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<title>Idowu Obisesan: Nurturing a Passion for Plants</title>
<link>https://botany.one/2024/05/idowu-obisesan-nurturing-a-passion-for-plants/</link>
<comments>https://botany.one/2024/05/idowu-obisesan-nurturing-a-passion-for-plants/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Carlos Andres Ordonez Parra]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Sat, 18 May 2024 07:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Cells, Genes & Molecules]]></category>
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<category><![CDATA[Plants & People]]></category>
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<description><![CDATA[Botany One interviews Dr Idowu Obisesan for Fascination for Plants Day to lean more about her interest in plant physiology, sustainability and societal challenges.
The post <a href="https://botany.one/2024/05/idowu-obisesan-nurturing-a-passion-for-plants/">Idowu Obisesan: Nurturing a Passion for Plants</a> appeared first on <a href="https://botany.one">Botany One</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
With <a href="https://plantday18may.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Fascination of Plants Day</a> approaching, Botany One has prepared a series of interviews with researchers from around the world working in different areas of botany to share the stories and inspiration behind their careers.
To close our series, we have <a href="https://bowen.edu.ng/idowu-obisesan/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dr Idowu Obisesan,</a> a Professor at Bowen University (Nigeria). Obisesan is a plant physiologist focused on legumes’ responses to abiotic and biotic factors and on finding and promoting sustainable agricultural practices for the production of these vital crops. Moreover, she is also interested in medicinal plant research and has her own YouTube channel called “<a href="https://twitter.com/IdowuAobisesan" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Plant Therapist</a>“, which features content on science-proven plant medicine. You can follow more of her work on X as <a href="https://twitter.com/IdowuAobisesan">@IdowuAobisesan</a>.
<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="750" height="1000" src="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Dr.-Idowu-Obisesan-mesuring-the-cholophyll-content-of-soybean-leaf-with-a-SPAD-meter.jpg?resize=750%2C1000&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-80916" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Dr.-Idowu-Obisesan-mesuring-the-cholophyll-content-of-soybean-leaf-with-a-SPAD-meter.jpg?w=750&ssl=1 750w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Dr.-Idowu-Obisesan-mesuring-the-cholophyll-content-of-soybean-leaf-with-a-SPAD-meter.jpg?resize=225%2C300&ssl=1 225w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Dr.-Idowu-Obisesan-mesuring-the-cholophyll-content-of-soybean-leaf-with-a-SPAD-meter.jpg?resize=600%2C800&ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Dr.-Idowu-Obisesan-mesuring-the-cholophyll-content-of-soybean-leaf-with-a-SPAD-meter.jpg?resize=450%2C600&ssl=1 450w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Dr.-Idowu-Obisesan-mesuring-the-cholophyll-content-of-soybean-leaf-with-a-SPAD-meter.jpg?resize=300%2C400&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Dr.-Idowu-Obisesan-mesuring-the-cholophyll-content-of-soybean-leaf-with-a-SPAD-meter.jpg?resize=150%2C200&ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Dr.-Idowu-Obisesan-mesuring-the-cholophyll-content-of-soybean-leaf-with-a-SPAD-meter.jpg?resize=370%2C493&ssl=1 370w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Dr.-Idowu-Obisesan-mesuring-the-cholophyll-content-of-soybean-leaf-with-a-SPAD-meter.jpg?resize=270%2C360&ssl=1 270w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Dr.-Idowu-Obisesan-mesuring-the-cholophyll-content-of-soybean-leaf-with-a-SPAD-meter.jpg?resize=570%2C760&ssl=1 570w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Dr.-Idowu-Obisesan-mesuring-the-cholophyll-content-of-soybean-leaf-with-a-SPAD-meter.jpg?resize=740%2C987&ssl=1 740w" sizes="(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Obisesan measuring seedling photosynthesis at the greenhouse. Photo by Idowu Obisesan.</figcaption></figure>
What made you become interested in plants?
My interest in plants began as a kid when I saw people around me in Africa using plants for medicinal purposes. I previously believed plants were mainly for food and others, such as weeds, were ‘unwanted’ plants, as I was taught in elementary school. Still, my curiosity increased when I realized some of those ‘unwanted plants’ have other environmental uses and impacts. The trees help reduce the effects of climate change, and some of the weeds have medicinal and ecological values. These raised my curiosity about plant science research.
What motivated you to pursue your current area of research?
My motivation to pursue plant physiology was kindled while I was on a school trip as an Undergraduate student to a plant tissue culture laboratory at a research institute in Nigeria. Honestly, I was thrilled to see such facilities and the precision at which the plants were cultured. I was fascinated by the possibility of culturing and regenerating a tiny portion of a plant and making multiple plants from it in a controlled environment. So, while I was back home and heard farmers complain about poor harvests due to pests or droughts, I saw myself mass-propagating crops through tissue culture later in life!
<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" width="770" height="577" src="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/961px-Plant_tissue_culture.jpg?resize=770%2C577&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-80918" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/961px-Plant_tissue_culture.jpg?w=961&ssl=1 961w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/961px-Plant_tissue_culture.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/961px-Plant_tissue_culture.jpg?resize=768%2C575&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/961px-Plant_tissue_culture.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/961px-Plant_tissue_culture.jpg?resize=600%2C450&ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/961px-Plant_tissue_culture.jpg?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/961px-Plant_tissue_culture.jpg?resize=200%2C150&ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/961px-Plant_tissue_culture.jpg?resize=370%2C277&ssl=1 370w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/961px-Plant_tissue_culture.jpg?resize=270%2C202&ssl=1 270w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/961px-Plant_tissue_culture.jpg?resize=570%2C427&ssl=1 570w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/961px-Plant_tissue_culture.jpg?resize=740%2C554&ssl=1 740w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/961px-Plant_tissue_culture.jpg?resize=80%2C60&ssl=1 80w" sizes="(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Plant grown by micropropagation, a plant tissue culture technique. Photo by <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plant_tissue_culture.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Angphotorion</a>, Wikicommons</figcaption></figure>
What is your favourite part of your work related to plants?
There are two things I like the most about my work. The first one is observing how plants cope with stress. Some ways I have seen plants respond to stress are by adapting, releasing some reactive oxygen species, avoiding stress, or changing their architectural structures, among many other ways. I have taken a cue from this to deal with life challenges and opportunities. This nature of plants has taught me about resilience. The second one is when I teach Undergrad students an introduction to algae at the University. Year in and out, the students have been mostly thrilled about the photosynthetic nature of algae, and this lecture also serves as a redirect from what some of them have been taught in high school, that algae are mainly a water pollutant.
Are any specific plants or species that have intrigued or inspired your research? If so, what are they and why?
Malnutrition is a major problem in some parts of Africa, and animal proteins are quite expensive for many households to afford. So, I got interested in an alternative and affordable protein source: leguminous plants. Legume crops, like a few other plants in my country, are still faced with sustainable cultivation and production challenges such as drought and pests. This informed my interest in legume crop sustainability research. I have worked on the effects of drought on soybeans, Mexican yam beans, African yam beans, pigeon peas, Bambara nuts, just to name a few . I have also studied some common fungi infesting legume crops in Nigeria. Additionally, I do research on the medicinal potency of legume plants.
<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" width="770" height="629" src="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/882px-Vigna_subterranea_4350578751.jpg?resize=770%2C629&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-80920" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/882px-Vigna_subterranea_4350578751.jpg?w=882&ssl=1 882w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/882px-Vigna_subterranea_4350578751.jpg?resize=300%2C245&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/882px-Vigna_subterranea_4350578751.jpg?resize=768%2C627&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/882px-Vigna_subterranea_4350578751.jpg?resize=370%2C302&ssl=1 370w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/882px-Vigna_subterranea_4350578751.jpg?resize=270%2C220&ssl=1 270w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/882px-Vigna_subterranea_4350578751.jpg?resize=570%2C465&ssl=1 570w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/882px-Vigna_subterranea_4350578751.jpg?resize=740%2C604&ssl=1 740w" sizes="(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Bambara nuts (Vigna subterranean), one of the legumes that Obisesan work on her research. Photo by <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vigna_subterranea_(4350578751).jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ton Rulkens</a>, Wikicommons.</figcaption></figure>
What advice would you give young scientists considering a career in plant biology?
My advice for young scientists considering a career in plant biology is to find and reach out to one or two mentors early enough in this journey. Still, it’s never too late to find a mentor, either. Having a mentor who has passed through the same route as the one you are about to take makes the journey easier for you. Don’t wait to be hand-picked by a mentor; rather, reach out to as many as you can. Learn from their wins, mistakes, and missed opportunities, then use this as a cue to structure your career journey, keeping in mind that others will reach out to you later in life for you to also share your experience and journey with them.
What do people usually get wrong about plants?
People mostly believe plants are only for food and medicine. So, where I come from, people believe that as a plant biologist, you are only working on the medicinal uses of plants. Most do not think of plants as living organisms and that plants can reveal so much about our environment to us.
<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignleft size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="400" src="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Profile-Picture1-2.jpg?resize=300%2C400&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-80818" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Profile-Picture1-2.jpg?w=300&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Profile-Picture1-2.jpg?resize=225%2C300&ssl=1 225w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Profile-Picture1-2.jpg?resize=150%2C200&ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Profile-Picture1-2.jpg?resize=270%2C360&ssl=1 270w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" data-recalc-dims="1" /></figure></div>
Carlos A. Ordóñez-Parra
<a href="https://caordonezparra.github.io/">Carlos</a> (he/him) is a Colombian seed ecologist currently doing his PhD at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) and working as a Science Editor at Botany One and a Social Media Editor at Seed Science Research. You can follow him on X and BlueSky at @caordonezparra.
The post <a href="https://botany.one/2024/05/idowu-obisesan-nurturing-a-passion-for-plants/">Idowu Obisesan: Nurturing a Passion for Plants</a> appeared first on <a href="https://botany.one">Botany One</a>.
]]></content:encoded>
<wfw:commentRss>https://botany.one/2024/05/idowu-obisesan-nurturing-a-passion-for-plants/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">80912</post-id> </item>
<item>
<title>Dechang Cao: The Seeds of Fascination</title>
<link>https://botany.one/2024/05/dechang-cao-the-seeds-of-fascination/</link>
<comments>https://botany.one/2024/05/dechang-cao-the-seeds-of-fascination/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Carlos Andres Ordonez Parra]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 17 May 2024 12:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Cells, Genes & Molecules]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Plants & People]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://botany.one/?p=80893</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Botany One interviews Dr Dechang Cao for Fascination for Plants Day and learn more about his life mission to understand the mysteries of seed germination.
The post <a href="https://botany.one/2024/05/dechang-cao-the-seeds-of-fascination/">Dechang Cao: The Seeds of Fascination</a> appeared first on <a href="https://botany.one">Botany One</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
With <a href="https://plantday18may.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Fascination of Plants Day</a> approaching, Botany One has prepared a series of interviews with researchers from around the world working in different areas of botany to share the stories and inspiration behind their careers.
