Shuxiao (Susan) Zhang
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sxzhang.bsky.social
Shuxiao (Susan) Zhang
@sxzhang.bsky.social
19 followers 18 following 32 posts
Professional plant nerd currently at Sacramento City College.
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sxzhang.bsky.social
Sharing this because we're covering #ecology in class right now and the take-home message I'm trying to drill into everyone is MORE DIVERSITY = HEALTHIER COMMUNITY (for plants AND humans).
December 8, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Reposted by Shuxiao (Susan) Zhang
helenczerski.bsky.social
TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque:
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
Bronze plaque saying "A Letter to the Future. Ok is the first Icelandic glacier to lose its status as a glacier. In the next 200 years all our glaciers are expected to follow the same path. This monument is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it. August 2019. 415ppm CO2"
December 7, 2025 at 5:17 PM
sxzhang.bsky.social
My friend's paper came out! Go Mary-Francis! 🎉
December 8, 2025 at 6:13 PM
sxzhang.bsky.social
Plugging a segment Leenna Keo, a student of mine, did on #ferns for #KCRA: www.kcra.com/article/fols... #plantoutreach #folsomlake #losrios😀
A closer look at California's fascinating ferns | Explore Outdoors
Visitors to Folsom Lake State Recreation Area can explore a variety of ferns with the help of knowledgeable guides from California State Parks.
www.kcra.com
December 8, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Reposted by Shuxiao (Susan) Zhang
ucdavisplants.bsky.social
🌳 From Planta: Advances in tissue culture, genome editing, and AI are accelerating Persian walnut propagation, improving efficiency and expanding breeding potential. (Charles A. Leslie, Abhaya M. Dandekar)
▶️ link.springer.com/article/10.1...
#PlantScience
Advancements in Persian walnut tissue culture and genetic engineering: bridging traditional methods with modern biotechnology - Planta
Main conclusion This review summarizes major advances in Persian walnut biotechnology, emphasizing progress in propagation, somatic embryogenesis, genome editing, and computational tools while outlini...
link.springer.com
December 4, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Reposted by Shuxiao (Susan) Zhang
andrewlhipp.bsky.social
​The @mortonarboretum.bsky.social NSF REU program ​is open for summer 2026! $7500 stipend + housing / travel. Apply by 31 Jan 2026 and share with your networks!

Details at ​​https://mortonarb.org/science/opportunities-in-science/research-experiences-for-undergraduates-program/
December 4, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Reposted by Shuxiao (Susan) Zhang
andrewhacket-pain.bsky.social
University of Birmingham, UK, are advertising a permanant position (Assistant or Associate Professor) in *Forests under Global Change*. A wide net has been cast - ecology, physiology, modelling, remote sensing, functioning, biodiversity, management... 🌲🌱🌳🌳🦌🌳🛰️🐿️🌲🔬🌳
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPS459/a...
Seedling growing in the forest
December 5, 2025 at 8:07 AM
Reposted by Shuxiao (Susan) Zhang
jxbotany.bsky.social
🧬 🍅 SPECIAL ISSUE RESEARCH 🍅 🧬

MYB and WRKY transcription factors collaboratively regulate suberin biosynthesis in the tomato root exodermis. Antagonistic interactions may fine-tune suberization or act as a brake on overaccumulation - Jo et al.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 2 (shortened, full legend in paper): Perturbations of SlMYB41, SlMYB92, and SlWRKY71 expression affect the suberization of tomato exodermis. (A) Percentage of cross-sections showing a non-suberized, an early suberized (suberin in <50% of exodermal cells), or a late suberized (suberin in >50% of exodermal cells) exodermis phenotype in hairy root cultures of the control (empty vector), CRISPR knockout lines [Slmyb41-ko, Slmyb92-ko, Slwrky71-ko(4), and Slwrky71-ko(5)], and overexpressing lines (SlMYB41-OX, SlMYB92-OX, and SlWRKY71-OX). The number above the bars represents the number (n) of individual roots examined in each genotype. Asterisks denotes statistically significant differences between each line in comparison with the empty vector control, whereas n.s. indicates no significant differences (P<0.05, χ2 test).
December 5, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Reposted by Shuxiao (Susan) Zhang
aspb-pui.bsky.social
‪Please join us on Wednesday, Dec, 3, 2025, at 12 noon EST for our monthly virtual ASPB PUI Section networking session. Our topic is: Teaching Biology with Google NotebookLM

Join the meeting at spelman.zoom.us/j/9374821224...

