Shows
Plants and PipettesA much larger duck, effectively a submarine
We recorded this gem a while back but because Joram we are only publishing it now. So if any of our jokes feel dated, it’s because of that. Clearly. We are always very topical and on point with our humour.
Maddox Prize 2023 – Sense about Science
Gotta grow fast! – Plants and Pipettes
Distribution, drivers and restoration priorities of plant invasions in India
Epidermal bladder cells as a herbivore defense mechanism
Genetic basis of the historical iron‐accumulating dgl and brz mutants in pea – Harrington – The Plant Journal – Wiley Online Library
Composition, formation mechanism, and removal method of off‐odor in soymilk pro...
2024-02-051h 03Plants and PipettesCatnip could be pollinated by cats
Hi. This is a new episode. It’s about plants, pipettes, panic and paranoia. Please enjoy.
Dyeing with Safflower | Wild Colours natural dyes
Air-quality networks collect environmental DNA with the potential to measure biodiversity at continental scales: Current Biology
Inadvertent human genomic bycatch and intentional capture raise beneficial applications and ethical concerns with environmental DNA | Nature Ecology & Evolution
Representation and participation across 20 years of plant genome sequencing
A critical analysis of plant science literature reveals ongoing inequities | PNAS
Research | Rosemarks
A pathogen effector FOLD diversified in symbiotic fungi – Teulet – New Phytologist – Wiley Online Library
The molecular clock in long-lived...
2023-07-211h 10Plants and PipettesPlants and Rats
In this episode, Joram harnesses the powers of technology to prepare himself in a much worse way, arguably. So learn from Joram and reject technology (after you finished using technology to listen to this show, please)!
One hundred important questions facing plant science: an international perspective
First Peoples’ knowledge leads scientists to reveal ‘fairy circles’ and termite linyji are linked in Australia | Nature Ecology & Evolution
Sounds emitted by plants under stress are airborne and informative: Cell
Pollination of Specklinia by nectar-feeding Drosophila: the first reported case of a deceptive syndrome employing aggregation pheromones in Orchidaceae | Annals of Botany | Oxford...
2023-04-301h 02Plants and PipettesDraw Joram a picture of smart orchards, please
Yes, this is the plant podcast. No, we are not three people running it. Don’t listen to the bots. We know who we are. We think.
Eponyms have no place in modern biology
In the Name of Plants by Sandra Knapp | Waterstones
Not just flowering time: a resurrection approach shows floral attraction traits are changing over time
Genome-wide association study reveals WRKY42 as a novel plant transcription factor that influences oviposition preference of Pieris butterflies | Journal of Experimental Botany | Oxford Academic
‘Spell-checker for statistics’ reduces errors in the psychology literature
Drug Delivery in Plants Using Silk Microneedles – Cao – 202...
2023-03-211h 01Plants and PipettesPlaying around with the ploidy level of plants
We recorded in advance but then Joram edited late so overall it evens out to just be a day late in your feed. Not that you care, we know you live life like us, one moment at a time, not knowing what day of the week is today. At least we hope you do so we look less messy. Anyway – plants!
The Tweet announcing that we are an award winning podcast
Intercrops as foraging habitats for bees: Bees do not prefer sole legume crops over legume-cereal mixtures
Massive effects on chromatin after ploidy rearrangement in doubled haploids | Journal of...
2023-02-1847 minPlants and PipettesDinosaurs in car parks
Joram is sick again but it won’t stop us from talking about plants. This time, it’s more plant adjacent: we’re talking about a weird new way some bacteria do photosynthesis. Also lots of clever animals and a tale of paleobotanical experiments.
2.4-Å structure of the double-ring Gemmatimonas phototrophica photosystem A Mysterious Desert Bacterium Has Evolved Its Own, Unique Ability to Photosynthesizephotosynthetic bacteriaNew technology fused with photosynthetic life offers path to green energy — ScienceDailyElectrochemically Driven Photosynthetic Electron Transport in Cyanobacteria Lacking Photosystem II | Journal of the American Chemical SocietyBuilding artificial nerve cells: Organic electrochemical neurons and synapses w...
2022-02-2654 minPlants and PipettesGiggle Peas
In this episode, Joram learns about wuthering heights and Tegan learns why chickpeas are believed to giggle in Germany. Also there is talk about red nectar, flammable litter and really old trees.
Kate Bush – Wuthering Heights Kate Bush – Wuthering Heights – Official Music Video – Version 2 Nesocodon mauritianus – Temperate House | Kew GardensRed nectar from a plant could be source of new dyeConvergent evolution of a blood-red nectar pigment in vertebrate-pollinated flowers | PNASArchana SharmaCytology of Amaryllids as an Aid to the Understanding of EvolutionFixity in Chromosome Number of PlantsArchana Sharma: An Indian Woman Botanist, a Cytogeneticist, Cell Biologist and a CytotoxicologistDr. Archana Sharm...
2022-02-181h 11Plants and PipettesNeptune (fountain architect)
This week, we’re talking about the link between the constructor of fountains, Neptune, and a small seagrass in the Mediterranean sea. Also more on X-ray microscopy and a discussion on who deserves to be on the author list (it’s Joram).
Terrestrial-type nitrogen-fixing symbiosis between seagrass and a marine bacterium Nitrogen uptake, assimilation and remobilization in plants: challenges for sustainable and productive agriculture Neptune’s famous fountain in Rome. X-ray microscopy enables multiscale high-resolution 3D imaging of plant cells, tissues, and organs Volume rendering of a barley inflorescenceENHANCE Great display to promote new David Attenborough ShowWhy flowers close at no...
2022-02-1457 minPlants and PipettesThe abominable mystery of Wolverine’s claws
We all have goals this year. Joram’s goal is to befriend a crow, but only if Tegan doesn’t stab him with her fantastically hard claws first. Yes, this is a plant podcast, we promise.
Mutation bias reflects natural selection in Arabidopsis thalianaNew Evidence Challenges The Idea That Mutations Are Entirely Random
A Newly Discovered Fossil Could Be The Answer to Darwin’s ‘Abominable’ MysteryTo New Beginnings: Riboproteogenomics Discovery of N-Terminal Proteoforms in Arabidopsis ThalianaHidden talents of mosses and lichens – The Global Plant CouncilTop 10 species new to science in 2021 | Kew14 Things You Need To Know About Wolverine’s Claws | Scree...
2022-01-281h 06Plants and PipettesWhere would you hide a fig? – air pollution, new Ficus, free dyes
And we’re back! Joram is taking care of yet another human and found the time to talk plant science. This week is just a bunch of cool science stories, next week we’ll be back with our regular structure.
How to Fight the Ever-Increasing Air Pollution in Delhi? Indoor Air Quality Improvement by Simple Ventilated Practice and Sansevieria Trifasciata (PDF) Hiding in plain sight, Ficus desertorum (Moraceae), a new species of rock fig for Central AustraliaOpen Chemistry: What if we just give everything away?A fossil record of land plant origins from charophyte algaeEpigenetically mismatched parental centromeres trigger...
2021-12-031h 25Plants and PipettesThe last episode (before the break)
This is our final episode – before we have to go on a break because Joram can’t stop procreating and will have to raise yet another newborn human. Enjoy this short fun episode about Marianne North, the Holmes effect and not one but two plant hormones that made the news.
Marianne North Gallery | Kew Marianne North Marianne North defied Victorian convention to paint world’s flowersNepenthes northiana – Wikipedia They Still Live in the Shadow of Theranos’s Elizabeth Holmes Plants evolved complexity in two bursts — with a 250-million-year hiatus Tomato In Japan Is First CRISPR-Edited Food In The World To Go On Sal...
2021-10-1056 minPlants and PipettesDNA spikey, enzyme no likey – monitoring H2O2 live, seed inspiration, cheatgrass
Some people say, Joram is too close to still being sick in this episode. Those people are wrong. Joram is just a pretentious stuck up golfer who will never speak again with air freely travelling through his nose. So there’s that. Also, we have plant science for (for real!) and other… stuff. Like a stuffy nose. Bless you.
Justus Niemeyer, David Scheuring, Julian Oestreicher, Bruce Morgan, Michael Schroda, Real-time monitoring of subcellular H2O2 distribution in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, The Plant Cell, Volume 33, Issue 9, September 2021, Pages 2935–2949Seeds inspire miniature sensors that float through the airLanguage extinction triggers the loss o...