Today, we have <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dechang-Cao" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dr Dechang Cao</a>, the Principal Investigator of the <a href="http://groups.english.kib.cas.cn/GBOS/cdc/">Seed Molecular Ecology Group</a> of the Kunming Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Science. Cao’s group is interested in the different aspects of seed germination and dormancy, particularly in seed responses to smoke. He is also an Assistant Features Editor in Plant Physiology –one of the leading Plant Science journals.
<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="770" height="527" src="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DCintheOffice.jpg?resize=770%2C527&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-80898" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DCintheOffice.jpg?w=1000&ssl=1 1000w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DCintheOffice.jpg?resize=300%2C206&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DCintheOffice.jpg?resize=768%2C526&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DCintheOffice.jpg?resize=370%2C253&ssl=1 370w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DCintheOffice.jpg?resize=270%2C185&ssl=1 270w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DCintheOffice.jpg?resize=570%2C390&ssl=1 570w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DCintheOffice.jpg?resize=740%2C507&ssl=1 740w" sizes="(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Cao at his office in the Kunming Institute of Botany (China). Photo by Dechang Cao.</figcaption></figure>
What made you become interested in plants?
<ol></ol>
Seeds. Many people are astonished by seeds because the small piece can explode into a giant tree. I am fascinated by the wisdom of seeds to survive harsh environments. They know how to avoid germination when the environment is not favourable for plant growth. When plants appear in the form of flowers and trees, it is a flourishing world. When they appear as seeds, the world is quiescent and waiting for the next flourish. Seeds teach me that there are both sweet and harsh sides to life. We have a Chinese saying that da ze jian ji tian xia, qiong ze du shan qi shen (达则兼济天下,穷则独善其身). It means that we should help people and the world flourish when being powerful, and we should strengthen ourselves when in obscurity. This is also the philosophy of plants. Thus, I love seeds, I love plants.
What motivated you to pursue your current area of research?
I feel that it is like walking on a pathway and suddenly realizing I am in this field. When I was a bachelor’s student, I read a book about plant ecology. It says that plant ecology is a kind of special knowledge about the philosophy of plants (to cope with the world). I felt that it was really cool to learn it. Thus, I participated in and passed the examination and started my graduate study in the major of plant ecology. During this period, I studied the seed rain of a poplar tree (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Populus_euphratica" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Populus euphratica</a>) in a desert. Then, I learned more about seeds, and I kept working on seeds. When answering your question, I realized it is my 17th year since I was connected to seeds, and I feel I love seeds more and more.
What is your favourite part of your work related to plants?
Seed dormancy. As I said before, seeds know how to avoid germination under unfavourable conditions –that’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2006.01787.x" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">seed dormancy</a>! Seed dormancy is an innate characteristic of seeds that delays germination. There are <a href="https://gardens.rtbg.tas.gov.au/conservation/dormancy-classification/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">different ways</a> to delay germination by the seeds. For example, they might possess hard, impermeable coats that prevent water from coming in. They may also pause embryo development, such that the mature seeds need to wait for the embryo to fully develop until they can start germination. Even more fascinating, some seeds have physiological dormancy, where the seed coat is water permeable, and the embryo is fully developed, but the seed is still reluctant to germinate. In such cases, there are physiological obstructions that prevent seed germination. It remains elusive how seeds obtain dormancy and how dormancy is released. However, we cannot skirt around these questions because we need to manage seeds in our lives. It is a challenging and exciting work to explore the ways to seed dormancy.
<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="770" height="507" src="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DCintheField.jpg?resize=770%2C507&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-80901" style="object-fit:cover" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DCintheField.jpg?w=1000&ssl=1 1000w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DCintheField.jpg?resize=300%2C197&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DCintheField.jpg?resize=150%2C100&ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DCintheField.jpg?resize=768%2C505&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DCintheField.jpg?resize=370%2C243&ssl=1 370w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DCintheField.jpg?resize=270%2C178&ssl=1 270w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DCintheField.jpg?resize=570%2C375&ssl=1 570w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DCintheField.jpg?resize=740%2C487&ssl=1 740w" sizes="(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Cao in the field after a prescribed fire. Photo by Dechang Cao.</figcaption></figure></div>
Are any specific plants or species that have intrigued or inspired your research? If so, what are they and why?
Yes, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotiana_attenuata">coyote tobacco</a> (Nicotiana attenuata). This plant made my work different. When I did my postdoctoral research at the Max-Planck Institute for Chemistry (Germany), I first got to this plant. I used it to study smoke-promoted seed germination. Some plants regenerate after forest fires, they are known as “fire-chasers”. Coyote tobacco is a fire-chaser. In their native habitat in the Great Basin Desert in North America, they germinate and regenerate in the first 3–4 years following fires. Then, they are taken over by other plants. The seeds of coyote tobacco stay in the soil and wait for the next fire to wake them up. It is amazing that the seeds need smoke produced by forest fire to help commence germination. I tried to study the active chemical compounds in smoke that promote seed germination using this plant. With the help of my teammates, I finally identified a compound in smoke that cues seed germination of coyote tobacco. It is syringaldehyde. This is a product of lignin combustion. Before our report, it was regarded by many people that karrikins, pyrolytic products of cellulose, were the major smoke cues for seed germination. Our findings opened a new window for us to navigate smoke-promoted seed germination. It is not always easy for new findings to “combat” old knowledge. The most important thing about this project is that I learned to communicate with the community to help the new knowledge “grow”. I believe that my work will be totally changed by this experience.
<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="770" height="578" src="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/960px-Coyote_tobacco_Nicotiana_attenuata_16141942413.jpg?resize=770%2C578&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-80904" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/960px-Coyote_tobacco_Nicotiana_attenuata_16141942413.jpg?w=960&ssl=1 960w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/960px-Coyote_tobacco_Nicotiana_attenuata_16141942413.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/960px-Coyote_tobacco_Nicotiana_attenuata_16141942413.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/960px-Coyote_tobacco_Nicotiana_attenuata_16141942413.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/960px-Coyote_tobacco_Nicotiana_attenuata_16141942413.jpg?resize=600%2C450&ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/960px-Coyote_tobacco_Nicotiana_attenuata_16141942413.jpg?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/960px-Coyote_tobacco_Nicotiana_attenuata_16141942413.jpg?resize=200%2C150&ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/960px-Coyote_tobacco_Nicotiana_attenuata_16141942413.jpg?resize=370%2C278&ssl=1 370w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/960px-Coyote_tobacco_Nicotiana_attenuata_16141942413.jpg?resize=270%2C203&ssl=1 270w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/960px-Coyote_tobacco_Nicotiana_attenuata_16141942413.jpg?resize=570%2C428&ssl=1 570w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/960px-Coyote_tobacco_Nicotiana_attenuata_16141942413.jpg?resize=740%2C555&ssl=1 740w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/960px-Coyote_tobacco_Nicotiana_attenuata_16141942413.jpg?resize=80%2C60&ssl=1 80w" sizes="(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Nicotiana attenuata the plant that Cao has used for his research. Photo by <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coyote_tobacco,_Nicotiana_attenuata_(16141942413).jpg">Jim Morefield</a>, Wikicommons.</figcaption></figure>
Could you share an experience or anecdote from your work that has marked your career and reaffirmed your fascination with plants?
<a href="https://bio.as.uky.edu/users/ccbask0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Carol C. Baskin</a> and Jerry M. Baskin, the famous seed scientists at the University of Kentucky, are the most important to affirm my career. On the first days when I started my PhD study at the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, my supervisor, Prof. Zhenying Huang, told me that I should go to meet the greatest scientists, Carol and Jerry. At that time, Carol and Jerry were visiting us. I was a little nervous but very excited when I went to them in the Xiangshan Hotel near our institute. Surprisingly, they were so nice to talk about the theories about seed dormancy with me. Even though I was not good at speaking English at that time, they were patient in talking about details of seed burial experiments to help me develop my experimental design. I was impressed by their friendship and elegance. In the following years, I read their book and knew that their fascination with seeds was ignited by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsie_Quarterman">Prof. Elsie Quaterman</a>, who taught them a seed germination course at Vanderbilt University. I must admit that the seed of my fascination with seeds was sown by Carol and Jerry. I feel that the seed is germinating, and I am looking forward to sowing the next-generation seeds.
What advice would you give young scientists considering a career in plant biology?
I would prefer “enthusiasm” to “career”. When you love it, you feel happy to do it, even if you are facing a lot of difficulties. Thus, fascination should be the prerequisite for you to start a career in plant biology. When you start it, I would suggest:
<ol>
<li>Get prepared for difficulties and failures.</li>
<li>Find a most interesting field of study.</li>
<li>Keep critical thinking. </li>
<li>Try to communicate with your friends and the community about your research.</li>
</ol>
What do people usually get wrong about plants?
Previously, I felt that people usually got wrong about seed dormancy because even some scientists cannot distinguish the release of seed dormancy and the process of seed germination. Recently, I found that misunderstanding about plants is much more common than we expected! Some people ask me whether we can select some post-fire plants that can be grown in hotter environments. I was so confused why they asked such a question. Then, I realized that they thought that the seeds of post-fire plants could survive the high temperature of fire. The fact is that the temperature decreases in the deeper soil in the fire. Seeds in the deeper soil can survive fire and commence germination after fire. Sometimes, the misunderstanding may be harmful. Some government officials believe that fire totally kills the forest. They remove all plants in the burns and conduct planting projects to “help” forest recovery. They do not know that post-fire plants can regenerate on many occasions. It is a pity that we still have so many misunderstandings about plants in such a “time of science”.
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<figure class="alignleft size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="400" src="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Profile-Picture1-2.jpg?resize=300%2C400&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-80818" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Profile-Picture1-2.jpg?w=300&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Profile-Picture1-2.jpg?resize=225%2C300&ssl=1 225w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Profile-Picture1-2.jpg?resize=150%2C200&ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Profile-Picture1-2.jpg?resize=270%2C360&ssl=1 270w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" data-recalc-dims="1" /></figure></div>
Carlos A. Ordóñez-Parra
<a href="https://caordonezparra.github.io/">Carlos</a> (he/him) is a Colombian seed ecologist currently doing his PhD at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) and working as a Science Editor at Botany One and a Social Media Editor at Seed Science Research. You can follow him on X and BlueSky at @caordonezparra.
The post <a href="https://botany.one/2024/05/dechang-cao-the-seeds-of-fascination/">Dechang Cao: The Seeds of Fascination</a> appeared first on <a href="https://botany.one">Botany One</a>.
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<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">80893</post-id> </item>
<item>
<title>Charlotte Taylor: “Looking at Plants is Never Boring and Endlessly Fascinating”</title>
<link>https://botany.one/2024/05/charlotte-taylor-looking-at-plants-is-never-boring-and-endlessly-fascinating/</link>
<comments>https://botany.one/2024/05/charlotte-taylor-looking-at-plants-is-never-boring-and-endlessly-fascinating/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Carlos Andres Ordonez Parra]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 16 May 2024 12:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Plants & People]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Taxonomy & Evolution]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://botany.one/?p=80863</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Botany One interviews Dr Charlotte M. Taylor for Fascination for Plants Day and learn more about her passion for taxonomy and puzzles.
