Massive job opening: Director of Science at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew careers.kew.org/vacancy/exec...
Executive Director of Science - Careers | Kew Gardens
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (RBG Kew) is a world-famous scientific organisation, internationally respected for its outstanding collections as well as its expertise in plant and fungal diversity, co...
careers.kew.org
Heads up that I am critically reviewing the new BBC series 'Evolution' presented by @chrisgpackham.bsky.social here on my personal blog. richardbuggs.com/blog/
Latest preprint from my group: Mapping the distribution of elms in Britain after a century of Dutch elm disease www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Mapping the distribution of elms in Britain after a century of Dutch elm disease
The establishment of novel pests and pathogens that devastate populations of trees is increasing around the world, giving rise to policy and management decisions about how to restore treescapes. Such ...
biorxiv.org
Apply here for a postdoc position at Kew, working on elm tree genomics careers.kew.org/vacancy/post...
Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) - Careers | Kew Gardens
We are seeking a postdoctoral research associate to conduct genomic analyses of elms affected by Dutch elm disease, including genome assembly, annotation, and phylogenomic convergence analyses. The pr...
careers.kew.org
Science: Tree-killing beetle is spreading to urban forests around the world www.science.org/content/arti...
Tree-killing beetle is spreading to urban forests around the world
As researchers piece together the pest’s global trek, countries are working to contain the growing threat
science.org
Defra have published an external review of Kew Science 2021-2025. I am grateful that the use of genomics to identify the acquisition of resistance to ash dieback disease in natural woodland populations was identified as a highlight. sciencesearch.defra.gov.uk/ProjectDetai...
Science Search
Science Search is a Defra Service to allow searching of Defra sponsored research.
sciencesearch.defra.gov.uk
In the 1920s a renegade botanist working in the unlit undercroft of Kew's herbarium purloined invaluable plant specimens and smuggled them to Pretoria. The newly unearthed story of "The Smith Episode" is documented for the first time in Kew Bulletin here: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
The ‘Smith Episode’ - Kew Bulletin
A brief history of ‘Miscellaneous Notes’ appearing in the Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information, Kew, is provided, beginning with Thiselton Dyer’s introduction to the Bulletin in 1887. The first of th...
link.springer.com
Join us to do a PhD "Understanding the evolutionary repercussions of adaptation to new threats," following up on our recent Science paper on natural selection by ash dieback. trees-dla.ac.uk/projects/und...
Understanding the evolutionary repercussions of adaptation to new threats | TREES DLA
This project will analyse the wider evolutionary repercussions of genetic adaptation to novel threats, by analysing genomic and trait data from tree populations suffering from a fungal pathogen epidem...
trees-dla.ac.uk
It’s often said that humans and chimps share 99% of their DNA. That means a lot less than almost everybody believes it means geneticliteracyproject.org/2025/09/15/i... 🧪
It’s often said that humans and chimps share 99% of their DNA. That means a lot less than almost everybody believes it means
Early research suggested that human and chimp genomes are more than 98% identical. "What it means is that for each part of the human genome where the
geneticliteracyproject.org
New review in Biophysical Journal shows that the ubiquitous molecular machine ATP synthase is highly efficient, and needs to be so to support life. This level of efficiency makes all currently suggested evolutionary pathways for ATP synthase evolution implausible. sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 🧪
The molecular mechanism of ATP synthase constrains the evolutionary landscape of chemiosmosis
ATP synthase, the enzyme responsible for regenerating adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in the cell, comprises a proton-translocating motor in the cell mem…
sciencedirect.com
Check out our preprint presenting the construction and application of a pangenome for European ash @laura-j-kelly.bsky.social @rbuggs.bsky.social
bioRxiv Genomics@biorxiv-genomic.bsky.social · last yr.European ash pangenome reveals widespread structural variation and a diverse genetic basis for low ash dieback susceptibility https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.16.665114v1
Preliminary genetic barcodes for ash (Fraxinus) species and generation of new wide hybrids - Plumb et al with @rbuggs.bsky.social in @plantspeopleplanet.bsky.social nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Preliminary genetic barcodes for ash (Fraxinus) species and generation of new wide hybrids
Societal Impact Statement The world-wide diversity of ash trees includes genetic information encoding resistance to the ash dieback fungus and the emerald ash borer beetle, which are currently devas...
