Mary Williams @PlantTeaching
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plantteaching.bsky.social
Mary Williams @PlantTeaching
@plantteaching.bsky.social
Promoting SciComm, teaching, equity & inclusion in plant biology. #PlantScience
PI NSF RCN: ROOT&SHOOT. https://rootandshoot.org/
Features Editor ThePlantCell, PlantPhysiology
@PlantTeaching@genomic.social
https://linktr.ee/PlantTeaching 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
I'm a big fan of the "Around the world in 80 plants/trees" books, so was delighted to see that Jon Drori has a plant book developed for children. It arrived today & I love it, I can't wait to share it with my granddaughters.
Beautifully illustrated, factual, engaging 💚💚💚💚💚#PlantSci
@jondrori.co.uk
November 22, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Reposted by Mary Williams @PlantTeaching
A future without chocolate seems almost unimaginable. But according to UC Berkeley’s Brian Staskawicz, it is a very real possibility.

Learn more in this thread.🧵
November 21, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Reposted by Mary Williams @PlantTeaching
And now we have Arabidopsis plants with 8 chromosomes instead of 10 and no obvious phenotypic differences, this week in @science.org
#PlantScience
Paper here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Perspective here:
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
CRISPR-Cas–mediated heritable chromosome fusions in Arabidopsis
The genome of Arabidopsis thaliana consists of 10 chromosomes. By inducing CRISPR-Cas–mediated breaks at subcentromeric and subtelomeric sequences, we fused entire chromosome arms, obtaining two eight...
www.science.org
November 21, 2025 at 10:20 AM
Reposted by Mary Williams @PlantTeaching
Check out our story in @plosbiology.org about how a nonrandom, clustered giant cell pattern forms in the sepal and leaf epidermis! It has been a great journey with @gweissbart.bsky.social, Frances Clark, Xihang Wang, @roederlab.bsky.social and co-authors.
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
A common pathway controls cell size in the sepal and leaf epidermis leading to a nonrandom pattern of giant cells
Arabidopsis leaf epidermal cells have a wide range of sizes and ploidies, but the mechanisms patterning their size and spatial distribution remain unclear. This study shows that the pathway controllin...
journals.plos.org
November 12, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Reposted by Mary Williams @PlantTeaching
Bronze, russet, green, yellow ... November's palette. Often seen as a desaturated time, there is still colour to be seen, just as there is activity under the soil during this seemingly dormant month #ForestFriday
November 21, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Reposted by Mary Williams @PlantTeaching
About that exclusive, "closed-to-press" MAHA summit last week with RFK and JD Vance: I got in.

Here's what I saw. 🧵 🧪

www.nature.com/articles/d41...
November 21, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Reposted by Mary Williams @PlantTeaching
🌱 EXPERT VIEW 🌱

In all land plants, small secreted peptides belonging to the CLE family move from cell to cell and activate their cognate receptors to control a plethora of developmental processes - Cornelis & Hazak

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪 @hazaklab.bsky.social
November 21, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Reposted by Mary Williams @PlantTeaching
The fluorescent probe DISBAC2(3) provides a high-throughput screening tool for evaluating abiotic stress tolerance in plants (Caroline Ivsic, Ping Yun, Frances C Sussmilch, Sergey Shabala) doi.org/10.1093/plph... #PlantScience @aspbofficial
The fluorescent probe DISBAC2(3) provides a high-throughput screening tool for evaluating abiotic stress tolerance in plants
Rapidly screening for changes in membrane potential and for stress-tolerant crops is uncovered using the voltage-sensitive dye DISBAC2(3).
doi.org
November 21, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Reposted by Mary Williams @PlantTeaching
📅New #PlantSciEvents Event Added: Auxin 2026

👉https://buff.ly/zYzLl95

#PlantScience
Auxin 2026
(2026) Sun 4 Oct - Thu 8 [EDT]: We are delighted to announce that the Auxin2026 meeting will take place in the Algarve, Portugal between October 4th-8th 2026. This quadrennial event brings together…
buff.ly
November 21, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Reposted by Mary Williams @PlantTeaching
✨ Flash Talk Fundamentals for Applied Biologists ✨

An interactive online workshop for early career researchers & professionals - perfect for anyone who wants to learn how to deliver a great conference flash talk or 3MT!

📆 12th December, 1pm GMT

Register now 👉 buff.ly/OiDYE93
November 21, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Reposted by Mary Williams @PlantTeaching
📢Registrations open next week!
Join the mailing list for first access👉 forms.gle/YznZ1unBeNzQ...

Learn more: yrspp.github.io

#YRSPP2026 #PlantScience #Photobiology
November 20, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Reposted by Mary Williams @PlantTeaching
🔔 C-SPIRT Member Talk Tomorrow! Featuring Dr. Cobus Smit from the University of York 🧬

📣 Title: Untangling the threads that shaped plant biosynthetic gene clusters
🗓️ When: Friday, November 21 | 12-1 pm ET
🔗 Zoom: ubc.zoom.us/j/6739059915... (passcode 784447)

#PlantScience
November 20, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Reposted by Mary Williams @PlantTeaching
A new fossil fungus discovered in Scotland shows evidence of plants and fungi sharing nutrients to survive on land.

