Putting the bluebell under the microscope: (A) British bluebell flower imaged under Keyence. Image by Gareth Evans. Flower imaged under scanning electron microscope (B) Style and stigma with stigmatic papillae. (C) Surface detail of anthers and the longitudinal slit through which the pollen grains are released from. (D) Anthers splitting open (dehiscence) to release pollen grains. (E) Pollen grains. (F) Outer surface of tepals. Images by Trevor Groves FRMS.

We've put one of the UK's most beloved plants under the microscope for International Plant Appreciation Day! 💚🌱 🔬

🔗 www.slcu.cam.ac.uk/bluebells-th...

Thank you Cambridge University Botanic Garden, Cambridge University Herbarium & @camplantsci.bsky.social for collaboration
#bluebells #plantsci

Want to change the world? poster.

💚We Appreciate Plants💚

Plant science research is vital to solving some of the biggest problems facing us & our planet.

With our 'Want to change the world?' poster & resources, you can inspire your students to find solutions & make a difference with a career in #plantscience.

#PlantAppreciationDay

A cluster of vibrant bluebells in full bloom stands amidst a lush, green meadow. The background is softly blurred with faint hints of more flowers and grasses.

Purple bluebell flowers are displayed against a dark background. The flower on the left is upright, showing a closed bloom, while the one on the right is tilted, revealing an open interior with visible stamens.

A botanical specimen features several dried and pressed Hyacinthoides non-scripta plants, commonly known as bluebells. The stems and leaves are elongated, with some flowers at the top. Labels with botanical information are attached, and a scale bar is visible on the left.

This image shows a series of close-up and microscopic views of a purple flower and its anthers. The main image features a detailed, zoomed-in view of the flower, with arrows pointing to sections of the anthers and pollen structures. The surrounding panels show further magnified images of pollen grains and the surface texture of the anthers at various scales, with measurements labelled in micrometers.

This Plant Appreciation Day, we’re celebrating the British bluebell 💙🌿

Together with colleagues from Cambridge University Herbarium, @camplantsci.bsky.social and @slcuplants.bsky.social, we explore the science behind this much-loved native plant.

Read more: https://shorturl.at/Iauxq

@cam.ac.uk

🧵1/X 🚨New Preprint🚨 Root pathogens are hard to manage, and we know little about plant genes enabling infection (susceptibility genes). Here, we show that SCARs are susceptibility factors in barley roots - and their loss affects pathogens/symbionts in distinct ways www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Sainsbury Laboratory Symposium 2026 logo - Shaping Life-Mechanisms of Morphogenesis. Timelapse of a developing Arabidopsis leaf imaged at 9-12 days old under a confocal microscope, with cells segmented and coloured using MorphographX software. Images by Sarah Attrill. Overlay text: Abstracts deadline extended to 20 April

We’ve received some great abstracts so far for #SLS26. However, we’ve heard from a few of you that you need a bit more time over the Easter break to finalise submissions, so we're extending the deadline to 20 April!

Reviews are underway & we will let you know results on 4 May
www.slcu.cam.ac.uk/sls

Biochemistry and AI Join us for three talks on how AI can be applied to big questions in Biochemistry. The talks will be followed by a Q and A panel discussion.

Calling all colleagues with teenagers. Join us on Saturday 28 March, 2pm-3.30pm in the Jean Thomas Lecture Theatre, Sanger Building for our #CamFest event on how AI can be applied to big questions in Biochemistry for ages 12+. All welcome, book here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/biochemist...

Sainsbury Laboratory Symposium poster with timelapse images. of a developing Arabidopsis thaliana leaf imaged at 9-12 days old under a confocal microscope, with cells segmented and coloured using MorphographX software. Images by Sarah Attrill.. Text reads: Shaping Life: Mechanisms of Morphogenesis Sainsbury Laboratory Symposium 2026 22–24 September 2026 | Cambridge, UK #SLS26. About the Symposium #SLS26 will explore the cellular, genetic and mechanical forces shaping plant form, bringing together researchers across scales of morphogenesis. Under the theme Shaping Life, topics span molecular regulation, biomechanics, live imaging, computational modelling and evolution. Abstracts close: 30 March 2026. Keynote Speakers: Ari Pekka Mähönen (University of Helsinki) and Lucia Strader (Duke University). Invited Speakers: Bénédicte Sanson, Kalika Prasad, Marie-Cécile Caillaud, Sabrina Sabatini, Thomas Greb, Weibing Yang, Joop EM Vermeer, Keiko Torii, Paz Merelo Cremades, Stéphanie Robert, and Utpal Nath.

Just 4 days left to submit your abstract for the Sainsbury Laboratory Symposium 2026 🌱
Join us in Cambridge (22–24 Sept) to share your work on plant morphogenesis — talks & posters all welcome.

