NEWS FROM
PHYSIOLOGIA PLANTARUM
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Published monthly on behalf of SPPS by Wiley-Blackwell.
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How tubulins build the structure of barley
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It takes more than just a single type of tubulin, the major subunit of microtubules, to build the structural framework for the developing barley embryo. Expression profiles of 14 different tubulin genes generated by German and Ukrainian scientists have revealed that their levels of expression differed significantly during development. In general, expression of all the tubulin genes peaked at two days after flowering - apparently to sustain mitosis during endosperm formation. A less prominent peak around 8 days after flowering included only some tubulins and is believed to involve cell wall organization. One gene, HvTUA5 had a very distinct expression profile which is apparently associated with shoot establishment.
Read full article free: Radchunk et al. (December 2007) Physiologia Plantarum 131: 571-580
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NEWS IN BRIEF
FROM OTHER JOURNALS
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Pump structure gives hope for salt tolerant crops
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Source: Pedersen et al (13 December 2007) Nature 450: 1111-1115
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Carnivorous fungi hunted with lasso
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Source: Schmidt et al. (14 December 2007) Science 318: 1743
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Scandinavian plant research in progress
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Plant scientists from University of Copenhagen made it to the cover of Nature this month. From www.nature.com
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In a triumph for Scandinavian plant research, Danish scientists recently made a dream come true. While some might want to see their picture on the cover of the Rolling Stones, Mickey Gjedde Palmgren from University of Copenhagen made it even better with a picture of his favorite ion pump on the cover of Nature. Dedicated plant papers in the 'all round' top journals Nature, Science and PNAS are not common, but around 10-15 Scandinavian plant research groups actually made it into this good company during 2007.
The funding structures in most Scandinavian countries have tended to preferentially support large research groups with a proven record of long time expertise in their fields. In other words, a small hand-picked group of scientists get a bigger share of the available funding. The official goal is to support strong, innovative research groups that can attract international top scientists and this policy should hopefully lead to more papers in the prestigious journals and to more successful applications to the EU Framework Programme 7.
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The European Research Council has a budget of approx. €12 billion during Framework Programme 7. From erc.europa.eu
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The European Research Council, however, may judge things differently. They have recently published the results of their Starting Grant Competition where young scientists are supported in order to establish a scientific career. Grants are between €100,000 and €400,000 per year for a period of up to 5 years. The evaluation criteria is a blend of the person's potential and track record as well as the project's scientific value, innovativeness and feasibility. In other words, the ERC Scientific Grant is kind of a scientific incubator and should reflect the strongholds of European science.
And the results did not suggest overwhelming potential for Scandinavian research that attracted only 14 out of 201 granted proposals - amounting to 7% - whereas the number of Scandinavian proposals put on the waiting list was 20 out of 229, i.e. 9%. However, from the perspective of a plant scientist the result was even worse, as no plant related projects were either granted or put on the waiting list. Actually, only one biological project was considered and this was given to Otso Ovaskainen from University of Helsinki who is working with population dynamics of insects.
Granted proposals for ERC Starting Grant (201 total) | Scientific area | Sweden | Finland | Denmark | Norway | Total |
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| Medicine, human physiology & genetics | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | | Physics, mathematics, & chemistry | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | | Polics & economics | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | | Biology | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | | Not reported | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | | Total | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
Source: http://erc.europa.eu/pdf/Listfinal.pdf
Proposals on waiting list for ERC Starting Grant (229 total) | Scientific area | Sweden | Finland | Denmark | Norway | Total |
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| Medicine, human physiology & genetics | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | | Physics, mathematics, & chemistry | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | | Polics & economics | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Biology | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Not reported | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | | Total | 10 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 20 |
Source: http://erc.europa.eu/pdf/Listfinal.pdf
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With a total of € 71 billion, the annual budget of FP7 is more than doubled compared to FP6. Graphic by Gorm Palmgren.
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With a budget of almost €12 billion, the European Research Council makes up for 17% of the total budget for Framework Programme 7 (FP7). Accordingly, there are still many possibilities for Scandinavian plant scientists to grab a fair share of the altogether €71 billion at stake.
And the future actually looks bright since - in contrast to FP6 - EU now seems set to embrace plant biotechnology. A total of €2.5 billion will be allocated to the theme Food, Agriculture and Biotechnology, which also includes the Technology Platform Plants for the Future, Food for Life and Sustainable Chemistry - look here for additional details.
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