Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by ERC SYNERGY Project HYDROSENSING

The Global Plant Council @globalplantgpc.bsky.social · 5d

Why do scientific societies matter now more than ever?

Scientists board explore how societies support researchers, foster global collaboration, & shape the future of science. A must-read for all career stages 👍

🔗 buff.ly/YW2XUN3

#plantscience #science

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ERC SYNERGY Project HYDROSENSING @hydrosensing.bsky.social · 9m

... with Bjørn Torger Stokke, Martijn Vandegehuchte, & Kirsten Krause (UiT).

#StrawberryWalls expands from @hydrosensing.bsky.social work taking knowledge further, from water sensing to heat stress & pest resistance.

Interested? Watch this space for updates!

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ERC SYNERGY Project HYDROSENSING @hydrosensing.bsky.social · 9m

... and Fragaria vesca (wild strawberry 🍓) to:

🌡️ examine cell wall mechanics in heat adaptation
🦠 test how higher temperatures affect pest/pathogen infections
🌾 lay groundwork for more resilient crops

The team spans physics, biology, & ecology led by Prof. Thorsten Hamann (NTNU)...

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Strawberry, Nature, Farm image. Free for use. Image by Silvestre Cajigan from Pixabay

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ERC SYNERGY Project HYDROSENSING @hydrosensing.bsky.social · 9m

As the Arctic warms 4× faster than the global average, new farmland may open in northern latitudes... but pests & pathogens are moving north too.

The project aims to understand how plants cope with these twin challenges and will study Arabidopsis thaliana...

#ClimateChange #PlantScience

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Mountains, Fjord, Norway image. Free for use. Image by Henning from Pixabay

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ERC SYNERGY Project HYDROSENSING @hydrosensing.bsky.social · 9m

Big news from the NTNU team! 👏

They've received €2.1M from the Norwegian Research Council for #StrawberryWalls project, exploring how plants adapt to heat, drought & pests in a warming Arctic.

👉 hydrosensing.eu/2025/10/strawberrywalls-new-research-to-help-plants-thrive-in-a-warming-arctic/

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Image: Habitus (top) and cross section through a haustorium (bottom) of a Cuscuta dodder shoot infecting a host plant. Cell walls in the cross sections were stained with Toluidine Blue O. Infectious and non-infectious dodder tissue were false-colored in orange and yellow, respectively. Scale bars: 500 μm. Credit: S. Olsen, K. Krause, UiT.

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ERC SYNERGY Project HYDROSENSING @hydrosensing.bsky.social · 6d

Enjoy the picture to see moments from the visit — from the Robin Hood statue to the lab and evening strolls through Nottingham! 🌿

@uniregensburg.bsky.social

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ERC SYNERGY Project HYDROSENSING @hydrosensing.bsky.social · 6d

The visit highlighted the spirit of our project: connecting scientists across borders and disciplines to advance cutting-edge research together to uncover the mechanisms plants use to perceive water stress.

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ERC SYNERGY Project HYDROSENSING @hydrosensing.bsky.social · 6d

During this visit, Christine Ziegler @ziegler-lab-ur.bsky.social joined Malcolm Bennett in their lab at the University of Nottingham, while Eilon Shani @eilonshani.bsky.social also happened to be visiting the same research center — a perfect coincidence for a productive and friendly reunion!