The post <a href="https://botany.one/2024/05/charlotte-taylor-looking-at-plants-is-never-boring-and-endlessly-fascinating/">Charlotte Taylor: “Looking at Plants is Never Boring and Endlessly Fascinating”</a> appeared first on <a href="https://botany.one">Botany One</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
With <a href="https://plantday18may.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Fascination of Plants Day</a> approaching, Botany One has prepared a series of interviews with researchers from around the world working in different areas of botany to share the stories and inspiration behind their careers.
Today, we have Dr Charlotte M. Taylor, Curator at the Herbarium of the <a href="https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Missouri Botanical Garden</a> (Saint Louis, United States). Taylor is a specialist in the <a href="http://legacy.tropicos.org/Project/Rubiaceae" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Rubiaceae</a>, one of the largest flowering plant families that is particularly diverse in the American Tropics. According to a <a href="https://discoverandshare.org/2023/12/18/living-legend-garden-scientist-charlotte-taylor-has-described-more-new-plant-species-than-any-woman-alive/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">survey by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the University of Cambridge</a>, Taylor is the most prolific female author of new plant species alive, with 500 plant species described.
<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="770" height="514" src="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Charlotte_Taylor_12132023_Nathan_Kwarta_004.jpg?resize=770%2C514&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-80876" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Charlotte_Taylor_12132023_Nathan_Kwarta_004.jpg?w=1000&ssl=1 1000w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Charlotte_Taylor_12132023_Nathan_Kwarta_004.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Charlotte_Taylor_12132023_Nathan_Kwarta_004.jpg?resize=150%2C100&ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Charlotte_Taylor_12132023_Nathan_Kwarta_004.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Charlotte_Taylor_12132023_Nathan_Kwarta_004.jpg?resize=370%2C247&ssl=1 370w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Charlotte_Taylor_12132023_Nathan_Kwarta_004.jpg?resize=270%2C180&ssl=1 270w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Charlotte_Taylor_12132023_Nathan_Kwarta_004.jpg?resize=570%2C380&ssl=1 570w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Charlotte_Taylor_12132023_Nathan_Kwarta_004.jpg?resize=740%2C494&ssl=1 740w" sizes="(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Taylor in the Herbarium at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Photo by Nathan Kwarta.</figcaption></figure>
What made you become interested in plants?
The natural world and its variation have always fascinated me, and in this natural world, living plants are the most visible and endless set of different organisms; and the more I looked at them, the more details and variation I found. Then I discovered that we humans don’t actually know much about most plants, so looking at plants is a true adventure into the unknown world that is all around us. Adventure and finding new things have always excited me. So, I began to discover something new about plants every day just by looking carefully: looking at plants is never boring and endlessly fascinating.
What motivated you to pursue your current area of research?
I tried several professional fields but never stopped thinking about plants. So I gave up and focused on botany, and was fortunate to have a broad university training that has been helpful ever since. I started as a botany professor, which was rewarding, but my passion for looking at each plant species and form never diminished. That is now my main work: I am a plant taxonomist, writing floras and identification guides. My work focuses on one group of plants, which is quite large: the Rubiaceae, the coffee and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/plant/Cinchona" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">quinine</a> family. Every day, we find something new, including plant species new to science. It may sound boring to write reference books, but we know so little about most plants that my job is actually to discover the unknown information needed for the books.
<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="770" height="578" src="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Brazilie_2014_PetraDeBlock-464.jpg?resize=770%2C578&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-80885" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Brazilie_2014_PetraDeBlock-464.jpg?w=1000&ssl=1 1000w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Brazilie_2014_PetraDeBlock-464.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Brazilie_2014_PetraDeBlock-464.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Brazilie_2014_PetraDeBlock-464.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Brazilie_2014_PetraDeBlock-464.jpg?resize=600%2C450&ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Brazilie_2014_PetraDeBlock-464.jpg?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Brazilie_2014_PetraDeBlock-464.jpg?resize=200%2C150&ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Brazilie_2014_PetraDeBlock-464.jpg?resize=370%2C278&ssl=1 370w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Brazilie_2014_PetraDeBlock-464.jpg?resize=270%2C203&ssl=1 270w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Brazilie_2014_PetraDeBlock-464.jpg?resize=570%2C428&ssl=1 570w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Brazilie_2014_PetraDeBlock-464.jpg?resize=740%2C555&ssl=1 740w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Brazilie_2014_PetraDeBlock-464.jpg?resize=80%2C60&ssl=1 80w" sizes="(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Flowers of Palicourea atlantica from Bahia (Brazil). Photo by Petra De Block</figcaption></figure>
What is your favourite part of your work related to plants?
I work with plants as herbarium specimens and, at times, also in the field in tropical America, looking at living plants. My favourite parts are 1) looking at the specimens or individuals of any and all plants in my study group in detail, identifying them, and seeing if the habitat and location they are found agree with what we know, or they present us a little surprise; 2) travelling to exotic, biodiverse tropical countries and working with my great colleagues there and seeing new places and enjoying different foods; and 3) finding a plant of my group that I can’t identify because it is new to science and has no name.
Are any specific plants or species that have intrigued or inspired your research? If so, what are they and why?
My work focuses on one group of plants from the American tropics, the genus Palicourea in the Rubiaceae. These have a wide range of flower sizes, flower colours, and presentations, so the variation of forms never ends, and most species have showy flowers that are pollinated by hummingbirds, which are beautiful and fascinating. Figuring out the different Palicourea starts by learning about the species in a particular region or country, which is intriguing, like solving a puzzle. And then inspiration comes when you walk out in the forest — and find a species of Palicourea that you, the person who knows them all, have never seen before! I was lucky to find such a species during my graduate research, and it turned me into an addict for finding the next new thing for science. The first of these discoveries was <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/2418826">Palicourea spathacea</a> from Costa Rica.
<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="770" height="578" src="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Ch.Taylor-Colombia-Feb-2019.jpeg?resize=770%2C578&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-80887" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Ch.Taylor-Colombia-Feb-2019.jpeg?w=1000&ssl=1 1000w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Ch.Taylor-Colombia-Feb-2019.jpeg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Ch.Taylor-Colombia-Feb-2019.jpeg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Ch.Taylor-Colombia-Feb-2019.jpeg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Ch.Taylor-Colombia-Feb-2019.jpeg?resize=600%2C450&ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Ch.Taylor-Colombia-Feb-2019.jpeg?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Ch.Taylor-Colombia-Feb-2019.jpeg?resize=200%2C150&ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Ch.Taylor-Colombia-Feb-2019.jpeg?resize=370%2C278&ssl=1 370w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Ch.Taylor-Colombia-Feb-2019.jpeg?resize=270%2C203&ssl=1 270w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Ch.Taylor-Colombia-Feb-2019.jpeg?resize=570%2C428&ssl=1 570w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Ch.Taylor-Colombia-Feb-2019.jpeg?resize=740%2C555&ssl=1 740w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Ch.Taylor-Colombia-Feb-2019.jpeg?resize=80%2C60&ssl=1 80w" sizes="(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Taylor in Cali (Colombia) with a sample of Ladenbergia oblongifolia. Photo by Alba Marina Torres</figcaption></figure>
Could you share an experience or anecdote from your work that has marked your career and reaffirmed your fascination with plants?
On a field trip in the tropical Andes, we found a poorly known species of Palicourea in flower. This was exciting, and I started to cut some branches to make a specimen and suddenly was attacked repeatedly by a hummingbird, who followed me for some distance. I was in his territory stealing his food plants, and he was deadly serious about stopping me. Ecology is deadly serious for wild plants and animals, and in order to target conservation efforts, we need to understand them. 
What advice would you give young scientists considering a career in plant biology?
You get your best personal satisfaction from doing things you enjoy, and also you do your best work on those, so try to follow your passion. You probably won’t ever make loads of money in botany, but you will find a different kind of satisfaction. Botany is not an easy route; many people don’t even know what it is, but in botany, you will find endless new discoveries and also the best colleagues in the world, all over the world. The bottom secret to success in botany is the same for other fields: don’t give up if you don’t find success immediately; keep on going.
<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="668" height="1000" src="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Palicourea-alb-sm-Robinson-Chingaza-sp-2.jpg?resize=668%2C1000&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-80889" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Palicourea-alb-sm-Robinson-Chingaza-sp-2.jpg?w=668&ssl=1 668w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Palicourea-alb-sm-Robinson-Chingaza-sp-2.jpg?resize=200%2C300&ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Palicourea-alb-sm-Robinson-Chingaza-sp-2.jpg?resize=370%2C554&ssl=1 370w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Palicourea-alb-sm-Robinson-Chingaza-sp-2.jpg?resize=270%2C404&ssl=1 270w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Palicourea-alb-sm-Robinson-Chingaza-sp-2.jpg?resize=570%2C853&ssl=1 570w" sizes="(max-width: 668px) 100vw, 668px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Palicourea albertsmithii in Chingaza National Park (Colombia). Photo by Robinson Galindo.</figcaption></figure>
What do people usually get wrong about plants?
People don’t realise that plants are independent living organisms with their own super-different life, lifestyle, and world. People speculate frequently on what alien life on other planets will be like, but green plants on Earth are already more alien then any of the space aliens people talk about. They have to survive in just one spot, they make food from air and water and light and dirt, they run their lower parts deep into the soil and mix their tissues there with fungi, they are interconnected with each other physically, they grow in pieces that can break off, they hand over their sperm to the wind or an insect or a bird to deliver to their girlfriends, they make babies that are just tiny little things with a few cells, and their babies can then sit for weeks or months or decades basically dead then quickly revive and grow into even a tree, which can support itself as a simple round pole as much as 100 m tall. Who needs to go find space aliens to see a completely different form of life?
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<figure class="alignleft size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="400" src="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Profile-Picture1-2.jpg?resize=300%2C400&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-80818" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Profile-Picture1-2.jpg?w=300&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Profile-Picture1-2.jpg?resize=225%2C300&ssl=1 225w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Profile-Picture1-2.jpg?resize=150%2C200&ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Profile-Picture1-2.jpg?resize=270%2C360&ssl=1 270w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" data-recalc-dims="1" /></figure></div>
Carlos A. Ordóñez-Parra
<a href="https://caordonezparra.github.io/">Carlos</a> (he/him) is a Colombian seed ecologist currently doing his PhD at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) and working as a Science Editor at Botany One and a Social Media Editor at Seed Science Research. You can follow him on X and BlueSky at @caordonezparra.
The post <a href="https://botany.one/2024/05/charlotte-taylor-looking-at-plants-is-never-boring-and-endlessly-fascinating/">Charlotte Taylor: “Looking at Plants is Never Boring and Endlessly Fascinating”</a> appeared first on <a href="https://botany.one">Botany One</a>.
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<title>Daniela Boanares: “We Need to Understand Plants if We Want to Thrive on this Planet”</title>
<link>https://botany.one/2024/05/daniela-boanares-we-need-to-understand-plants-if-we-want-to-thrive-on-this-planet/</link>
<comments>https://botany.one/2024/05/daniela-boanares-we-need-to-understand-plants-if-we-want-to-thrive-on-this-planet/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Carlos Andres Ordonez Parra]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 15 May 2024 12:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Ecosystems]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Growth & Development]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Plants & People]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[featured]]></category>
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<description><![CDATA[Botany One interviews Dr Daniela Boanares for Fascination for Plants Day and learn more about her quest to unravel the mechanisms behind foliar water uptake in megadiverse ecosystems.
