Hello everyone and welcome to Phytogen for September 2023. There is less than 2 weeks before early bird registration closes for ASPS2023 on Tuesday 26th September 2023. Click on the links below…..

Registration is now open, register then submit your abstract.

Abstract submission

Within a day or two of registering you will receive an email from asps.hobart2023@gmail.com with abstract submission instructions (check your junk if you do not receive)

Use this abstract template SessionNumber_Surname

• Oral presentation abstracts due Tues 26th September 2023 (early bird poster abstracts also welcome)
• Poster presentations abstracts due Tues 7th November 2023

Abstract enquiries: asps23abstract@gmail.com

IPMB 2024 Registration and call for abstact submissions opens August 2023

IUBMB 2024 in Melbourne, 22nd-26th September 2024. Registration information August 2023.

Please login and check your ASPS membership is up to date. Encourage your colleagues and students to join ASPS.

Tweet to @asps_ozplants your news and upcoming events and follow on Facebook to keep up to date.

This is the week for you to apply for travel awards to ASPS2023. Applications close this Friday 28th July 2023 !

Click on the links below…..

Student conference travel awards

Carers’ support travel grant for ASPS2023 awards

Indigenous travel grant awards

Applications for all three close this Friday 28th July 2023 !

Registration is now open, register then submit your abstract.

Abstract submission

Within a day or two of registering you will receive an email from asps.hobart2023@gmail.com with abstract submission instructions (check your junk if you do not receive)

Use this abstract template SessionNumber_Surname

• Oral presentation abstracts due Tues 26th September 2023 (early bird poster abstracts also welcome)
• Poster presentations abstracts due Tues 7th November 2023

Abstract enquiries: asps23abstract@gmail.com

IPMB 2024 Registration and call for abstact submissions opens August 2023

IUBMB 2024 in Melbourne, 22nd-26th September 2024. Registration information August 2023.

Please login and check your ASPS membership is up to date. Encourage your colleagues and students to join ASPS.

Tweet to @asps_ozplants your news and upcoming events and follow on Facebook to keep up to date.

Welcome to Phytogen for June 2023. Here is a short issue to match with passing of the shortest day, the winter solstice. Now we are heading towards the end of the year, it is time to plan to attend ASPS2023 in November in Hobart.

There is still time to apply for the Jan Anderson Award with applications closing 30th June 2023.

For everyone travelling consider applying for travel awards, there are:

student conference travel awards,

carers’ support travel grant for ASPS2023 awards, and

Indigenous travel grant awards.        Applications for all three of these close 28th July 2023.

Welcome to Phytogen for May 2023. Soon registration will open for ASPS2023 in Tasmania in November Tuesday 28th November to Friday 1st December. Details so far are available at https://www.asps.org.au/conferences/asps-2023

To get you ready for preparing your abstacts, here are reports from poster prize winners in 2022. We hope you enjoy reading:

Alyssa Martino, PhD Candidate, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney.

What is the title of your poster?

A phased genome of Melaleuca quinquenervia sheds new light on allelic variation of resistance genes 

What is the aim of your research, and what is the main hypothesis that you are testing? 

Long living tree species are exposed to a wide range of abiotic and biotic stresses in their lifetime, including numerous pests and pathogens. Unlike animals, they lack an adaptive immune system, instead relying on an innate immune system to recognise and respond to pathogens. Plant Nucleotide-binding Leucine-rich repeats (NLRs) are modular intracellular receptors involved in host immunity by initiating the rapid, cascading response leading to programmed cell death. Genes encoding NLRs are highly polymorphic and numerous in plant genomes. However, genome wide analysis of the allelic variation of plant NLRs is yet to be carried out, owing to genomes of many diploid organisms being presented as collapsed consensus sequences rather than separated into haplotypes. Therefore, the focus of this project was to investigate the allelic diversity of NLRs in a long-living tree species.  

What plant species was the focus of your research, and what were the key techniques used? 

 We generated a phased chromosome-level genome for the long-living tree species Melaleuca quinquenervia (broadleaf paperbark). Using HiFiasm software with a combination of HiFi and HiC data, the genome was phased into haplotypes to investigate the complete allelic diversity of NLR genes. The FindPlantNLRs pipeline was developed to annotate the predicted NLR genes within the phased genome, including novel integrated domains.   

What was the major finding(s) of your research? 

 Genome mapping revealed differences in the clustering position of NLRs on chromosomes between haplotypes, which corresponded with differing numbers of NLR clusters between haplotypes. Different novel domain architectures were also detected between haplotypes, demonstrating a high level of haplotype diversity of NLR genes within the M. quinquenervia genome. With much of this information lost in a collapsed form, we demonstrate the importance of our approach to assist research into plant responses to environmental challenges.  

Who were the important collaborators and funders of your work? 

 The work was carried out in collaboration with Stephanie Chen (UNSW), Collin Ahrens (UNSW), Benjamin Schwessinger (ANU), Ashley Jones (ANU), Tamene Tolessa (ANU), Zhenyan Luo (ANU), Jason Bragg (UNSW), Richard Edwards (UWA), and Peri Tobias (USyd) and was funded by ARC Linkage projects LP190100093 and LP180100721 and Research Training Program Stipend Scholarships (Alyssa and Stephanie).  

Zheng (Tommy) Gong, HDR Student, PGEL|School of Agriculture and Food Science, The University of Queensland.

What is the title of your poster?

A simple and rapid workflow to evaluate CRISPR gRNA genome editing efficiency in planta. 

What is the aim of your research, and what is the main hypothesis that you are testing?

This research aims to develop a workflow that would allow researchers to easily test the efficiency of their selected CRISPR gRNA in planta targeting any sequence-of-interest.

What plant species was the focus of your research, and what were the key techniques used?

We used Nicotiana benthamiana, a model plant species, for transient expression of our CRISPR cassettes. To increase the applicability of this workflow, only general molecular biology skills were required to evaluate the efficiency of multiple gRNAs.

What was the major finding(s) of your research? 

We first conceptualised the workflow to be as simple as possible with minimal molecular cloning required. Using this workflow, we successfully evaluated the efficiency of multiple gRNAs targeting an endogenous N. benthamiana gene. We found that the in planta genome editing efficiency of gRNAs was not consistent with that predicted by in silico gRNA design tools, demonstrating the importance of a workflow as such. Using this workflow, we have demonstrated and intend to in future studies, evaluate gRNAs targeting sequences in crop species and other agriculturally important plants.

Who were the important collaborators and funders of your work?

Important collaborators of this work are Yijie Wang and Genevieve Durrington who are currently PhD students at The University of Queensland and my excellent supervisors, Prof. Jimmy Botella, and Dr Karen Massel.

I am funded by the Australian Government RTP scholarship.

Nick Booth, College of Science & Engineering, Flinders University of South Australia.

Nodulin 26 is a multifunctional plant aquaporin that facilitates ammonium transport in nitrogen-fixing soybean nodules. 

Booth N.¹, Ramesh S.¹, Jenkins C.¹, Soole K.¹, Tyerman S.², and Day D.¹

¹College of Science & Engineering, Flinders University, GPO Box 5100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia.  

²ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide, Glen Osmond, South Australia 5064, Australia. 

At COMBIO 2022 I was awarded an ASPS poster prize for presenting our findings on the soybean aquaporin, Nodulin 26 (NOD26). Legumes have developed a symbiotic relationship with rhizobia, a soil bacterium that fixes atmospheric nitrogen into a form usable by the plant. During the symbiosis, legumes develop highly specialised organs on their roots, called nodules, which are infected by rhizobia. Inside the infected nodule cells, the rhizobia differentiate into nitrogen-fixing bacteroids that are excluded from the plant cytosol in organelle-like structures termed symbiosomes. The symbiosome membrane acts to regulate the metabolite exchange between the symbionts. Interestingly, a non-selective cation channel which facilitates the efflux of fixed nitrogen from symbiosomes remains unidentified (Tyerman et al. 1995). We proposed that NOD26 may be this non-selective cation channel and begin to characterise the channel through two-electrode voltage clamp in Xenopus laevis oocytes, thanks to a collaboration with Stephen Tyerman, Adelaide University.  

