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ucdavisplants.bsky.social
UCDavisPlants
@ucdavisplants.bsky.social
1.6K followers 96 following 460 posts
🌱 Discussion of all plant-related research and concepts.
UC Davis supports academic and research programs in plant sciences, plant biology, plant pathology, viticulture and agricultural engineering.

https://instagram.com/ucdavisplants
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ucdavis.bsky.social
A lone Jeffrey pine found over 12,000 feet up a Sierra peak sparked a 240-mile trek by UC Davis scientists to study how a bird’s seed and a single tree reveal the impacts of climate change, and why fieldwork still matters in understanding our changing world. Read more: ucdav.is/4oXjDaK
Three researchers in hiking gear examine a small tree on a rocky mountainside in the Sierra Nevada, surrounded by granite boulders and sparse pine trees.
November 10, 2025 at 6:17 PM
ucdavisplants.bsky.social
🌱 From Nature Scientific Reports: Researchers identified four rice quantitative trait loci (QTLs) linked to salt tolerance, revealing key roles for ubiquitination and hormone signaling in stress adaptation. (Isabelle M. Henry, Luca Comai)
▶️ www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#PlantScience #PlantBiology
F2 bulk segregant analysis reveals salt-tolerant QTLs related to the ubiquitination process - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - F2 bulk segregant analysis reveals salt-tolerant QTLs related to the ubiquitination process
www.nature.com
November 10, 2025 at 5:01 PM
ucdavisplants.bsky.social
🚜 From Journal of Agricultural Safety Health: As robotics reshape farm work, researchers call for urgent study of human–machine safety, event tracking, and collaboration to protect agricultural workers. (Farzaneh Khorsandi)
▶️ pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40794928/
#AgEngineering #Agriculture
Figure 1. Autonomous tractor (www.monarchtractor.com) (left) and autonomous sprayer (www.gussag.com) (right).
November 6, 2025 at 5:15 PM
ucdavisplants.bsky.social
From Nature Sustainability: Water prices in California’s surface markets spike during drought but stay stable in groundwater markets, showing storage is key to climate resilience.
(Colin A. Carter, Bulat Gafarov, Jens Hilscher, Katrina Jessoe)
▶️ www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#Climate #Drought
Price sensitivity to precipitation and water storage in California - Nature Sustainability
This study examines the relationship between water inventories and price dynamics in California’s surface and groundwater markets over 2010–2022 and shows that price fluctuations in surface water mark...
www.nature.com
November 5, 2025 at 5:52 PM
ucdavisplants.bsky.social
🌱From Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment: Managed cattle grazing can suppress invasive grasses and boost native plant diversity, offering a sustainable tool for restoring tropical grasslands. (Bruna H. Campos, Jennifer L. Funk)
▶️ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#RangelandScience
Fig. 1. Detailed representation of the experimental design and grazing regime during the observation period. Cow icon sourced from Flaticon.com.
November 4, 2025 at 5:59 PM
ucdavisplants.bsky.social
🌾From Apomixis: Researchers have engineered rice plants that clone themselves from seed, preserving hybrid vigor across generations, a major step toward true synthetic apomixis. (Imtiyaz Khanday, Venkatesan Sundaresan)