The post <a href="https://botany.one/2024/05/daniela-boanares-we-need-to-understand-plants-if-we-want-to-thrive-on-this-planet/">Daniela Boanares: “We Need to Understand Plants if We Want to Thrive on this Planet”</a> appeared first on <a href="https://botany.one">Botany One</a>.
]]></description>
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With <a href="https://plantday18may.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Fascination of Plants Day</a> approaching, Botany One has prepared a series of interviews with researchers from around the world working in different areas of botany to share the stories and inspiration behind their careers.
Today, we have <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Daniela-Boanares">Dr Daniela Boanares</a>, a proud black, female scientist that work as a Post-Doc at the Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, with the support of the Instituto Serrapilheira. Dr Boanares is interested in the physiological and ecological mechanisms behind foliar water uptake –the process where plants absorb water from the atmosphere directly from their leaves. In 2021, her PhD Thesis in this area received <a href="https://ufmg.br/comunicacao/noticias/ufmg-tem-cinco-trabalhos-vencedores-do-premio-capes-de-tese" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the maximum distinction from CAPES</a>, the Brazilian Government Agency responsible for the quality of Postgraduate Programmes.
<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="770" height="1156" src="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.03.02-PM.jpg?resize=770%2C1156&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-80864" style="width:auto;height:1000px" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.03.02-PM.jpg?w=999&ssl=1 999w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.03.02-PM.jpg?resize=200%2C300&ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.03.02-PM.jpg?resize=719%2C1080&ssl=1 719w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.03.02-PM.jpg?resize=768%2C1153&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.03.02-PM.jpg?resize=370%2C556&ssl=1 370w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.03.02-PM.jpg?resize=270%2C405&ssl=1 270w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.03.02-PM.jpg?resize=570%2C856&ssl=1 570w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.03.02-PM.jpg?resize=740%2C1111&ssl=1 740w" sizes="(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Boanares in a sandy grassland. Photo by Daniela Boanares.</figcaption></figure>
What made you become interested in plants?
I became interested in plants towards the end of my undergraduate studies when I realized that, despite being sessile organisms, they had fascinating responses to their environments. It was at this moment that I truly understood their crucial role in our survival, and we need to understand them if we want to continue thriving on this planet. My initial interest was ecological restoration, followed by ecology and, eventually, plant physiology. During my Master’s studies, I revisited the water cycle and discovered a smaller cycle involving plants: I learned that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.13439" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">plants can absorb water through their leaves</a>, a phenomenon with a tremendous ecological role, especially in environments with little water availability. This revelation deeply fascinated me and led me to explore various possibilities and questions throughout my Master’s, PhD, and post-doctoral research.
What motivated you to pursue your current area of research?
For my Master’s project, I meant to work in the ecological restoration of degraded areas in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campos_rupestres" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">campo rupestre</a> –one of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth and definitely the most beautiful I have ever seen. However, for different reasons, we couldn’t start this project in the time we wanted, so I decided to work in a different area. I remembered the first course of my Master’s programme, where Prof. <a href="https://scholar.google.com.br/citations?user=61Oky8EAAAAJ&hl=pt-BR">Alessandra Kozovits</a> gave me an article about foliar water uptake to present. Then, I had my eureka moment: I thought of the campo rupestre and its foggy landscapes and told myself: “This is what I want to study. This is what going to allow me to understand campo rupestre in a deeper way!”.
<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="770" height="770" src="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.04.41-PM.jpg?resize=770%2C770&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-80867" style="object-fit:cover" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.04.41-PM.jpg?w=900&ssl=1 900w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.04.41-PM.jpg?resize=300%2C300&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.04.41-PM.jpg?resize=768%2C768&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.04.41-PM.jpg?resize=800%2C800&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.04.41-PM.jpg?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.04.41-PM.jpg?resize=400%2C400&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.04.41-PM.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.04.41-PM.jpg?resize=370%2C370&ssl=1 370w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.04.41-PM.jpg?resize=270%2C270&ssl=1 270w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.04.41-PM.jpg?resize=570%2C570&ssl=1 570w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.04.41-PM.jpg?resize=740%2C740&ssl=1 740w" sizes="(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Campo rupestre vegetation in Brazil. Photo by Daniela Boanares.</figcaption></figure>
What is your favourite part of your work related to plants?
The coolest part of my work is when I talk to others about my work and teach them about this rather overlooked part of the water cycle. In school, we always learn that water comes back to the soil in the form of rain, but we don’t learn that plants can also catch water directly from the air and take it back to the soil. Their excited and mind-blown expression when they heard about this for the first time is simply priceless, and I think that, as scientists, we are doing something great when we teach new things to the people around us.
Are any specific plants or species that have intrigued or inspired your research? If so, what are they and why?
Rather than a single species, I became fascinated with plant groups. When I teach other people about campo rupestre, I always say that this ecosystem presents a high evaporative demand, meaning that the water they lose because of heat is colossal, especially when soil temperature can get up to 60 °C. Thus, you would expect plants from these sites to exhibit specific characteristics: small leaves, thick cuticles and hidden stomata. Still, when you go to the field, you are shocked to see plants that forgot “to read the manual” and present quite the opposite traits! These questions still bug me: How can a plant with thin leaves and a great amount of stomata survive in such an adverse environment? How can such different groups of plants coexist in such a place?
<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="770" height="770" src="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.04.42-PM.jpg?resize=770%2C770&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-80869" style="object-fit:cover" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.04.42-PM.jpg?w=900&ssl=1 900w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.04.42-PM.jpg?resize=300%2C300&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.04.42-PM.jpg?resize=768%2C768&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.04.42-PM.jpg?resize=800%2C800&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.04.42-PM.jpg?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.04.42-PM.jpg?resize=400%2C400&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.04.42-PM.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.04.42-PM.jpg?resize=370%2C370&ssl=1 370w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.04.42-PM.jpg?resize=270%2C270&ssl=1 270w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.04.42-PM.jpg?resize=570%2C570&ssl=1 570w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-13-at-7.04.42-PM.jpg?resize=740%2C740&ssl=1 740w" sizes="(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Boanares in the campo rupestre, her favourite ecosystem. Photo by Daniela Boanares.</figcaption></figure></div>
Could you share an experience or anecdote from your work that has marked your career and reaffirmed your fascination with plants?
The most hilarious moment in my career so far was during my Masters. To evaluate water uptake, we used a fluorescent dye called “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucifer_yellow" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lucifer yellow</a>” that allowed us to visualise where the water entering. Unexpectedly, it worked perfectly on the first try, and we made several beautiful images. My friend and I went out to celebrate this in a bar and made a toast saying “to Lucifer!”. You can only imagine the shocked and concerned expression around us! Fortunately, we went to a bar owned by a friend of mine, so she proceeded to explain to everyone in the bar that it was not that it was not what they were thinking. She explained, “Guys, no, it’s her marker, she’s a biologist!”.
What advice would you give young scientists considering a career in plant biology?
The first thing is, do you like what you do? Is there a question that fascinates you? It’s important to know what fascinates you and what drives you. This makes things less difficult because science isn’t easy. The stages are challenging –an experiment might not work, there are natural difficulties and many other surprises– but over time, we overcome them if we have the drive to find answers. Also, one needs to be open and not take yourself too seriously because science changes a lot. Until recently, we thought plants only absorbed water through their roots. Today, we know that leaves also play an essential role. Not long ago, we believed that a thicker leaf cuticle conferred more resistance to water uptake. Today, we know that’s not necessarily true. So, we need to be open for things to turn out to be different from our expectations.
What do people usually get wrong about plants?
That plants are important just because they are pretty and some sort of isolated element in the landscape that doesn’t interact with anything. Also, some people –especially in Brazil– believe that only the Amazon rainforest is important. While the Amazon rainforest is vital for all its diversity and its role in world climate regulation, many other ecosystems are just as important and end up being overlooked. One clear example is the campo rupestre, which is sometimes even more diverse than the Amazon rainforest and provides many ecosystem services. Still, it remains overlooked and threatened to disappear due to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14060">the lack of awareness about its importance</a>.
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<figure class="alignleft size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="400" src="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Profile-Picture1-2.jpg?resize=300%2C400&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-80818" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Profile-Picture1-2.jpg?w=300&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Profile-Picture1-2.jpg?resize=225%2C300&ssl=1 225w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Profile-Picture1-2.jpg?resize=150%2C200&ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Profile-Picture1-2.jpg?resize=270%2C360&ssl=1 270w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" data-recalc-dims="1" /></figure></div>
Carlos A. Ordóñez-Parra
<a href="https://caordonezparra.github.io/">Carlos</a> (he/him) is a Colombian seed ecologist currently doing his PhD at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) and working as a Science Editor at Botany One and a Social Media Editor at Seed Science Research. You can follow him on X and BlueSky at @caordonezparra.
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The post <a href="https://botany.one/2024/05/daniela-boanares-we-need-to-understand-plants-if-we-want-to-thrive-on-this-planet/">Daniela Boanares: “We Need to Understand Plants if We Want to Thrive on this Planet”</a> appeared first on <a href="https://botany.one">Botany One</a>.
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<title>Hervé Sauquet: Never Looking at Flowers the Same Way</title>
<link>https://botany.one/2024/05/herve-sauquet-never-looking-at-flowers-the-same-way/</link>
<comments>https://botany.one/2024/05/herve-sauquet-never-looking-at-flowers-the-same-way/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[botanyone]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 14 May 2024 07:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Plants & People]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Taxonomy & Evolution]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[featured]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://botany.one/?p=80789</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Botany One interviews Dr Hervé Sauquet for Fascination for Plants Day and learn more about his mission to understand the evolution of flowers.
The post <a href="https://botany.one/2024/05/herve-sauquet-never-looking-at-flowers-the-same-way/">Hervé Sauquet: Never Looking at Flowers the Same Way</a> appeared first on <a href="https://botany.one">Botany One</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
With <a href="https://plantday18may.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Fascination of Plants Day</a> approaching, Botany One has prepared a series of interviews with researchers from around the world working in different areas of botany to share the stories and inspiration behind their careers.
Today, we have <a href="https://www.botanicgardens.org.au/about-us/our-people/meet-our-experts/herve-sauquet" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dr Hervé Sauquet</a>, Head of Plant Discovery and Evolution Research at the Botanic Gardens of Sydney (Australia). Dr Sauquet is a queer scientist interested in the evolution of flowers, the structure that gives its name to the most abundant and diverse plant group nowadays: the flowering plants, also known as angiosperms. For instance, he is one of the coordinators of an international project called <a href="https://eflower.myspecies.info/content/what-eflower" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">eFLOWER</a>, which aims to answer long-standing questions in the evolution of flowers, such as “what were the flowers of the first angiosperms like?” or “how is the evolution of flowers related to pollination?”. To learn more about Sauquet’s work, you can visit his <a href="http://www.sauquetlab.org">lab’s webpage</a> and follow him on X as <a href="https://twitter.com/hsauquet_bgsyd" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">@hsauquet_bgsyd</a>.