2021-10-011h 00Plants and PipettesDung is the correct place to be – reflective moss, Mark Spencer, beautiful plants This week, we’re going cave diving. Not too deep though, we still need a little bit of light to find a moss. We also talk plant forensics and about the cooles news in plant science. What does 'cheugy' mean? And more importantly, are you a cheug? Schistostega pennata, also called goblin gold, Dragon's gold, luminous moss or luminescent moss Picture on twitter Mark Spencer (on twitter) BBC Radio 4 - The Life Scientific on Mark Spencer Scientists keep ignoring ugly plants. That’s a big problem Plant scientists’ research attention is skewed towards colourful, conspicuous and broadly distributed flowers Herbivore dung stoichiometry drives competition between savanna trees and grasses Just 20 Companies Produce Over 55% of All Single-Use Plastic Waste in The World Flows (Interactive Flow Chart for Single Use plastic production) An illuminating possibility for stroke treatment: Nano-photosynthesis 100 important questions for plant
This week, we’re going cave diving. Not too deep though, we still need a little bit of light to find a moss. We also talk plant forensics and about the cooles news in plant science.
What does ‘cheugy’ mean? And more importantly, are you a cheug?Schistostega pennata, also called goblin gold, Dragon’s gold, luminous moss or luminescent mossPicture on twitter Mark Spencer (on twitter) BBC Radio 4 – The Life Scientific on Mark Spencer Scientists keep ignoring ugly plants. That’s a big problem Plant scientists’ research attention is skewed towards colourful, conspicuous and broadly distributed flowers Herbivore dung stoic...
2021-05-211h 26Plants and PipettesAt the carp waterpark – biosensors, tracking carp, pseudopollen
Oh Carp! Is it a new week already? We have another episode for you, this time talking about priming in maize, biosensors and carp science! Do you know whether carp can hear music? Tell us. We need to know.
Bitcoin emissions alone could push global warming above 2°CSaif ul Malook, Yuxing Xu, Jinfeng Qi, Jing Li, Lei Wang, Jianqiang Wu, Mythimna separata herbivory primes maize resistance in systemic leaves, Journal of Experimental Botany, Volume 72, Issue 10, 4 May 2021, Pages 3792–3805Tracking temperate fish reveals their relevance for plant seed dispersalJoram learned about breast cancer biosensors and solar panels from food wasteA bio...
2021-05-141h 30Plants and PipettesCAPE FASHION – hipster coffee, Beronda Montgomery, SciComm for PlantSci
Your favourite tools are back to talk about some great science tools: a 28-page guide book for SciComm, DIY microscopes and the best AI-crafted pickup lines this side of the Mississippi. Also some actual plant science.
The effects of climate change on Australia’s only endemic Pokémon: Measuring bias in species distribution modelsJoram’s favourite plant is Coffea stenophylla Arabica-like flavour in a heat-tolerant wild coffee speciesFollow up on this: Missing: Have you seen this Coffee? – Plants and Pipettes Beronda MontgomeryMy most memorable mentors? PlantsJonathan Van Ness on Instagram: “Lessons from Plants is out this week by our fav @be...
2021-04-231h 27Plants and PipettesBuilding molecular Legos – ATP synthase research with Etienne Meyer
This week, we’re welcoming our close friend Etienne Meyer to the show. Together with Joram, he just published a new paper on ATP synthase research and we take the chance to talk about it.
Complexome profiling reveals novel insights into the composition and assembly of the mitochondrial ATP synthase of Arabidopsis thaliana, Helene Röhricht, Joram Schwartzman, Etienne H. Meyer, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) – Bioenergetics, 2021Here is a link for free access until the 25th of May 2021Rotary motion of the motor that produces ATP in mitochondriaATP Synthase Mechanism
Only click this link if you’re fine...
2021-04-021h 11Plants and PipettesLet the Whale Fall – headless sea slugs, pollen season, clever cuttlefish
This week, Tegan found the truth about a song from 2012. We also discuss lots of plant and non-plant science from the last week or so. Did you know that cuttlefish are as smart as a toddler?
Whale fall – WikipediaAdele – Skyfall Lyrics Joram’s work stuff: WissenstransferThis sea slug cut off its own head—and lived to tell the tale A Cephalopod Has Passed a Cognitive Test Designed For Human Children‘Giant luminous shark’: researchers discover three deep-sea sharks glow in the darkTree love You’re Not Imagining It. Climate Change Is Making Allergy Seasons Start Earlier Kyriarchy Watch a Super-Elusive Moo...
2021-03-121h 16Plants and PipettesPositive Adjectives! – Tomato transpiration, wild cotton, super-plants?
Welcome to another week of doomsday escapism. We bring you a cool story about transpiring tomatoes, wonder about wild cotton and are suspicious about road-side super-plants. And we ask: What is your favourite idiom that translates poorly into English?
Transpiration from Tomato Fruit Occurs Primarily via Trichome-Associated Transcuticular Polar Pores, Eric A. Fich, Josef Fisher, Dani Zamir, Jocelyn K.C. Rose, Plant Physiology Dec 2020, 184 (4) 1840-1852; DOI: 10.1104/pp.20.01105
Links
Milestones in Genomic SequencingA wealth of discovery built on the Human Genome Project — by the numbersModified genes can distort wild cotton’s interactions with insects; Study in Sc...
2021-02-191h 30Plants and PipettesJoram and the curse of knowledge – gum arabic, homework, artistic AI
It snowed! Well, not that you can see any of that, but we’re excited nonetheless. We’re also excited about this week’s topics: we’re talking about fabulous Acacias in Central Africa, the road towards more accessible science and a lot of homework that other people did for us.
Acacia senegal or Senegalia senegal, (& Vachellia (Acacia) seyal) The ancient trade holding back the Sahara DesertWhen we talked about gum like substances: Don’t send Tom Cruise, send three to four ArabidopsisThe Acacia (re)naming debate: Science, sentiment and territorial chauvinism in the acacia...
2021-02-121h 22Plants and PipettesBomblebees – TNT, Blue, Science Bots
This episode is TNT (it’s dynamite) and it’s blue (da ba dee)! We got an email from a spinach that brought us to learn more about the material sciences of plants and we talk about lots of blue facts! Also: science bots!
Wong, M., Giraldo, J., Kwak, SY. et al. Nitroaromatic detection and infrared communication from wild-type plants using plant nanobionics. Nature Mater 16, 264–272 (2017).The report that went viralGyroporus cyanescensBlue genome: chromosome‐scale genome reveals the evolutionary and molecular basis of indigo biosynthesis in Strobilanthes cusia Scientists Sequence Genome of World’s Fastest-Growing Plant | GeneticsGet the hell off my carpe...
2021-02-051h 03Plants and PipettesPlants, Pipettes, Periods & Parrots – Noble Rhubarb, Female Adventurers, Cyborg Fly Traps
This week, we’re talking about noble rhubarb and an amazing story of a female adventurer, botanist and tavern owner, Jeanne Baret. Plus speculations about the moon, a lot of great inventions and a parrot who likes crisps.
Rheum nobile – WikipediaRheum nobile was a top find on our… – Alpine Garden SocietyNoble Rhubarb — In Defense of PlantsFlavonoids in translucent bracts of the Himalayan Rheum nobile (Polygonaceae) as ultraviolet shieldsA new pollinating seed‐consuming mutualism between Rheum nobile and a fly fungus gnat, Bradysia sp., involving pollinator attraction by a specific floral compoundUltraviolet screening increases with elevation in translucent bracts of Rheum nob...
2021-01-291h 30Plants and PipettesHissing Blue Tits – Roots in compacted soil, crested rats, gribble
Watch out! It’s a snake! Or is it? In this week’s episode, we’re diving deep underground in the search for the reason behind stunted root growth and we talk about animals that pretend to be dangerous – and some that actually are.
Plant roots sense soil compaction through restricted ethylene diffusion, BY BIPIN K. PANDEY, GUOQIANG HUANG, RAHUL BHOSALE, SJON HARTMAN, CRAIG J. STURROCK, LOTTIE JOSE, OLIVIER C. MARTIN, MICHAL KARADY, LAURENTIUS A. C. J. VOESENEK, KARIN LJUNG, JONATHAN P. LYNCH, KATHLEEN M. BROWN, WILLIAM R. WHALLEY, SACHA J. MOONEY, DABING ZHANG, MALCOLM J. BENNETT, SCIENCE15 JAN 2021...
