Great #plantscienceclassics thread by Marc 👍🏻 A bit more happy to have spent most of my BSc studying in the Wentgebouw at @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social (it was not a great building and now demolished) 😉

The fact that Americans thought Auxin was a “Hoax from Europe” rightfully got some attention in my latest #PlantScienceClassics post. But it’s actually even funnier if you learn about the context & consequence of White speaking these words to Went at the AAAS Meeting in Pittsburgh. #PlantScience 🧪
🧵

The authors of the two papers. Carlos O. Miller standing on the left, looking down upon a couple of glass beakers. Opposite him, from the back to the front, are Malcolm H. van Saltza, Francis Shigeo Okumura, Folke K. Skoog and Frank M. Strong. Below the photo are the headers of their two papers describing kinetin, the first cytokinin: “Kinetin, a cell division factor from desoxyribonucleic acid” by Carlos O. Miller, Folke K. Skoog, Malcolm H. van Saltza and Frank M. Strong, and “Structure and synthesis of kinetin” by Carlos O. Miller, Folke K. Skoog, Francis Shigeo Okumura, Malcolm H. van Saltza and Frank M. Strong. Both published in 1955 in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

#PlantScienceClassics #20: Kinetin & Cytokinins. In 1955 Carlos Miller, Folke Skoog & co-workers describe the first #Cytokinin and its role in promoting cell division and growth promotion. #Phytohormones #PlantScience #PlantDevelopment

pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1...
pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1...

The title pages of the three papers: "Ueber die Art der Wahrnehmung des Schwerkraftreizes bei den Pflanzen" by Bohumil Řehoř Němec (1900), "Ueber die Perception des geotroplschen Reizes" by Gottlieb Johann Friedrich Haberlandt (1900), and "AUX1 regulates root gravitropism in Arabidopsis by facilitating auxin uptake within root apical tissues" by Alan Marchant et al. (1999). On the left, an sketch from Haberlandt, showing a set of cells from a root that was tilted by 13 degrees. The starch granules are visible inside the cells and have shifted from the center to the corners of the cells that is now pointing down along the gravitropic force. On the right is a sketch from Marchant, showing a root tip with arrows that indicate the auxin flow: Down toward the QC inside the vasculature, then out to the sides and back up toward the shoot in the outer tissues. When the root is slightly tilted, the shoot-ward auxin flow is redirected to the lower side, where it inhibits cell elongation. Hence, the cells on the opposite side elongate more, which leads to root bending.

#PlantScienceClassics #19: Root gravitropism: 120 years ago the starch-statolith theory was described, ~100 years ago the Cholodny-Went theory proposed, and 25 years ago the directional auxin flow was mapped as reverse fountain in the root tip. #Phytohormones #Gravitropism #Auxin #PlantScience

The Science cover picture of the 1988 issue shows the triple response mutant phenotype in a group of Arabidopsis thaliana seedling, with one tall seedling standing out – it carries the mutation in the ETR1 gene, the ethylene receptor. Next to the cover is the title page of the paper “Insensitivity to Ethylene Conferred by a Dominant Mutation in Arabidopsis thaliana”, by ANTHONY B. BLEECKER, MARK A. ESTELLE, CHRIS SOMERVILLE and HANS KENDE.

#PlantScienceClassics #18: Ethylene triple response mutants. 35 years ago Anthony Bleecker et al. exploited the triple response phenotype to identify the #ethylene receptor ETR1 @science.org. The ethylene story is another example for #PlantBlindness at the Nobel Prize.
doi.org/10.1126/scie...

A portrait of Rudolf Freisleben (from https://gepris-historisch.dfg.de/person/5103240?) next to the title of the 1942 paper 'Über die Auffindung einer mehltauresistenten Mutante nach Röntgenbestrahlung einer anfälligen reinen Linie von Sommergerste' by Freisleben and Lein from Naturwissenschaften volume 30, page 608.

#PlantScienceClassics #17: The Mildew Resistance Locus O (MLO). 80 years ago Rudolf Freisleben & Alfred Lein created the first powdery mildew resistant #barley plant. 30yrs ago the gene was mapped,&25 yrs ago cloned - yet, it's mode of action remains a mystery. doi.org/10.1007/BF01... #PlantImmunity

Title page of the 1983 paper in the Journal of Heredity, titled “A linkage map of Arabidopsis thaliana”, by Maarten Koornneef, J. van Eden, C. J.Hanhart, Piet Stam, F. J. Braaksma, and Willem J. Feenstra. The abstract reads “For Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. (2n = 10), 76 loci have now been assigned to five linkage groups, corresponding to the five chromosomes. From a large number of estimated recombination percentages internally consistent linkage maps were constructed, ranging in genetic length from 51 cM (chromosome 2) to 123 cM (chromosome 1). Map lengths and centromere positions agree well with cytological observations of previous authors.”

