Department of Plant Sciences Cambridge
@camplantsci.bsky.social
News, research and updates from the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge.🌱🔬 🌾 https://www.plantsci.cam.ac.uk/
Researchers, plant breeders, funders & farmers are invited to register their interest for the Africa Crop Forum 2026 - Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, October 2026. The forum will focus on collaborative solutions to African agricultural challenges including climate resilience. 👉 tinyurl.com/4bm69yr9
Another paper out! In this paper, we evaluated 10 melon cultivars for their response to M. incognita and tested three biocontrol agents - B. amyloliquefaciens, P.lilacinum, and P. chlamydosporia - for nematode suppression. 📄Please check the full paper here: doi.org/10.1590/3085...
doi.org
Enjoying watching the bees choose between different flower colours on this Leptospermum scoparium at the beautiful botanical garden garden in Madeira
Three distinct nematode ‘transcriptional programmes’ are evident, and we find that effectors are neither uniformly deployed across hosts nor across groups. We show that there is no widespread core gall transcriptome at 25 DPI. We therefore proposed a model described as ‘all roads lead to Rome’.
The host range paradox of <fi>Meloidogyne incognita</fi>: a physiological and transcriptomic analysis of nine susceptible interactions across six plant orders
Phylogenetic distance of host does not explain phenotypic differences of Meloidogyne incognita parasitism at 25 dpi.
doi.org
Finally out! A long-standing question is how M incognita can infect representatives from most orders of flowering plants, covering > 3000 spp. Our data show that phylogenetic distribution does not explain the phenotypic distribution of parasitism. Check it here: doi.org/10.1111/nph....
The host range paradox of <fi>Meloidogyne incognita</fi>: a physiological and transcriptomic analysis of nine susceptible interactions across six plant orders
Phylogenetic distance of host does not explain phenotypic differences of Meloidogyne incognita parasitism at 25 dpi.
doi.org
Deadline is fast approaching for submissions to our workshop callout! If there is a topic that you are really passionate about and would like to see represented at the conference then don't hesitate and apply now. Submit here: buff.ly/4QyMmV5
Join the Early Career Researcher Committee and help shape the future of engineering biology research in Cambridge. Open to Postdoc, PhD student and support staff from the University of Cambridge only. Find out more and apply: www.engbio.cam.ac.uk/join-engbio-...
A faster, cheaper way to map the world's forests with AI - great article here about @geotessera.org research involving James Ball & David Coomes from @camplantsci.bsky.social 👉 tinyurl.com/mv8cs78y @cambridgebiosci.bsky.social @camzoology.bsky.social 🧪
TESSERA@geotessera.org · 6d agoMapping tree species from space is hard, especially in mountains. But not for Tessera! Read our latest on mapping tree species in Trentino's Alpine forests. geotessera.org/news/2026-07... With @camplantsci.bsky.social #EarthObservation #RemoteSensing
New pre-print. Biosynthesis of limonene in Marchantia is carried out by a small biosynthetic gene cluster specific to oil body cells #PlantScience www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Neryl diphosphate-derived monoterpene biosynthesis via a biosynthetic gene cluster in the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha
Monoterpenes (C10) are a large group of specialized metabolites important for plant interactions with the environment. Their biosynthesis is well understood in seed plants, where geranyl diphosphate s...
biorxiv.org
Excited to share this story in its final form, now published in ACS Synthetic Biology. #PlantBiology #Synbio pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Engineering Auronidin Production in Marchantia polymorpha Enables a New Class of Plant-Derived Textile Pigments
Plant-derived pigments offer sustainable alternatives to synthetic colorants, yet their practical deployment in textiles is limited by restricted chemical diversity and low abundance. Liverworts represent a source of diverse chemical compounds, and the model liverworts Marchantia polymorpha are emerging as chassis for bioengineering and synthetic biology. Here, we report the biotechnological application of auronidins, a rare class of flavonoid pigments, as textile dyes. Using M. polymorpha, we engineered enhanced auronidin production through controlled expression of the R2R3-MYB transcription factor MpMYB14. We systematically benchmarked constitutive and inducible gene expression systems, including heat-shock, glucocorticoid receptor, and β-estradiol (XVE) circuits, identifying inducible strategies that decouple biomass accumulation from secondary metabolite production while achieving high pigment yields. Extracted auronidins were used to dye cotton yarn directly, demonstrating the feasibility of auronidins for textile dyeing. Our results establish M. polymorpha as a versatile plant chassis for programmable secondary metabolite production and introduce auronidins as a promising natural pigment platform for sustainable textile biotechnology.
pubs.acs.org
Facundo Romani@fromani.bsky.social · 6mo agoMarchantia might seem an unlikely biotech crop, but it’s worth trying. In Aurore’s thesis, we pushed this concept by engineering the auronidins with MpMYB14 and using the pigments to dye cotton. It ended up giving a very unique and beautiful product. #PlantScience www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
I will be presenting my @camplantsci.bsky.social #postdoc work at the Plant Phys Centennial posters today from 5.30pm to 6.15pm poster number # 000-014! Come chat about tranposon-derived 22nt sRNAs in 🍅! #PlantBio2026 @aspbofficial.bsky.social
🚨 #MUSEUMJOBS KLAXON🚨 We're looking for a Senior Digitiser and two Digitisers to work across @zoologymuseum.bsky.social & @camplantsci.bsky.social to help create biodiversity data for the researchers who need it, through #DiSSCoUK. 1. www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/senior-... 2. www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/digitis...
