☀️

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 3.A cartoon parallel between non-native climbers or trail runners versus sherpas and current crops versus ‘sherplants’. The diagram shows the proposed step sequence to achieve ‘shercorps’—highly productive crops with high tolerance to environmental stresses (Design: J.I. Garcia-Plazaola).
November 7, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Reposted by SEBiology
jxbotany.bsky.social
⚙️ SPECIAL ISSUE REVIEW ⚙️

Iron is essential to plants, and molecular mechanisms controlling iron uptake and concentration are affected by other essential nutrients such as zinc, copper, phosphorus, and nitrogen 🧲 🌿

📝 Wairich et al.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 2 (shortened, full legend in paper): Example of major mechanisms involving the Fe–P interplay in Arabidopsis. In shoots and under Fe deficiency (↓Fe), reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulate in chloroplasts, suppressing AtbZIP58 expression, reducing photosynthesis-related genes, and causing chlorosis. Fe deficiency also lowers ascorbic acid (AsA) levels by repressing VITAMIN C 4 (AtVTC4) expression. In combined Fe and P deficiency (↓Fe↓P), AtVTC4 is upregulated, boosting AsA production. AsA scavenges ROS in chloroplasts, restoring AtbZIP58 expression, photosynthesis-related gene activity, and chlorophyll accumulation, maintaining photosynthetic activity and a stay-green phenotype. In low P conditions, blue light activates ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL5 (HY5), inducing LOW PHOSPHATE ROOT 1 (LPR1)–PHOSPHATE DEFICIENCY RESPONSE 2 (PDR2) pathways that oxidize Fe2+ to Fe³+, promoting ROS production, callose deposition, and root growth inhibition.
November 6, 2025 at 3:50 PM
sebiology.bsky.social
Join us for Webinar 2 in the OED series: Creating positive laboratory learning environments with Dr Sarah Rayment on 19 Nov 2025, 14:00–15:00 (GMT).

Free to attend!

Book now:
www.sebiology.org/resource/sig...

#OEDWebinar #Education #LabLearning
Sign up today for the OED Webinar 2: Creating positive laboratory learning environments
Join us and Sarah Rayment on 19 november 2025 🗓️
www.sebiology.org
November 5, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Reposted by SEBiology
jxbotany.bsky.social
🚨 CLOSING SOON 🚨

The Special Issue on "Plant Proteostasis" closes on 30 November 2025 📅

📝 Edited by Pablo Manavella & Catharina Merchante

We're still accepting submissions! Got a manuscript?
👉 Contact the JXB office: bit.ly/JXBissues

#JXBspecialissues #PlantScience 🧪 @sebiology.bsky.social
jxbotany.bsky.social Journal of Experimental Botany @jxbotany.bsky.social · Feb 14
** UPCOMING SPECIAL ISSUE **

Plant Proteostasis

Editors: Pablo Manavella & Catharina Merchante

Deadline: 30th Nov '25

Manuscripts of any format welcomed, please contact the office (bit.ly/JXBissues)

#JXBspecialissues 🌱 🌿 🧪 #plantscience

@kmerchante.bsky.social @sebiology.bsky.social

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Front cover of a postcard to advertise an upcoming special issue of the Journal of Experimental Botany titled 'Plant Proteostasis'. The editors are Pablo Manavella and Catharina Merchante. The image shows a cartoon representation of the life of proteins, in the style of Andy Warhol (courtesy of Catharina Merchante and Pablo Manavella).
November 4, 2025 at 3:39 PM