2021-01-221h 12Plants and PipettesThe ducks are anxious – the order of Cycads, Matilda Gage, Red Hot Chili Solar Panels
In this episode, Joram presents not only a plant but an entire order of plants, mostly because he has no idea how plant nomenclature works. Tegan presents the life and work of two important women, Matilda Gage and Margaret Rossiter. Aren’t we two little overachievers?
Joram’s favourite plant: the order of Cycadsstudy 1 found that male cycads branch more often than female cycads, which makes sex determination in the field more reliablestudy 2 found that anti-transpirants make no difference in the propagation of cycads by stem cuttingsMatilda Joslyn Gage Margaret W. RossiterMatilda effectMatthew effectStudy finds future too warm for ba...
2021-01-151h 21Plants and PipettesDon’t call it Moth-Paté – seagrass biofilms, fatty moths, fatty plants
We’re back! After an extended winter break we return with a cool new paper and lots and lots of science fun facts somewhat related to plants!
Elgetti Brodersen, K., Kühl, M., Trampe, E. and Koren, K. (2020), Imaging O2 dynamics and microenvironments in the seagrass leaf phyllosphere with magnetic optical sensor nanoparticles. Plant J., 104: 1504-1519.
Giant Crested NewtsJoram’s talk at rC3, SourcesKnowledge about the nature of science increases public acceptance of science regardless of identity factorsMistletoe paper and our podcast episodeClimate CzarThese spiders may sew leaves into fake shelters to lure frogs to their doom 2...
2021-01-081h 25Plants and PipettesTapeworms have the life we all want – A christmas episode
Deck the halls and snatch the gravy, it’s a Christmas episode of your favourite plant podcast that is hosted by Tegan and Joram! In this year’s final episode, we’re bringing you one last time in 2020 all the facts and bits of information you never knew you needed. Moth Cyborgs? Check. Zombees? Check. Way too much talking about Christmas music? CHECK. Please enjoy this episode, and have a wonderful winter break. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay happy, everyone!
Peroxisomes are the next big plant organelle, we told you soPlants and Pipettes on Peroxisomes Where’s wallaby? Using pub...
2020-12-191h 22Plants and PipettesSaving seeds in times of war – Genebanks and Machine Learning
This week, we have a story about seed conservation in times of war and we discuss multiple aspects of machine learning in molecular biology. Plus cool plant facts and as always: cutting edge cat research.
Links
Spoon TheoryPaper of the week: Westengen, O.T., Lusty, C., Yazbek, M. et al. Safeguarding a global seed heritage from Syria to Svalbard. Nat. Plants 6, 1311–1317 (2020). GenebanksGermany has the Genebank in Gatersleben Most famous is the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in the permafrost of Spitsbergen, NorwayPre-symptomatic detection of COVID-19 from smartwatch dataKate Petrova on Twitter: “https://t.co/LHYpwYN4Aw” COVID-19 #CoronaViru...
2020-12-041h 07Plants and PipettesAtomic Kitten – Spanish Moss, Thekla Resvoll, Mentorship and Gender
After a week off, we’re back with some cool facts from the world of plants and gulls. Did you know that gulls know your every move? There are probably some on the roof as we speak. They see you when you’re sleeping, they know when you’re awake. You better not pout, you better not cry. Sea gulls are coming to town.
Links
Spanish moss is not a moss.Story about the evil man UsneaThekla Resvoll, her photo in pantsUncertainty enhances the preference for narcissistic leadersUncertainty enhances the preference for narcissistic leaders BARBORA NEVICKA*, ANNEBEL...
2020-11-271h 25Plants and PipettesLet it grow – Sorghum spikelets, great paper titles, honest signaling
It’s good news week! Not only was Trump kicked out of office, we also have major news regarding the Covid and AIDS pandemic. Of course we won’t forget our passion for plants over all that joy, so tag along for a deep dive into the biology of sorghum – plus some cool facts from last week’s science.
Sterile Spikelets Contribute to Yield in Sorghum and Related Grasses, Taylor AuBuchon-Elder, Viktoriya Coneva, David M. Goad, Lauren M. Jenkins, Yunqing Yu, Doug K. Allen, Elizabeth A. Kellogg, The Plant Cell Nov 2020, 32 (11) 3500-3518; DOI: 10.1105/tpc.20.00424
We talked abo...
2020-11-1353 minPlants and PipettesThe one where Joram did his homework – rediscovering extinct plants, Luciana Leite and Luisa M. Diele-Viegas, Platypodes under UV light
Joram came so well prepared, it made Tegan angry. The two work through their disagreements though in another episode filled to the brim with tales from the (plant) science world.
Joram’s favourite plant is Franciscan manzanita (Arctostaphylos franciscana), based on a really great article on plants believed to be extinctTegan presents Luciana Leite and Luisa M. Diele-Viegas. Too intelligent for the life sciences in BrazilCV of Luciana Leite and her google scholar pageWebsite of Luisa M. Diele-ViegasArticle by Luisa M. Diele-Viegas on supporting transgender scientists post Covid
Joram presents the False Consensus Bias
Joram’s Firewatch playthrough photosTh...
2020-11-061h 22Plants and PipettesSocial Distancing Bats – Venus Fly Traps, Pandas, Chinas Carbon Capture
While Joram is running at 1% brain battery, Tegan makes up for the lack of a decent podcast partner by bringing a really cool paper: researchers found a 30 second timer within venus fly traps. Plus more sutff!
Paper of the week: Suda, H., Mano, H., Toyota, M. et al. Calcium dynamics during trap closure visualized in transgenic Venus flytrap. Nat. Plants 6, 1219–1224 (2020).
Article about the paper in sciencenews (with video)Article on transformed Mimosa pudica by the same author
More about touch in plants on Plants and PipettesTouch-a, Touch-a, Touch meHung...
2020-10-301h 00Plants and PipettesNature really wants to make crabs – Gympie gympie, Pamela Ronald, Pink Pineapple
In this episode, Joram gets really upset. Tegan offers her services as an apocalyptic seamstress. And somewhere, a pallas cat is looking regal.
Links
How to ask for pronounsGympie gympie, aka Dendrocnide moroides; new studyPamela Ronald was just awarded the World Agricultural Prize 2020 and is the first woman in the history of the prize (which exists for over 20 years). Interview with PamelaBen Franklin effectPink pineapples, FDA approval, official website Rubisco Activase pushes and pulls on the enzyme to release the inhibitory sugarWeird prion senses temperature: article, news & viewsNature really wants to make crabs, explanatory articleWheel of Po...
2020-10-231h 07Plants and PipettesPuffin economy – Mast Seeding, Nobel Prizes, Bird stuff
This week, we’re talking about a cool process in trees where they all flower and set seeds in sync to produce a massive wave of fruit. Also general news from the world of science!
Links
Navigating virtual conferences EbaBogdziewicz M., Pesendorfer M., Crone E.E., Pérez-Izquierdo C., Bonal R. (2020). Flowering synchrony drives pollination success in a wind-pollinated tree. Ecology Letters, Link to Researchgate with Full Text, Author WebsiteNobel prizes have been awardedphysics to Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel, Andrea Ghez for the discovery of the black hole at the centre of our galaxymedicine to Harvey Alte...
2020-10-0959 minPlants and PipettesBonnie Tyler AI – Wormwood, Single names, Smart Birds
Joram is tired, Tegan has been singing – a perfect storm for some (plant) science! We discuss the story of Artemisia absinthium, talk about the woes of single-named scientists and bring you the hottest science facts from the last seven days.
Links:
Tegan’s favourite song of the day Beastie Boys – Fight for your right (revisited)Joram’s favourite plant is Artemisia absinthiumTegan talks about the struggles met by scientists with non-Western namesNature articleShera’s blogArdiantiono on researchgateGive South Indian Authors their true name (Nature article)Names dropped to avoid prejudice (Nature article)Scientific publishing: Identity crisis (Nature article...
2020-10-021h 11Plants and PipettesOh god, it’s invasive! – Florencia Yannelli on escaped invasive plants
We’re really happy to welcome Dr. Florencia Yannelli on the podcast. She is an ecologist and plant researcher who was not stopped by Corona to do science – she simply did the experiment at home!
Florencia’s research interest lies in invasive species and how they influence the community of plants and microbes in their habitats. We talk about her academic and home research and what role scientific outreach plays for her. You can learn more about Florencia on her website and get in touch through her twitter: @floryannelli.
© Florencia Yannelli
Links:
YouTube Channel of fathe...
