Major #Botany2026 FOMO, but the drive MA->OR starts this week. So, sharing from afar: I’m recruiting grad students for my new lab at OSU! Info: www.mckenzie-lab.org . We're going to have FUN with systematics, speciation genomics, methods, natural history, and more in North Am angiosperms. Reach out!

My first chapter is now out on bioRxiv! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

A continuum of CAM phenotypes in the carnivorous plant genus Pinguicula (Lentibulariaceae)

Premise Pinguicula are carnivorous plants occupying a wide range of habitats, from wetlands to barren rock cliffs, where CAM photosynthesis was recently discovered in several species. This ecological ...

biorxiv.org

Euploca racemosa

Testing the carbon starvation hypothesis using a late-successional neotropical tree species with green photosynthetic stems doi.org/10.1093/plph... #plantscience

Testing the carbon starvation hypothesis using a late-successional neotropical tree species with green photosynthetic stems

Saplings of Calophyllum longifolium showed that neither elevated carbohydrate levels nor stem photosynthesis influenced drought survival, indicating that c

doi.org

If you put maize PEPC promoter and gene sequences in rice, the expressed PEPC is mostly phosphorylated in the dark 🤔 (doi.org/10.1093/plph...). Are C3 plants a little CAM (doi.org/10.1104/pp.1...)?

Expression of maize PEPC in rice reveals a strategy for establishing a functional C4 CO2-concentrating mechanism

Engineering rice to increase carbon capture efficiency requires fine-tuning enzyme regulation in addition to boosting the amount.

doi.org

This fall I'm thrilled to be joining UMass Amherst (@umassamherst.bsky.social) as an assistant prof. My lab will study photosynthetic evolution, diversity & resilience, focusing on C4 photosynthesis, one of the most remarkably convergent traits in the biosphere. #PlantScience #Evolution #NewPI

Eriogonum diatomaceum grows on diatomaceous clays and has fleshy leaves. maybe CAM? also green stems... picture from allo_patrick on iNat

New preprint demonstrating a way to engineer the shorter bundle sheath cells that have been observed in C4 Panicum, Neurachne, and Tribulus www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

‪🌡️🌱 Does rubisco adapt to climate via structural shifts? We modelled rubisco stability, and in 3 of 4 lineages, warmer growing seasons correlated with H-bonds contributing more to stability, offset by protein-solvent and van der Waals interactions. #PlantScience 1/3 doi.org/10.1093/evol...

Convergence, stability, and thermal adaptation of the rubisco large subunit in plants

Abstract. Enzymes are adapted to perform optimally in different thermal regimes that would otherwise alter kinetics and stability. Whether adaptive evoluti

doi.org

Improved mesophyll–bundle sheath connectivity is achieved via different mechanisms in C2 vs C4 Alternanthera nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Improved mesophyll–bundle sheath connectivity is achieved via different mechanisms in C2 vs C4 Alternanthera

Leaf anatomy and biochemistry of C3, C2, and C4 plants.

doi.org

I accidentally said bamboo was C4 when i meant sugarcane...... grateful to have this opportunity to give a talk and also to hear about amazing science going on in the department! 🐛🌱🐟

Atwood 2026@eebatwood.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Arthur Leung from the Sage lab tells us about the facultative induction of an evolutionary precursor to C4 photosynthesis — plants rehearsing before the main event 🤩 #Atwood2026

www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.... Rubisco!! 🌱

Rubisco kinetic acclimation at the holoenzyme level | PNAS

In plants, the CO2-fixing enzyme Rubisco is hexadecameric, with each mature holoenzyme containing eight small subunits (SSus). Many plants express ...

pnas.org

doi.org/10.1093/plph... @yuzhenfan.bsky.social and coworkers examine O2-based leaf Rdark and metabolites at six time points over a diel cycle 🌱#plantscience

Diel-driven variations of leaf dark respiration and metabolite levels in C3 and C4 grasses