The fossil, more than 400 million years old, offers hints about the origin of one of the greatest partnerships in the history of life on Earth.

www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...
Ancient fossil reveals how plants and fungi first developed on land | Natural History Museum
A new fossil fungus discovered in Scotland shows evidence of plants and fungi sharing nutrients to survive on land.
www.nhm.ac.uk
November 20, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Reposted by Mary Williams @PlantTeaching
I highly recommend the #MBP2026 #PlantScience Meeting in Hennef, especially if you're an ECR or #NewPI trying to connect to the German Plant Science Community.

It's interactive, fun and relaxed.

Unfortunately, I won't be there this year, but I'll be back in 2027 👍
👀 Early Career Researchers in #PlantSci:

There are only 4 days left ... if you want to join

Molecular Biology of Plants (#MBP2026) Conference in Hennef, Germany

Registration + abstract submission end on
🗓️ 23rd November 2025

www.pflanzen-molekularbiologie.de/en/conferenc...
November 20, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Reposted by Mary Williams @PlantTeaching
Among the cracked earth & blinding sunlight of California's Death Valley, one native plant not only survives — it thrives.

Read the story of how this plant helped @rheelab.bsky.social scientists reveal a blueprint for engineering heat-resilient crops: msutoday.msu.edu/news/2025/11...

#PlantScience
November 20, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Reposted by Mary Williams @PlantTeaching
The cover art is finished for my new book and I LOVE IT!

This safari tour of the life in soil and what is means to us, is now available for pre-order as ebook, soft and hardcover in the UK and Commonwealth. Published in August next year (US date soon), I hope it'll entice everyone to love soil! 🧪🪱
November 20, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Reposted by Mary Williams @PlantTeaching
Join us for a conversation with Pamela Ronald @pcronald.bsky.social , a universally recognized leader in plant genetics, a food security pioneer, and an enthusiastic advocate for sustainable agriculture.

🗓️ 🗓️ 18 December | 🕗 11:00 am US EST

✍️ Sign up here: tinyurl.com/3j34ffjt
November 20, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Reposted by Mary Williams @PlantTeaching
I am currently searching for a new postdoctoral researcher to study the evolution, genetics, and physiology of cold acclimation and freezing tolerance in switchgrass at Michigan State University. This work will be funded by a newly funded five-year DOE grant. careers.msu.edu/jobs/researc...
Research Associate-Fixed Term - East Lansing, Michigan, United States
Position Summary The Lowry Lab at Michigan State University is searching for a postdoctoral research associate to conduct molecular and physiological experiments to understand the causes of genetic va...
careers.msu.edu
November 20, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Reposted by Mary Williams @PlantTeaching
My new Emmy Noether Group is recruiting!

🔬 Two PhD positions in plant pathogen evolution

🧬 Start: April 2026 (flexible)

📍 Dept. of Phytopathology & Plant Protection @rstam.bsky.social @uni-kiel.de

⏰ Apply by 15 Dec 2025

🔗 More info: www.uni-kiel.de/personal/de/...

Do get in touch or share 😊
Aktuelle Ausschreibungen
Aktuelle Ausschreibungen
www.uni-kiel.de
November 3, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Reposted by Mary Williams @PlantTeaching
For generations the Univ of Leicester has been a global leader in geology, Earth science & climate research

Now *the entire program* is on the chopping block

Some of the world's best paleontologists are facing layoffs

Sign this to stop this madness:

www.change.org/p/save-geolo...
Sign the Petition
Save Geology at the University of Leicester
www.change.org
November 20, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Reposted by Mary Williams @PlantTeaching
When I read things like this, I'm reminded of how the play and poetry of language — even punctuation! —  are ABSENT from most of the purely functional discussions of "why + how we write" precipitated by LLMs. I wish students could see the fun, freedom + productive friction in the process
A Granta series on punctuation and grammar: lol's, transitive verbs, ellipses, quotation marks, line breaks, xox's... 🤗
Mark Up | Granta
For an online series, Mark Up, we invited writers to tell us their thoughts on...
granta.com
November 20, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Reposted by Mary Williams @PlantTeaching
Taken this evening in Chesham Woods. We forget how beautiful trees are in the Winter, their branches etched into the skies.
November 20, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Reposted by Mary Williams @PlantTeaching
Is it time to replace the term #nonprofit? “We are not a ‘non’ anything. We are builders of jobs, innovators in care, stewards of families and communities, and an essential part of the nation’s economic infrastructure.” (@insidephilanthropy.com)

#Nationbuilding #Nonprofits #ConsciousLanguage
Stop Calling Us “Nonprofit”: It’s Time for a New Name for the $1.4-Trillion Engine of Progress
Jody Levison-Johnson of Social Current thinks it’s time to ditch the term "nonprofit" — and the funder mindsets that go along with it.
www.insidephilanthropy.com
November 19, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Reposted by Mary Williams @PlantTeaching
Conscious Style Guide is on Bluesky! What to expect: posts that help you think critically about language and design as tools for equity and self-expression.

Check out the whole family of resources:

Book | Website | Community | Newsletter

By @karenyin.bsky.social 🌷
The Conscious Style Guide: A Flexible Approach to Language That Includes, Respects, and Empowers - Karen Yin
The Conscious Style Guide provides a roadmap for communicating with sensitivity and awareness—no matter how the world around us progresses.
karenyin.com
October 31, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Reposted by Mary Williams @PlantTeaching
I was that husband. 🤓😘
Frosty cold morning out with the dog. My shadow is enormously long and we're still a month out from the solstice.
My husband took a picture of me as I was playing with my shadow. I think I look a bit Frankenstein-y 🧟
November 20, 2025 at 1:33 PM