Contact Dr. Dongfang Wang at [email protected], if link issues
November 20, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Reposted by Shuxiao (Susan) Zhang
jxbotany.bsky.social
🍅 DARWIN REVIEW 🍅

Jaryal et al. discuss the role of four stress hormones, abscisic acid, ethylene, jasmonates, and salicylic acid, in the orchestration of signaling pathways that mediate tomato resilience and metabolism 📝

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪 @alaingoossenspsb.bsky.social
Fig. 2.The role of abscisic acid (ABA), ethylene (ET), jasmonic acid (JA), and salicylic acid (SA) in the regulation of tomato resilience and metabolism during different (a)biotic stress conditions. (A) Overview of the effect of different plant stress hormones on tomato resilience. Arrows and blocked arrows represent a positive and negative effect, respectively, and dotted lines represent an unclear effect of the hormone on tomato resilience in the specific stress condition. (B and C) Overview of the effect of different plant stress hormones on tomato metabolism in (B) fruit and (C) vegetative tissues. Upwards and downwards pointing arrows represent positive and negative regulation, respectively. Created in BioRender.Toçilla, S. (2025) https://BioRender.com/k49a446.
December 1, 2025 at 3:23 PM
sxzhang.bsky.social
🎉🎉🎉 New paper going to be out soon! #pistachio #plantbiology #anatomyisimportant
December 1, 2025 at 6:11 PM
sxzhang.bsky.social
That feeling when so many of the students make the same type of mistake on the same question that you double check your answer key and your slides to make sure you got it right.
November 25, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Reposted by Shuxiao (Susan) Zhang
msupri.bsky.social
Among the cracked earth & blinding sunlight of California's Death Valley, one native plant not only survives — it thrives.

Read the story of how this plant helped @rheelab.bsky.social scientists reveal a blueprint for engineering heat-resilient crops: msutoday.msu.edu/news/2025/11...

#PlantScience
A view of rocky terrain in Death Valley, California with mountains in the distance under a blue sky.
November 20, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Reposted by Shuxiao (Susan) Zhang
aabiologists.bsky.social
✨ Flash Talk Fundamentals for Applied Biologists ✨

An interactive online workshop for early career researchers & professionals - perfect for anyone who wants to learn how to deliver a great conference flash talk or 3MT!

📆 12th December, 1pm GMT

Register now 👉 buff.ly/OiDYE93
November 21, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Reposted by Shuxiao (Susan) Zhang
jxbotany.bsky.social
❄️🌱 RESEARCH 🌱❄️

Ice spreads in a predictable pattern through young L. tulipifera, governed by anatomy and vein architecture. Leaf lethality always involves damage to photosynthetic tissues and can involve air embolism - Johnson et al.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 8.Comparative progression of drought- and freeze–thaw-induced embolism in leaves of young L. tulipifera. (A–C) The spread of embolism during three periods from 5 h to ∼25 h after the beginning of drought. (D–F) The spread of embolism during three periods from 5 min to 15 min after thawing began. Embolisms are colour-coded according to when they occurred, as indicated by the scale at the bottom of the figure.
November 19, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Reposted by Shuxiao (Susan) Zhang
colincarlson.bsky.social
The only way we will win a better world is not only leftism for America, but internationalism. “Researchers who have anything to do with China should have their careers ended” is a bipartisan position, and it can’t be anymore. If we live in a fragmented world, it will burn in our lifetime
November 14, 2025 at 6:25 AM
Reposted by Shuxiao (Susan) Zhang
climatekeith.bsky.social
Good that Canada joins coalition to fight against climate disinformation (so maybe don't weaken greenwashing law?) www.euronews.com/green/2025/1...
Countries commit to tackling climate disinformation at COP30
It is the first time states have formally committed to information integrity and fighting back against climate disinformation.
www.euronews.com
November 13, 2025 at 11:35 AM
Reposted by Shuxiao (Susan) Zhang
microbiologysociety.org
It’s #TransAwarenessWeek 🌈
This week, we’re celebrating trans and nonbinary people while also raising awareness of the challenges and discrimination that many still face. Check out our discussion with Rowan Casey: microb.io/4hFL6vk 👈
#TransInSTEM #TransInScience #LGBTQSTEMDay
Queer in Microbiology: A Conversation
18 Nov - Virtual, online
microb.io
November 13, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Reposted by Shuxiao (Susan) Zhang
pnas.org
Some plants secrete brine from their leaves to cope with salty soil. Such plants use a subcuticular space to separate surface brine from secreting cells, a trick that could be useful for salt-tolerant crops or desalination devices. In PNAS: https://ow.ly/Aich50Xr3Fl
The study used the secreting salt gland of the flowering plant Nolana mollis as a model system.
November 14, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Reposted by Shuxiao (Susan) Zhang
annbot.bsky.social
🔥ADVANCE ACCESS🔥: Dance with plants: Taylor Swift’s music videos as advance organizers for meaningful learning in botany
doi.org/10.1093/aob/...
November 12, 2025 at 7:11 AM
Reposted by Shuxiao (Susan) Zhang
jxbotany.bsky.social
🌾💧 SPECIAL ISSUE RESEARCH 🌾💧