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ERC SYNERGY Project HYDROSENSING @hydrosensing.bsky.social · 6d

From Sep 28th to Oct 1st, three of our PIs met in Nottingham for an in-person exchange of ideas and progress discussions. Over the days, the team engaged in:

🔬 Lab tours & hands-on sessions
💻 Project webinars
🍽️ Group lunches and dinners
💡 Discussions to spark ideas for collaborations

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ERC SYNERGY Project HYDROSENSING @hydrosensing.bsky.social · 14d

Congratulations, to the Nottingham University team, specially Dr Poonam Mehra (in the picture)! 🌱

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ERC SYNERGY Project HYDROSENSING @hydrosensing.bsky.social · 14d

Exciting news from the @uniofnottingham.bsky.social lab!🔬

They have just set up a new ERC-funded vertical confocal platform that will allow to image root systems growing in more "natural ways"

This setup will open up new opportunities to study plant development in unprecedented detail

Poonam Mehra with the new ERC-funded vertical confocal platform to image roots growing more ’naturally’

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Reposted by ERC SYNERGY Project HYDROSENSING

Greg Madej @greg-madej.bsky.social · Sep 4

MC 2025: We came, we saw, we won🏆 🏆! Amazing team on a fantastic time at the Microscopy Conference in Karlsruhe.
Get this: two of our posters won Poster Prizes! We're pretty sure it was our perfect blend of science and questionable doodles in the margins. @ziegler-lab-ur.bsky.social

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ERC SYNERGY Project HYDROSENSING @hydrosensing.bsky.social · Sep 11

Back from summer & team meetings are buzzing again!!🧑‍🔬

To a good start, Barak Mitman from @eilonshani.bsky.social shared work on xerobranching-associated genes & transporters 🌱

We also welcomed many new faces, especially from Nottingham, making our calls bigger than ever: 26 people, 4 countries!! 🤩

Hydrosensing team eonline meeting audience

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Reposted by ERC SYNERGY Project HYDROSENSING

Journal of Experimental Botany @jxbotany.bsky.social · Aug 31

🚨 Registration closes TODAY! 🚨

🌟 #JXB75 Daily Highlight 🌟

📅 Sept 19 – Final Session
🔮 FUTURE – New Plan(t)s 🧬

Exploring emerging technologies & synthetic biology with:
✨ Nicola Patron, Franziska Fichtner & Devang Mehta 🎤

👉 bit.ly/JXB75

#JXB75 #PlantScience 🧪

JXB 75th Anniversary Symposium
SESSION 4: FUTURE
New Plan(t)s
Chairs: Franziska Fichtner & Ola Skirycz
19 September | 1.30 PM | Edinburgh
INVITED SPEAKERS
Assoc Prof Nicola Patron
University of Cambridge
Recoding Regulation:
Towards predictable network
engineering
Dr Franziska Fichtner
Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf
Trehalose 6-phosphate coordinates sugar status with hormone signalling
and plant development
Dr Devang Mehta
KU Leuven
Re-engineering plant chronobiology: from genome to proteome and from molecules to future geographies

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Reposted by ERC SYNERGY Project HYDROSENSING

Nelly Braun @nellybraun.bsky.social · Aug 28

I enjoyed attending the 13th SPPS PhD student conference in Tromsø!
I got the chance to present my poster about my PhD topic that I am doing in collaboration with @hydrosensing.bsky.social in the lab of @hamannlab.bsky.social.
Thanks for having me!

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Reposted by ERC SYNERGY Project HYDROSENSING

EMBO @embo.org · Aug 20

EMBO is #hiring a Policy Assistant for the EMBO Policy Programme – Apply now!

www.embo.org/vacancy/poli...
#JobOpening #JobSearch #CareerOpportunities 🧪

Policy Assistant, EMBO Policy Programme – EMBO

Your role As Policy Assistant, you will support the daily operations of the EMBO Policy Programme and contribute to projects on topics such as research assessment, research integrity, and…

www.embo.org

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ERC SYNERGY Project HYDROSENSING @hydrosensing.bsky.social · Aug 18

👉 Alonso Baez, L., Bjorkoy, A., Saffioti, F., Morghen, S., Amanda, D., Ticha, M., … & Hamann, T. (2025). The mechanical properties of Arabidopsis thaliana roots adapt dynamically during development and to stress. bioRxiv, 2025-07. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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The mechanical properties of Arabidopsis thaliana roots adapt dynamically during development and to stress

Mechanical properties of plant cells and tissues change dynamically, influencing plant growth, development, and interactions with the environment. Despite their central roles in plant life, current kn...

www.biorxiv.org

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ERC SYNERGY Project HYDROSENSING @hydrosensing.bsky.social · Aug 18

Plant roots don’t just rely on genes... physics shapes them too 🌱

Research shows plant roots can adjust their stiffness + softness within HOURS to keep growing, even under stress.