2020-09-251h 25Plants and PipettesEnzymes are stupid – C4 trees, forest sounds, women saving bird research
Hey! Ho! Hey! Ho! It’s a new episode of your favourite podcast about plants and pipettes. This week, we’re talking about C3 and C4 trees, the sounds of forests and how women disrupted bird research. Let’s go!
Paper of the week
Sophie N R Young, Lawren Sack, Margaret J Sporck-Koehler, Marjorie R Lundgren, Why is C4 photosynthesis so rare in trees?, Journal of Experimental Botany
Please note: we’re using ‘malate’ for ease of communication. We get that it doesn’t always have to be malate, there are other 4 carbon compounds that...
2020-09-181h 26Plants and PipettesHummingbird popsicles – Elecampane, Segenet Kelemu and genome editing detection
Hello! We have a podcast for you. We talk about the plant that made creamy icecream possible, awesome plant scientists from Ethiopia and stone cold birds.
Tegan’s favourite plant is Elecampane (Inula helenium). Vegan honey is made with inulin
Segenet Kelemu is an Ethiopian plant pathologist. Here is a short video portrait on her.
How to miss a gorilla in a data set. (Original gorilla video experiment)
Our post on CRISR, Greepeace, and plant research Poppies are beautifulThin, printable solar cells: 2016, 2020Flavour of wine, chocolate and hops: Terroir, or genetics, or mic...
2020-09-111h 17Plants and PipettesT-rexes have really good reflexes – microviscosity, science tattoos, wild pollinators
Welcome to this struggle-episode! We had bad connection problems which meant that we spent most of our time blaming each other for having terrible internet. In between the blame game, we talked about a molecular sensor for microviscosity, nerd tattoos and why Joram won’t get any of them.
Paper of the week
Complete microviscosity maps of living plant cells and tissues with a toolbox of targeting mechanoprobes, Lucile Michels, Vera Gorelova, Yosapol Harnvanichvech, Jan Willem Borst, Bauke Albada, Dolf Weijers, Joris Sprakel
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Jul 2020, 117 (30) 18110-18118; DOI:10.1073/pna...
2020-09-0400 minPlants and PipettesSucculent chicken – Phytomining, Cyanotype, Boosted Tobacco
After an uneventful week, our two main protagonists meet yet again to discuss the ups and downs of current plant research. Tag along as our heroes discuss the true meaning of succulent, how to mine Nickel and why blue plant outlines are so hot right now*.
*in the 19th century
Joram’s favourite plant is: Alyssum murale – A Ni hyperaccumulator
Tegan presents the life and work of Anna Atkins 1799 – 1871, one of the first women to take photographs ever, the first woman to use photograms as an illustration tool to document plants. Source 1, Source 2
The...
2020-08-281h 12Plants and PipettesStacks of wheat – Vertical farming, occlupanid research, thievish animals
What would happen if you stacked ten layers of indoor wheat on top of each other – and then stacked ten of those stacks? We’re discussing the highs and lows of vertical farming, talk about terrible naming schemes and the rediscovery of an animal that’s neither elephant nor shrew.
Wheat yield potential in controlled-environment vertical farms; Senthold Asseng, Jose R. Guarin, Mahadev Raman, Oscar Monje, Gregory Kiss, Dickson D. Despommier, Forrest M. Meggers, and Paul P. G. Gauthier; PNAS August 11, 2020 117 (32) 19131-19135; first published July 27, 2020
Make sure to check out Vikram’s podcast Planthropology!
Fun Stuff
2020-08-211h 11Plants and PipettesMola mola babies – extremophile algae, intersectional feminism in academia, talking to conspiracy theorists
Some weeks we talk a lot about plant science, some weeks we explore a lot of plant-science-adjacent topics. You be the judge of what happened this week.
Tegan’s favourite plant is Chlorella ohadii which is extremely resistant to excess light. New paper, old paper and news article.
Joram presents the work of Maria N. Miriti.
Hidden figures in ecology and evolution, Nature correspodenceIntersectional feminism, UN womenRelated: Too many senior white academics still resist recognizing racism, by Namandjé Bumpus
Bias: Zeigarnik effect; (related) Ovsiankina effect
10 tips when talking to people about conspiracy theo...
2020-07-311h 27Plants and PipettesWorm twitter is angry – Sunflowers, worm discrimination, beautiful snails
Don’t you dare disrespect our favourite model organism, Arabidopsis. No wait, we love tobacco and hate Arabidopsis. No! Both are the WORST, we love Chlamydomonas above everything else! Or were we team sunflower?
Paper of the week: Massive haplotypes underlie ecotypic differentiation in sunflowers; Blog post “behind the paper”: Adaptive alleles stick together
Worm Twitter is angryUnequal effects of Covid-19 pandemic on scientistsRacism in science is realSnails under threatWhy even smart people fall for bad scienceMusic for plants (found in this article)1 Million seeds in vault Disruptive cat tailCat brings swimming goggles
All views are our...
2020-07-241h 15Plants and PipettesPenguins propelling poo – self-drilling seeds, arctic explorers, and some plant science
You know the drill: we talk about our favourite plant (it’s drilling itself into the ground), a cool researcher (she travelled to Antarctica to study lichen), a cognitive bias (the end will please you) and fun stuff (a lot of it). Please enjoy.
Joram’s favourite plant is Erodium cicutarium, closely related to Geranium. Video of the action
Tegan presents the life and work of Elke Mackenzie, a British explorer and botanist.
Joram presents the Peak-End rule
Zucchini photo from Tegan Bleak financial outlook for PhD students in AustraliaMothers in academia face ex...
2020-07-171h 18Plants and PipettesPavlov’s pea plants
This week, we’re talking about plant intelligence and whether or not a pea plant can be conditioned like a dog.
Markel, K. (2020). Lack of evidence for associative learning in pea plants. ELife, 9.
Fans of end-of-the-world films deal better with Covid New Zealands response to a careless jerk Simpson’s paradox is a statistical fallacy where incorrect pooling of data leads to false conclusions of the overall trend. Here is a good video on itComplaint about the snakesJANE is a tool to identify reviewers based on your abstract/title of your work.Problematic Pier Paolo Pandolfi Facebook...
2020-07-101h 31Plants and PipettesDon't be a hypocrite, be a hypogriff
This week, we’re talking about Tegan’s favourite plant, Elizabeth Mrema, the end-of-history illusion and many fun things from the world of science!
Check out Angela Saini, she gives great talks!
Tegan’s favourite plant is Prasinoderma coloniale. The plant’s genome lead to the description of a new phylum.
Joram presents the work of Elizabeth Mrema. Here is the interview on protecting biodiversity.
Bias: End-of-history illusion
According to a preprint published on arxiv, papers downloaded from sci-hub get 1.72 times more cited than papers not downloaded from sci-hub
Fun...
2020-07-031h 20Plants and PipettesNot red means not recording
There is an important part in recording a podcast and that is hitting the record button. As one of us missed that crucial input for this week’s episode, the sound is a bit… not great. Don’t worry though, the stories we tell are making up ten-fold for the lack audio quality. We talk about how scientists developed a way to use soap bubbles to pollinate plants!
Check out Esther Odekunle and Angela Saini on instagram!
Paper of the week
Xi Yang and Eijiro Miyako, Soap Bubble Pollination, iScience, 2020
Sciencemag story
2020-06-261h 18Plants and PipettesWEIRD, STRANGE, CRINGE
First things first: Black Lives Matter. After a short break, we’re back with a new episode, we first address the issue at hand of police brutality against people of colour and what it means to us as white plant scientists. To provide a little diversion from the horrors of the current situation of the world, we also talk about our favourite science and plant related fun facts.
Black Lives Matter
10 Things to do as a white person in academia
#BlackInTheIvory
Video by Jane Elliott on being treated as a black pe...
2020-06-191h 29Plants and PipettesFake, Fake, Truth – 50th episode shenanigans
It’s the 50th episode! Instead of our usual routine, we play a game of fake, fake, truth and answer your listener questions. Tag along for a fun special episode!
We skipped the regular structure and instead tried some fun things. Here are the links:
Why are plants not blackBlack plantsTrue Story 1: Unleashing meiotic crossover in cropsTrue Story 2: Evolutionary arms race between flowers and insectsTrue Story 3: Antisense silencing of enzyme to change flower colourTrue Story 4: Epigenetic summer memory in poplarTrue Story 5: Using cyanobacteria to create electrical current
If you have more questions, send them our wa...