🗓 Deadline: 30 March
🔗 www.slcu.cam.ac.uk/sainsbury-la...
Don’t miss out! #SLS26
#PlantScience #plantsci

Mature wheat field with low sun in background

How does wheat tell time?🌾🕰️

New model by @abhibiotech.bsky.social with @alexwebblab.bsky.social & James Locke reveals the flexibility of plant circadian clocks. Unlike Arabidopsis, wheat ELF3 peaks at dawn, model suggests TOC1 repression drives this shift

doi.org/10.1098/rsif...

@royalsociety.org

Sainsbury Laboratory Symposium 2026 logo - Shaping Life-Mechanisms of Morphogenesis. Timelapse of a developing Arabidopsis leaf imaged at 9-12 days old under a confocal microscope, with cells segmented and coloured using MorphographX software. Images by Sarah Attrill. Overlay text: Abstracts close in 7 days

📣 Call for abstracts from global #plantsci community working on plant development!

⏰ Abstracts close in 7 days (due Monday 30 March)

Registration fees due later (15 June)

Register at:
www.slcu.cam.ac.uk/sainsbury-la...

Grateful for the opportunity to work with two of my mentors on this Opinion in Trends in Plant Science.

A meaningful milestone—now I can say I have an Opinion.

@dromius.bsky.social
@oswaldovaldesl.bsky.social
@slcuplants.bsky.social

A deep-time landscape of plant cis-regulatory sequence evolution Developmental gene function is often conserved over deep time, but cis-regulatory sequence conservation is difficult to identify. Rapid sequence turnover, paleopolyploidy, structural variation, and li...

Sometimes you come across a study which you quickly realise it is going to have a big impact. The last week published study "A deep-time landscape of plant cis-regulatory sequence evolution" in science I think is one of those.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#PlantScience

🍃🎤🍃 Speaker announcement 🍃🎤🍃

Its that time again... introducing our next set of Invited Speakers for Photosynthesis 2026 🌱

🌿 Join us in Liverpool this July 🌿
⏰️ Abstract submission for oral presentations closes 31st March

Find out more 👉 photosynthesis2026.com

#plantscience #ICPR26
🧵1/7

Reminder: 2 weeks left to submit your #SLS26 abstract

Shaping Life: Mechanisms of Morphogenesis
22-24 September 2026 | Cambridge UK | In-person and online live-stream of talks

Full details at: www.slcu.cam.ac.uk/sls
#plantsci

Congratulations to everyone involved!
@camplantsci.bsky.social @cambridgebiosci.bsky.social @umassamherst.bsky.social @cshlnews.bsky.social & The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Ancient plant cis-regulatory relements are widespread! 2.3 million CNSs - of these 3954 predate the angiosperms and 633 pre-date seed plants. Ancienct CNSs are enriched at developmental regulators.

Super human work by @kirkamundson.bsky.social & Anat Hendelman!
Dr Amundson: “These sequences are not frozen relics. They can move, duplicate and diversify, yet still preserve the regulatory logic required for development.”

Phylogeny of the 284 species of plants included in Conservatory data set. Conservatory uncovered ~2.3 million conserved non-coding DNA sequences across 284 plant species from 72 families including eudicots, monocots, gymnosperms, and algae. Illustrations by Professor Madelaine Bartlett.

Hiding in plain sight! 2.3M conserved non-coding sequences traced back 300M years across 284 plant species
Ground-breaking study out in First Release @science.org from labs of @madelaineb.bsky.social, @idane.bsky.social & Zach Lippman
▶️ doi.org/10.1126/scie...
▶️ www.slcu.cam.ac.uk/news/hiding-...

📢We are excited to announce the Cambridge Morphogenesis Symposium - a full day event at SLCU @slcuplants.bsky.social (and virtually) on 5 June 2026!
🎉Come celebrate the 5th anniversary of the seminar series!
🚩Register & submit abstracts by 3 April! Check out the details: t.ly/YYM3u
Please repost!🙏

Sainsbury Laboratory Symposium 2026 logo - Shaping Life-Mechanisms of Morphogenesis. Timelapse of a developing Arabidopsis leaf imaged at 9-12 days old under a confocal microscope, with cells segmented and coloured using MorphographX software. Images by Sarah Attrill.

Register Now!
#SLS26 Sainsbury Laboratory Symposium | 22-24 Sept 2026 | Cambridge, UK
Theme - Shaping Life: Mechanisms of Morphogenesis!

If you are into Plant Development - join us!

In-person + livestream
Limited fee waivers
www.slcu.cam.ac.uk/sls

Optical sections of EdU-labelled Medicago truncatula root nodule primordia 7-days post inoculation imaged under a confocal microscope. Images by Ella Greensmith.

The method published in STAR Protocols, developed by Dr Schiessl and lab members Georgina Wickens and Ella Greensmith, combines highly controlled rhizobial spot inoculation with advanced deep-tissue imaging, enabling researchers to determine exactly where and when nodules form along the root.