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Reposted by ERC SYNERGY Project HYDROSENSING

Association of Applied Biologists @aabiologists.bsky.social · Aug 18

🌱 Announcing our brand new webinar series all 'aabout' #plantscience & #sustainableagriculture 🌱

Starting 23rd September with talks on #CRISPR in crops from:
🌾 @sadiyehayta.bsky.social
🍓 #ECR Ryan Creeth
🥔 @annalsapplbio.bsky.social author Karam Mostafa

Register for free: buff.ly/qdflQbB

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Reposted by ERC SYNERGY Project HYDROSENSING

Luis Alonso Baez @luisalonsobaez.bsky.social · Aug 1

One of the key aspects influencing morphogenesis is mechanics. We mapped the mechanical properties of living roots at the tissue and cellular levels using Brillouin microscopy and molecular rotors.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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ERC SYNERGY Project HYDROSENSING @hydrosensing.bsky.social · Jul 29

He introduced the fundamentals and recent developments in CRISPR, sparking curiosity (and questions!) from groups not directly involve with this line of research.

Thanks to everyone who joined, we’ll now take a summer break during August, and return in September.

#PostDoc #Hydrosensing

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ERC SYNERGY Project HYDROSENSING @hydrosensing.bsky.social · Jul 29

Today, Amichai Berman, PhD student from TAU - @eilonshani.bsky.social - deliver an engaging seminar on CRISPR; the 1st session on this & 3rd seminar overall in our ongoing series for PhD students & PostDocs.

With 13 attendees across the 4 different teams of the project.

#CRISPR #PhDLife #Science

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Reposted by ERC SYNERGY Project HYDROSENSING

Ziegler lab UR @ziegler-lab-ur.bsky.social · Jul 17

Congrats to the RUN-Hydrosensing team! Proving that even on a biologically relevant timescale, you can still snag second place! Silver is golden! @hydrosensing.bsky.social

Greg Madej @greg-madej.bsky.social · Jul 17

Ultrafast Almost Gold!
The Regensburg Center for Ultrafast Nanoscopy bio-section took second in the relay! Physics' reaction rates are attoseconds, but ours, Slower. Probably why "The Quantum Leapers" edged us out. Great fun and pretzels! @ziegler-lab-ur.bsky.social @katjaurbansky.bsky.social

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Reposted by ERC SYNERGY Project HYDROSENSING

Journal of Experimental Botany @jxbotany.bsky.social · Jul 14

📝 EDITORIAL

In JXB’s 75th year, Editor-in-Chief John Lunn reflects on the journal’s evolution and looks ahead to future directions - including the announcement of our 2025 editorial interns! 🌱🎉

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪 #JXB75
@sebiology.bsky.social

Photos of our 2025 editorial interns:
🇳🇴 Luis Alonso Baez (NTNU) @luisalonsobaez.bsky.social‬
🇩🇪 Vittoria Clapero (MPIMP)
🇧🇷 Níkolas Mateus (USP)
🇳🇬 Henry Njoku (Ibadan)
🇺🇸 Deeksha Singh (UC Davis) @sdeeksha1994.bsky.social‬
🇭🇰 Katie Watson (HKU) @katiemwatson.bsky.social‬

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ERC SYNERGY Project HYDROSENSING @hydrosensing.bsky.social · Jul 11

Not only small model plants! 🌱

#Hydrosensing team at Tel Aviv (Shani Lab) is carrying out large-scale CRISPR libraries in crops.

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