2020-05-291h 48Plants and PipettesHelp! Squirrels! – Black eyed peas, Georgiana Simpson, and the humor effect
This week, we’re talking about cowpeas and how they grow in arid regions, the contribution of Georgiana Simpson to Black Rights in the US, and the effect of humor on information retention. Plus so much more!
Joram’s favourite plant is Cowpea Vigna unguiculata, also called black eyed pea
Tegan presents the life and work of Georgiana Simpson.
Joram presents the humor effect
Tegan has a great PhD project idea: Looking for life in weird places. There are microbes that divide only every hundred years and feed isotopes
Plant...
2020-05-221h 18Plants and PipettesSpinach and strawberries – artificial photosynthesis at the interphase of nature and technology
This week, we’re diving into a science paper that was hard to miss. It’s all about creating artificial photosynthesis using spinach chloroplasts. We also talk about our favourite genome duplication events and news in the world of science.
Paper of the week: Miller, T. E., Beneyton, T., Schwander, T., Diehl, C., Girault, M., McLean, R., … Erb, T. J. (2020). Light-powered CO 2 fixation in a chloroplast mimic with natural and synthetic parts. Science, 368(6491), 649–654.
Also check out this article about the paper
@CatharticOutlet asked us what our favourite genome duplication event is. Joram’s is strawber...
2020-05-151h 07Plants and PipettesDon’t send Tom Cruise, send three to four Arabidopsis
It’s time for all our segments! We talk weird chewing gum, South African botanists, biases and answer your questions. Do trees still breathe when they lose their foliage?
Tegan’s favourite plant is Pistacia lentiscus because it’s used to make Mastic, a type of chewing gum. Also check out how chewing gum is made.
Joram presents the life and work of Harriet Margaret Louisa Bolus (1877-1970). Also check out the paper on the contribution of women to naming species.
Tegan talks about how we only care about victims that we can identify...
2020-05-081h 13Plants and PipettesTomato Body Horror
We’re back. We were never really gone. We had just hurt our individual faces and now they’re in good enough shape to drag them in front of the microphones. This week, we talk about coffee, rat spines and glow-in-the-dark plants. Keep your faces intact and enjoy!
Paper of the week
Bing Cheng, Heather E Smyth, Agnelo Furtado, Robert J Henry, Slower development of lower canopy beans produces better coffee, Journal of Experimental Botany, , eraa151
Fun Stuff
The ABCD meeting framework:All continentsBalanced GenderCarbon transportD...
2020-05-0157 minPlants and PipettesThe study of ducks
Grab your top hat and ball gown, it is time to get fancy! This week, we dress up and talk about favourite plants, great scientists and all sorts of things that moved us in the last week.
Joram’s favourite plant are all plants in the genus Schlumbergera
Tegan presents the life and work of Maria Sibylla Merian. Don’t forget to check out Fieldwork in fancy dresses!
Joram is under the illusion of control
Quarantine machine
Researchers figured out the Nicotiana benthamiana genome
Corona Zombies
So...
2020-04-171h 13Plants and PipettesPockets on everything
We hope you’re doing well despite all the trouble in the world right now. This week, we have an exciting paper for you that dives deep into the world of proteins in Arabidopsis. It’s a milestone in plant research and we hope we can share our excitement with you.
Mergner, J., Frejno, M., List, M. et al. Mass-spectrometry-based draft of the Arabidopsis proteome. Nature 579, 409–414 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2094-2
Nature’s guides to great opening sentences
Plant daddy podcast on quarantine friendly plant projects
Pavement plant descriptions
Ho...
2020-04-101h 22Plants and PipettesTo bidet
In times of need here we are to deliver another vital ration of exciting plant facts, bread talk and cat news. No paper this week, instead we’re talking about ostriches, shrubs and palm research.
Tegan’s favourite plant is Forsythia, a yellow shrub that doesn’t contain lactose.
Joram presents the life and work of Natalie Uhl.
Ostriches don’t stick their head in the sand and this bias might or might not be true.
This guy used ancient yeast to bake Egyptian bread. He also went out to collect wild yea...
2020-04-0357 minPlants and PipettesUncomfortably large amounts of salt
It’s the best time to start a sourdough and listen to us talk about plant biology. Let the dough rise and watch your plants move in response to light and/or gravity!
Paper of the week: Wu, Y.; Xie, J.; Wang, L.; Zheng, H. Circumnutation and Growth of Inflorescence Stems of Arabidopsis thaliana in Response to Microgravity under Different Photoperiod Conditions. Life 2020, 10, 26.
On the quality of pre-prints and peer reviewed articles
Viruses can be our friends
Make code greener
The indoor plant serial killer
The Montreal protocol works. Guardi...
2020-03-271h 00Plants and PipettesFlatten the curve!
We’re trying something new in these trying times. Every other week we’ll have a deep dive into a new paper and on off-weeks, like this one, we’ll talk about some of our other segments. So practice social distance and enjoy our new episode!
Joram’s favourite plant is Pando, the largest organism in the world. It’s made from the poplar relative Populus tremuloides, which creates clonal colonies through their root systems.
Check out Ethel Sargant. Here is the article about her work.
The normalcy bias makes everything more complicated right now...
2020-03-201h 09Plants and PipettesSunflower bros
This week, it’s all about viruses. We feel anxious about the corona virus, we talk about viruses in Maize and we even listen to viral music.
Paper of the week: Monjane, A. L., Dellicour, S., Hartnady, P., Oyeniran, K. A., Owor, B. E., Bezuidenhout, M., … Martin, D. P. (2020). Symptom evolution following the emergence of maize streak virus. ELife, 9. doi: 10.7554/elife.51984
Whorled sunflower
Whorled sunflowerThe study by the PhD studentA story on the research
Catharina Helena Dörrien (1717 – 1795)
Found her through @365botanywomenHer paintings on a museum websiteA musical about her life
Cryptomnesia
wikipedi...
2020-03-131h 05Plants and PipettesChinese Duck Army
I hope you’re doing well and the ever-present Corona virus hasn’t reached you or your loved ones. While conferences and such are cancelled, we remain unaffected as we both dwell in our homes with little to no contact to the outside world, only connected by a remote podcasting session.
Hybrid Cyanobacterial-Tobacco Rubisco Supports Autotrophic Growth and Procarboxysomal Aggregation, Douglas J. Orr, Dawn Worrall, Myat T. Lin, Elizabete Carmo-Silva, Maureen R. Hanson, Martin A.J. Parry, Plant Physiology Feb 2020, 182 (2) 807-818; DOI: 10.1104/pp.19.01193
Joram’s favourite plant is Silene stenophylla, a plant that was resurrected from t...
2020-03-061h 12Plants and PipettesGet the hell off my carpet!
We’re finally back together – even though it’s just for one night. We celebrate by recording a podcast for you and we talk about sex changing trees, the tiniest plants and lots of fun stuff.
Paper of the week: Blake‐Mahmud, J. and Struwe, L.. 2020. When the going gets tough, the tough turn female: injury and sex expression in a sex‐changing tree. American Journal of Botany 107( 2): 339– 349.
Tegan’s favourite plant is Wolffia. Make sure to check out the Charms of Duckweed!
Joram presents the life and work of Wanda Zablocka. DeepL is your friend on this sourc...
2020-02-281h 11Plants and PipettesPlant protein is the best
Would you eat crickets? Joram says no, Tegan, however, is already munching away any insect that crosses her path. Maybe it’s best to stick to plant protein, after all.
Embryonic photosynthesis primes plant growth, Ayala Sela, Urszula Piskurewicz, Christian Megies, Laurent Mene-Saffrane, Giovanni Finazzi, Luis Lopez-Molina Plant Physiology Feb 2020, pp.00043.2020; DOI: 10.1104/pp.20.00043
Joram’s favourite plant is Espostoa frutescens as it absorbs ultrasound from bats to make its flowers stand out.
Tegan presents a great essay by Brandon Taylor that you absolutely should check out.
Don’t draw circles around...
2020-02-211h 15Plants and PipettesDemoralized by pandas
Have you ever done an experiment for longer than 2 years? How about 12 years? Today, we’re talking about an extermely longterm experiment that might shed light on the origin of eukaryotes. Plus: a ton more…
This week we had two special days, first up was #WomenInSTEM day on Tuesday, which brought us this beautiful tweet, followed by Darwin Day. Did you know that Darwin was an eager botanist? Now you know.