Ion transport through aquaporins has long been controversial, with Yool and colleagues (1996) first reporting this in human aquaporin 1. More recently, non-selective cation activity has been reported in Arabidopsis PIP2;1, which shares several characteristics with the soybean symbiosome membrane non-selective cation channel. Our work has shown that when NOD26, a major component of the soybean symbiosome membrane, is heterologously expressed in X. laevis oocytes, monovalent cation-induced currents are observed. The channel is permeable to ammonium, methylammonium, potassium and sodium but not choline or anions, and that these currents are inhibited by divalent cations. Through phosphomimetics of S262, we identified a switch in the permeability of NOD26 to water or cations when expressed in X. laevis oocytes (Figure 1). We believe that the soybean aquaporin NOD26 is multifunctional channel that facilitates both ammonia and ammonium transport in nitrogen-fixing nodules and that this transport is regulated by phosphorylation of S262. 

Figure 1. Mutations to GmNOD26 alter water and cation permeability. (A) Osmotic water permeability; or (B) Na+ induced clamp currents; of control, Phosphomimetics or Wt GmNOD26-expressing X. laevis oocytes (n = 8). 

References: 

Byrt, C., Zhao, M., Kourghi, M., Bose, J., Henderson, S., Qiu, J., Gilliham, M., Schultz, C., Schwarz, M., Ramesh, S., Yool, A., and Tyerman, S. (2017) Non-selective cation channel activity of aquaporin AtPIP2;1 regulated by Ca2+ and pH. Plant, Cell & Environment, 40:802– 815. 

Tyerman, S., Whitehead, L., and Day, D. (1995). A channel-like transporter for NH4+ on the symbiotic interface of N2-fixing plants. Nature, 378:629–632. 

Yool, A., Stamer, W., and Regan, J. (1996). Forskolin stimulation of water and cation permeability in aquaporin-1 water channels. Science, 273:1216–1218. 

Miss Yuhan Liu, Ph.D. candidate | Wonder of Science Young Science Ambassador, School of Agriculture & Food Sciences | Integrative Legume Research Group, Faculty of Science | The University of Queensland.

What is the title of your poster? 

Root meristem growth factor peptides and their effects on root development and nodulation in soybean

What is the aim of your research, and what is the main hypothesis that you are testing?

The research aims to understand the role of a new peptide family, RGFs, in legume growth. Given its orthologous to Arabidopsis and Medicago peptides regulating meristem activity and immune response, we hypothesized that these RGF peptides affect root growth and nodule development in soybean.

What plant species was the focus of your research, and what were the key techniques used?

Soybean (Glycine max). A range of molecular and physiological techniques were used to characterise gene function, including Agrobacterium-mediated Hairy Root transformation, gene overexpression, promotor::GUS fusions, microscopy, bioinformatics and phenotypic analyses.

 What was the major finding(s) of your research?

A number of GmRGFs are specifically expressed in soybean nodules and root tips. They are critical for nodule maturation. 

Who were the important collaborators and funders of your work?

Members of the Integrative Legume Research Group, the University of Queensland were important to help carry out this research project. Xitong Chu from The University of Queensland and Huazhong Agricultural University. Funding for April Hastwell and Brett Ferguson is provided by the Australian Research Council (ARC; DE200100800 and DP190102996). Yuhan Liu is supported by a University of Queensland Earmarked Scholarship, a UQ School of Agriculture and Food Sciences Travel Award and a ASPS Student Travel Award.

Welcome to Phytogen for March 2023. There is a lot going on the next few months. Most importantly………

ASPS Awards are Open !!!

via GIPHY

ASPS award applications are now open. Details and links to each award are below.

• • • Peter Goldacre Award, applications due 31 March 2023
    • Jan Anderson Award, applications due 31 March 2023
    • R.N.Robertson Travelling Fellowship, applications due 31 March 2023
    • ASPS Education and Outreach Award, applications due 28 April 2023
    • Student Conference Travel Award, applications due 2 June 2023
    • ASPS Carers’ Support Travel Grant, applications due 2 June 2023
    • Indigenous Travel Grants, applications due 2 June 2023

Now onto other events…………..

International Fascination of Plants Day is held on 18th May each year with events encouraged to be held in even years. Here is a link to events in 2022 and there is plenty of time for Australia to plan events in 2024. On the occasion of the Fascination of Plants Day (FoPD) 2022, national funders in the European Research Area Network on Sustainable Crop Production (SusCrop ERA-net) opened the video contest on ‘what sustainable crop production means to you?’

Information is available at the SusCrop video contest webpage The SusCrop/FoPD video contest will close on 26^th May 2023. Video submission has to be done via WeTransfer to nikki.declercq@ilvo.vlaanderen.be AND to eline.dewispelaere@ilvo.vlaanderen.be

23rd of March is National Eucalypt Day. Get your votes in by 19th March for Eucalypt of the year and there are plenty of events.

ASPS have an upcoming webinar about respiration 6th April 2023

Lots of events on our twitter, @asps_ozplants……

Sessions are taking shape for ASPS2023 in Hobart……….

Please login and check your ASPS membership is up to date. Encourage your colleagues and students to join ASPS.Tweet to @asps_ozplants your news and upcoming events and follow to keep up to date.

Welcome to Phytogen for February 2023.

• • • • • Introducing new ASPS President Martha Ludwig
        • Reflection from ASPS Past President Peter Ryan
        • Save the Date ASPS2023 Hobart, Tasmania
        • !!!  ASPS Awards are open  !!!!
        • Reports from past winners, Nattiwong Pankasem and Maria Ermakova
        • Events

Introducing Professor Martha Ludwig

This year we have a new President, Martha Ludwig from the University of Western Australia. Hope you enjoy reading about her journey so far.

Winds of Change

Martha went to Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, completing a BA in Biological Sciences. The college is a private liberal arts, all-women’s college (https://www.smith.edu/about-smith). Degrees are four years and in addition to taking maths, chemistry, physics, and biology, Martha also took units in English literature, history, philosophy, Greek and Roman mythology, and German. The President of Smith College at the time (1980s) was Professor Jill Ker Conway, the first woman President, who had grown up in the Australian outback (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Ker_Conway). Professor Conway wrote the famous memoir The Road from Coorain. Coorain is an Aboriginal word that means “windy place”.

Figure 1. The Ludwig Family Farm in Vermont, USA (autumn, c1985).

Before college, Martha, like Jill, grew up on a farm. The family dairy farm (Fig. 1) was in rural Vermont where she kept busy milking cows, doing field work, tending the veggie garden, picking blueberries from 500 bushes, and working in her grandparents’ apple orchard.

Martha always enjoyed being outside in the warmer months, working with plants and watching them grow. Once in high school she became fascinated with microscopes.

After college, Martha did her PhD at McGill University, Montréal, Canada, in the lab of Prof Sarah P Gibbs. She focused on the eukaryotic endosymbiotic origin of some algal chloroplasts. At the time, the prokaryotic endosymbiotic origin of chloroplasts limited by two membranes had been accepted, e.g., a cyanobacterium was engulfed by a colourless eukaryotic host cell. However, some algal chloroplasts are surrounded by four membranes and in two groups, the cryptomonads and the chlororachniophytes, an organelle called the nucleomorph, which was postulated to be the vestigial nucleus of the endosymbiont, is present between the outer and inner pairs of membranes. Martha showed using microscopy and DAPI staining that the nucleomorphs of both cryptomonads [8] and the chlororachniophytes [9] contain DNA. Nucleomorph genomes have since been sequenced by other groups and the eukaryotic endosymbiotic origin of some chloroplasts is now in biology textbooks. Martha also developed techniques in immunocytochemistry to localise pigment-proteins in the lumen of cryptomonad thylakoids during her PhD [10].