▶️ link.springer.com/protocol/10....
#PlantScience #Agriculture
Examples of chromatogram interpretations for mutations in OsSPO11-1, PAIR1, OsREC8, and OsOSD1. (Ho = homozygous mutations; Bi = biallelic mutations)
November 3, 2025 at 6:16 PM
ucdavisplants.bsky.social
🌱 From International Journal of Remote Sensing: Remote sensing models can capture daily evapotranspiration, but their accuracy falters across the diurnal cycle, revealing key model and data limitations. (Andrew J. McElrone)
▶️ www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
#RemoteSensing #PlantScience
Modelling the diurnal cycle of evapotranspiration using remote sensing models – are we there yet?
The diurnal cycle of Evapotranspiration (ET) can provide important clues about the functioning of vegetation. However, the Remote Sensing (RS) based ET models, especially the ones that use Land Sur...
www.tandfonline.com
October 31, 2025 at 4:33 PM
ucdavisplants.bsky.social
From Postharvest Biology and Technology: Chitosan coatings effectively suppress citrus molds, including fungicide-resistant strains, extending orange shelf life and offering a sustainable postharvest alternative. (Adrian O. Sbodio, Barbara Blanco-Ulate)
▶️ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Chitosan inhibits the growth of Penicillium digitatum and Penicillium italicum and protects oranges from green and blue mold during postharvest
Postharvest losses in oranges caused by Penicillium spp. infections are a major concern for the citrus industry worldwide. In this study, we examined …
www.sciencedirect.com
October 30, 2025 at 4:05 PM
ucdavisplants.bsky.social
🌱 From HortScience: Combining steam with quicklime improved soil pathogen control, but effects on weeds were inconsistent—highlighting the need to refine heat-based disinfestation methods. (Steven Fennimore)
▶️ journals.ashs.org/view/journal...
#WeedScience #PlantScience
(C) Posttreatment view of the microplot after plastic was removed. Soil probes were placed perpendicular to steam emitters in the wooden wedge. Type T thermocouple wires used in 2022 were placed adjacent to seed sachets.
October 29, 2025 at 5:09 PM
ucdavisplants.bsky.social
🌱From Nature Communications: A newly cloned resistance gene, Lr.ace-4A/Lr30, provides near-immunity to leaf rust in durum wheat, offering a powerful tool for future wheat breeding. (Jorge Dubcovsky)
▶️ www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#PlantScience
Genome-assisted identification of wheat leaf rust resistance gene Lr.ace-4A/Lr30 - Nature Communications
Leaf rust threatens wheat production worldwide. Here, the authors report a high-quality genome assembly of the leaf rust resistant durum wheat landrace PI 192051 and the cloning of the leaf rust resis...
www.nature.com
October 28, 2025 at 5:48 PM
ucdavisplants.bsky.social
🌳From Urban Forestry & Urban Greening: California schools lost 1.8% of tree canopy between 2018–2022, with 85% of campuses seeing declines. Losses were greatest in heat-stressed regions.(Luisa Velasquez-Camacho,Moreen Willaredt, Pooja Singh, Alessandro Ossola)
▶️ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Fig. 2. Tree canopy distribution and change across urban school districts in California. A) Spatial distribution of tree canopy extent (in hectares) across urban California school districts in 2018. B) Net change in canopy cover (as a percentage) between 2018 and 2022, calculated relative to the initial canopy area in 2018. To see the results based only on the school boundaries see Supplementary Materials.
October 27, 2025 at 4:35 PM
ucdavisplants.bsky.social
🌱 From Food and Bioprocess Technology: Off-ground almond harvest cuts insect damage by 52% and reveals key drying needs tied to moisture and thermal properties at different harvest stages. (Zhaokun Ning, Ragab Khir, Zhongli Pan)
▶️ link.springer.com/article/10.1...
#PlantScience #AgEngineering
Characterization of Insect Damage, Physical and Thermal Properties of Off-Ground Harvested Almonds and Their Components as Influenced by Harvest Time - Food and Bioprocess Technology
Off-ground almond harvesting is a promising alternative to conventional on-ground methods, reducing dust, microbial contamination, and insect damage. However, the high moisture content (MC) in off-gro...
link.springer.com
October 27, 2025 at 4:08 PM
ucdavisplants.bsky.social
🌱 From PLOS One: High-quality genomes of Cytospora sorbicola and C. plurivora reveal key virulence factors and support taxonomic revision, advancing canker disease research. (Tawanda E. Maguvu,Rosa J. Frias,Florent P. Trouilla)
▶️ journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
#PlantPathology #PlantScience
Genome sequencing and analysis of isolates of Cytospora sorbicola and Cytospora plurivora associated with almond and peach canker
Cytospora sorbicola and C. plurivora are significant canker pathogens that affect stone fruits and several other woody plants, severely limiting orchard productivity and longevity. These pathogens are...
journals.plos.org
October 24, 2025 at 5:21 PM
ucdavisplants.bsky.social
🌱 From Agricultural and Forest Meteorology: Compound and cascading climate extremes are intensifying in California’s farm valleys, shifting northward and amplifying risks to crops like almonds and grapes. (Andre Daccache)
▶️ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#PlantScience
Fig. 1. Overview of the CV case study, showing California state with CV borders and almond/grape fields locations for 2023.
October 23, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Reposted by UCDavisPlants
plantmetabolism.bsky.social
The new CURE course at UC Davis, led by PMN member Philipp Zerbe, is helping students to create an interactive chemical map of Arboretum plants.

Read about it here:
biology.ucdavis.edu/news/whats-l...