This week’s paper is Imachi, H., Nobu, M.K., Nakahara, N. et al. Isolation of an archaeon at the prokaryote–eukaryote interface. Nature 577, 519–525 (2020).
Tega...
2020-02-141h 14Plants and PipettesTangent on a tangent on a tangent
This is a long episode because we have so much to tell you. Luckily for you, technology has your back. This episode is best consumed through the use of chapter marks, smart playback and 2x playback speed. Unless you really like us, then there is so much more for you to enjoy.
Paper of the week: Xiang, Y., Huang, S., Huang, T.-Y., Dong, A., Cao, D., Li, H., … Duan, H. (2020). Superrepellency of underwater hierarchical structures on Salvinia leaf. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 201900015.
Joram’s favourite plant is the snowdrop. Here is the w...
2020-02-071h 36Plants and PipettesFLUORESCENT PINK SLUGS
What are you doing with your life? Are you having a good time? You’re about to because this here is another episode of the best podcast about plants and pipettes you’ll hear all day. This, is plants and pipettes – the podcast.
Try this non-privileged ice breaker: What is the most boring fact about yourself?
The paper of the week is: Flood, P.J., Theeuwen, T.P.J.M., Schneeberger, K. et al. Reciprocal cybrids reveal how organellar genomes affect plant phenotypes.Nat. Plants6, 13–21 (2020).
I am happy to say that our paper on reciproc...
2020-01-3101 minPlants and PipettesTegan is a rubber tree
Have you heard about division planes in growing leaves? Well, you should have, because we literally talked about this yesterday on the blog. If you’re not doing your homework, I don’t see why we should put in an effort to educate you. Just kidding, we repeat everything that was written yesterday (and more!)
Paper of the week is also yesterday’s blog post: Whitewoods, C. D., Gonçalves, B., Cheng, J., Cui, M., Kennaway, R., Lee, K., … Coen, E. (2020). Evolution of carnivorous traps from planar leaves through simple shifts in gene expression. Science, 367(6473), 91–96.
Joram’s favour...
2020-01-2413 minPlants and PipettesWe're good with technology
This week’s episode includes a jump back in time. Crazy, how nature do that. It’s totally not linked to a big mess-up by both of us. No. Really. We are good with this stuff. For real.
Check out our summary post of 2019. It has lots of links to lots of great stories.
We’re really happy about the new paper in Nature Food, where Ratan Chopra’s work (and of his co-workers) on pennycress was just published. We talke about it on the blog here and had an interview with Ratan here.
Paper...
2020-01-171h 22Plants and PipettesCretaceous Park
RAWR XD! This week, we’re all about dinosaurs and old geological time periods. Did you know that both the iconic T-Rex and the velociraptor are dinosaurs from the cretaceous period and not from the jurassic period?
Paper of the week: Pollination of Cretaceous flowers, Tong Bao, Bo Wang, Jianguo Li, David Dilcher, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Dec 2019, 116 (49) 24707-24711; DOI:10.1073/pnas.1916186116
Joram’s favourite plant is Holly. Find out more about it on the advent calendar!
Tegan presents the life and work of Inna A. Dobruskina. You can read more about her here a...
2019-12-201h 12Plants and PipettesWELCOME BACK!
Rejoice for we returned. Properly. Full episode. Fun facts. 2 cat facts. Christmas came early.
We present two papers this week on the same topic:
Tegan’s paper: Maclean, A. E., Hertle, A. P., Ligas, J., Bock, R., Balk, J., & Meyer, E. H. (2018). Absence of Complex I Is Associated with Diminished Respiratory Chain Function in European Mistletoe. Current Biology, 28(10), 1614-1619.e3.
Joram’s paper: Senkler, J., Rugen, N., Eubel, H., Hegermann, J., & Braun, H.-P. (2018). Absence of Complex I Implicates Rearrangement of the Respiratory Chain in European Mistletoe. Current Biology, 28(10), 1606-1613.e4.
Tegan’s...
2019-12-131h 36Plants and PipettesPretty Poinsettias, and the Caterpillars that spray them with acid (intermission)
We’re still on a podcast break. Good news is that Tegan arrived well in her new home. Bad news is that Joram got himself a weird virus that will knock him out in 10, 9, 8, 7, …
This intermission presents the article we published as our advent calendar on day 3. If you want to read more about Poinsettia, we also have this other article for you.
Follow us on twitter, instagram and facebook! If you like our podcast, review us on iTunes!
Our opening and closing music is Caravana by Phillip Gross
Until next time!
S...
2019-12-0604 minPlants and PipettesPigheaded Pigweed (Intermission)
Good news! Tegan successfully relocated herself and everything she holds dear to a new country. Bad news is, however, that the move still took too much time for us to properly record a real episode. You’ll have to make do with this little intermission, where Joram reads you a story we published in April this year. It’s about a superweed!
Don’t worry, we will be back with our regular episodes in a few weeks. Until then, check out the blog for weekly stories from the world of plant research.
Follow us on twitter...
2019-11-2907 minPlants and PipettesThere is no such thing as 'the' arabidopsis genome (intermission)
We’re continuing our break from proper episodes for a little longer.
To quench your thirst for plant science, we have another short story from the blog here on the podcast. This time, Tegan wrote about Arabidopsis ecotypes and Joram reads it to you.
Don’t worry, we will be back with our regular episodes in a few weeks. Until then, check out the blog for weekly stories from the world of plant research.
Follow us on twitter, instagram and facebook! If you like our podcast, review us on iTunes!
Our opening an...
2019-11-2206 minPlants and PipettesCats and Naked Ladies
This week, we have bad news. No new episode from your favourite hosts of the Plants and Pipettes Podcast. Tegan went missing in a mountain of moving boxes several days ago, and Joram has a pacifier permanently attached to his face. So instead, we have this little filler for you.
The post we present is “Cats and Naked Ladies” from earlier this year.
Don’t worry, we will be back with our regular episodes in a few weeks. Until then, check out the blog for weekly stories from the world of plant research.
Follow...
2019-11-1506 minPlants and PipettesPhlehem
Spooky time is over – now it’s all about regular boring plants again. Boring? Not on this podcast! It’s pretty much the most amazing plant podcast on this website.
Joram’s paper: Liu, L., Li, C., Teo, Z. W. N., Zhang, B., & Yu, H. (2019). The MCTP-SNARE Complex Regulates Florigen Transport in Arabidopsis. The Plant Cell, 31(10), 2475–2490.
Tegan’s favourite plant is Taxus brevifolia, the pacific yew.
Joram presents the life and work of Shipra Guha-Mukherjee, an Indian botanist working on on plant tissue culture, plant molecular biology, biotechnology and cell molecular biology. Here is the link to...
2019-11-081h 18Plants and PipettesMurder of Crows Podcast
This is the spoooooookiest episode of our podcast! We have scary stories, spooky facts and gruesome details about plants and pipettes. We recorded in full costume and would like to see your plant related costumes! Send them to us!
Tegan’s paper: Vaidya, A. S., Helander, J. D. M., Peterson, F. C., Elzinga, D., Dejonghe, W., Kaundal, A., … Cutler, S. R. (2019). Dynamic control of plant water use using designed ABA receptor agonists. Science, 366(6464), eaaw8848. (on researchgate)
Joram’s favourite plant is the spooooooky ghost pipe – it’s part of our scariest plants list.
Tegan presen...
2019-11-011h 09Plants and PipettesYou know nothing, RuBisCO.
Sometimes, it’s ok to do a short episode. After all, there is plenty to listen to again on here, so yeah. We talk about RuBisCO research and plants and stuff. It really is like the ones before but different and with other topics.
Joram’s paper: Lobo, A. K. M., Orr, D. J., Gutierrez, M. O., Andralojc, P. J., Sparks, C., Parry, M. A. J., & Carmo-Silva, E. (2019). Overexpression of ca1pase Decreases Rubisco Abundance and Grain Yield in Wheat. Plant Physiology, 181(2), 471–479.
Tegan’s favourite plant is the golden wattle, not just a wattle. This is the Bru...
2019-10-251h 03Plants and PipettesWe hate bigotry but we love leaves
It’s autumn! We just came back from a trip to Berlin’s botanical garden and record for the first time ever remotely – so forgive us for any technical hiccups. This week, we got a bit lost in a long discussion about the usefulness of committees as safeguards concerning ethical questions and we promise that we’re usually not that angry.