Figure 2. Martha’s first Aussie Christmas. Lake Hattah, Victoria (1989).

Having had enough of long winters, Martha came to Australia for science, sun, and adventure. She held several postdoctoral research positions, initially at the University of Melbourne, where she continued to work with unicellular algae in the labs of Rick Wetherbee and Jeremy Pickett-Heaps. It was a steep learning curve to learn the taxonomy and ultrastructure of the red and brown algae, diatoms, etc. Martha worked on the golden-brown algae, the chrysophytes, and the cryptomonads. These algae have cell coverings or scales that can contribute to marine biofouling; however, little was known about their biology. Along with PhD students in the lab, Martha developed monoclonal antibodies against proteins associated with the cell coverings, which allowed, through immunolabelling, the developmental and deployment pathways of the cell surface components to be worked out [7; 12; 15]. While in Melbourne, Martha fell in love with Australia; the Melbourne trams, friendly people, bushwalking, remote regions, and the better weather; yes, you read correctly, Melbourne weather is better than that in New England and Montréal (Fig. 2)!

An ARC Postdoctoral Fellowship (the predecessor to the DECRA scheme) at Queensland University of Technology in the lab of Jim Burnell involved a switch to land plants and development of a molecular biology toolbox – another steep learning curve! It was in the Burnell lab that Martha began her ongoing work with Flaveria, a genus of plants in the family Asteraceae with C₃, C₄ and C₃-C₄ photosynthetic intermediate species. This genus is a model group to look at the evolution of C₄ photosynthesis and her work focussed on the molecular evolution of the C₄-associated form of the enzyme carbonic anhydrase (CA), which catalyses the first step of the C₄ pathway (Figure 3) [11]. Brisbane is where Martha learned to live outside all year round and, with members of the Burnell lab and others in the QUT Centre for Molecular Biology, did more bushwalking and travelling to and in the regions of Queensland (Figure 4).

Experience in the Burnell lab and a third post doc position at the Australian National University, working with Murray Badger, Dean Price, and Susanne von Caemmerer, opened opportunities to interact with Hal Hatch, the discoverer of the C₄ photosynthetic pathway, and his group at the CSIRO in Canberra. At the ANU, Martha continued to work with Flaveria and CA [13; 19], but also examined the components of the CO₂ concentrating mechanism of cyanobacteria [14; 16] and added transgenic technology to her molecular toolbox. At the ANU, Martha became a member of ASPS and was the Genetics and Molecular Biology Discipline Representative. In addition to the fantastic science community, Canberra also was the gateway to the NSW coast, the mountains, more bushwalking, and Sydney to watch the cricket!

At Macquarie University in Sydney, Martha had her first continuing position and relished in coordinating and teaching a unit on the evolution of land plants as well as teaching into other plant biology and biochemistry units (Figure 5). There were further experiments with the von Caemmerer lab and Bob Furbank (CSIRO) working with transgenic Flaveria in which the activity of the C₄-associated form of CA was greatly reduced. The results of this work illustrated the importance of the enzyme for proper functioning of the C₄ CO₂ concentrating mechanism [20]. Experiments with Flaveria showing the loss of the sequence encoding the transit peptide from the ancestral C₃ chloroplast CA orthologue was responsible for the evolution of the cytosolic C₄-associated enzyme were initiated at Macquarie. These definitive experiments were done by excellent Honours and PhD students [17, 18].

Martha moved to the University of Western Australia in 2003 and continues to work on the molecular evolution of C₄ photosynthesis. Like Brisbane, Perth is conducive to living outside regardless of the season. While writing an ARC grant application to further her work on Flaveria, she remembered having read about work done by Paul Hattersley in the 1980s on Neurachne, a group of Australian endemic grasses that have C₃, C₄ and C₃-C₄ photosynthetic intermediate species. She now has all species of the Neurachne growing in the UWA glasshouses and has led international teams in the reconstruction of a robust phylogeny of the genus [3] and identification of key steps in the molecular evolution of C₄photosynthesis in the group [6]. Of course, Neurachne CA is a focus with the evolutionary mechanism of the C₄-associated CA showing similarities to that of the Flaveria enzyme [4]! There have been many fieldtrips to the arid and semi-arid regions of Western Australia, Northern Territory, and Queensland to collect the different Neurachne species, with several trips involving the expert Paul Hattersley (now retired)! Terry Macfarlane from the WA Herbarium and Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, who worked with Paul in the 1980s, is Martha’s extraordinary collecting buddy (Fig. 6). Travelling to the remote regions to collect the plants is a highlight of Martha’s research, fuelling her love of being outside, and opening a new world, as previously she was a lab-based plant scientist. ExaminingNeurachne spp. emphasises the importance of biodiversity in our environment and like all good science, it never ends, with analyses of leaf transcriptome data now underway to understand more globally the molecular evolution of C₄photosynthesis in this monocot group. Work with Flaveria has continued, including the regulation of the C₄-associated CA with Peter Westhoff’s group at the Henrich-Heine University, Düsseldorf [5] and comparisons of metabolic profiles of the C₃, C₄ and C₃-C₄ intermediate Flaveria species in collaboration with Mark Stitt and John Lunn at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology [1, 2]. Martha has remained involved in the ASPS as Whole Plant Discipline Representative (2004-2005) and the ASPS Honourable Secretary (2014-2016).

After three years as Head of the School of Molecular Sciences at UWA, Martha is looking forward to 2023 and returning to the bench to focus on the regulation of Neurachne and Flaveria CAs, other aspects of C₄ evolution in the two groups, and a sabbatical when she will work with collaborators in Portugal, Germany, and the US – of course timed for the Northern Hemisphere summer – three summers in a row – hurrah!

Plans for being ASPS President

Martha is looking forward to being President of the Society. She likes getting together as plant scientists and wants to make it easy for students and researchers to attend meetings, exchange ideas, and form networks and collaborations. One of the traits she “inherited” from Sally Gibbs, her PhD supervisor, is the conviction that students be given chances to present their work at meetings and gain confidence in being part of the scientific community. As President she aims to increase the involvement of early- and mid-career researchers in the ASPS and welcomes ideas from the membership on how to achieve this aim. Talks are also underway to strengthen ties with the NZ Society of Plant Biologists.

References:

• • 1. Arrivault, S., et al. (2019) J. Exp. Bot. 70: 1843-1858.
    2. Borghi, G.L., et al. (2022) J Exp Bot 73: 1581-1601.
    3. Christin, PA., et al. (2012) J. Exp. Bot. 63: 6297–6308.
    4. Clayton, H., et al. (2017) Plant Physiol. 173: 1648-1658.
    5. Gowik, U., et al. (2016) J. Exp. Bot. 68: 311–320.
    6. Khoshravesh, R. et al. (2020) Plant Physiol. 182: 566-583.
    7. Koutoulis, A. et al. (1993) J. Cell Sci. 104: 391–398.
    8. Ludwig, M., Gibbs, S.P. (1985) Protoplasma 127: 9–20.
    9. Ludwig, M., Gibbs, S.P. (1989) J. Phycol. 25: 385–394.
    10. Ludwig, M., Gibbs, S.P. (1989) J. Cell Biol. 108: 875–884.
    11. Ludwig, M., Burnell, J.N. (1995) Plant Mol. Biol. 29: 353–365.
    12. Ludwig, M. et al. (1996) Planta 199: 219–228.
    13. Ludwig, M. et al. (1998) Plant Physiol. 117: 1071–1081.
    14. Ludwig, M. et al. (2000) J. Phycol. 36: 1109–1118.
    15. Perasso, L. et al. (1997) Protoplasma 200: 186–197.
    16. Sültemeyer, D. et al. (1997) Aust. J. Plant Physiol. 24: 317–327.
    17. Tanz, S.K. et al. (2009) Plant Physiol. 150: 1515–1529.
    18. Tetu, S.G. et al. (2007) Plant Physiol. 144: 1316–1327.
    19. von Caemmerer, S. et al. (1997) Aust. J. Plant Physiol. 24: 487–494.
    20. von Caemmerer, S. et al. Plant, Cell Environ. 27: 697–703.