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="770" height="578" src="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Sauquet_Cover-2.jpg?resize=770%2C578&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-80820" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Sauquet_Cover-2.jpg?resize=1080%2C810&ssl=1 1080w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Sauquet_Cover-2.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Sauquet_Cover-2.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Sauquet_Cover-2.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Sauquet_Cover-2.jpg?resize=600%2C450&ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Sauquet_Cover-2.jpg?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Sauquet_Cover-2.jpg?resize=200%2C150&ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Sauquet_Cover-2.jpg?resize=370%2C278&ssl=1 370w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Sauquet_Cover-2.jpg?resize=270%2C203&ssl=1 270w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Sauquet_Cover-2.jpg?resize=570%2C428&ssl=1 570w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Sauquet_Cover-2.jpg?resize=740%2C555&ssl=1 740w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Sauquet_Cover-2.jpg?resize=80%2C60&ssl=1 80w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Sauquet_Cover-2.jpg?w=1200&ssl=1 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Sauquet with a flowering tree of Eupomatia laurina. Photo by Hervé Sauquet.</figcaption></figure>
What made you become interested in plants?
I was studying biology at the University in an obscure suburb of Paris, and I attended my first floristics practical in my first year. The room was full of freshly collected plants, and we were told that we would learn to dissect flowers and identify these plants all day using a small book. With no prior interest in plants, I first thought this was ridiculous, but then I became instantly hooked! Over the next couple of years, I spent a lot of time keying out as many species as I could every time I was out. I found it remarkable that one could start becoming acquainted with the scientific names of so many plants in our environment and, at the same time, become startled and fascinated by the diversity of plant species and families out there.
What motivated you to pursue your current area of research?
In my third year at University, I attended a short optional course on evolution, specifically <a href="https://www.ebi.ac.uk/training/online/courses/introduction-to-phylogenetics/what-is-phylogenetics/#:~:text=Phylogenetics%20is%20the%20study%20of,be%20referred%20to%20as%20taxa)." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">phylogenetics</a>, which was not yet part of the mainstream curriculum as it is now. At that time in the late 1990s, morphological data were still a primary source for reconstructing phylogenies, but DNA sequencing was also quickly rising as an additional source of data. I had no idea that this was an active area of research, and I decided this was what I wanted to do. Now, most of my research focuses on using phylogenetic trees to answer questions on angiosperm macroevolution, particularly large-scale patterns in the evolution of flowers.
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="770" height="764" src="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Sauquet_Phylogeny-2.jpg?resize=770%2C764&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-80822" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Sauquet_Phylogeny-2.jpg?resize=1080%2C1071&ssl=1 1080w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Sauquet_Phylogeny-2.jpg?resize=300%2C298&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Sauquet_Phylogeny-2.jpg?resize=768%2C762&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Sauquet_Phylogeny-2.jpg?resize=370%2C367&ssl=1 370w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Sauquet_Phylogeny-2.jpg?resize=270%2C268&ssl=1 270w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Sauquet_Phylogeny-2.jpg?resize=570%2C565&ssl=1 570w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Sauquet_Phylogeny-2.jpg?resize=740%2C734&ssl=1 740w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Sauquet_Phylogeny-2.jpg?w=1200&ssl=1 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The angiosperm tree of life and a reconstruction of the functional sex of ancestral flower. Figure from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms16047" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sauquet et al. (2017)</a></figcaption></figure>
What is your favourite part of your work related to plants?
I love that there are so many questions that we still need to answer. A key part of my work and main research interests for the past 13 years has focussed on the origin and early diversification of angiosperms. I find it fascinating that we are still scratching the surface, despite considerable work and discoveries by numerous colleagues and the ongoing genomic revolution. I am driven by these difficult questions from the deep past. I love that they require data and expertise from so many different disciplines, and they have made me collaborate with so many incredible colleagues from all over the world.
Are any specific plants or species that have intrigued or inspired your research? If so, what are they and why?
I am interested in all flowering plants, but <a href="https://www.britannica.com/plant/Magnoliid-clade" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Magnoliids</a> are so weird and have attracted my attention ever since I started working on them during my PhD. There is a species here in Australia named <a href="https://tuckerbush.com.au/bolwarra-eupomatia-laurina/">Eupomatia laurina</a>, or bolwarra, that makes me smile every time I see it in a rainforest or at one of our botanic gardens. It has unique, inside-out glossy flowers, with tepal-like inner staminodes between the stamens and carpels that form a small chamber trapping its tiny weevil pollinator while the flowers transition from their female to their male phase! The weevils even mate inside and lay their eggs in the staminodes, which provide food for the larva after falling on the ground. It is bizarre and wonderful at the same time.
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="770" height="513" src="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Eupomatia-laurina_RBGSydney2018_2-2.jpg?resize=770%2C513&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-80823" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Eupomatia-laurina_RBGSydney2018_2-2.jpg?resize=1080%2C720&ssl=1 1080w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Eupomatia-laurina_RBGSydney2018_2-2.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Eupomatia-laurina_RBGSydney2018_2-2.jpg?resize=150%2C100&ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Eupomatia-laurina_RBGSydney2018_2-2.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Eupomatia-laurina_RBGSydney2018_2-2.jpg?resize=370%2C247&ssl=1 370w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Eupomatia-laurina_RBGSydney2018_2-2.jpg?resize=270%2C180&ssl=1 270w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Eupomatia-laurina_RBGSydney2018_2-2.jpg?resize=570%2C380&ssl=1 570w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Eupomatia-laurina_RBGSydney2018_2-2.jpg?resize=740%2C493&ssl=1 740w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Eupomatia-laurina_RBGSydney2018_2-2.jpg?w=1200&ssl=1 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Eupomatia larurina flowers at the Botanic Gardens of Sydney. Photo by Hervé Sauquet.</figcaption></figure>
Could you share an experience or anecdote from your work that has marked your career and reaffirmed your fascination with plants?
I think when my close colleague <a href="https://sfb.univie.ac.at/en/about-us/staff/schoenenberger-juerg/">Jürg Schönenberger</a> and I were walking down a street in Paris, trying to make sense of the latest results of the eFLOWER project, and suddenly realised that our reconstruction of an ancestrally whorled flower could, in fact, explain much of the diversity of extant flowers we see today. Even though this result remained uncertain and proved to be quite controversial, it was a pivotal moment for us that led to a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms16047" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">key paper</a> in my career, which paved the way for many new questions. To this day, I can no longer look at a wildflower without trying to imagine its full evolutionary pathway from that deep-time shared ancestor to the Present.
What advice would you give young scientists considering a career in plant biology?
First, follow your heart and intuition. Choose a topic that most motivates you and find a lab and supervisors that challenge you, but you feel comfortable with. Learn from your rejections and mistakes! Embrace the unknown and unexpected (take some risks). Be yourself, and be an ally; the world needs all kinds of scientists and perspectives. Go and see the world at every opportunity, study and work in different labs, and stay open to new research directions and employment options. Oh, and don’t let anyone decide for you whether a career in science is for you: only you know!
What do people usually get wrong about plants?
That all botanists know how to grow plants. I am the worst and can hardly keep a plant alive!
<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignleft size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="400" src="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Profile-Picture1-2.jpg?resize=300%2C400&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-80818" style="width:300px" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Profile-Picture1-2.jpg?w=300&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Profile-Picture1-2.jpg?resize=225%2C300&ssl=1 225w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Profile-Picture1-2.jpg?resize=150%2C200&ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Profile-Picture1-2.jpg?resize=270%2C360&ssl=1 270w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" data-recalc-dims="1" /></figure></div>
Carlos A. Ordóñez-Parra
<a href="https://caordonezparra.github.io/">Carlos</a> (he/him) is a Colombian seed ecologist currently doing his PhD at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) and working as a Science Editor at Botany One and a Social Media Editor at Seed Science Research. You can follow him on X and BlueSky at @caordonezparra.
The post <a href="https://botany.one/2024/05/herve-sauquet-never-looking-at-flowers-the-same-way/">Hervé Sauquet: Never Looking at Flowers the Same Way</a> appeared first on <a href="https://botany.one">Botany One</a>.
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<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">80789</post-id> </item>
<item>
<title>Kelsey Byers: “See the world through the plant’s perspective!”</title>
<link>https://botany.one/2024/05/kelsey-byers-see-the-world-through-the-plants-perspective/</link>
<comments>https://botany.one/2024/05/kelsey-byers-see-the-world-through-the-plants-perspective/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[botanyone]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 13 May 2024 04:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Cells, Genes & Molecules]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Plants & People]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Taxonomy & Evolution]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[featured]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://botany.one/?p=80773</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Botany One interviews Dr Kelsey Byers for Fascination for Plants Day and learn more about her research on the evolution of floral scent.
The post <a href="https://botany.one/2024/05/kelsey-byers-see-the-world-through-the-plants-perspective/">Kelsey Byers: “See the world through the plant’s perspective!”</a> appeared first on <a href="https://botany.one">Botany One</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
With <a href="https://plantday18may.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Fascination of Plants Day</a> approaching, Botany One has prepared a series of interviews with researchers from around the world working in different areas of botany to share the stories and inspiration behind their careers. 
To kick off the series, we have <a href="https://www.jic.ac.uk/people/kelsey-byers/">Dr Kelsey J. R. P. Byers</a>, a Group Leader at the <a href="https://www.jic.ac.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">John Innes Centre</a> (Norwich, UK). Dr Byers is a <a href="https://jecologyblog.com/2022/06/28/kelsey-byers-life-healing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">queer and disabled ecologist</a> that studies the evolution of floral scent, from the genes that make unique flower aromas to the way flowers use them to attach pollinators. Byers is also an advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion in science, serving as a Co-Chair of the <a href="http://evolutionsociety.org/content/diversity-committee.html">Diversity Committee of the Society for the Study of Evolution</a>. To know more about Dr. Byers research, you can visit her <a href="https://plantpollinator.org/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">lab’s page</a> and follow her on <a href="https://twitter.com/plantpollinator" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">X</a> and <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/plantpollinator.bsky.social" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">BlueSky</a> as @plantpollinator.
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="770" height="578" src="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_Profile-1.jpg?resize=770%2C578&ssl=1" alt="Kelsey Byers using scientific equipment in the field." class="wp-image-80811" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_Profile-1.jpg?resize=1080%2C810&ssl=1 1080w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_Profile-1.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_Profile-1.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_Profile-1.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_Profile-1.jpg?resize=600%2C450&ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_Profile-1.jpg?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_Profile-1.jpg?resize=200%2C150&ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_Profile-1.jpg?resize=370%2C278&ssl=1 370w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_Profile-1.jpg?resize=270%2C203&ssl=1 270w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_Profile-1.jpg?resize=570%2C428&ssl=1 570w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_Profile-1.jpg?resize=740%2C555&ssl=1 740w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_Profile-1.jpg?resize=80%2C60&ssl=1 80w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_Profile-1.jpg?w=1200&ssl=1 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Byers in the field. Photo by Roman T. Kellenberger</figcaption></figure>
What made you become interested in plants?