#PlantScienceClassics #16: A linkage map of Arabidopsis thaliana. In 1983 the legendary Maarten Koornneef published a genetic map of Arabidopsis thaliana, the basis for genetic work & an important contribution towards the acceptance of Arabidopsis as plant model. doi.org/10.1093/oxfo...

Title page of the retracted 1992 Science paper "Activation of a plant gene by T-DNA tagging: auxin-independent growth in vitro” by Hiroaki Hayashi, Inge Czaja, Helge Lubenow, Jeff Schell and Richard Walden.

#PlantScienceClassics #15 #PlantScienceFails #1: The auxin-independent (axi) Nicotiana tabacum lines. In 1992 Richard Walden et al. (specifically co-worker Inge Czaja) published on activation-tagged axi protoplasts in Science that could divide & grow in the absence of any #auxin!

A portrait of Gregor Mendel from Wikipedia, next to the title page of a translation of his 1866 publication ‘Versuche über Plflanzenhybriden’. The translated title is ‘EXPERIMENTS IN PLANT HYBRIDIZATION’, subtitled ‘Read at the February 8th, and March 8th, 1865, meetings of the Brünn Natural History Society’

#PlantScienceClassics #14: Mendelian inheritance. In 1866 Gregor Mendel published his work on dominant/recessive trait inheritance in peas, establishing the hereditary rules on which modern genetics is based. But nobody cared, & his scientific career ended. www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48299076

The title page of the 1998 Technical Advance paper in the Plant Journal showing the title “Floral dip: a simplified method for Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of Arabidopsis thaliana”, authors Steven J. Clough, Andrew F. Bent and publication date December 1998 (Volume 16, Issue 6, Pages 735-743)

#PlantScienceClassics #13: Floral Dip. ~25 years ago, in 1998, Steven Clough & Andrew Bent published their ingeniously simple Arabidopsis transformation protocol in #ThePlantJournal: Dipping a plant upside down into Agrobacterium solution - et voilà!
doi.org/10.1046/j.13...

Title pages of the two Science papers. From 1999 the paper ‘Signaling of Cell Fate Decisions by CLAVATA3 in Arabidopsis Shoot Meristems’, authored by Jennifer C. Fletcher, Ulrike Brand, Mark P. Running, Rüdiger Simon & Elliot M. Meyerowitz, and from 2000 the paper ‘Dependence of Stem Cell Fate in Arabidopsis on a Feedback Loop Regulated by CLV3 Activity’, authored by Ulrike Brand, Jennifer C. Fletcher, Martin Hobe, Elliot M. Meyerowitz & Rüdiger Simon.

#PlantScienceClassics #12: The stem cell-maintaining CLAVATA(CLV)-WUSCHEL(WUS) feedback loop. In 1999/2000 the labs of Elliot Meyerowitz & @simonrdg.bsky.social published 2 joint Science papers describing a self-regulating signaling loop that maintains the stem cells of plants.
#PlantDevelopment

Title page of the paper showing its title “GUS fusions: beta-glucuronidase as a sensitive and versa-tile gene fusion marker in higher plants” and the authors Richard A. Jefferson, Tony A. Kavanagh and Michael W. Bevan from the Department of Molecular Genetics, Plant Breeding Institute, Ma-ris Lane, Trumpington, Cambridge CB2 2LQ, UK.

#PlantScienceClassics #11: The GUS reporter system. In 1987 Richard Jefferson & colleagues from Michael Bevan's lab published the first reporter system to monitor promoter activity in planta: doi.org/10.1002/j.14...

Portraits of Tim Ulmasov, Gretchen Hagen & Tom Guilfoyle next to the title page of their 1997 papers, ‘ARF1, a Transcription Factor That Binds to Auxin Response Elements’ in Science, and ‘Aux/lAA Proteins Repress Expression of Reporter Genes Containing Natural and Highly Active Synthetic Auxin Response Elements’ in The Plant Cell. The latter is also co-authored by Jane Murfett.

#PlantScienceClassics #10: AuxREs, ARFs & Aux/IAAs. In 1997 the trifecta of Tim Ulmasov (TU), Gretchen Hagen (GH) & Tom Guilfoyle (TG) unleashed their Science / The Plant Cell double strike on the plant sciences, making #Auxin the hot topic of the field for the next decade.

Title page of the 1985 Nature paper showing the title ‘Identification of DNA sequences required for activity of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter’ and authors Joan T. Odell, Ferenc Nagy and Nam-Hai Chua.

#PlantScienceClassics #9: The CaMV 35S promoter. In 1985 Joan T. Odell & Ferenc Nagy from Nam-Hai Chua’s lab describe the Cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter, enabling researchers to ubiquitously express their genes of interest in plants. doi.org/10.1038/3138...

A portrait painting of Joseph Priestley next to the cover of his 1775 book 'Experiments and observations on different kinds of air'.