Reflection from Past President Dr Peter Ryan

Our Past President Peter Ryan also has a reflection for us:

“Learned societies for a better society: The case for joining ASPS”

I have been asked to reflect on my time as President of ASPS over the last two years. Rather than list our challenges, achievements and “might-have-beens”, I would like, instead, to address a broader set of questions which I have heard repeatedly during my Presidency: Is there any value in joining a scientific society today? Are the benefits worth the annual subscription fee? Is there more to being a member of ASPS than receiving newsletters and adding a line to our CV? I firmly believe the answers to these are yes, yes and yes. More than that, I’m convinced that the role of scientific societies has never been more important – not just for their own members but for society in general.

When I joined the Australian Society of Plant Physiologists (ASPP) in the 1980s, the annual meetings were held on university campuses often with low-priced accommodation in student colleges. They were cheap and cheerful affairs with scotch finger biscuits for morning tea, cheese and pickle sandwiches for lunch and Nescafe coffee. A single stream of presentations meant that everyone heard all talks on every topic. There was plenty of time for discussions. Overlapping interests were discovered, spontaneous mentoring occurred and collaborations were forged. The Society was active and healthy and chugged along nicely, providing important support for our plant scientists.

With time, things changed and evolved, as they always do. Indeed, biology itself was undergoing its own revolution. ASPP was renamed the Australian Society of Plant Scientists (ASPS) to encompass the broader range of topics our members were investigating; especially the burgeoning area of molecular biology. Furthermore, ASPS was invited to join other biological societies to organise larger annual meetings known as ComBio. The benefits of such meetings included the broader range of topics presented in both plant and animal research and the ability to invite and support high-profile researchers from overseas.

ComBio meetings regularly attracted 800 participants or more and scheduled many parallel sessions. They were big and busy and very exciting to younger researchers. However, these meetings proved to be considerably more expensive to attend and their scale and breadth alienated some members. Many decided that their precious travel budget was best served attending smaller meetings that focused on their specific research area.

For this and other reasons no doubt, the membership of ASPS began to fall. Other societies in Australia and overseas reported the same trend. This steady decline was disappointing for ASPS and presented a major headache for its leadership because a dwindling subscription base limited their activities, especially the capacity to hold meetings and support student travel.

It was not just students that were deciding not to join. Early-career researchers (ECRs) were leaving as well, perhaps because they were preoccupied with their own challenges during the early 2000s. We knew anecdotally at the time, and then more formally from a survey¹ conducted by Science and Technology Australia (STA), that the morale among Australian scientists and STEM professionals was alarmingly low, with job security a major factor. Chasing short-term grants and relying on the creativity of academic bosses to extend contracts left many ECRs disillusioned with their chosen careers. Many considered leaving science research and some did.

Strategies were devised to reverse the declining membership but nothing much worked – at least not until two things happened. The first of these was a vote by ASPS to change the structure of their annual meetings. It was decided that the annual meetings would alternate between ComBio-style meetings, and smaller ASPS-only meetings. This was a gamble since no-one was really certain just how popular a smaller traditional meeting would be. The test for this strategy came with the first ASPS-only meeting at La Trobe University in 2019. It proved to be highly successful and demonstrated that the old model could still attract a crowd, boost membership and be profitable to boot.

The second factor that reversed the decline in membership, oddly enough, was Covid. It turns out that a couple of years of home isolation doing literature searches and anxiously waiting for laboratory access to resume, motivated many to grasp every opportunity to rub shoulders with colleagues again. We know this because the first ASPS-only hybrid-style meeting held after Covid restrictions were relaxed in 2021 was another great success and a welcome fillip to membership. The pent-up enthusiasm for local face-to-face meetings was still apparent at ComBio2022.

So back to the beginning: What are the benefits of ASPS membership? For students and early career researchers they are clear but they extend to senior scientists as well. There are the material benefits – such as the generous travel support for students and the awards and recognition of research excellence. In addition, ASPS offers a community of like-minded people with similar goals and the opportunity to present and share research in a non-discriminatory, nurturing environment. It fosters formal and informal mentoring and enables cross-disciplinary connections and collaborations. ECRs and senior members can advise and support one another as they negotiate the difficulties of their demanding careers. They are also encouraged to join leadership teams or participate in the STA run Science Meets Parliament which provide insights into science policy and governance in Australia and beyond. Members can also extend their networks by representing ASPS on national and international science bodies such as STA or the Global Plant Council. The value of all these opportunities became more obvious when they were suddenly restricted or denied us by Covid.  Although success of the post-Covid meetings were aided by other international meetings being on-line only or cancelled, it highlights the value of maintaining active local societies to fall back on.

However, scientific societies like ASPS have an even more crucial role this century – not for their members but for society. Science is experiencing a crisis of trust and credibility. It should be a concern to us all that in public debates around the world scientific information is rejected out of hand and replaced by half-truths, opinions and falsehoods. Remember the claims that Covid was a fake story concocted by scientists to attract more research funds? Or do you recall an ex-Prime Minister raising doubts about climate change² because he had seen photographs of Manly Beach over many decades and not noticed any changes to the water level? Apart from being demonstrably untrue³ they would be laughable if they were not so serious. The world is confronted with an unprecedented list of challenges and for us to have any chance of meeting and overcoming them, our leaders need to make decisions based on the best, most reliable information available. Therefore, all claims of “fake news” and “alternative facts” need to be openly tested so we don’t slide into a nightmare scenario where no-one is sure what or real and what is fantasy. The loudest message cannot be the only criterion for what is truth.  As informed and scientifically-literate members of society we should participate in these debates with our friends, with our families and with our societies. We should ensure that all contentious claims be backed by legitimate and independent sources so everyone is clear what is fact and what is fiction.

Individuals can be a voice in the storm but their impact will be minimal if no-one hears them.  Scientific societies that present the collective opinion of scores of experts provide a more persuasive channel for expressing views to larger audiences than do individuals. I hope and trust that science institutions around the world, will continue to engage in these debates so that we can be better prepared for the challenges ahead. So, yes, there are many compelling reasons to join ASPS and other scientific societies.

Dr Peter Ryan

ASPS President 2020-2022

(1) https://scienceandtechnologyaustralia.org.au/under-severe-strain-a-stark-snapshot-of-scientists/

(2) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-10/tony-abbott-climate-claims-dont-add-up/9034204

(3) https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2626/evidence-of-sea-level-fingerprints/

Save the Date

Here is your save the date for ASPS 2023!!!

Please add yourself to our conference mailing list and help us during the planning stages by filling out our ASPS2023 EOI form:  https://forms.gle/osUAvNEyn9jcwtw78

Please share widely with your colleagues and students.

ASPS Awards are Open !!!

ASPS award applications are now open. Details and links to each award are below.