Growing up, I ran around the woods a lot – my family home was connected to some federally protected conservation land, and it was really almost wilderness. My mom and stepfather were both scientists, and despite being physicists, they really encouraged my interest in biology. We also had a large garden and rarely needed to buy produce in the summer and fall as a result, so I had plants all around me growing up. There were even orchids (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cypripedium_acaule" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cypripedium acaule</a>, or Pink Lady’s Slipper) growing in the woods behind my house. I studied genetics and molecular biology at university but wasn’t sure what organism to work on when I started my PhD. By pure chance, I ended up working on plants and fell in love with them and with their pollination systems. My other choice was to work on several species of wild mice, and in retrospect, I’m really glad I work with plants, which are much easier to care for overall and have so many wonderful ecological and evolutionary stories!
What motivated you to pursue your current area of research?
I started working on the colour preference of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/hawk-moth" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hawkmoth</a> pollinators in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimulus" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mimulus</a> monkeyflowers at the beginning of my PhD. After reading the literature, I discovered that the Mimulus must be producing floral scent, despite what my PhD advisor and his collaborator thought, as these hawkmoths will only visit flowers that are the right colour and emit floral scent. My department hired a floral scent biologist at the same time, who became my co-PhD supervisor and taught me loads about floral scent research. Bridging the space between my two labs – one on floral trait genetics and pollination and the other on floral scent chemical ecology and insect olfaction – was an absolute joy and led me to study the genetics and evolutionary chemical ecology of floral scent and its role in plant-insect interactions. Even though I nearly failed my chemistry courses at university, I now love delving into how plants communicate with chemical signals!
What is your favourite part of your work related to plants?
I think my favourite part is learning about the weird and wonderful ways in which plants and pollinators interact. For example, did you know that honeybees (Apis mellifera) are poor pollinators of alfalfa (Medicago sativa) because the flower has a lever-type mechanism that bops the poor honeybee on the head? Alfalfa is best pollinated instead by wild bees, such as the alfalfa leafcutter bee (<a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/52783-Megachile-rotundata">Megachile rotundata</a>), which fits into the flower better. There are also the wonderful arum flowers (family Araceae, e.g. the Titan Arum, <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/62194-Amorphophallus-titanum" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Amorphophallus titanum</a>, or the cuckoo-pint, <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/61318-Arum-maculatum">Arum maculatum</a>), many of which attract insects by pretending to be a good place to lay eggs, for example by mimicking rotting meat or dung. And then there are Dracula orchids, <a href="https://botany.one/2019/07/how-dracula-orchids-lure-flies-for-pollination/#:~:text=They%20can%20provide%20scents%20to,use%20reproduction%20to%20lure%20flies.">which mimic mushrooms to attract pollinating flies </a>(and there are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12378">studies with 3D-printed Dracula flowers </a>showing this!), and <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/57469-Ophrys">Ophrys</a> orchids, which send out the sex pheromones of female bees and wasps and lure in males of the same species! The Ophrys-bee relationship is so specific that single genetic changes can even result in instantaneous switches in whom the pollinator is, which is SUPER neat.
Are any specific plants or species that have intrigued or inspired your research? If so, what are they and why?
I mentioned earlier that in my childhood in the USA, we had wild Pink Lady’s Slippers (Cypripedium acaule) in the woods behind my house. When I was a child, I didn’t even know that it was an orchid, despite my parents telling me that people kept coming to dig it up illegally and sell it. After my PhD, I moved to Switzerland to study European terrestrial Alpine orchids. For some reason, I didn’t even know there were orchids here in Europe, despite having orchids in my own backyard as a child! These orchids (<a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/131611-Gymnadenia">Gymnadenia</a> spp.) are wonderfully smelly (one could honestly bottle them up and sell them as perfume, though I can sadly report that the Body Shop’s “Nigritella” perfume doesn’t smell at all like the real thing!) and the easiest way to tell two look-alike species in the field is by scent – one (G. conopsea) smells like cloves, the other (G. densiflora) like cinnamon. They are pollinated by a range of butterflies and moths and offer nectar in a spur whose walls are so thin you can even see how much nectar is there! The idea that I can (and do) study orchids in the wild is super exciting.
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="770" height="513" src="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_Orchid-1.jpg?resize=770%2C513&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-80816" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_Orchid-1.jpg?resize=1080%2C720&ssl=1 1080w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_Orchid-1.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_Orchid-1.jpg?resize=150%2C100&ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_Orchid-1.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_Orchid-1.jpg?resize=370%2C247&ssl=1 370w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_Orchid-1.jpg?resize=270%2C180&ssl=1 270w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_Orchid-1.jpg?resize=570%2C380&ssl=1 570w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_Orchid-1.jpg?resize=740%2C493&ssl=1 740w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_Orchid-1.jpg?w=1200&ssl=1 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Gymnadenia orchids, one of the plant groups studied by Byers. Photo by Kelsey J. R. P. Byers</figcaption></figure>
Could you share an experience or anecdote from your work that has marked your career and reaffirmed your fascination with plants?
I was walking to my PhD lab one day when I received a phone call from my supervisor that the Amorphophallus titanum (Titan Arum) was going to bloom that evening. He was away and wanted me to speak to the media about the plant and its ecology and scent. I ended up doing several fun experiments over the next two days, including capturing its floral scent every 90 minutes to see how it changed over time – by 10,000-fold in total scent production over a few hours! It was graduation week at the university, and we had over 3,000 visitors to see the plant blooming, as well as international media attention. It was amazing to see so many members of the public so interested, and I actually lost my voice from giving media interviews and doing public outreach on the handful of days it was flowering! The plant’s ecology is super neat – it mimics carrion to attract pollinators that think it’s dead meat and lay eggs on it – and it only blooms every few years, so it was a really special opportunity to both study it and educate people about it, as well as to smell its terrible stink.
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="770" height="1030" src="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_TitanArum-2.jpg?resize=770%2C1030&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-80817" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_TitanArum-2.jpg?resize=807%2C1080&ssl=1 807w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_TitanArum-2.jpg?resize=224%2C300&ssl=1 224w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_TitanArum-2.jpg?resize=768%2C1028&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_TitanArum-2.jpg?resize=300%2C400&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_TitanArum-2.jpg?resize=150%2C200&ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_TitanArum-2.jpg?resize=370%2C495&ssl=1 370w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_TitanArum-2.jpg?resize=270%2C362&ssl=1 270w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_TitanArum-2.jpg?resize=570%2C763&ssl=1 570w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_TitanArum-2.jpg?resize=740%2C991&ssl=1 740w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Byers_TitanArum-2.jpg?w=900&ssl=1 900w" sizes="(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Byers and a flower of the Titan Arum (Amorphophallus titanum). Photo by The University of Washington Advancement Team.</figcaption></figure>
What advice would you give young scientists considering a career in plant biology?
I think one of the most underestimated things is the importance of seeing your organism in its natural habitat, if at all possible. I have learned more from two hours of observing Heliconius butterflies (OK, not a plant, but still) in the wild in Panama than I learned from months of working with captive ones – seeing the organism in its evolutionary and ecological context is huge. I also think that having a basic working knowledge of plant taxonomy and evolution – the former of which I’m sadly a novice in! – is a big plus, both for helping you identify your organism and its evolutionary context, as well as fuelling any free time desires to botanise that you might have. Get to know the natural history of your organism as much as possible – even if you are studying a lab model like <a href="https://botany.one/2023/05/arabidopsis-thaliana-the-botanists-lab-rat/">Arabidopsis thaliana</a> (Thale Cress) or Marchantia polymorpha (Common Liverwort), there are fascinating things to discover, and you will understand your organism better than you would if you only see it as a model species with no ecology. As much as possible for you, go out, get your hands dirty, and see the world through the plant’s perspective!
What do people usually get wrong about plants?
One big issue we often see with plants is something called <a href="https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ppp3.10153">Plant Awareness Disparity </a>–sometimes also called “plant blindness”, but I avoid that term as it is problematic from a (dis)ableist perspective by equating blindness with ignorance). Many people don’t think of plants as living beings, or only think of them as the background setting for animals to live in. This leads to problems with conservation efforts, including listing of threatened plants, funding for plant research, and general public perception of plants, especially those that are not seen as immediately useful, e.g. native plants rather than crop species. Folks tend to forget that without plants, we could not survive, nor could most life on our planet! People also often think of plants as immobile, non-active organisms, when the opposite is true – plants can move, communicate with other plants and animals, give resources to their offspring or relatives, and in many ways do things we often think of only animals as able to do! Just because plants lack a ‘typical’ nervous system or brain doesn’t mean they aren’t capable of sensing and responding to their environment or communicating with other organisms, just as animals do.
<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignleft size-medium is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="225" height="300" src="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Profile-Picture1-2.jpg?resize=225%2C300&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-80818" style="width:300px" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Profile-Picture1-2.jpg?resize=225%2C300&ssl=1 225w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Profile-Picture1-2.jpg?resize=150%2C200&ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Profile-Picture1-2.jpg?resize=270%2C360&ssl=1 270w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Profile-Picture1-2.jpg?w=300&ssl=1 300w" sizes="(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px" data-recalc-dims="1" /></figure></div>
Carlos A. Ordóñez-Parra
<a href="https://caordonezparra.github.io/">Carlos</a> (he/him) is a Colombian seed ecologist currently doing his PhD at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) and working as a Science Editor at Botany One and a Social Media Editor at Seed Science Research. You can follow him on X and BlueSky at @caordonezparra.
The post <a href="https://botany.one/2024/05/kelsey-byers-see-the-world-through-the-plants-perspective/">Kelsey Byers: “See the world through the plant’s perspective!”</a> appeared first on <a href="https://botany.one">Botany One</a>.
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<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">80773</post-id> </item>
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<title>Electronic Eyes Spy an Invasive Species</title>
<link>https://botany.one/2024/05/electronic-eyes-spy-an-invasive-species/</link>
<comments>https://botany.one/2024/05/electronic-eyes-spy-an-invasive-species/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Alun Salt]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 08 May 2024 08:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Taxonomy & Evolution]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Artificial intelligence]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[computer vision]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Cortaderia selloana]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Pampas grass]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://botany.one/?p=80729</guid>
<description><![CDATA[In the age-old battle against invasive species, conservationists have a new ally: social media users and their geotagged photos.
The post <a href="https://botany.one/2024/05/electronic-eyes-spy-an-invasive-species/">Electronic Eyes Spy an Invasive Species</a> appeared first on <a href="https://botany.one">Botany One</a>.
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Pampas grass, a feathery ornamental plant native to South America, has been spreading far beyond gardens, invading ecosystems across the globe. In Portugal, this tenacious grass has steadily expanded its range, displacing native plants and disrupting habitats.
Keeping tabs on the relentless march of invasive plants like pampas grass is critical for protecting biodiversity, but it’s easier said than done. Traditional monitoring methods, which rely on boots-on-the-ground surveys and experts painstakingly identifying plants, are costly and time-consuming.
But what if we could crowdsource this Herculean task by tapping into the millions of plant photos shared on social media every day? Ana Sofia Cardoso and colleagues have tried harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to scour social networks for images of the offending grass.