Tegan’s paper: Dong, Y., Chen, S., Cheng, S., Zhou, W., Ma, Q., Chen, Z., … Xiang, Q.-Y. (2019). Natural selection and repeated patterns of molecular evolution following allopatric divergence. ELife, 8.
Joram’s favourite plant is the water hya...
2019-10-181h 30Plants and PipettesFree Access to Bonnie Tyler
We talk quite a bit about airports in the beginning but actually this episode is about CRISPR (yay!), favourite plants (yaaaaaayyy!) and fun stuff (yyyyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy!). It’s a good episode.
Joram’s paper: Decaestecker, W., Andrade Buono, R., Pfeiffer, M., Vangheluwe, N., Jourquin, J., Karimi, M., … Jacobs, T. B. (2019). CRISPR-TSKO: A Technique for Efficient Mutagenesis in Specific Cell Types, Tissues, or Organs in Arabidopsis. The Plant Cell, tpc.00454.2019.
Tegan’s favourite plant is Gloeomargarita lithophora.
Joram presents the work and life of Enid MacRobbie who pioneered the use of radio tracers to measure fluxes ac...
2019-10-111h 22Plants and PipettesThere's an actual leaf in my chili
Tegan was wearing beautiful earrings. Unfortunately for you, they happen to make a nice little clinking sound that you might or might not pick up from the recording. Also I had terrible discipline in touching noisy wrapping paper. We’re terribly sorry, but the episode is worth it, I promise.
Tegan’s paper: Fang, J., Zhang, F., Wang, H., Wang, W., Zhao, F., Li, Z., … Chu, C. (2019). Ef-cd locus shortens rice maturity duration without yield penalty. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(37), 18717–18722.
Help me win the community award for the Fast Forward Science Contest by liking...
2019-10-041h 20Plants and PipettesThere is no such thing as a non-GMO peanut
Oh no, GMO! Did you know that your GMO-free peanuts are far from being free from transgenes? Also they’re full of chemicals, most of which are taken up by the body and used in the human metabolism. Beware the mighty peanut!
Joram’s paper: Matveeva, T.V. & Otten, Widespread occurrence of natural genetic transformation of plants by Agrobacterium, L. Plant Mol Biol (2019).
Tegan’s favourite plant is Lagarostrobos franklinii.
Joram presents the work of Wangari Muta Maathai. She was a biologist, political activist and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Eat you...
2019-09-271h 27Plants and PipettesDon't be a swan
Animal monogamy is overrated, especially in swans. Swans have worms are always angry. Don’t be a swan. Be an Arabidopsis. (we were both sleep deprived by the time we recorded this episode, so i guess you do the same to adjust to our mindset)
Tegan’s paper: Yi, P. and Goshima, G. (2019), Transient cotransformation of CRISPR/Cas9 and oligonucleotide templates enables efficient editing of target loci in Physcomitrella patens. Plant Biotechnol J. doi:10.1111/pbi.13238
Joram’s favourite plant is Coleochaete scutata. Here is a cool video with the spinning plastids done by Henrik Buschmann (his twi...
2019-09-201h 08Plants and PipettesHigh achievers in science
We are not only achievers in science, we are officially high achievers in science. Don’t believe us? Ask Stefanie, she’ll tell you. This week we bring you research on agrivoltaics, facts about tulips and two tired podcasters. Please enjoy.
Joram’s paper: Barron-Gafford, G. A., Pavao-Zuckerman, M. A., Minor, R. L., Sutter, L. F., Barnett-Moreno, I., Blackett, D. T., … Macknick, J. E. (2019). Agrivoltaics provide mutual benefits across the food–energy–water nexus in drylands. Nature Sustainability.
Here is the twitter thread explaining the findings by the first author.
We have been invited to t...
2019-09-131h 24Plants and PipettesPipettes and the use of pipettes in pipetting
We had a picnic (not during the podcast, but just before the podcast) and it was really nice. Consider having a picnic yourself, and while your picnicing, listen to this episode on repeat over your car stereo (leave the doors open for enhanced sound). This is how all Berliners spend their summer.
Tegan’s paper: Zhao, E. M., Suek, N., Wilson, M. Z., Dine, E., Pannucci, N. L., Gitai, Z., … Toettcher, J. E. (2019). Light-based control of metabolic flux through assembly of synthetic organelles. Nature Chemical Biology, 15(6), 589–597.
Joram’s favourite plant is Aristolochia arborea because it mimics mus...
2019-09-061h 04Plants and PipettesDon't get me started on the gig economy
We’re busy with applying for jobs and still we’re making more episodes for you. Aren’t we nice? We’re really nice. Plants are also nice and so is plant research. We talk about plant research so this podcast is also nice.
Check out the career conversation podcast! It’s good!
Joram’s paper: Belbin, F. E., Hall, G. J., Jackson, A. B., Schanschieff, F. E., Archibald, G., Formstone, C., & Dodd, A. N. (2019). Plant circadian rhythms regulate the effectiveness of a glyphosate-based herbicide. Nature Communications, 10(1), 3704.
Tegan’s favourite plant are two plants and they...
2019-08-301h 05Plants and PipettesTegan, tell us about your sparkly armpits
What? Another episode? I thought we were done with episodes. Okay okay, here we go again. Plant science. We love it. You love us. You must love plant science.
Tegan’s paper: He, J., Ye, W., Choi, D. S., Wu, B., Zhai, Y., Guo, B., … Ma, J. (2019). Structural analysis of Phytophthora suppressor of RNA silencing 2 (PSR2) reveals a conserved modular fold contributing to virulence. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(16), 8054–8059.
Little edit note: Phytophthora is not actually a regular fungus, it is an oomycete, which is a fungus-like eukaryote.
Joram’s favourite plant are...
2019-08-231h 15Plants and PipettesThis episode will cure cancer
If you are a plant you are probably indifferent to podcasts. So I’ll just assume you’re a human with ears who also likes podcasts. Boy, are you in for a treat because this here is a new episode of a podcast. What a coincidence! We talk about plant research and non-plant research. Excited? We are too!
Joram’s paper: Zhang, W., Corwin, J. A., Copeland, D. H., Feusieran’s, J., Eshbaugh, R., Cook, D. E., … Kliebenstein, D. J. (2019). Plant–necrotroph co-transcriptome networks illuminate a metabolic battlefield. ELife, 8.
Tegan’s favourite plant is Rhizanphella as featured in t...
2019-08-161h 06Plants and PipettesVoldemort can't produce a patronus
Hello and welcome to another podcast episode. We talk about antagonistic patronuseses, thoroughly researched favourite plants and so many fun facts. Like so many, I can’t even count them.
Tegan’s paper: Cromer, L., Jolivet, S., Singh, D. K., Berthier, F., De Winne, N., De Jaeger, G., … Mercier, R. (2019). Patronus is the elusive plant securin, preventing chromosome separation by antagonizing separase. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 201906237.
Joram’s favourite plant is the bird of paradise plant.
“I’m 37 years old and just today realized it’s called bird of paradise because it looks like t...
2019-08-091h 10Plants and PipettesPlants and Pipettes and Pens and Paper
For the first half, Tegan is pretty much eating ice cream and Joram is talking about plant science to himself – and to you people out there. So be kind and support Joram in his struggle and listen to his tales. You might also have ice cream to go with it.
Joram’s paper: Sun, Y., Wollman, A. J. M., Huang, F., Leake, M. C., & Liu, L.-N. (2019). Single-Organelle Quantification Reveals Stoichiometric and Structural Variability of Carboxysomes Dependent on the Environment. The Plant Cell, 31(7), 1648 LP – 1664.
Tegan’s favourite plant is the hog peanut.
Fun Stuff...
2019-07-261h 02Plants and PipettesThe one about the climate crisis
What is more fun than talking about molecular research? I hope you’re shouting now “diving deep into the horrors of the climate crisis!” because you’re right. In this fun and upbeat episode we wonder whether we can stop the climate crisis by planting trees. Can you guess the answer?
Tegan’s paper: Bastin, J.-F., Finegold, Y., Garcia, C., Mollicone, D., Rezende, M., Routh, D., … Crowther, T. W. (2019). The global tree restoration potential. Science, 365(6448), 76–79.
It’s the end of the world as they know (the distinct burden of being a climate scientist)
The guardian on...
2019-07-191h 00Plants and PipettesI literally don't know any words
How not to get murdered? Will plants save you? No. If you ever get murdered, Tegan has some no legally binding advice for you. Apart from life-saving murder prevention tips we have a new paper on wheat research for you and also a favourite plant.