• • • Peter Goldacre Award, applications due 31 March 2023
    • Jan Anderson Award, applications due 31 March 2023
    • R.N.Robertson Travelling Fellowship, applications due 31 March 2023
    • ASPS Education and Outreach Award, applications due 28 April 2023
    • Student Conference Travel Award, applications due 2 June 2023
    • ASPS Carers’ Support Travel Grant, applications due 2 June 2023
    • Indigenous Travel Grants, applications due 2 June 2023

Reports from our past award winners

To give you inspiration to submit applications for ASPS awards here are reports from Nattiwong Pankasem who received a Robertson Travelling Fellowship and Maria Ermakova who received the Peter Goldacre Award in 2022. We hope you will get your skates on and submit applications.

Nattiwong Pankasem, Ph.D. student, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, CA, USA.

I am Nattiwong Pankasem, a Ph.D. student in Julian Schroeder’s lab at the School of Biological Sciences at the University of California San Diego. I am interested in the plant physiological responses to environmental stimuli. I am using genetic and biochemical approaches to investigate guard cell sensing and signaling to climate change-linked stresses. Pursuing interdisciplinary research on linking genes and the environmental response has been motivating but challenging at the same time. I think it would be great opportunity to learn those environmental biophysical concepts and techniques from experts in the field. With my supervisor’s support, I reached out to Dr. Graham Farquhar, seeking an opportunity to apply for a fellowship to visit his lab. I received a generous R.N. Robertson travelling fellowship from the Australian Society of Plant Scientists (ASPS) to visit Farquhar’s lab at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra from September to November 2022.

I spent most of my visit pursuing the new project, measuring the unsaturation of water vapor in the leaf air space. Calculating stomatal conductance and a well-known input for photosynthesis models such as intercellular CO₂concentration (C_i) assume 100% humidity or saturation of water vapor in the leaf’s internal air space. Recently, using the double-sided gas exchange technique, Dr. Chin Wong’s study revealed that a great deal of unsaturation occurs when a leaf is exposed to low air humidity or high vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and results in underestimating stomatal conductance and C_i [1]. The finding intrigued me because we learned that temperature is the critical driver of VPD and evaporative demand. In the nature, the plants in nature are exposed to variable temperatures and humidity. Outstanding questions are what the dynamic range of humidity inside the leaf change during the day are and how the plant responds to those changes. With time limitation, I did a humble experiment to estimate the humidity of leaves of sunflower and cotton exposed to high temperature. I found that temperature has strong effects on the change of stomatal resistance ad saturation level of water vapor inside the leaf. The result suggests that leaves exposed to high temperature was likely more sensitive to VPD.

Besides, I have received much constructive feedback for my thesis research. In addition, I exposed to many new concepts and learned many techniques that will be useful in the future. I learned how to measure the A-C_i curve and the estimation of cuticular resistance using the red-light method. I learned that gas exchange is powerful, non-invasive, and allows us to measure reversible response in many circumstances. However, it is important to understand the assumption and interpret the data carefully.

I thank ASPS for providing me financial support to pursue research activities in Canberra. I am deeply grateful to Dr. Graham Farquhar, Dr. Diego Marquez, and Dr. Chin Wong for their invaluable mentorship. I appreciate Dr. Nicole Pontarin, Dr. Hilary Stuart-Williams and everyone in the Farquhar group for their supports. I also thank Barry Pogson’s lab for providing space to grow Arabidopsis. I enjoyed having lunches, and a movie night with the lab members, and conversations with new friends through social events at the Research School of Biology, ANU.

Citation

[1] Wong, S. C., Canny, M. J., Holloway-Phillips, M., Stuart-Williams, H., Cernusak, L. A., Márquez, D. A., & Farquhar, G. D. (2022). Humidity gradients in the air spaces of leaves. Nature plants, 8(8), 971–978. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-022-01202-1

Fig. 1. Nattiwong is clamping the leaf of sunflower on to the leaf cuvette of System 1, lab-made gas exchange analyzer which allow the recording of the gas exchange of both abaxial and adaxial sides of a leaf simultaneously.

Fig. 2. Group photo with some members in Farquhar group, Dr. Chin Wong, Dr. Diego Marquez, Dr. Nicole Pontarin, Dr. Graham Farquhar and myself (from left to right).

Peter Goldacre report by Dr Maria Ermakova, Monash University.

I’d like to express my sincerest gratitude to ASPS for awarding me with the Peter Goldacre award. It is an honour to receive support and recognition from such a talented group of scientists.

Photosynthesis forms the basis of plant development and productivity. Understanding molecular mechanisms of this process to genetically re-design plants for more efficient carbon assimilation is the key to sustaining the required increases in crop yields in the face of climate change. I have been working on identifying and testing biotechnological approaches to improve photosynthesis which resulted in discovering genetic modifications that have a potential to increase crop yield. I found that C₄ photosynthesis, a special type of photosynthesis that many important crops like maize and sorghum have, is limited by a supply of ATP and NADPH from the electron transport reactions. I showed that increasing the rate of chloroplast electron transport improved CO₂assimilation rates and yield in model and crop C₄ species in controlled conditions. I have also been involved in the C₄ Rice project, an international consortium funded by the Gates Foundation to engineer C₄photosynthesis into a C₃ crop rice to benefit smallholder farmers. My work in the project resulted in creating a metabolic prototype of C₄ rice, a steppingstone towards the development of up to 50% higher yielding rice varieties with superior water use efficiency.

In my Plant Energy and Biotechnology Research group at Monash University, I look forward to continuing developing new approaches for creating more energy-efficient plants better suited for future climates and making a positive impact to Australian food and energy security.

Events

Please login and check your ASPS membership is up to date. Encourage your colleagues and students to join ASPS.Tweet to @asps_ozplants your news and upcoming events and follow to keep up to date.

Welcome to Phytogen for December 2022

Below are reports from some of our award recipients in 2022. Over the summer break we hope you can recharge and be inspired to submit applications for when awards open in January 2023.

There is also … a save the date for ASPS 2023!!!

Please add yourself to our conference mailing list and help us during the planning stages by filling out our ASPS2023 EOI form:  https://forms.gle/osUAvNEyn9jcwtw78

Please share widely with your colleagues and students.

Jan Anderson Award, Frances Sussmilch, University of Tasmania.

My research focusses on the similarities and differences that can be seen in the functions of related genes between diverse plant lineages. I began my research career investigating the genes that regulate flowering in garden pea (Pisum sativum) with Assoc. Prof. Jim Weller’s group at the University of Tasmania. My PhD research left me impressed by the impact that a single nucleotide change in a key gene can have on plant phenotype¹, and how useful in-depth knowledge of gene function in one model plant species can be as a starting point for understanding the roles of related genes in other species. As an early postdoc, I worked across three different research groups using molecular biology to address quite disparate research questions relating to i) the genetic control of flowering time and inflorescence architecture in legumes, ii) the evolution of genes controlling stomatal closure in land plants with Asst. Prof. Scott McAdam and Prof. Tim Brodribb, and iii) the diversity of orchid mycorrhizal fungi in Australia with Dr Nigel Swarts. This gave me the opportunity to make valuable contributions to projects that I wouldn’t have initially thought were within my wheelhouse through collaboration with experts in these different fields. Highlights included characterising the genes affected in mutants that had been studied for decades, allowing this wealth of accumulated knowledge to be drawn together to better understand how the affected genes normally function in plant growth and development, including a pea flowering time/photoperiod response mutant², a fern abscisic acid signalling/sex determination mutant³, and a pea auxin biosynthesis/leaf venation mutant⁴. Since then, I’ve enjoyed learning new techniques to investigate the evolutionary history of genes known to control angiosperm stomatal opening and closure and the functionality of related genes in diverse extant plant groups, including abscisic acid biosynthesis and signalling genes ^{e.g. 5-8}, and ion channels^{9, 10}. I have been fortunate to have been supported by funding from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and Australian Research Council DECRA and Discovery schemes, and collaborating as an Associate Investigator within the ARC Centre of Excellence for Plant Success in Nature and Agriculture, enabling me to study fascinating aspects of plant biology and work with some great researchers in the process. It is an incredible honour to be recognised by ASPS with the 2022 Jan Anderson Award, and exciting to think about what discoveries in plant science may yet be to come.