#PlantScienceClassics #8: Discoveries in Air. Joseph Priestley’s ‘Experiments and observations on different kinds of air’ in the 18th century formed the basis for the discovery and description of #photosynthesis. archive.org/details/expe...

Jeff Dangl and Jonathan Jones in front of a boat named ZIGZAGZIG.

#PlantScienceClassics #7: The ZigZag Model. 15 years ago @jonathandgjones.bsky.social & Jeff Dangl published their review integrating Pattern/PAMP-Triggered Immunity (PTI) & Effector-Triggered Immunity (ETI) into one unified model of ‘The plant immune system’. doi.org/10.1038/natu...

"Reflections on the ABC model of flower development"

Great to see a new historical perspective on the ABC model by pioneer John Bowman and next-Generation superstar Edwige Moyroud.

Out now: buff.ly/3OIDlHM

See also my #PlantScienceClassics Thread on the ABC Model here:
bsky.app/profile/soms...

A portrait of Mary-Dell Chilton, and the title page of her 1977 Cell paper "Stable incorporation of plasmid DNA into higher plant cells: the molecular basis of crown gall tumorigenesis".

#PlantScienceClassics #6: The T-DNA. In a 1977 paper, Mary-Dell Chilton & colleagues identify the Transferred DNA (T-DNA), the bit of DNA that Agrobacterium tumefaciens inserts into the plant genome, to kick off the race toward the first transgenic plant. doi.org/10.1016/0092...

A portrait of Barbara McClintock and the front cover of her 1950 paper "The origin and behavior of mutable loci in maize".

#PlantScienceClassics #5: “Jumping Genes”. In 1950 Barbara McClintock published her landmark paper on the #Maize Dissociation (DS) & Activator (Ac) #TransposableElements, revolutionizing the field of #Genetics to hostile opposition from her peers. doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

I have written a couple of threads 🧵 on "classic" #PlantScience papers. I always tag them with #PlantScienceClassics , but will also compile them here in this thread: 👇

Excerpt from Reinholz' paper: "Mullers 1) grundlegende Entdeckung der mutations auslösenden Wirkung kurzwelliger Strahlen (1927) hat die Hoffnung aufsteigen dassen, Evolutions-vorgänge künstlich und willkürlich herbeizuführen. Die zahlreichen bisher durchgeführten Versuche waren indes nicht yon dem erwarteten Erfolg gekrönt. Mit tier Einbeziehung immer weiterer Objekte in den Kreis der Betrachtungen zeigte sich vielmehr um so ausgeprägter eine starke Herabsetzung der Lebenseignung der Mutanten (Tollenaar, Gager und Blakeslee, Goodspeed und Olsom, Stein, Stadler, Timoféeff-Ressovsky, Delaunays, Langendorff, Stubbe, u. a.). Ihre Bedeutung für die Artbildung wäre erloschen, wollte man sie als ,,erbliche Erkrankungen" auffassen.

A quick addendum in reference to #PlantScienceClassics #2: Laibach’s student Erna Reinholz established x-ray #mutagenesis of A. thaliana, curiously referencing Muller’s 1927 Science paper, as well as a 1929 paper by Emmy Stein – but also ignoring her pioneering 1921 work.

An image of Friedrich Laibach, and the cover of his 1943 paper "Arabidopsis Thaliana (L.) Heynh. als Objekt für genetische und entwicklungsphysiologische Untersuchungen".

#PlantScienceClassics #4: Arabidopsis thaliana as model plant. In 1943 botanist Friedrich Laibach suggested A. thaliana as model organism for plant science. But the community was not ready yet. It took them another 40 years to see the light… doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.26931v5 #PlantSciHis

Cover of the 2007 Nature paper "A flagellin-induced complex of the receptor FLS2 and BAK1 initiates plant defence" by Delphine Chinchilla et al.

#PlantScienceClassics #3: The ligand-induced flg22/FLS2/BAK1 receptor-module. In a 2007 Nature paper Delphine Chinchilla et al. demonstrated that the bacterial elicitor flagellin22 triggers the formation of its own receptor-complex in plants, made up of FLS2 & BAK1.

A portrait of Emmy Stein and the title page of her paper, "Über den Einfluß von Radiumbestrahlung auf Antirrhinum".

#PlantScienceClassics #2: Radiation-induced mutagenesis. 100 years ago, in 1921, Emmy Stein developed radiation-induced mutagenesis of #Antirrhinum majus plants, a process she called ‘Radiomorphosis’. But today, her invaluable contribution is being completely ignored… Read on doi.org/10.1007/BF01...

Cover image of the 1991 issue of Development, showing the different flower phenotypes that led the authors to propose the model, and title page of the paper "Genetic interactions among floral homeotic genes of Arabidopsis"

#PlantScienceClassics #1: The ABC model. 30 years ago, in 1991, plant science legends John Bowman, David Smyth and Elliott Meyerowitz published their groundbreaking paper on the ABC model in Development: doi.org/10.1242/dev....