Big brother, little brother.

Random thought question (or if there is data even better). Mutate 100 random TFs and mutate 100 random enzymes. Make the single gene mutations (lets not worry about epistais). Do scRNAseq or bulk transcriptomics. Which set of mutations will alter the accumulation of more transcripts?

From our FY26 joint CMM call: Dawn Chiniquy is using high-throughput bacterial genetics & targeted genome engineering to study how plant-associated bacteria capture and tolerate rare earth elements, aiding recovery strategies. @berkeleylab.lbl.gov Full portfolio: https://jointgeno.me/CMMFY26

Oddly as someone originally trained as a biochemical geneticist in the classical fashion, I think I am getting inured to gene based studies and the idea that just because genes and connections have been found that we learned something. Or is that the original training coming through?

Found this art work in Salt Lake City. Funky art deco columbine rendering. But cannot figure out the artist. Anyone in the botanical/art intersection have an idea?

We are deeply saddened to share that Michael Freeling passed away on 7/20/2026 after a year-long battle with cancer. Our deepest condolences go to his family, friends, colleagues, and the many students he inspired. We will share additional memorial information soon.

Too paste or to sauce while editing proposals and papers?

Scientists Uncover Why Grey Mold Defeats Resistance Across Crops scisoup.org/in/2026/07/1... @ritu2806.bsky.social @annajomu.bsky.social @spicybotrytis.bsky.social @ccaseys.bsky.social @scicommindia.bsky.social

Scientists Uncover Why Grey Mold Defeats Resistance Across Crops - SciSoup - A Science and Technology Blog

Scientists Uncover Why Grey Mold Defeats Resistance Across Crops SciSoup July 19, 2026 BY SCISOUP DESK Two studies explain how […]

scisoup.org

@diorkelley.bsky.social wins the Excellence in Education and Mentorship Award!!! 🎉 so richly deserved!!! #PlantBio2026

The monsoon into California brings heat and gorgeous sunsets.

When I was learning R in 2016 (grad school): I started in June and didn't get good until September. It was simple stats, data wrangling, ggplot, and bulk RNA-seq analysis. Fall 2026 I'll teach bioinformatics as my teaching assignment. Things can be difficult at first. Be patient.

Time for another preprint from the lab: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Led by @yuanyuanzhang.bsky.social and @defengshen.bsky.social. We found some surprising secrets that connect and uncouple root barrier formation with systemic nitrogen signaling in shoots. see the thread below for more details

A tunable receptor separates root barrier formation from nutrient signaling through ligand-perception states

In roots, the endodermis controls nutrient entry by forming a barrier known as the Casparian strip. Yet how barrier-associated processes interface with systemic signaling remains unclear. Here, we sho...

biorxiv.org

1. Plant hormone networks are characterized by an immense amount of cross-connectivity. 2. Having a hormone response is essential but connections are more conditional in their benefit. 3. Thus, connections will change. 4. Eventually whole network could be very different but hormones the same.

My lab has received an NSF CAREER Award funding for the next 5 years! Grateful to the NSF for continuing to support my lab's research and training (Award #2544620). The project asks the question: how do legumes differentiate between and select the best symbionts? Positions coming soon!

Barn swallows can be sardines.

When a topic is as big as specialized metabolism, it will almost always be possible to write "we don't know much about specialized metabolism so...". But at what point does that sentence loose utility in its repeating?

I'm very excited and so grateful to receive an NSF CAREER award - we'll be testing ideas about how CAM evolves using C3+CAM intermediate species and teaching students how plant physiology and genomics can simultaneously inform our understanding of plant biodiversity. www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/... 1/2

If you are a mystery solver, want to learn more about hybridization or just love boechera come check out my talk #Evol2026 tomorrow at 2:45 “What roles have polyploidy and hybridization played in the evolution of eastern Boechera stricta?”

a dog is standing in a room with the words `` let 's solve the mystery '' written above it .

ALT: a dog is standing in a room with the words `` let 's solve the mystery '' written above it .

media.tenor.com

The German shepherd hides close to me whenever there is a backup beep from a truck. The Mastiff knows he hates that sound and lays close to him to comfort.

What does fewer but better papers even mean? Tons more work in single papers? Feels like a way for labs with tons of support to churn through labor to create single papers. Can’t do that in labs living grant to grant as need papers for people to start their careers.

Amy Angert and I are recruiting 2 temporary field technicians to assist with demographic surveys across the range of scarlet monkeyflower in California and Oregon. Perfect for recent graduates who are considering applying for grad school. Apply here: jobs.ncsu.edu/postings/231.... Please share!

A co-proteomic view of metabolite-specific interactions in the Botrytis cinerea-Arabidopsis pathosystem https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.06.05.730517v1

ATML1-GIR1-TPL/TPR transcriptional repression module controls glucosinolates and giant cells in Arabidopsis thaliana sepals https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.06.03.724713v1

Happy to share our work! 🍄🍇 Botrytis cinerea grapevine-specialized strains harbor a specific repertoire of transposons. While retrotransposon-derived small RNAs do not appear to play a significant role in virulence on grapevine, a new giant transposon—a #Starship— confers arsenic resistance.

bioRxiv Genomics@biorxiv-genomic.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Role of transposons in the specialization of Botrytis cinerea to grapevine: Insights into small RNAs and a new Starship https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.05.30.728154v1

The whole robot driven research idea feels like it will drive all biology to single cell systems and any organismal or field level analysis will be largely lost. Not seeing a cost effective whole life cycle robot for plant or animal biology for a long time.

After 25 years if genetically Manipulating glucosinolates there is one key takeaway for synthetic biology; every single genomic background will behave differently and you can’t predict it using any existing data no matter how skilled the AI or human. There is simply not enough independent data.

Second study showed: How do diverse plants respond to the same pathogen? Using a cross-species transcriptomic atlas, we uncover conserved and lineage-specific immune responses. 📖 doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

First study ask: How does B. cinerea infect such a wide range of plants? We reveal conserved and host-specific transcriptional programs that underpin its broad host range. 📖 doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

Combined generalist and host-specific transcriptional strategies enable host generalism in the fungal pathogen Botrytis cinerea | PNAS

How generalist pathogens infect phylogenetically diverse hosts remains a central question in plant-pathogen biology. In particular, the extent to w...

doi.org

Excited to share two new PNAS papers on Botrytis cinerea—the fungus that spoils nearly everything. Together, these studies explore how the pathogen infects diverse hosts and how plants respond across evolutionary diversity.

The problem is not coming up with hypothesis and experiments. AI doing that faster is nibbling at the edge of optimization. The problem is hands, money and training to do the crazy experiments needed. Robots will need a long time to have the throughput per dollar efficiency for plant research.