Their AI plant detectives, trained on expert-identified photos from citizen science databases, proved remarkably adept at picking out pampas grass in all kinds of images. The results, published in the journal Ecological Informatics, hint at a new paradigm for monitoring the spread of invasive species: one that’s faster, cheaper, and more scalable than ever before.
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Meet the AI plant detectives: a trio of deep learning models with a keen eye for pampas grass.</h2>
To train their algorithms to accurately identify this invasive plant, the research team started by feeding them expertly-labeled photos from citizen science platforms like <a href="https://invasoras.pt/">Invasoras.pt</a> and <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/">iNaturalist</a>. These images, painstakingly annotated by knowledgeable volunteers, provided a gold standard for what pampas grass looks like in the wild.
The team put three different deep learning architectures through their paces: <a href="https://www.mathworks.com/help/deeplearning/ref/densenet201.html">DenseNet201</a>, <a href="https://pytorch.org/vision/main/models/generated/torchvision.models.detection.fasterrcnn_resnet50_fpn.html">Faster R-CNN ResNet50</a>, and <a href="https://www.kaggle.com/models/tensorflow/faster-rcnn-inception-resnet-v2">Faster R-CNN Inception-v2</a>. The first model, a classification specialist, learned to label images as either containing pampas grass or not. The other two, object detection models, went a step further by learning to draw bounding boxes around the plant in images.
After extensive training, the models were put to the test on a new set of citizen science images. The results were impressive: the best-performing models, DenseNet201 and Faster R-CNN ResNet50, correctly identified pampas grass more than 94% of the time. When the algorithms made mistakes, it was often on trickier images where the grass was small, blurry, or in the background.
But the real challenge was yet to come. The researchers wanted to see if their AI plant detectives could spot pampas grass “in the wild” – not in curated citizen science photos, but in the unfiltered stream of images posted to social media. They set the algorithms loose on hundreds of images scraped from Instagram, Flickr, Twitter, and Facebook.
Remarkably, the models held their own, correctly identifying pampas grass in more than three-quarters of the social media photos. The performance dip, the researchers believe, stems from the lower quality and resolution of many social media images. These results suggest that deep learning models, trained on a relatively small set of photos, can effectively translate those learnings to the unstructured world of social media imagery.
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Why Instagram?</h2>
Sites like Instagram can provide photos in volume, but a photo alone is not enough. What makes a photo shared on social media so useful is the data that comes with it. Many images shared on platforms like Instagram and Flickr come with embedded location data, latitude and longitude coordinates that pinpoint exactly where the photo was taken. By extracting these geotags from images flagged as containing pampas grass, the researchers could chart the invasive plant’s distribution with unprecedented precision.
The team focused their efforts on photos posted between 2019 and 2021, a time of rapid expansion for pampas grass in Portugal. As they’d hoped, the AI-generated maps revealed a number of previously undocumented pampas grass sightings, especially in the country’s north, coastline, and southern regions.
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="770" height="390" src="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Portugal_pampas.jpg?resize=770%2C390&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-80734" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Portugal_pampas.jpg?resize=1080%2C547&ssl=1 1080w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Portugal_pampas.jpg?resize=300%2C152&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Portugal_pampas.jpg?resize=768%2C389&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Portugal_pampas.jpg?resize=370%2C187&ssl=1 370w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Portugal_pampas.jpg?resize=270%2C137&ssl=1 270w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Portugal_pampas.jpg?resize=570%2C289&ssl=1 570w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Portugal_pampas.jpg?resize=740%2C375&ssl=1 740w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Portugal_pampas.jpg?w=1200&ssl=1 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Spatial distribution of Cortaderia selloana: (a) for Flickr across 2019, 2020 and 2021, (b) for Instagram, Flickr and Invasoras.pt. Black circles and red arrows indicate new potential locations in relation to the data available on Invasoras.pt. Cardoso et al. 2024</figcaption></figure>
Comparing the geotagged detections year-over-year painted a troubling picture: pampas grass was on the move, popping up in new locations and filling in its range with each passing year. From just a scattering of detections in 2019, the grass had spread to more than double the number of locations by 2021.
While the findings are worrying from a conservation perspective, they showcase the potential of this AI-powered, social media-driven approach to invasive species monitoring. By revealing pampas grass hotspots and tracking the plant’s spread in near-real time, these maps could help guide critical early detection and rapid response efforts.
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">AI species screening is not something like Conservation-GPT</h2>
AI is very much the 2024 buzzword, but the AI used by Cardoso and colleagues is very different to the large language models, like Chat-GPT that are grabbing headlines. Cardoso and colleagues emphasise the importance of human intelligence in the system. The pampas grass photos used to train the AI are explicitly identified using the expertise of the iNaturalist community. The researchers also highlight some limitations.
For one, the AI models are currently only reliable at identifying pampas grass when it’s in full feathery bloom. During other stages of its life cycle, when the plant lacks its distinctive plumes, it can be tough to distinguish from other grass species. This means that some pampas grass populations, especially younger or recently-established ones, might fly under the AI’s radar.
Humans also limit where the data comes from. People tend to take and share photos in certain areas, like cities, parks, and tourist attractions, more than others. This means that the AI-generated maps might over-represent pampas grass populations in these popular spots, while missing sightings in more remote or less-frequented areas.
To address these challenges, the researchers are already hard at work on version 2.0 of their AI plant detectives. They’re exploring ways to train the models on a more diverse set of pampas grass images, showing the plant at different life stages and in a wider variety of habitats. They’re also looking into methods to account for and correct the inherent biases in geotagged social media data.
The researchers stress that their AI tools are meant to complement, not replace, the expertise of human ecologists and conservationists. But by automating certain tedious or time-consuming tasks, like sifting through thousands of photos, these algorithms could free up valuable human resources to focus on higher-level strategy and on-the-ground action.
There’s also the possibility of extending this approach to other invasive species, from algae to zebra mussels. While the specifics would differ, the core idea – using social media data and AI to map invasions in real-time – could be a game-changer for the field of invasion ecology.
<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Researchers caution there are ethical considerations</h2>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
These applications have the potential to support the identification of priority areas for eradication efforts, the efficient allocation of resources, and the evaluation of the success of management interventions over time. Still, we are also aware of potential barriers in the acceptability and confidence of using artificial intelligence tools and user-generated contents by these organizations, especially in the context of social issues like ethics and fairness.
<cite>Cardoso et al. 2024</cite></blockquote>
The ethical question is whether it is acceptable for scientists to use public social media images. The images on iNaturalist are submitted with the intention of helping scientific research. Images on Instagram or other social media sites are uploaded for many reasons. The power of using these sites is the sheer number of images that can be scanned. However, this volume of data also means that seeking active consent for all images is impractical. Can we assume that people don’t object to their photos being used to track invasive species?
The poison in this assumption is there are other tools that use AI photo analysis for facial recognition. One such site happily links to news stories about <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/05/14/pimeyes-facial-recognition-search-secrecy/">how its tools</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/26/technology/pimeyes-facial-recognition-search.html">can be used</a> <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/04/tech/pimeyes-facial-recognition/index.html">for cyberstalking</a>. It’s easy to see why there might be a lack of trust in such systems. For this reason, Cardoso and colleagues state: “it is essential to highlight the transparency and fairness in the overall workflow adopted, addressing any biases or ethical concerns associated with deep learning applications and the use of personal data.”
If these ethical concerns can be addressed, then photo-scanning could prove to be a valuable tool for fighting invasive species. If now 
READ THE ARTICLE:
Cardoso, A.S., Malta-Pinto, E., Tabik, S., August, T., Roy, H.E., Correia, R., Vicente, J.R. and Vaz, A.S. (2024) “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1574954124001444?via%3Dihub">Can citizen science and social media images support the detection of new invasion sites? A deep learning test case with Cortaderia selloana,</a>” Ecological Informatics, (102602), p. 102602. Available at: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2024.102602">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2024.102602</a>.
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
Cover image: Pampas grass by <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Herbe_Pampa_FR_2008.jpg">JLPC / Wikimedia Commons</a>.
The post <a href="https://botany.one/2024/05/electronic-eyes-spy-an-invasive-species/">Electronic Eyes Spy an Invasive Species</a> appeared first on <a href="https://botany.one">Botany One</a>.
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<title>Engineered increase in mesophyll conductance improves photosynthetic efficiency in field trial</title>
<link>https://botany.one/2024/05/engineered-increase-in-mesophyll-conductance-improves-photosynthetic-efficiency-in-field-trial/</link>
<comments>https://botany.one/2024/05/engineered-increase-in-mesophyll-conductance-improves-photosynthetic-efficiency-in-field-trial/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Guest Author]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 07 May 2024 12:44:18 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Cells, Genes & Molecules]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Growth & Development]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[CO2 assimilation]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[featured]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[mesophyll conductance]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[model plant]]></category>
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<description><![CDATA[Overexpressing the CGR3 gene in a model crop led to a remarkable 8% increase in photosynthesis.
The post <a href="https://botany.one/2024/05/engineered-increase-in-mesophyll-conductance-improves-photosynthetic-efficiency-in-field-trial/">Engineered increase in mesophyll conductance improves photosynthetic efficiency in field trial</a> appeared first on <a href="https://botany.one">Botany One</a>.
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<figure class="wp-block-audio"><audio controls src="https://anchor.fm/s/49a2320/podcast/play/86285309/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2024-4-3%2F376476321-44100-2-bc55af48039a7.m4a"></audio><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">You can listen to this page as an audio file (English only)</figcaption></figure>
It is possible to engineer increased mesophyll conductance in plants according to research from the <a href="https://ripe.illinois.edu/">Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency</a> (RIPE) project. Mesophyll conductance refers to the ease with which CO2 can move through a leaf’s cells before being turned into sugar (plant food). CO2 faces barriers as it moves through the leaf, including its own cell walls. Researchers recently found that by increasing porosity and reducing cell wall thickness, they could increase CO2 diffusion and uptake in a model crop.
“This is one of the few successful tests of concept showing we can engineer an increase in mesophyll conductance and have it result in increased photosynthesis in the field,” said Coralie Salesse-Smith, a postdoctoral researcher and lead author on a paper about the research, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pbi.14364">recently published in Plant Biotechnology Journal</a>.
Mesophyll conductance is a key component in photosynthesis, the process all plants use to convert sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into energy and yields. In order for CO2 to reach the chloroplast (where it is turned into sugar), it travels through barriers like the cell wall.  Thinner cell walls are associated with <a href="https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.14351">higher mesophyll conductance</a> suggesting that decreasing wall thickness could change how easily CO2 moves into cells, potentially <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.14496">boosting photosynthesis</a>.
A gene shown to alter cell wall components, CGR3, was inserted into a model crop and planted in a field trial. The plants overexpressing CGR3 showed a 7-13% decrease in cell wall thickness and a 75% increase in the ability of CO2 to move through the cell wall compared to the plants without the gene (wildtype). Together, these changes increased mesophyll conductance, resulting in an 8% increase in photosynthesis.