Jan Anderson Award Lecture at ComBio2022. Photo credit: Dr Akila Wijerathna-Yapa.

References

1. F. C. Sussmilch et al., Plant Cell 27, 1046-1060 (2015).
2. S. Ridge et al., Plant Cell 28, 2545-2559 (2016).
3. S. McAdam et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 113, 12862–12867 (2016).
4. S. A. M. McAdam et al., Plant Physiol. 175, 351-360 (2017).
5. S. A. M. McAdam, F. C. Sussmilch, T. J. Brodribb, Plant Cell Environ. 39, 485-491 (2016).
6. F. C. Sussmilch, T. J. Brodribb, S. A. M. McAdam, J. Exp. Bot. 68, 2913-2918 (2017).
7. F. C. Sussmilch et al., Trends Plant Sci. 24, 342-351 (2019).
8. F.-P. Zhang et al., J. Exp. Bot. 69, 1261–1267 (2018).
9. I. Dreyer et al., Trends Plant Sci. 26, 41-52 (2021).
10. F. C. Sussmilch, M. R. G. Roelfsema, R. Hedrich, New Phytol. 222, 84-90 (2019).

Hank Greenway Award for Education and Outreach: Adelaide University National Science week team: Megan Shelden, Georgia Koerber, Beth Loveys.

Our team was honoured to be awarded the Education and Outreach Award for our delivery of a successful Science Week event in 2021. We presented the award lecture in the Education Symposium stream of the conference; our presentation was titled: Plant Science: Safeguarding our Future Food Security.

Photos of our award talk.

There was a full day of Education focused conference presentations from educators in fields of biochemistry, molecular biology, plant science, cell biology and genetics. It was great to see the fantastic approaches that people were taking to improve tertiary science education for students. Some of the highlights of the Education sessions are described below.

Dr. Saw Hoon from the University of Melbourne described a ground-breaking student-led journal and conference she developed. The journal was inspired by the wonderful essays written by her students as part of the assessment in her course. The essays were so good Saw wanted to give them another life so she decided to create a student-led, peer reviewed journal, “Humans 2.0”. To launch the journal Saw and her students organised a conference to showcase the student work. The student presentations were mixed with those by staff. More can be seen at https://biomedicalsciences.unimelb.edu.au/study/humans2.0

Dr. Anna Galea from UNSW described a student ambassadors’ program which started in biochemistry but is now university wide. Students self-nominate in each course and provide periodic feedback to course coordinators. Students run surveys of their peers, a check in survey early in semester. They also write their own revision questions. https://www.teaching.unsw.edu.au/about-teaching/students-as-partners/student-focus-groups

Dr. James Tsatsaronis from LaTrobe University teaches large classes (approx. 200) of level 2 biochemistry. To manage the class with limited staff he established a program called “Near Peer Mentors”. The near peer mentors were students who had taken the class in the previous year and achieved excellent grades. They allocated 3 small teams of students (5-6) in tutorials where students were working through PBL activities. The near peer mentors supported the junior students, guiding them through the activities that they had themselves done the previous year.

As the students were working in teams part of the assessment was a self and peer evaluation undertaken at the end of each tutorial session. The self and peer evaluation was worth 50% of the tutorial marks. Team structure was not fixed, students were able to select new team members each week (avoiding the problem of students being absent).

There was a student panel discussion where students gave their thoughts and perspectives about online learning during the pandemic. It was very encouraging to see students thriving and prioritizing their mental health.

Student led panel discussion.

Plenary by Associate Professor Merlin Crosley.

It was fantastic to see an Education focused plenary in the ComBio program this year, Associate Professor Merlin Crosley (DVCA) from UNSW described the challenge of recognising excellence in teaching.

When student experience of learning and teaching at UNSW was analysed, it was apparent that teaching satisfaction scores were higher for Education Specialist staff than standard academics. Prompting the question why do students recognise and value excellence in teaching, but management do not? This observation led to the development of a teaching focused University College, called Scientia Education Academy. By a competitive process, academics were invited to apply for membership of Scientia Education Academy, 40 of the most outstanding educators were selected and celebrated. https://www.education.unsw.edu.au/teaching/scientia-education-academy

Happy Christmas everyone and have a restful New Year.

Please login and check your ASPS membership is up to date. Encourage your colleagues and students to join ASPS.Tweet to @asps_ozplants your news and upcoming events and follow to keep up to date.

Welcome to Phytogen for November 2022. Lots of Prizes and Grant Announcements ! Congratulations everyone and best wishes for those applying next time.

There are announcements for Superstars of STEM, click on the image below to read about the amazing recipients.

Australian Academy of Science held Science at the Shine Dome 2022 during November celebrating induction of Fellows and Honorific Awards for 2020, 2021 and 2022. There are plenty of plant people to celebrate along with all the other recipients in many amazing fields of science. Watch the videos below by clicking on play.

2022:

“All life is dependent on plants, and with the population increasing we had to work out ways to increase food production.” Dr Liz Dennis from CSIRO is working to ensure higher yields can continue beyond a hybrid seeds’ 1st generation, which could have a major impact on food supply.

2021:

Professor Susanne von Caemmerer from ANU. Research from leaf chloroplasts to global models of plant production aimed at enhancing photosynthetic rates in crop plants to increase their yield and adapt to climate change is now applied world-wide.

2020:

Professor Jane Langdale from Oxford University in the United Kingdom is elected a corresponding member.

The ARC has also announced funding, congratulations to all. Click on the links below for the media releases.

Discovery Projects 2023,

Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities 2023,

Centres of Excellence 2023,

Discovery Indigenous 2023,

Discovery Early Career Researcher Award 2023.

Here is an article from the ABC about years with rain and rare flowering of a rainforest tree in western Queensland.

All the best with our changeable climate, contending with hay fever, floods in the east, and extreme heat in the west .

Upcoming Events

Next week is the Future of Food Summit at QUT.

Planning has started for ASPS meeting in Tasmania in 2023 and well underway for IUBMB 2024 in Melbourne.

Our President Elect Professor Martha Ludwig would like to share an upcoming Special Issue in Plants:

Please login and check your ASPS membership is up to date. Encourage your colleagues and students to join ASPS.

Tweet to @asps_ozplants your news and upcoming events and follow to keep up to date.

Welcome to Phytogen for October 2022. Last month was ComBio2022 in Melbourne. Below are some reports by students who received travel awards. We will chase the rest of you up in 2023 or please send reports as you wish. ComBio2022 had many great talks and posters across many disciplines. There are also links below to opening and closing Plenary Talks to enjoy again.

Abi Ghifari, PhD Candidate, School of Molecular Sciences & ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, The University of Western Australia.

I was grateful to be awarded a travel grant by the Australian Society of Plant Scientists (ASPS) to attend and present my research at ComBio 2022 Conference in Melbourne. ComBio is a combined meeting of five leading Australia and New Zealand societies focusing on all aspects of genetics, plant science, biochemistry, molecular biology, and cell and developmental biology. ComBio 2022 was the first in-person ComBio meeting after the pandemic, which was delayed for two years due to COVID-19 related lockdowns and border closure. As a result, more than a thousand scientists were keen to present and discuss their latest studies face-to-face. I was delighted to present my poster that highlighted the latest results of my PhD project focusing on proteolytic regulation of plant mitochondrial respiratory components. I was so excited to discuss my studies to scientists across multiple disciplines. I was especially delighted to meet and talk with other researchers that work on similar aspects of mitochondria, but on different organisms such as yeast and mammals, including human cell system. I also learned a lot about different scientific approaches to particular problems, particularly in areas of biochemistry and molecular biology that I interested in, such as post-translational modifications, protein homeostasis regulation by ubiquitin-proteasome system, and roles of mitochondria in health and diseases. Overall, I really enjoyed the experience of attending and presenting in such a massive and diverse conference. I encourage future and present graduate students working in all aspects of plant science to join ASPS, which is such as welcoming community for its members.