Leaf dark respiration varies over diel cycle and reflects coordinated metabolic shifts, making daytime dark-adapted measurements poor proxies for true nigh

doi.org

Flower color isn’t just for pollinators – it shapes thermal balance Yuxin Li (李雨欣), Charlotte Grossiord, Xinran Ke (柯心然) and Christoph Bachofen nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/RQJVJC... #PlantScience

rubisco, Rubisco, or RuBisCO? 🌱

Abstracts for #Botany2026 🍃 are due on April 13th! If you work on gas exchange (CO2, H2O), carbon dynamics (photo., NSCs), and water relations 💧on organs different from LEAVEs, submit your abstract to the Non-foliar Gas Exchange Colloquium @bsa-ecophys.bsky.social: www.xcdsystem.com/botany/progr...

Hmm

The problem with Canada’s plan to buy scientific prestige

The government’s plans to poach 100 US researchers might make good economic sense. But what about the existing community?

nature.com

Floral freezing tolerance is tied to flowering time in North American woody plant species doi.org/10.1093/aob/... #plantscience

Floral freezing tolerance is tied to flowering time in North American woody plant species

AbstractBackground and Aims. As winter and spring temperatures continue to increase, the timing of flowering and leaf-out is advancing in many seasonally c

doi.org

Very cool study Would love to do field survey of C3-C4 intermediates down the same transect in NT... potentially interesting populations that are disjunct from those in WA

New Phytologist@newphyt.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Soil phosphorus drives subcontinental patterns of carbon-isotope discrimination across Australia Alam et al. @awcheesman.bsky.social @mdekauwe.bsky.social @ianjwright.bsky.social @lucascernusak.bsky.social nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Libraries are amazing! Bews 1929 The World's Grasses

According to my supervisor, writing is like teaching a turkey how to fly.

✅📄Now Free Access: The flower does not open in the city: evolution of plant reproductive traits of Portulaca oleracea in urban populations Get the Paper: doi.org/10.1093/aob/... #PlantScience

C4!!!!!

Jürgen Knauer@juergenknauer.bsky.social · 5mo ago

🚨Two fully funded PhD opportunities in Australia! Improving C4 photosynthesis in vegetation models. Supervised by Dani Way (ANU, Canberra) and myself (UTS, Sydney). 1. Lab- and field-based project at ANU – see flyer below 2. Modelling project at UTS – www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

If you're an #EcoEvo #PhD candidate anywhere in the world looking for project funding, consider applying for the @asn-amnat.bsky.social Student Research Award. Ten proposals for $2k in research funds will be awarded. Due 13 March 2026. Please share widely! 🧪 #grants #ecology #evolution #behavior

#Cell-to-cell connectivity: a future target for #crop improvement academic.oup.com/jxb/article/... #PlantScience #PlantStress @jxbotany.bsky.social @sebiology.bsky.social @plantcellphysiol.bsky.social @plantcelltech.bsky.social @plantcellatlas.bsky.social @cropxr.bsky.social @mcropper.bsky.social

Cell-to-cell connectivity: a future target for crop improvement

This review explores plasmodesmata-mediated cell-to-cell connectivity as a key target for crop improvement. We list gene targets and propose genetic strate

academic.oup.com

Registration is open for *C460- From Kranz to Crops: Celebrating 60 Years of C4 Discovery and Innovation* Celebrating 60 years since the discovery of C4 photosynthesis! 23-25 July 2026 at Lancaster University, UK Generously funded by @annbot.bsky.social, @newphyt.bsky.social, and others!

I can do a pretty good impression of the LI-6400 leaf fan

Ecophys!

Botanical Society of America@botsocamerica.bsky.social · 6mo ago

🏵 Check out the latest #AJB Synthesis article, by Haley Branch! 🏵 The sleeping giant needs coffee: Overlooked areas for integrating plant #ecophysiology & evolutionary biology doi.org/10.1002/ajb2... #botany #plantscience #ecology #evolution

writing is always humbling

diurnals at 2% and ambient O2