<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="548" height="525" src="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Salesse-Smith.jpg?resize=548%2C525&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-80711" style="width:500px" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Salesse-Smith.jpg?w=548&ssl=1 548w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Salesse-Smith.jpg?resize=300%2C287&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Salesse-Smith.jpg?resize=370%2C354&ssl=1 370w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Salesse-Smith.jpg?resize=270%2C259&ssl=1 270w" sizes="(max-width: 548px) 100vw, 548px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photosynthetic rates were significantly increased in plants with altered cell walls relative to the unaltered plants (wildtype controls).</figcaption></figure></div>
“This modification worked in a model crop, but it is important to test what happens in soybean to see if the same improvements will be achieved and if that leads to improvements in yield,” said Salesse-Smith.
Read the article: Salesse‐Smith, C. E., Lochocki, E. B., Doran, L., Haas, B. E., Stutz, S. S., & Long, S. P. (2024). <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pbi.14364">Greater mesophyll conductance and leaf photosynthesis in the field through modified cell wall porosity and thickness via atcgr3 expression in tobacco</a>. Plant Biotechnology Journal. Available at: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/pbi.14364">https://doi.org/10.1111/pbi.14364</a>
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Allie Arp is the communications manager for the Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) project at the University of Illinois. For RIPE, Allie develops and implements a communications strategy to promote the work of RIPE researchers through web, print, social, and earned media. Allie earned her bachelor’s degree in public relations/professional writing from the University of Northern Iowa and later went on to receive her master’s degree in mass communications & journalism/agricultural education from Iowa State University. She has more than a decade of research communications experience.
The post <a href="https://botany.one/2024/05/engineered-increase-in-mesophyll-conductance-improves-photosynthetic-efficiency-in-field-trial/">Engineered increase in mesophyll conductance improves photosynthetic efficiency in field trial</a> appeared first on <a href="https://botany.one">Botany One</a>.
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<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">80710</post-id> </item>
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<title>Open-Source Dendrometers for Real-Time Plant Water Monitoring</title>
<link>https://botany.one/2024/05/open-source-dendrometers-for-real-time-plant-water-monitoring/</link>
<comments>https://botany.one/2024/05/open-source-dendrometers-for-real-time-plant-water-monitoring/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[botanyone]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 03 May 2024 15:00:38 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Growth & Development]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Arduino]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dendrometer]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dicotyledon]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[featured]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[micro-controller]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[monocotyledon]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[water potential]]></category>
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<description><![CDATA[Scientists have developed an open-source instrument that can measure how much water plants have without hurting them, helping us understand plants better and use water for farming more wisely.
The post <a href="https://botany.one/2024/05/open-source-dendrometers-for-real-time-plant-water-monitoring/">Open-Source Dendrometers for Real-Time Plant Water Monitoring</a> appeared first on <a href="https://botany.one">Botany One</a>.
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Scientists have long sought new ways to continuously monitor how changing water availability affects plants. Traditional methods of measuring water potential, a key indicator of plant water stress, require invasive sampling that damages tissue. Now researchers have developed <a href="https://academic.oup.com/aobpla/article/16/2/plae009/7615917">entirely open-source instruments capable of tracking plant water status</a> with unprecedented high frequency and non-destructive precision. The development, carried out in the USDA, was published in AoB PLANTS.
Dendrometers are sensors that measure radial stem changes driven by plant water dynamics. Most existing designs have limitations for long-term continuous monitoring. However, a team led by Sean Gleason has created a novel contact dendrometer that overcome these issues. By combining dendrometer data with periodic conventional water potential measurements, their device can estimate water potential every minute or less with minimal disturbance on plant tissues exhibiting little or no secondary growth (petioles, monocotyledon stems).
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
Our focus with this study was not to confirm the already reported relationship between diameter variation and water potential, but rather, to describe the development of an inexpensive sensor that would make high-resolution diameter measurement devices available to anyone with a need for diameter data, as well as traits that can be derived from these data. As such, the sensor, software and analysis tools required to collect and make sense of these measurements needed to be entirely open-source, free or inexpensive and straightforward to build, modify and share with others.
<cite>Gleason et al. 2024</cite></blockquote>
In laboratory trials, the researchers tested both dendrometers on sunflower and corn during simulated drying and watering cycles. The contact sensor is affixed directly to plant stems, while the optical version employs a non-touching technique. Remarkably, the two methods showed very close agreement with each other and with direct water potential readings. They detected subtle 50 kPa differences corresponding to slight changes in transpiration, vapor pressure and soil moisture levels.
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="770" height="702" src="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/plae009_fig1.jpg?resize=770%2C702&ssl=1" alt="Dendrometer in use." class="wp-image-80706" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/plae009_fig1.jpg?resize=1080%2C985&ssl=1 1080w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/plae009_fig1.jpg?resize=300%2C274&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/plae009_fig1.jpg?resize=768%2C700&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/plae009_fig1.jpg?resize=370%2C337&ssl=1 370w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/plae009_fig1.jpg?resize=270%2C246&ssl=1 270w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/plae009_fig1.jpg?resize=570%2C520&ssl=1 570w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/plae009_fig1.jpg?resize=740%2C675&ssl=1 740w, https://i0.wp.com/botany.one/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/plae009_fig1.jpg?w=1200&ssl=1 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Contact dendrometer design and use. Adjustable PLA filament version of contact dendrometer requiring elastic bands (A), non-adjustable PLA filament version of contact dendrometer (B) and resin-printed compression spring design (C). Contact dendrometer placed on Helianthus petiole (D), and Zea stem (E). Source: Gleason et al. 2024</figcaption></figure>
To demonstrate real world use, the team deployed the contact dendrometer on sumac (Rhus typhina) branches in an outdoor setting for a week. It continuously recorded natural fluctuations in branch diameter driven by the plant’s water status.  
Two key advantages to using this new dendrometer for quantifying water potential are its high temporal sampling frequency, measuring in seconds, and the ability to sample at multiple points across the same plant or organ. Additionally, all hardware designs, software and instructions are published openly for anyone to replicate and improve upon the design. 
Being able to monitor plant water relations so frequently and non-invasively opens new opportunities for research. Scientists can gain deeper insights into physiological responses under stressful conditions, and growers may find ways to manage irrigation more sustainably by precisely tracking crop water needs. With open sourcing ensuring accessibility, these novel dendrometers have the potential to advance our understanding and management of plant water relations worldwide, offering a game-changing tool for both research and sustainable agriculture.
READ THE ARTICLE 
Gleason S., Stewart J., Allen B., Polutchko K., McMahon J., Spitzer D. and Barnard D. (2024). “<a href="https://academic.oup.com/aobpla/article/16/2/plae009/7615917">Development and application of an inexpensive opensource dendrometer for detecting xylem water potential and radial stem growth at high spatial and temporal resolution</a>” AoB PLANTS. Available at: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plae009">https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plae009</a>
The post <a href="https://botany.one/2024/05/open-source-dendrometers-for-real-time-plant-water-monitoring/">Open-Source Dendrometers for Real-Time Plant Water Monitoring</a> appeared first on <a href="https://botany.one">Botany One</a>.
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<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">80704</post-id> </item>
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<title>A Universal Theory of Sex</title>
<link>https://botany.one/2024/04/a-universal-theory-of-sex/</link>
<comments>https://botany.one/2024/04/a-universal-theory-of-sex/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sarah Covshoff]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 26 Apr 2024 19:24:18 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Taxonomy & Evolution]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[apogamy]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[apomixis]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[featured]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[haploid selection]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[meiosis]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Muller’s ratchet]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[polyploidy]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[stress response]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[terrestrialization]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://botany.one/?p=80696</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Plants and animals overwhelmingly reproduce sexually, but why gamble with the DNA like that?
The post <a href="https://botany.one/2024/04/a-universal-theory-of-sex/">A Universal Theory of Sex</a> appeared first on <a href="https://botany.one">Botany One</a>.
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
Sexual reproduction in plants and animals presents an evolutionary enigma. It is genetically risky, time-consuming, and error-prone – possibly leading to reduced fitness. And yet, at least 99% of all plants and animals reproduce sexually. This commonality raises the question of whether universal evolutionary pressures exist to select for and maintain sexual reproduction. 
Elvira Hörandl argues in a review paper in Annals of Botany that <a href="https://academic.oup.com/aob/advance-article/doi/10.1093/aob/mcae044/7630939">the need for DNA repair may be the basis for the near universally of sex in the plant and animal kingdoms</a>. And she uses land plants as a tool to make her case.  
“Land plants are of special interest for this question because, on the one hand, sexual reproduction is predominant, similar to animals; on the other hand, some theories developed for animals are not readily applicable to plants because autotrophic organisms have different physiological constraints.” 
The key process in sexual reproduction is meiosis, defined as the pairing and recombination of corresponding parental chromosomes. During this process, parental DNA is fused to create genetic variation in offspring. The new genetic combinations can be advantageous, neutral, or even detrimental to fitness if well-adapted genes are broken up.  
Hörandl argues that plants don’t need meiosis to achieve advantageous genetic combinations — polyploidy can be used instead. In plants, many species are polyploid, i.e., have multiple genomes, and individual genetic variation is correspondingly high. This built-in genetic diversity confers the necessary ‘phenotypic plasticity’ for plants to respond to environmental stressors such as light, heat, drought, and salt. In this context, asexual reproduction, where plants reproduce without meiosis, can make sense as a reproductive strategy.
However, while many plants do reproduce asexually, Hörandl shows that many of those species run both sexual and asexual reproductive pathways in parallel in the same plant in a flexible manner and do not rely solely on asexual forms of reproduction. 
And so, the question becomes, if polyploidy and asexual reproduction are enough to create the necessary genetic diversity for fitness, why then do plants bother with sexual reproduction?  
Hörandl suggests that ‘DNA restoration theory’ provides the answer.  DNA restoration theory posits that the major function of meiosis is to repair damaged DNA and remove negative mutations in each generation. In that light, genetic recombination is not the end goal of sexual reproduction but is instead a by-product of a DNA repair mechanism.  
DNA needs repair because it is continuously damaged by mitochondrial respiration as well as by photosynthesis in plants. Hörandl writes that: 
“In the long term, asexual reproduction without any recombination would result in genomic decay owing to the accumulation of deleterious mutations, specifically in small populations, finally leading to extinction of the asexual lineage.” 
Indeed, sexual reproduction, and consequently meiosis, is triggered in plants grown in DNA damage-inducing, stressful environments. Hörandl notes that only 
“…a little bit of sex (a mean of ~6 % recombined offspring in three progenies) is sufficient to avoid accumulation of mutations over generations.” 
Consequently, species may have evolved the ability to reproduce sexually in order to repair and maintain their DNA.
READ THE ARTICLE
Hörandl, E. (2024) “<a href="https://academic.oup.com/aob/advance-article/doi/10.1093/aob/mcae044/7630939">Apomixis and the paradox of sex in plants</a>,” Annals of Botany, p. mcae044. Available at: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcae044">https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcae044</a>.
The post <a href="https://botany.one/2024/04/a-universal-theory-of-sex/">A Universal Theory of Sex</a> appeared first on <a href="https://botany.one">Botany One</a>.
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