Linh B. Ton, PhD Candidate, Crop Genomics Group, School of Biological Science, The University of Western Australia.

It was my first time attending ComBio2022 thanks to the Travel Grant offered by ASPS and support from my supervisors. ComBio2022 in Melbourne was the first big conference I attended after the pandemic, and I had the privilege of presenting findings from my PhD on designing CRISPR/CasRx system targeting Turnip mosaic virus infecting canola (Brassica napus). It was a far more amazing and friendly environment than I imagined. My first impression is how it was professionally organised, and I had no difficulty in registering for attendance and accommodation booking near the conference venue.

The plenary talks were excellent in providing an overview on the achievements and the on-going studies, motivation and navigation for researchers at different levels of career development. Symposium presentations on cell biology and signalling were also so amazing they expanded my knowledge on the diverse applications of biological and molecular tools in exploring cellular networks. I was very impressed by the research journey leading to the success of the C4 Rice project by Dr Maria Ermakova and other talks about strategies to improve plant productivity. Poster sessions were my chance to catch up with other topics and discussions.

ComBio2022 offered me a great time learning new knowledge beyond my expertise and provided me with the opportunity to come up with new ideas for my PhD project. It also gave me the chance to expand my professional networks, not only within the research community but also extending to scientific services and businesses, where I could find solutions for my experiments.

Hanh Minh Vo, PhD Candidate, Biological Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, University of Tasmania.

ComBio2022 was a fantastic opportunity for a young researcher like myself to present my current project on understanding how plants can rapidly response to dehydration. As the climate gets drier, it is crucial for us to understand what controls stress responses in plants, so we can improve plant tolerance in preparation for the near future.

I used my talk as a conversation starter to tell people about my current experiments and get feedback thereafter. I also talked to new people from various backgrounds on their own projects, both to satisfy my curiosity, and to gather possible ideas for my own research. For example, the work done by Dr. Lim Chee Liew using single-cell RNAseq and the conversation with her gave me some ideas about for my project. Even the opportunity to explore outside of my scope into human and animal research, was amazing. It gave me glimpses into what we have achieved and what I might be able to apply to plant research. Everyone was professional yet friendly and approachable, which is encouraging for new researchers to strike up a conversation.

I would like to thank the ASPS for the student travel grant that allowed me to join such a vibrant face-to-face gathering community. I would also like to specifically thank my supervisors Dr. Frances Sussmilch, Prof. Timothy Brodribb and Prof. Michael Charleston for their support throughout my PhD.

Lots of great tweets at @asps_ozplants

Our President Elect Professor Martha Ludwig would like to share an upcoming Special Issue in Plants:

Wishing students, researchers and teachers all the best for studying and preparations as the year is ending. Some of the plants in this article may help with motivation.

Please login and check your ASPS membership is up to date. Encourage your colleagues and students to join ASPS.

Tweet to @asps_ozplants your news and upcoming events and follow to keep up to date.

Welcome to Phytogen for August 2022. It is getting closer now to ComBio2022 in Melbourne next month. Below are several wonderful reports from ASPS2021 to inspire your talk and poster preparations for ComBio2022. Also remember to book tickets for our dinner:

Dear ASPS members,

ASPS will hold a dinner for Society members during ComBio 2022 following our AGM on Thursday 29th September.

This will be a two-course dinner including some drinks at Melbourne Public in the Docklands a short walk from the Conference venue.

The ticket prices for members are subsidised by the Society:

Students members for $30

Other members for $60

Additional tickets can be purchased for $90

Tickets are limited, so don’t delay. Book today HERE.

Please indicate any dietary requirements when booking your ticket.

Here is Simon Williams, one of the organisers of ASPS 2021, ANU.

“It was fantastic that, after such a long hiatus, we could organise a meeting that incorporated local face-to-face interaction with a national vibe, via the virtual awards session presentation. A sense of comradery was formed (and welcomed) working across states and territories with motivated, hardworking plant science-ASPS colleagues. The Hybrid-ASPS meeting was a great event for our society, providing an opportunity, particularly for EMCRs, to showcase their important plant science research.”

Aaron Phillips, University of Adelaide.

I started my PhD under Professor Rachel Burton in 2019 at the University of Adelaide. Soon after, as the world came screeching to a halt due to the pandemic, there were many uncertainties. Chief amongst them was not knowing when the academic world would resume face-to-face conferences. It seemed like we had to bear the burden of a mostly digital existence for a lifetime. But then an exciting email arrived, letting us know about ASPS2021 – an in-person conference, with nodes operating in all major cities around the country! What a fantastic opportunity this would be for the students of the pandemic to spread the word of their research and finally get some networking under our belts. And we were not disappointed!

ASPS2021 was the first conference I was able to attend during my candidature. This two-day conference really had it all – from understanding sub-cellular processes involved in osmotic stress, to the challenges surrounding growing plants in space, to learning how to be more effective plant science teachers. As this was my first conference, one of the biggest highlights was being able to present and discuss some of my research from the preceding two years. I had the opportunity to present a poster and talk about my work on wild rice (Oryza australiensis) abiotic stress tolerance and genome sequencing. I was incredibly nervous, but I’m so glad to have had this opportunity as I met and had interesting discussions with some wonderful people from other institutions who were able to shed new light on my findings. I value the connections made at ASPS2021 highly and look forward to the next face-to-face event immensely!

Pieter-Willem Hendriks, Charles Sturt University.

How good was it to finally meet people in person again? After two years of Covid19 forced online conferences. The ASPS2021 meeting was my first opportunity to listen in person to other scientists’ presentations and give a presentation on my PhD research. The introduction by president Peter Ryan was genuinely inspiring. He was questioning why plant science may seem to be ignored while it will be so crucial in the next few decades to answer critical questions such as food security for an increased world population combined with climate change challenges.

Besides the possibility of networking with local scientists, it was also an excellent opportunity to present the work from my thesis. It was a highlight to have dinner with senior scientists and receive their constructive observations and questions. This will have helped me set up my thesis’s last year and made me think about how to construct my final discussion.

I enjoyed the scope of the research presented in the morning by fellow researchers. The breadth of presentations went from subcellular structures such as aquaporins all the way to broad field breeding. It was great to see the work and passion of fellow early career and PhD students. I particularly enjoyed the reward talk for the Education and Outreach reward from Dr Kim Johnson and Dr Monika Doblin. Their way of bringing science to young students was inspiring.

Fiona Kang, PhD candidate, School of Biosciences, The University of Melbourne.

Having the opportunity to speak at the ASPS 2022 Victorian node meeting was experiencing the best of both worlds.

I had the comfort and flexibility of attending an Australia-wide conference at my doorstep, the opportunity to network with the local plant research groups in-person and to tune-in to the major advancements in the field of plant science happening all-across Australia. It would’ve been a technologically mammoth effort pulled by the organisers but as an attendee it was such a rewarding experience after a difficult and isolating pandemic. I had the pleasure of presenting my research, followed up by an invigorating, fruitful discussion that has had an overwhelmingly positive impact on my research. As a co-chair of the student session, I also had so much fun connecting with my fellow graduate students from different universities. We not only spoke about our research but shared stories of our dilemmas and accomplishments to be reminded that we are sharing the graduate study experience together. The ASPS2022 meeting certainly reaccelerated my motivation and passion for research and I look forward to their next conference.