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
A privilege to be interviewed by Éanna Ní Lamhna (what a lovely accent!) on Raidió Teilifís Éireann @rteradio1.bsky.social (Ireland's National Public Service) who did a great job in getting to the heart of our recent @science.org paper www.rte.ie/radio/podcas...
Can we save the Ash tree?
Ash Dieback Disease has become a significant blight on the tree and is affecting supply for hurleys. However, research from Kew Gardens may give hope. Éanna speaks to Professor Richard Buggs, Senior R...
rte.ie
Our latest preprint: Genetic basis of traits and local adaptation in UK silver birch 🧪 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Genetic basis of traits and local adaptation in UK silver birch
Knowledge of the genomic basis of phenotypes in forest trees lags that of other economically important organisms. We sequenced the genomes of 2054 silver birch trees from 20-year-old field trials at three locations in Britain, each site containing trees from the same 29 source populations. Our results lay foundations for genomic source-selection and breeding. We discovered single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) associated with tree height, wood density, carbon isotope composition and stem form. Using genome-wide SNP we predicted variation in several phenotypic traits of trees with a similar genetic background and estimated the breeding values of 148 selected plus trees. We identified loci associated with adaptation to source local environments. We used these loci to forecast adaptation to each trial site and future predicted conditions at source. Comparison of these forecasts to phenotypic performance in the trials suggests that genomic forecasts of adaptation to future climates should be interpreted with caution. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, https://ror.org/00tnppw48, Center for Forest Protection Grant 2202 Research Council of Finland, 343059
biorxiv.org
Fresnos silvestres desarrollan resistencia genética frente al hongo letal en Reino Unido www.colglobalnews.com/noticias/fre... 🧪
Fresnos silvestres desarrollan resistencia genética frente al hongo letal en Reino Unido
Una investigación publicada en la revista Science revela que las nuevas generaciones de fresnos silvestres están mostrando una rápida resistencia genética al hongo invasor Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, res...
colglobalnews.com
Delighted to see this article on my collaborator Dr Miguel Nemesio-Gorriz in El Pais @elpais_espana elpais.com/ciencia/2025...
Un hongo invade España y mata a casi todos los fresnos que se encuentra
El patógeno, procedente de Asia oriental, ya ha arrasado los árboles de multitud de países europeos y se extiende por el Parque Nacional de los Picos de Europa
elpais.com
Thanks Kew! The paper itself can be found here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Kew Gardens@rbgkew.bsky.social · last yr.BIG NEWS! We’ve found that ash trees are fighting back against ash dieback disease! 🌳💪 Scientists at Kew & QMUL @qmul.bsky.social have discovered that young ash trees are evolving resistance to this devastating fungus - & fast 🌍 Read the story👉 www.kew.org/read-and-wat... #PlantScience #SciNews
BIG NEWS! We’ve found that ash trees are fighting back against ash dieback disease! 🌳💪 Scientists at Kew & QMUL @qmul.bsky.social have discovered that young ash trees are evolving resistance to this devastating fungus - & fast 🌍 Read the story👉 www.kew.org/read-and-wat... #PlantScience #SciNews
Just out in Science: we demonstrate a micro-evolutionary shift in a single generation, involving thousands of genomic loci, giving younger ash trees more resistance to ash dieback, on average, than their parents www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adp2990
Rapid polygenic adaptation in a wild population of ash trees under a novel fungal epidemic
Rapid evolution through small shifts in allele frequencies at thousands of loci is a long-standing neo-Darwinian prediction but is hard to characterize in the wild. European ash tree (Fraxinus excelsi...
science.org