This edition of the PlantLink Newsletter contains information about a number of upcoming meetings and courses, a report from the PlantLink 10-year celebration, a new PhD position and much more!
Newsletter Contents
- SPPS “Connecting Plants and People”, 4 November
- Plant Biologicals Network symposium, 11-12 November
- ELLS Conference 2021 Warsaw, 18-20 November
- NordPlant annual meeting “Successful Plant Modelling and Phenotyping for the Nordic Countries – What is Needed?” in Tromsø, Norway, 25-26 November
- PhD course in plant imaging and phenotyping in Tromsø, Norway 22-24 November
- 7th Annual Nordic Plant Phenotyping Network Workshop, 1-2 February 2022 in Båstad, Sweden
- ”The 25th Biannual International Plant Resistance to Insects Workshop (25IPRI)”, 31 May-2 June in Malmö
- Strengthening ties with CZU and working further with ESCAPAdE
- Summary of the successful PlantLink/ESCAPAdE job fair
- PlantLink 10-year celebration!
- Marie Nyman at the Swedish Gene Technology Advisory Board retires
- Johanna Osterman joins PlantLink’s steering committee
- PhD position at SLU Alnarp: Genomic screening of traits for increased seed yield in red clover
- EPSO statement on plant NGTs
- New publication: Light quality changes the bacteria diet!
- Mats Hansson and other scientists from LU in the media
- Researcher in the spotlight Nils Cronberg
1. SPPS “Connecting Plants and People”, 4 November
For the second time already, SPPS is organizing the webinar “Connecting Plants and People” together with Physiologia Plantarum. Participation is completely FREE of charge and the concept is UNIQUE! Two weeks before the live event, participants can view the presentations, just exactly when they have time. At the live event, only a short summary will be given and then we dive directly into a panel discussion and discussion of the talks. The LIVE event will be held on November 4th and the presentations can be viewed from now and onward. Program and register!
2. Plant Biologicals Network symposium, 11-12 November
This year’s annual Plant Biologicals Network symposium will be November 11th at 12:00 to November 12th at 13:00. Registration closes 4th November 2021. A program and registration is found here.
3. ELLS Conference 2021 Warsaw, 18-20 November
It is time for the annual Euroleague for Life Sciences (ELLS) conference. This meeting consists of the General Assembly, where PlantLink will represent the subject area Plant Health and the Student conference with the title “Green (r)evolution”. These will both be online. MSc students, please note that it is possible to register for the Student conference until 31st October! If you as a teacher is interested in joining the General Assembly it is still possible by contacting us. Programs and registration here. ELLS is a network of leading universities cooperating in the fields of Natural Resource Management, Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, Life Sciences, Animal Sciences, Food Sciences, Environmental Sciences and Rural Development, incl. Agricultural Economics or Rural Sociology.
4. NordPlant annual meeting “Successful Plant Modelling and Phenotyping for the Nordic Countries – What is Needed?” in Tromsø, Norway, 25-26 November.
We are happy to announce leading scientists Magnus Nordborg (Gregor Mendel Institute), Katja Karppinen (UiT), Ove Nilsson (SLU), Eva Rosenqvist (UCPH), Rick van de Zedde (Wageningen UR) and David Percival (Dalhuise university) are among the presenters. It will be preceded by facility managers’ forum, Nordic joint data standards and a PhD course in multispectral imaging. During the meeting we will also have a virtual poster session and tech forum where companies can present themselves. More information on the site and sign up here. This event will also be available online if you sign up.
5. PhD course in plant imaging and phenotyping in Tromsø, Norway 22-24 November (3 ECTS).
This course precedes the NordPlant annual meeting. Course topic: Novel imaging methods in plant stress research. More information and sign-up here.
6. 7th Annual Nordic Plant Phenotyping Network Workshop, 1-2 February 2022 in Båstad, Sweden
PhD course in plant imaging and phenotyping in Tromsø, Norway 22-24 November (3 This will again be a physical meeting and registration for the 7th Annual Nordic Plant Phenotyping Network Workshop is now open!