Photos: Katrina Huynh - UC Davis

@ucdavisplants.bsky.social
A man in a blue shirt stands facing a group of students as he talks. Above them is a canopy of trees. A young woman smiles as she holds and looks at a part of a tree. A man points to the trunk of a tree while students look on.
October 23, 2025 at 7:30 PM
ucdavisplants.bsky.social
🌱 From Plants, People, Planet: Plant performance remained stable under reduced irrigation across climatic zones, showing strong trait plasticity and potential for lower urban water use. (Jared Sisneroz, Lorence Oki)
▶️ nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
#PlantScience #Drought
a. Map of the Western U.S. with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) hardiness zones indicated and black dots to indicate the location of the three Climate Ready Landscape Plant (CRLP) sites sampled in this study: University of Washington (UW) in zone 9a, Oregon State University (OSU) in zone 8b, and Utah State University (USU) in zone 6a (USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, 2023). b. Climate norms for each site from the past decade (2011–2020), with black text indicating annual monthly means, yellow text indicating monthly means during the deficit irrigation/growing season months (June–September) and green text indicating monthly means during the opposite winter months (November–March). Data acquired from ClimateNA (Wang et al., 2016).
October 22, 2025 at 8:05 PM
ucdavisplants.bsky.social
🌱From Agricultural Water Management: Winter groundwater recharge in alfalfa fields can store large volumes of water with minimal yield loss, though timing is key to avoid quality declines. (Helen E. Dahlke, Daniel H. Putnam)
▶️ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#PlantScience #Groundwater
Fig. 1. Experimental field at the University of California Kearney Research and Extension Center (KARE), Parlier, CA (a) Overhead field layout, (b) photo of a flood treatment plot, and experimental layout, and instrumentation for the years 2019 (c) and 2020 (d). (aerial image data © 2021 Google).
October 21, 2025 at 4:59 PM
ucdavisplants.bsky.social
🌳From Annals of Botany: Urban forests hold untapped potential as genetic reservoirs for threatened tree species, offering a powerful tool to advance global conservation goals. (Alessandro Ossola)
▶️ academic.oup.com/aob/advance-...
#PlantScience #Conservation #Ecology
Genetic diversity in urban forests and their potential role in conserving the world’s threatened tree species
AbstractBackground. Plant species diversity is threatened worldwide, and urgent conservation action is needed. Emerging evidence demonstrates that urban fo
academic.oup.com
October 20, 2025 at 7:40 PM
ucdavisplants.bsky.social
🌱International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer: A solar-powered cold storage system cut produce weight loss threefold and extended shelf life fourfold, offering an efficient, low-cost preservation method. (Md Shamim Ahamed)
▶️ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#AgEngineering #Postharvest
Fig. 1. (a) percentage share of post-harvest losses (PHL) at different stages of fruits and vegetables supply chain, and (b) percentage share of global PHL with respect to different commodities, data is taken from [11].
October 17, 2025 at 4:06 PM
ucdavisplants.bsky.social
🌱From Ecology: Invasive annuals show strong local adaptation to aridity, but not to nitrogen deposition, highlighting climate as a key driver of evolutionary response. (Justin M Valliere, Mayra J Hernández)
▶️ pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
#PlantScience #InvasiveSpecies
Locations of source populations of (A) Bromus diandrus and Centaurea melitensis. Shaded map area indicates average annual rainfall and circle color denotes N deposition rates. Phenology of (B) B. diandrus and (C) C. melitensis by month, with lighter and darker colors indicating vegetative growth and flowering, respectively. Months colored in gray are outside of a typical growing season. Photo credits: (B) B. Banfield and (C) Justin M. Valliere.
October 16, 2025 at 4:38 PM
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ucdavisnews.bsky.social
In Focus: What’s at Stake with Federal Research Funding Cuts www.ucdavis.edu/curiosity/ne...
What’s at Stake with Federal Research Funding Cuts
Federal research funding cuts threaten UC Davis discoveries in health, agriculture and technology that improve lives worldwide.
www.ucdavis.edu
October 15, 2025 at 7:55 PM
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UC Davis research improves the lives of Americans and ensures the world we live in is healthy, safe, prosperous and secure for all. FromLabsToLives | #SpeakUp4Science Learn more about UC Davis research: https://www.ucdavis.edu/research/labs-to-lives https://youtu.be/Bvl5okSBc9M?si=Mn2denEGrxkK4FDt
From Labs to Lives: Real Research. Real People. Real Impact.
YouTube video by UC Davis
youtu.be
October 15, 2025 at 3:48 PM
ucdavisplants.bsky.social
🌱From Science of The Total Environment: A calibrated SEB-PV model using gridded soil moisture can accurately estimate orchard evapotranspiration, expanding water management options.(Lorenzo E. Cigarra-Guíñez,Pasquale Steduto, Kristen Shapiro, Daniele Zaccaria)
▶️ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Enhancing evapotranspiration estimates in orchards with the Surface Energy Balance for Partially Vegetated surfaces (SEB-PV) model through combined use of gridded soil moisture and temporal upscaling ...
The Surface Energy Balance for Partially Vegetated surfaces (SEB-PV) model provides accurate evapotranspiration (ET) estimates for orchard crops. Howe…
www.sciencedirect.com
October 14, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Reposted by UCDavisPlants
dubcovskylab.bsky.social
Our Genome Biology paper on wheat spike development integrating single cell and spatial transcriptomics is now published! Check out the paper here: doi.org/10.1186/s130... and enjoy the beautiful pictures (including our 44 supplementary figures)! Be sure to check out some of our tools below!
October 13, 2025 at 7:04 PM
ucdavisplants.bsky.social
🛰️ From Building and Environment: A new LiDAR and thermal infrared method maps urban heat at a centimeter scale, revealing sharp temperature differences between sunlit and shaded areas. (Brian Bailey)
▶️ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#PlantScience #lidar
Fig. 2. Relevant instruments for measurement: (a) the combined LiDAR and TIR scanner (left foreground), (b) instruments used for measuring meteorological forcing mounted on a scissor lift.
October 13, 2025 at 7:21 PM