Graphical abstract that visually shows the workflow with photos of each step. The steps show the plant growth and bacterial growth steps: 1. Preparation of rhizobia and seedlings for spot inoculation. 2. Root zone marking and precise bacterial droplet application. 3. Incubation in EdU medium to label DNA replication. 4. Sample fixation and replicated DNA labelling 5. Tissue clearing and cell wall staining

Powerful new protocol from @kathschiessl.bsky.social's lab to trigger & visualise earliest stages of symbiotic root nodule formation in Medicago truncatula — no genetic reporters needed means broad species application!
Protocol: doi.org/10.1016/j.xp...
Summary: www.slcu.cam.ac.uk/news/new-pro...

🤩🤩🤩Soooo Happy to be selected for the 3rd Early Career Plant Researchers Network Meeting in Halle, Germany (April 2026).
Looking forward to great science, honest career conversations, and the Leibniz Plant Biochemistry Symposium. 🌱💃🤩 #ECR #EarlyPostdoc #DBG #IBPSymposium2026

Be part of OMGN! Open to all researchers with an interest in oomycetes, from molecular genetics & genomics to biology, population biology, and ecology, at either an experimental or a computational level. Investigators new to the field are always welcome oomycetes.com

Exterior of the award-winning Sainsbury Laboratory building as viewed from the Cambridge University Botanic Garden with summer flower bed in foreground featuring irises. Text overlay says: Business Operations Manager: Where strategic leadership, exceptional people and world-leading science come together. Closing date 8th March 2026.

Position: Business & Operations Manager
Where: @slcuplants.bsky.social Cambridge UK

Wide-ranging leadership role with an internationally recognised institute for plant developmental biology research. Based in @cubotanicgarden.bsky.social & 5-min from Cambridge Station
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/busines...

Sainsbury Laboratory Symposium 2026 logo - Shaping Life-Mechanisms of Morphogenesis. Timelapse of a developing Arabidopsis leaf imaged at 9-12 days old under a confocal microscope, with cells segmented and coloured using MorphographX software. Images by Sarah Attrill.

Registrations now open for #SLS26 Sainsbury Laboratory Symposium 2026 in Cambridge, UK — Shaping Life: Mechanisms of Morphogenesis!
Join us explore how cellular, genetic & mechanical forces sculpt plant form
📅 22–24 Sept 2026
In-person + livestream
Limited fee waivers
www.slcu.cam.ac.uk/sls
#plantsi

Excellent editor's summary from @maddyseale.bsky.social on research showing how ribosome methylation affects vascular cell fate in xylem tissue - whether cells become water conducting vessels or parenchyma cells for storage.
Research summary: www.slcu.cam.ac.uk/news/how-pla...

Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universitatd Politè cnica de València
Univ Lyon, ENS de Lyon, CNRS, INRAE
North Carolina State University
@dundee.ac.uk
Palacký University Olomouc
University of Tartu

University of Southern Denmark
Polish Academy of Sciences
South China Agricultural University
@umeaplantsciencecentre.se ecentre.se Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Palacký University
@gssr-warsaw.bsky.social y.social
@uniofnottingham.bsky.social

cont...

Research Collaborators:

@cam.ac.uk
@helsinki.fi

@cambridgebiosci.bsky.social
@cambridge-scm.bsky.social
Cambridge Institute for Medical Research
Cambridge Department of Geography
Cambridge Department of Haematology
Cambridge Stem Cell Institute

cont...

Thermospermine requires m3U2952 modification of ribosomes for its bifunctional translation regulation. In WT plants the OVAC gene can methylate ribosomes (m3U2952). With this specific methylation and the presence of themospermine, SACLs can be translated but LHW cannot. This mechanism is impaired in the ovac mutant where SACLs are not translated, but LHW can still be translated. Graphic and images by Donghwi Ko.

The research concludes that thermospermine is a bifunctional translational regulator for SAC51 and LHW, but requires a specific methylation, m3U2952, for its bifunctional regulation. It acts by promoting SACLs translation while inhibiting that of LHW.

: Location of the methylation is in the ribosome’s peptidyl transferase centre (PTC) where the peptide bond can be catalysed. Visualisation of the binding of thermospermine (tSpm) to the Arabidopisis ribosome using a cryo-EM map of Arabidopsis WT 80S ribosome with P-site bound tRNA (cyan). Schematic of the PTC, with the CCA end of the P-site tRNA, tSpm, and residue m3U2952 indicated. Ribosome structure visualisation by Alexandre Faill.

Researchers from Alan Warren’s lab at the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research and Finn Kirpekar’s lab at the University of Southern Denmark analysed chemical modifications and the structure of the Arabidopsis ribosome to see how it functions as a signalling sensor.