7. The 25th Biannual International Plant Resistance to Insects Workshop (25IPRI), 31 May-2 June in Malmö.
The 25th Biannual International Plant Resistance to Insects Workshop (25IPRI) will be arranged 31 May-2 June in Malmö. More information on this event here.
8. Strengthening ties with CZU and working further with ESCAPAdE
Linked to our efforts to tie regional education in the plant sciences Erasmus exchange student Anna Maňourová is visiting us since the beginning of this month. Anna is a PhD student from Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CZU), Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences, and is hosted by SLU during her two-month Erasmus+ traineeship. Her field is mainly in agroforestry, tree domestication and neglected/underutilized species in Africa, though her interest also lies in application of innovative teaching methods and active cooperation with students and public. The aim of her stay is to strengthen the bonds between CZU and SLU by means of continuation of joint projects, e.g. ESCAPAdE Erasmus project, implementation of new Project-Based Learning methods in both institutions as well as seeking for future possibilities in sustainable research-based projects in Africa supported by system/holistic approach. 12th of November there is a chance to meet Anna in the BT-VSB teachers’ fika at 14:30 CEST.
9. Summary of the successful PlantLink/ESCAPAdE job fair
Here is a summary of the PlantLink/ESCAPAdE job fair event in August “Job Perspectives in Applied Plant Sciences”. Almost 200 persons joined the event!
10. PlantLink 10-year celebration!
PlantLink turned 10 years 27 September! More about our 10 year celebration can be found here!
11. Marie Nyman at the Swedish Gene Technology Advisory Board retires
After many years at The Swedish Gene Technology Advisory Board Marie Nyman is retiring next year and there is now an add out Kansliansvarig till Gentekniknämnden We thank Marie for all the input and collaborations over the years
12. Johanna Osterman joins PlantLink’s steering committee
Johanna Osterman will be joining the steering committee as the SLU PhD representative as Linnea will be leaving for parental leave in November. Welcome Johanna and all the best to Linnea!
13. PhD position at SLU Alnarp: Genomic screening of traits for increased seed yield in red clover
We seek a motivated PhD student for a project with the aim to contribute to streamlining plant breeding for seed yield in red clover, an important protein-rich forage crop in Sweden. One challenge in red clover seed production is extreme variation in seed yield. In red clover, the seed yield is affected by many factors, including access to pollinators, cultivation-related factors and genotypic differences (e.g. ploidy). The aim of the project is to find stable links between seed yield and genomic data that can be used in future breeding programs based on genomic selection. The project is a collaboration between three departments at SLU (in Alnarp and Umeå) and industry funded by SLU Grogrund (Centre for Breeding of Food Crops). The work will be centred around phenotyping of plant traits in field and greenhouse studies as well as genetic analyses. Closing date 5th of November, 2021. Apply here.
14. EPSO statement on plant NGTs
This week EPSO submitted their comments on the roadmap regarding the legislation for plants produced by novel genomic techniques (NGTs) to the European Commission’s consultation. It can be read here.
15. New publication: Light quality changes the bacteria diet!
LED light has been an integral part of plant management in greenhouses and plant factories since several years. Light quality, i.e., the wavelength of the emitted light, affects plants’ physiology and shape. However, microorganisms living on the leaf surface are also sensitive to light, even those which are not using light for their metabolism (non-photosynthetic). In a new study, PlantLink associate researcher Beatrix Alsanius et al. demonstrates that some non-photosynthetic bacteria, living on leaves, change their dietary preferences in response to light quality, especially in monochromatic short-waved blue light, but also in polychromatic white light. Along with this, properties which are important for bacteria’s survival on the leaf surface are triggered. These findings give important information for biological control of diseases and pests on leaves. Read the publication here.
16. Mats Hansson and other scientists from LU in the media
Congratulations to Mats Hansson and colleagues for making it into the newspaper (Sydsvenskan)! “Så bildas livest viktigaste molekyl“
The article describes their important work, using barley mutants to study on one of the steps of Chlorophyll production. The work is described in this recent Plant Cell paper.
17. Researcher in the spotlight: Nils Cronberg
This month’s researcher in the spotlight is Nils Cronberg at Lund University. Read more about his research here.