Zhen et al. discovered that the density of small openings—called stomata—located on barley stems is associated with whole-canopy water use much more than those located on the leaf blades 🌿🌾💧

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 2.Relationship between stomatal density of the abaxial side of the leaf sheath (SD SheathAb) and water use traits. Linear regression of whole-plant transpiration rate (TR, A) and canopy conductance (Gs, B) against SD SheathAb. Different colors refer to groups of genotypes belonging to one of the five families of the AB-NAM population that were phenotyped, with squares indicating the parents of the five nested association mapping (NAM) families. The BLUP values of each genotype were used in the regression analysis. ***Significant at P<0.001. The solid blue line indicates the regression line, and the shaded gray area indicates the 95% confidence intervals.
November 12, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Reposted by Shuxiao (Susan) Zhang
earlhaminst.bsky.social
Fully-funded #PhDproject at Earlham Institute in collaboration with @ibers.bsky.social, understanding genome regulation in hybrid Miscanthus for #sustainable #biomass production.

Join our supportive PhD and postdoctoral community!

#Genomics #Bioenergy
4-year NRPDTP PhD at Earlham Institute
Application deadline: 02 December 2025
buff.ly
November 10, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Reposted by Shuxiao (Susan) Zhang
annbot.bsky.social
🔥ADVANCE ACCESS🔥: Convergent evolution of the developmental anatomy of leaf abscission: evidence from the arboreous lycopsid Sigillaria
doi.org/10.1093/aob/...
November 12, 2025 at 3:16 PM
sxzhang.bsky.social
jobs.plantae.org/jobs/ja/2180... #plantjobs #jobs Assistant prof of crop production position opening in #UCD!
Assistant Professor of Vegetable Crop Production in Davis, CA for University of California Davis
Exciting opportunity in Davis, CA for University of California Davis as a Assistant Professor of ...
jobs.plantae.org
November 7, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Reposted by Shuxiao (Susan) Zhang
jxbotany.bsky.social
⚙️ SPECIAL ISSUE REVIEW ⚙️

Iron is essential to plants, and molecular mechanisms controlling iron uptake and concentration are affected by other essential nutrients such as zinc, copper, phosphorus, and nitrogen 🧲 🌿

📝 Wairich et al.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 2 (shortened, full legend in paper): Example of major mechanisms involving the Fe–P interplay in Arabidopsis. In shoots and under Fe deficiency (↓Fe), reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulate in chloroplasts, suppressing AtbZIP58 expression, reducing photosynthesis-related genes, and causing chlorosis. Fe deficiency also lowers ascorbic acid (AsA) levels by repressing VITAMIN C 4 (AtVTC4) expression. In combined Fe and P deficiency (↓Fe↓P), AtVTC4 is upregulated, boosting AsA production. AsA scavenges ROS in chloroplasts, restoring AtbZIP58 expression, photosynthesis-related gene activity, and chlorophyll accumulation, maintaining photosynthetic activity and a stay-green phenotype. In low P conditions, blue light activates ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL5 (HY5), inducing LOW PHOSPHATE ROOT 1 (LPR1)–PHOSPHATE DEFICIENCY RESPONSE 2 (PDR2) pathways that oxidize Fe2+ to Fe³+, promoting ROS production, callose deposition, and root growth inhibition.
November 6, 2025 at 3:50 PM