NEWS FROM
PHYSIOLOGIA PLANTARUM
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Published monthly on behalf of SPPS by Wiley-Blackwell.
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Function of mitochondria in desiccation tolerance
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When seeds mature they loose most protoplasmic water and eventually holds no free water in the cells. This calls for a number of protective mechanisms to protect the structure and function of macromolecules and membranes, including the mitochondria whose function is imperative for the seed's ability to germinate after rehydration. In order to study this, Song-Quan Song from The Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, China investigated mitochondrial function and structure of pea (Pisum sativum) seeds during germination after various sequential imbibition, dehydration and re-imbibition treatments. It turned out that while the outer mitochondrial membrane kept its integrity in all treatments, integrity of the inner mitochondrial membrane and cytochrome respiratory function was more labile after prolonged imbibition (more than 12 hours) and this correlated with decreased desiccation tolerance. Imbibition in the presence of CaCl2, however, increased desiccation tolerance, suggesting the requirement for Ca2+ in mitochondrial membrane structure and function.
Read full article free: Wang et al (January 2012) Physiologia Plantarum 144: 20
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NEWS IN BRIEF
FROM OTHER JOURNALS
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How to hijack genes
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Transcription activator-like effectors (TALEs) are proteins secreted by the pathogenic bacteria Xanthomonas. They are injected into plant cells where they take control of expression of host genes to the benefit of the pathogen. Crystal structures of two TALEs - dHax3 and PthXo1 - now reveal how the hijacking proteins are able to accomplish their mission. It turns out they form a right-handed superhelix that wraps around the DNA duplex making base-specific contact to positions in the major groove. Each contact point is mediated by 33-35 amino acid repeats that are highly conserved except for two hypervariable residues at positions 12 and 13. The amino acid at position 12 has a stabilizing function, whereas the one at position 13 makes the base-specific pairing - eg histidine and aspartic acid to cytosine; asparagine and serine to adenine; histidine and glycine to thymine; or asparagine and asparagine to guanine. The two independent studies by Yigong Shi from Beijing, China and Barry Stoddard from Seattle, USA may eventually help other researchers to design DNA-binding proteins for tailored biotechnological applications.
Source: Deng et al (5 January 2012) Science doi:10.1126/science.1215670 & Mak et al (5 January 2012) Science doi:10.1126/science.1216211
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Failed water management caused decline of the Khmer Empire
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Archaeological studies of the remains from the thousand year old Khmer Empire in Angkor in northern Cambodia suggest that a combination of climate and water management practices was responsible for the civilizations collapse in the late 14th and early 15th century. Mary Beth Day from University of Cambridge, UK studied sediments from a so-called baray, a complex hydro-engineering system comprised of large reservoir, canals, moats and embankments, that was used to collect and store water from the summer monsoons. Studies of Sr isotopes, sedimentation rates, sediment density, composition and organic matter content revealed sudden changes in sedimentation and ecology during the 14th century. The changes were driven by a combination of drought, heavy rainfall and the way the inhabitants responded by altering water management and land use practices. This caused the ecology of the baray to change with more bottom-dwelling algae and floating plants, making it insufficient to cope with the new climate.
Source: Day et al (3 January 2012) PNAS doi:10.1073/pnas.1111282109
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7th SPPS PhD Student Conference already this year
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The conference will take place at Laulasmaa in Estonia. From www.laulasmaa.ee
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We are happy to announce that the 7th SPPS PhD Student Conference will take place already this autumn, from the 12th to the 15th September 2012. For the first time in history the conference will be held in Estonia, in Laulasmaa. The conference venue is located amidst beautiful pine forest and seashore with the singing sands of Laulasmaa just a short walk away.
SPPS PhD student conferences are directed at PhD students and aim to create a social network of young plant scientists over the world. Also, the conference offers PhD students the opportunity to interact with and learn from experienced plant scientists who attend the meeting as invited speakers. Mark Tester and Ülo Niinemets have already agreed to give keynote lectures at this year's conference, to name a few.
Registration to the 7th SPPS PhS Student Conference will open on the 1st of February 2012. SPPS members will have a special registration fee. Please keep in mind, that you can apply for a travel grant from SPPS to cover your expenses for attending the conference. In order to be eligible for a travel grant, you must have been a member of SPPS in 2011.
The student meeting of the year is waiting for you! You can read more about the conference on the official homepage.
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Report from the Global Plant Council (GPC) meeting in China
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The city of Qingdao hosted the GPC meeting. From www.whataboutclients.com
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The 2nd Annual Meeting of the Global Plant Council (GPC) took place last summer in the Chinese city of Qingdao and was hosted by the Chinese Society of Plant Biology. GPC is an international coalition of 20 plant science societies and 14 of them were represented at the meeting. The purpose of GPC is to use the expertise of its members to address problems and identify solutions to global issues like hunger, health and climate change where plants in one way or another can play a critical role. The main focus of the meeting was to identify these problems.
The Council identified nine key issues that will be addressed according to the following priority:- Digital Seed Bank
- Local-level Diversity and Yield Stability
- Increasing/Enriching Agricultural Diversity
- Biofortification
- The Plant Environment Metagenome
- Development of Medicinal Plant-based Products
- Species Information for Sustainable Adaptation Capability to Climate Change
- Developing Perennial Rice/Wheat/Maize
- Sharing Information and Resources
The member societies are encouraged to provide experts and input to these activities and the Council will then take initiative to arrange workshops on the topics.