Joram’s paper: Voss-Fels, K. P., Stahl, A., Wittkop, B., Lichthardt, C., Nagler, S., Rose, T., … Snowdon, R. J. (2019). Breeding improves wheat productivity under contrasting agrochemical input levels. Nature Plants, 5(7), 706–714.
Tegan’s favourite plant: Enigmatic new bush tomato
Non-true cat fact: Cat caught mouse after seeing it on CCTV
2019-07-1257 minPlants and PipettesQUILTBAG
Joram took an electric scooter through the best city in the world to join Tegan in her kitchen for yet another episode about plants and pipettes and things that are fun.
Tegan’s paper: Weits, D. A., Kunkowska, A. B., Kamps, N. C. W., Portz, K. M. S., Packbier, N. K., Nemec Venza, Z., … Licausi, F. (2019). An apical hypoxic niche sets the pace of shoot meristem activity. Nature, 569(7758), 714–717.
The root article we published last week (or the week before if you’re listening to this one week later (don’t listen to this later than that or this...
2019-07-0549 minPlants and PipettesJoachim Phoenix
Friday, Friday we get down on Friday, Saturday is the next day and Sunday comes afterwards! Oh, and a new podcast episode. This time, we were a little bit rambly but we managed to cover everything important. And the windows was also open because we had like four million degrees inside, scientifically speaking.
Joram’s paper: Mehta, D., Stürchler, A., Anjanappa, R. B., Zaidi, S. S.-A., Hirsch-Hoffmann, M., Gruissem, W., & Vanderschuren, H. (2019). Linking CRISPR-Cas9 interference in cassava to the evolution of editing-resistant geminiviruses. Genome Biology, 20(1), 80.
Articles on CRISPR on plants and pipettes
Teg...
2019-06-2840 minPlants and PipettesPPR-protein-expression-system-plant: very good ☁☂
Despite a MASSIVE thunderstorm we came together and recorded episode 10 for you guys. Aren’t we great? Yes, we are.
Tegan’s paper: Engineered PPR proteins as inducible switches to activate the expression of chloroplast transgenes, Margarita Rojas, Qiguo Yu, Rosalind Williams-Carrier, Pal Maliga & Alice Barkan, Nature Plants, volume 5, pages505–511 (2019)
Joram’s favourite plant has the biggest leaves. This palm is a total cheat so let’s praise giant rhubarb instead.
Joram and the giant rhubarb
Tegan and the medium sized rhubarb
Our listener question of the day: do you think we can eat everything th...
2019-06-2148 minPlants and PipettesHarry Bittercress and the suspicious petals
This week, we’re trying something new! Instead of doing a longer episode with two papers, we’re doing just one paper and instead release weekly! All thanks to us benevolent researchers listening to the voices of you, the common people of instagram.
This week, Joram is nerding out about Harry Bittercress, the newest star on the firmament of young adult research articles. Tegan’s favourite plant is super slick and super endangered and then we have an app for you and some feline fun facts. If you don’t listen to this episode, then someone else will, so...
2019-06-1433 minPlants and PipettesPennycress for your thoughts
Heyyy it’s another episode of the plants and pipettes podcast! This week, we have something special for you: we talked to Ratan Chopra, researcher at the University of Minnesota about his work domesticating pennycress. Sounds familiar? Yes! We presented his research on the blog and now had the chance to talk to him directly.
Ratan works in the lab of David Marks who is pioneering and driving forward the work on pennycress. Using its close family relationship to Arabidopsis, he and his group were able to quickly advance the knowledge and domestication of pennycress, turning it fr...
2019-05-3158 minPlants and PipettesCrouching Dragon Hidden Protein
Welcome again to another episode of our little podcast. This week, we’re talking about the intricacies of Saffron and
Tegan’s paper: Schmidt, T. , Heitkam, T. , Liedtke, S. , Schubert, V. and Menzel, G. (2019), Adding color to a century‐old enigma: multi‐color chromosome identification unravels the autotriploid nature of saffron (Crocus sativus) as a hybrid of wild Crocus cartwrightianus cytotypes. New Phytol, 222: 1965-1980. doi:10.1111/nph.15715
Joram’s paper: The Role of Plastidic Trigger Factor Serving Protein Biogenesis in Green Algae and Land Plants, Marina Rohr, Fabian Ries, Claudia Herkt, Vincent Leon Gotsmann, Lisa Désirée Westrich, Karin...
2019-05-1758 minPlants and PipettesSeven Dish
Hello again! Do you want to know about a potentially organic alternative to glyphosate and the recycling system of organelle DNA? You came to the right place podcast! We also have a new favourite plant and some fun stuff for you!
Joram’s paper: Brilisauer, K., Rapp, J., Rath, P., Schöllhorn, A., Bleul, L., Weiß, E., … Forchhammer, K. (2019). Cyanobacterial antimetabolite 7-deoxy-sedoheptulose blocks the shikimate pathway to inhibit the growth of prototrophic organisms. Nature Communications, 10(1), 545.
Tegan’s paper: Takami, T., Ohnishi, N., Kurita, Y., Iwamura, S., Ohnishi, M., Kusaba, M., … Sakamoto, W. (2018). Organelle DNA degradation contributes...
2019-05-031h 06Plants and PipettesWhat's the deal with ferns and their epidermis?
New Friday, new Podcast! In this episode, we jump right into the study of fern stomata and resurrection plants in the desert. And we have a #plantsound today!
As always, let us know in the comments if you have any questions or thoughts on the topics we discuss. Have fun!
Joram’s paper: Hydraulics Regulate Stomatal Responses to Changes in Leaf Water Status in the Fern Athyrium filix–femina, Amanda A. Cardoso, Joshua M. Randall, Scott A. M. McAdam, Plant Physiology Feb 2019, 179 (2) 533-543; DOI: 10.1104/pp.18.01412
Message us if you know what the deal is with ferns an...
2019-04-191h 06Plants and PipettesHot Junk
All good things come in fours: the number of legs on a cat, how often you should brush your teeth per day and the number of weeks in a month in February on a non-leap year. Oh, and this podcasts current episode count until the next episode comes.
This week, we talk about seed germination and junk DNA. And pretty pictures, which always works well on an audio medium.
Tegan’s paper: Wei Ma et al., Mitochondrial small heat shock protein mediates seed germination via thermal sensing, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Mar 2019, 116 (10) 4716-4721...
2019-04-051h 09Plants and PipettesThrowing Shade
Dingdingdingding it’s a new episode of the plants and pipettes podcast! This week, Tegan brought you a paper about how plants recognise their family growing left and right of them. Joram looked at vernalisation and how it is triggered after winter when plants bolt and produce flowers. Enjoy!
Tegan’s paper: Crepy, M. A. and Casal, J. J. (2015), Photoreceptor‐mediated kin recognition in plants. New Phytol, 205: 329-338. doi:10.1111/nph.13040
Joram’s paper: Gibbs, D. J., Tedds, H. M., Labandera, A.-M., Bailey, M., White, M. D., Hartman, S., … Holdsworth, M. J. (2018). Oxygen-dependent proteolysis regulates the stabil...
2019-03-221h 15Plants and PipettesPee-rigation
Another fortnight, another episode! In episode 2 of the Plant and Pipettes Podcast we explore again two journals from the past months. Joram brought up his favourite topic: urine irrigation of meadows by cows and the resulting nitrogen cycles. Tegan on the other hand talked about research on photorespiration and how scientists found a shortcut that could result in massive increases in crop yield.
Paper 1: Tonn B, Porath I, Lattanzi FA, Isselstein J (2019) Urine effects on grass and legume nitrogen isotopic composition: Pronounced short-term dynamics of δ15N. PLOS ONE
Paper 2: P.F. South el al., Synthetic glycola...
2019-03-081h 16Plants and PipettesNo Touchy the Planty
It is done. We recorded our first episode of the Plants and Pipettes Podcast.
What happens if you repeatedly poke a plant in the eye leaf? And what is so exciting about transforming yet another organelle? Listen to this episode and find out!
If you have comments about the things we said, please post them below on plantsandpipettes.com. We’d love to hear your feedback!
Shownotes:
Tegan’s Paper: Quantitative and functional posttranslational modification proteomics reveals that TREPH1 plays a role in plant touch-delayed bolting, Wang et al., PNAS, 2018 Joram’s Pape...
2019-02-221h 55