Paper on plants' conquest of land out

Cell divisions rotate in a spiral pattern at the top of a moss shoot.

Many thanks to those who have commented generously on our latest offering to Current Biology, online here. 

In our paper we identify the genetic basis of a defining feature of land plants, namely the capacity to rotate cell divisions through multiple planes. This innovation was important in land plant evolution because plant cells cannot move, and growth and cell division planes pattern overall plant form.  Multiple cell division planes translate directly into multiple growth axes, accounting for the elaboration of land plant forms relative to their algal ancestors. The genes involved encode a small protein that can move, and its receptors, and a major future challenge will be to discover how these act to set the cell division planes.

My team now wishes to address this challenge and to work out how changes in gene activity contributed to the radiation of diverse plant forms during evolution.

I am very grateful to my students, colleagues and collaborators for making this project so enjoyable, and especially to Chris né White for taking a punt when we started the work.

Thanks to Bioballers

Thanks to Nick Franke and others for organising a memorable evening at the museum yesterday. I loved your version of wonderwall, it was great! Good luck to all of you in the next steps.

Paper on Physcomitrella MAX2 function out

Many congrats to first and lead co-authors on bringing a project on Physcomitrella MAX2 function to fruition, and thanks for including me and Yoan! The paper is online in New Phytologist today here, and it shows that the stigolactone signalling pathway operates distinctly in Physcomitrella and flowering plants.

Visit to Pisa

Zoe and I are in Pisa visiting Francesco Licausi and got to see Europe's oldest botanic garden today. Interesting generic beds and beds to showcase individual plants below.

Thanks for the invitation Francesco, it was fun to meet your lab!

FASEB mechanisms in plant development meeting 2019

Very pleased to say that FASEB have given the go ahead for the 'mechanisms in plant development' meeting to be held in 2019 in St Bonaventure, New York.

Please block out July 29- August 2 in your diaries and spread the word!

Ken Birnbaum and I are co-organising the meeting and hope to announce confirmed speakers soon.

Hiring a lab manager @BristolPlantSci

The vibrant Plant Science grouping at Bristol is looking to recruit to an open ended lab manager post in plant molecular and cell biology. The role will be varied involving an ability to work independently and proactively to high technical, academic and interpersonal standards. 

The job advert and particulars are online here, and I look forward to meeting some of you who apply.

Method for working with sterile moss mutants out

Laura Moody's recent paper on 3D growth in Physcomitrella used somatic hybridization to get round the problem that 3D growth-defective mutants don't make gametophores or gametes. The technique she developed used a fluorescent marker line that I started to generate during my post-doctoral work and Yoan Coudert finished making in my lab, and the paper is online today at the New Phytologist- you can read it here.