We're excited to be collaborating with @ox.ac.uk on a major new project to digitise over a million natural history specimens for climate research. Read more: tinyurl.com/ynb2rk7z @docbroc.bsky.social @jackdashby.bsky.social @cambridgebiosci.bsky.social @cam.ac.uk 🧪 #DigitalCollections #DiSSCoUK
📢Major new partnership between Oxford & Cambridge museums will release over a million digitised specimen records of British plants & insects. https://ow.ly/rXlt50ZnG37 Department of Plant Sciences Cambridge, UK Research and Innovation, Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford #DiSSCoUK
We’re so excited to welcome The Basin Street Brawlers to the Garden as Sounds Green continues tomorrow 🎶 Settle in with family, friends, great food and drink for an evening of brilliant music in a beautiful setting. See you tomorrow! 🌿 Book now: https://bit.ly/4wHNs2T #SoundsGreen #CUBG
Workshop Open Call - BiPS Conference 2026 Do you have an idea of a workshop or panel? Have you already got an idea for speakers and the format? If so, please fill out the form below. Submit here: buff.ly/h1ajk1a Deadline for submissions: Monday 17 August.
Preprint! How do "friendly" rhizobia build a legume nodule? @albinteulet.bsky.social found that some may carry hidden transcription factors - proteins that mimic DNA-binding folds to enter the plant nucleus and rewrite its developmental program. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... (1/6)
A recurring signature: NLS+nucleic-acid-binding domains+activation domains. Hallmarks of transcription factors. It's not just symbionts. The same architecture appears in gall-inducing Pantoea effectors, proven DNA-binding transcriptional activators. (5/6)
Big picture: symbionts and pathogens converged on the same strategy - enter the host nucleus, reprogram development. Rhizobial Nops (Nodule outer proteins) join TAL and Hsv effectors. What will they target? (end/6) Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Structure models: doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
Structural modeling uncovers diverse predicted transcriptional and post-transcriptional modulators among type III effectors of symbiotic Rhizobia
Rhizobia are soil bacteria that establish nitrogen-fixing symbioses with legumes. While many rhizobia use a Type III Secretion System to deliver "Nodulation Outer Protein" (Nop) effectors, some unique...
biorxiv.org
The latest edition of our Biological Reviews is now out: Volume 101, Issue 4. Issue details: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
What can a 300-year-old plant specimen reveal? Join Juliet Anderson for our next Science on Sundays talk and explore the hidden treasures of Cambridge University Herbarium. 🗓️ 12 July, 2.30pm 🌿 Free with normal Garden admission https://bit.ly/4f1hzLD
#PlantScience Res Weekly(2/2) plantae.org/plant-scienc... What’s up with stromules? Single-cell stem cell dynamics; Not all arbuscules pull the same weight; Long non-coding RNA in rice blast disease; Retrotransposons ➡️site-specific genome editing @sebamorenor.bsky.social @jenmcgaley.bsky.social
#PlantScience Research Weekly: July 10, 2026 plantae.org/plant-scienc... Lichen super pangenome reveals interaction repertoires; Maize multi-omics predicts phenotypes; Role of Tre6P in root development; A host-viral regulatory circuit affects chloroplast stability (1/2) @bobvanburen.bsky.social
Growing love - when a root meets a symbiotic #Mycorrhiza #fungus See what happens with MycorRhize3D. schornacklabslcu.github.io/MycorRhize3D/ Simulate a tap root in soil with spores. Roots turn red when colonised, just like in this paper journals.plos.org/plosbiology/... Reply for suggestions!
Excited to give a talk and serve as a session chair at #PlantBiology2026! I'll be chairing the Genes/Genomes: Regulatory & Transcriptional Networks session. Looking forward to engaging discussions and catching up with friends. If you're attending, let me know—happy to meet up! 🌱
🌿Plant Picks of the Week Here’s some of the plants looking lovely this week: 🌱Koelreuteria paniculata 🌱Achillea millefolium ‘Pomegranate’ 🌱Erythrostemon gilliesii 🌱Colchicum striatum 🌱Aesculus parviflora Have you seen any highlights on your visit? More here: https://bit.ly/4wiDohA
CLOSING SOON: 2 Postdocs (Cambridge, UK) Mathematical and computational modelling of plant disease spread and control with @nikcunniffe.bsky.social at @camplantsci.bsky.social More details: http://iddjobs.org/jobs/2555
New @cam.ac.uk feature on the wonderful work in the Howe Lab to develop biocells that harness the chemistry of algae to power small devices: www.cam.ac.uk/stories/camb...
A truly green way to power our devices
At a time when ‘being green’ matters more than ever, a team of Cambridge researchers has devised a way to power electronic devices that’s taken the brief quite literally.
cam.ac.uk
University of Cambridge@cam.ac.uk · 4w agoCambridge researchers have created a device that could replace disposable batteries with a cleaner source of energy 🔋 A team at @cambiochem.bsky.social are using process of photosynthesis in algae to generate continuous electricity, without harming the organism. Read more: https://bit.ly/4oXhs8k