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Time to renew your SPPS membership
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Renew or sign up now. Graphic by Gorm Palmgren.
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It is time to renew your SPPS membership for 2012. We offer the same low price as last year and even give you the possibility to save 33% by signing up for a 5 year membership. In addition, students are now offered a reduced fee at only half the price. Furthermore you can add a print subscription to Physiologia Plantarum - the Society's own highly ranked journal - for just a small premium. You can easily renew right now through a safe connection on our homepage or sign up for SPPS membership if you are not already a member.
| SPPS membership fees for 2012 | Membership type | 1 year | 5 year | 5 year saving | | Regular members | 30 € | 100 € | 33% | | Student members | 15 € | 50 € | 33% | | Additional print subscription to Physiologia Plantarum | 120 € per year |
As a member of SPPS you enjoy several benefits, including:- Free SPPS newsletter four times a year
- Free online access to Physiologia Plantarum, also to the archives (starting from Vol. 1, 1948)
- Discounts on registration fees to SPPS and FESPB Congresses
- Possibilities of obtaining travel grants
- An electronic membership directory
You can read more about the benefits of being member of SPPS at the Members section on our homepage.
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Fascination of Plants Day goes global
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Discussions during monday's poster session. From plantday12.eu
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The initiative taken by European Plant Science Organisation (EPSO) to arrange a Fascination of Plants Day has gained momentum as 153 institutions from 29 countries in Europe, Asia and Australia are now joining in. Research institutions, botanical gardens, museums, farmers, administrators and private companies are among those that will be hosting events where everybody can come and experience a myriad of fascinating aspects about plants and the multiple ways they influence our society.
The goal is that children, senior citizens and everybody in between will enjoy a fascinating day and get enthused about the importance of plant science for not only agriculture, horticulture and forestry, but also for environmental conservation, energy and food production as well as the chemical, pharmaceutical and paper industry. So mark May 18th 2012 in your calendar and get ready to plant a virtual seed in your own mind.
You can read more about the Fascination of Plants Day at the official homepage or in a former article in SPPS Newsletter.
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Evaluation of Finnish plant science
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The Evaluation Report covers plants science in Finland 2005-2009. From www.aka.fi
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The Academy of Finland has completed an international evaluation of plant science in Finland during the period 2005-2009. Four universities (Helsinki, Eastern Finland, Oulo and Turku) and three government research organizations (MTT Agrifood Research Finland, the Finnish Forest Research Institute Metla, and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland) were evaluated eventhough some of them only deal with plant science to a limited extent. The evaluation was based on pre-collected material and direct interviews by the expert panel, which was headed by Professor Dorothea Bartels from University of Bonn, Germany.
The evaluation panel observed an overall high standard of Finnish plant science research and found that the researchers are able to attract considerable external funding, steadily publish their results in peer-reviewed journals and actively train young researchers. However, the quality was heterogeneous and the panel noted a relationship between the critical mass of scientists and students and the quality of research. The smaller units more often produced results at the descriptive level rather than addressing causal relations.
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ShortNews from the plant science field
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ShortNews from the field of plant science. Graphic by Gorm Palmgren.
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ShortNews from the plant science field is a new regular section in SPPS Newsletter. Here, we will bring you up to date with some of all the small things that is going on in the field of plant science. If you happen to know about something - an arrangement, a change of organisation, some major achievements or the like - that you would like to share with a broader audience, feel free to send a notice to the SPPS secretary.
 Plant Link is a new alliance between SLU Alnarp and Lund University. It aims to strengthen the collaboration between scientists and build an internationally recognized research center which integrates basic and applied research focused on plants. The centre has support from the Skåne Regional Council and the kick-off was September 27th.
Contact person: Erik Alexandersson@slu.se
Read more here
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Farming goes vertical
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Can vertical farming make highrise buildings self-sufficient? From questpointsolarsolutions.com
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Feeding an ever increasing population in a changing climate is a huge challenge to farmers and agricultural researchers. But some believe that agriculture of the future might not depend on neither climate nor need for land. Instead of growing our crops under open skies in rural areas, the 'fields' should move indoor and into the middle of cities.
If we for a moment forget the problems such an approach would face, it is obviously a good idea. The vast majority of consumers does not live in the countryside where food is produced nowadays, so it has to be transported over long distances. Not only does this require high transport costs and lead to massive carbon-dioxide emissions, but it also takes time so food is spoiled and reaches the consumer in a less than perfect condition. The use of pesticides, herbicides and fungicides can be kept to a bare minimum by growing plants indoors in a controlled environment, and only minimal amounts of water and nutrients will be needed due to recycling. Moreover, the cities and their inhabitants would benefit from a greener environment, and all the problems with agricultural run-off will be kept to a minimum.
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Scandinavian research institute:
Faculty of Landscape Planning, Horticulture and Agricultural Sciences, SLU, Sweden
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SLU is divided into 4 faculties located at 4 main campuses. From www.slu.se
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SLU (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences or Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet) is a university seated under the Ministry for Rural Affairs and, accordingly, is highly focused on research in biological resources and production. With a total staff of 2900, 700 graduate students and 4000 undergraduate students, the university deals with almost all topics related to agriculture, forestry and food industry to environmental questions, veterinary medicine and biotechnology. SLU is divided into four faculties located at four main campuses spread around the country: In this issue of the SPPS Newsletter we will present the Faculty of Landscape Planning, Horticulture and Agricultural Sciences, which is located at the campus in Alnarp in the southernmost part of Sweden.
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