To those of you who has made it this far and is wondering what I do for research, I study plant cell wall biosynthesis in a basal land plant, Marchantia polymorpha. My end goal is to modulate the cell wall sugar composition to better equip plants to tolerate the conditions that is becoming exceedingly unpredictable due to climate change.

Willem Joubert, University of Adelaide.

I attended Phytogen in Adelaide 2021 during my final year of completing a Bachelor of Viticulture & Oenology and was lucky enough to present the work undertaken in my honours project in poster form.

Attending the conference allowed me to connect with others in the plant science community, as well as provided me with insight into research being conducted to address issues in industries other than the wine industry.

It was a real privilege to present results from my honours project in poster format, along with a short presentation addressing conference attendees. The experience allowed me to build confidence in communicating the results of my work and the response of other attendees taking an interest in my work was quite uplifting.

I would strongly urge any student to take part in ASPS events if provided with the opportunity. It is a fantastic opportunity get a broader perspective on current and future research being conducted in the field of plant science. Not to mention the great networking opportunities and spectacular food provided by the ASPS!

Lina Herliana, University of Adelaide.

Attending ASPS 2021 (Australian Society of Plant Scientists) was a rewarding and memorable experience. I am Lina Herliana, an international student from Burton Lab at the University of Adelaide. I have studied the molecular mechanism underlying Plantago ovata (psyllium) seed and fruit development since mid-July 2018 under the supervision of Prof Rachel Burton, Dr Tina Bianco-Miotto and Dr Nathan Watson-Haigh. I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to the University of Adelaide for sponsoring me with a generous scholarship and Prof Rachel Burton for supporting all my PhD projects, including attending this meeting. ASPS conference in 2021 was unique because it was a hybrid conference. Each state has in-person presentations on the same days, including Adelaide, on 25-26th November at National Wine Centre. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic restriction, we could not gather in one place as the previous year. However, I was still delighted because I had a chance to attend a face-to-face meeting in Adelaide during my final PhD year before returning to Indonesia. In total, there were 16 speakers and ten posters. Listening, learning, and talking about plant science was a thrilling experience. I was honoured that I had been selected to deliver a presentation. My talk was “De novo Genome Assembly and Annotation of Plantago ovata”. I explained the process of generating a reference genome and how we can use it to accelerate the P. ovata breeding program. This work was a foundation for studying the molecular mechanism behind mucilage production and shattering mechanisms.

Joanah Midzi, University of Adelaide.

As a PhD candidate, supervised by Dr Vinay Pagay at the University of Adelaide, I had the privilege of attending the ASPS 2021 meeting. I was excited to have been selected to present a poster on my research study entitled: ‘Drought stress-induced inter-vine signalling via plant volatiles’. The main focus of my study is on the role of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as chemical signal molecules facilitating plant communication in grapevine. Understanding the mechanisms involved in VOCmediated interactions and identifying the specific VOCs responsible for defence priming could underpin sustainable and eco-friendly plant-protection strategies against both biotic and abiotic stressors in agriculture. The opportunity to interact with other post-graduate students interested in plant communication, as well as networking with seasoned researchers in the field, made the symposium the ideal platform for scientific exchange, which I believe is very important for early-career researchers as myself. The highlight of the day for me at the conference was that I was able to showcase may research and receive great feedback from eminent scientists who had the chance to view my poster. I would like to extend my gratitude to the ASPS committee for the opportunity to attend the ASPS meeting and I look forward to attend similar conferences before completing my PhD studies. As an ASPS student member, I have been fortunate to be awarded an ASPS post-graduate travel grant to attend yet another exciting academic forum, ComBio 2022 (Melbourne), where I will once again present my results on a poster.

Zane Marks, Honours Student, University of Adelaide.

My name is Zane Marks and in 2021 I took part in the ASPS conference as an honour’s student, preparing both a poster and short talk. This being my first time presenting in a professional capacity, there was a lot of research into what information I needed to present and what to say. I presented my research on the effect of seed priming on hemp and barley germination. As I was near the end of honours this provided a good opportunity to get to know fellow researchers as well as find out what options were available to me post-graduation. There were some incredible insights from the GDRC about the acquisitions of scholarship. There were some very refreshing and realistic insights from university scholars into the future of both industry and academia. The presentations themselves were incredibly impressive ranging from AI developed recognition of organelles within a cell to the nutritional content of Plantago. As my poster went up there was no shortage of people curious about my work and my understanding of the significance of my results. This also gave me good insight into possible avenues for investigation as well as just general ideas both careerwise and how to handle myself in a professional setting. Overall the conference was a valuable insight into the future of research and what career paths are available to young scientists.

Lauren Philp-Dutton, Flinders University of South Australia.

Last year I attended the ASPS conference at the National Wine Centre in Adelaide where I got the opportunity to present some of my research in the form of a poster. My PhD has focussed on mitochondrial alternative pathway and the role it plays in abiotic stress tolerance in bread wheat. It was great to be able to share some of my findings with other plant scientists and thank you to the APPF and ASPS for awarding me the best student poster! I also got the chance to co-chair one of the sessions which was something I had never done before and pushed me out of my comfort zone, but it turned out to be quite enjoyable as well as a great learning experience.

The conference was an excellent opportunity to talk and network with other researchers interested in plant science. I really enjoyed listening to the talks and looking at the different poster presentations on such a wide range of plant research. It’s amazing to see how broad of a field plant science really is. I also particularly enjoyed the EMCR plant science forum, its always so interesting to hear about how other scientists started and progressed in their research career, and the different pathways they have taken.

The ASPS did a fantastic job of hosting the conference during such a difficult time. If you can, I highly recommend attending the next ASPS conference next year in Tasmania!

Vanessa Tonet, PhD candidate, Discipline of Biological Sciences, University of Tasmania.

 ASPS21 was the first conference I was allowed to attend in real person and I had the great opportunity to share some exciting results with other plant scientists in Hobart, Tasmania. I gave an oral talk that initiated a very stimulating conversation around leaf water transport system. As the environment is getting dried and drier, plants need to face more intense and more frequent drought events that impact their fitness and survival. We are now assisting to unprecedented rates of tree mortality. Understand how water moves through leaves and how they respond to dehydration is the major goal of my research.

This conference was a great opportunity to refine my skills as an oral presenter, and I’m glad the environment was friendly even if professional. At ASPS21, I was able to meet many scientists with different backgrounds but that can collaborate to bring together exciting discoveries, unravelling the fantastic world of plants.

Sam Henderson, Postdoctoral Researcher, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide.

The 2021 ASPS meeting was held at the National Wine Centre in Adelaide in November. This was the first time in two years that I attended a face-to-face conference due to the pandemic. It was good seeing many familiar faces in person and meeting several plant scientists who have moved to Adelaide recently.

I was fortunate to be selected to present unpublished research on the plant electroneutral cation-chloride cotransporters, which I first began studying at the University of Adelaide in 2010. Thanks to the ASPS and the local organising committee for their support and for giving me an opportunity to share my work.

Some highlights of the meeting included a great talk by Sunita Ramesh on the mechanisms of anion and GABA flux through the wheat ALMT1 protein, which is important for abiotic stress tolerance. Sunita has pioneered the rapidly expanding field of plant GABA research as it relates to ion channel function. Another interesting presentation was given by Jiaen Qiu, describing how water and ion conductivity of the aquaporin PIP2;1 is regulated, including the potential involvement of intracellular loop D. This would represent remarkable conservation between plants and animals, as the analogous loop D in human aquaporin-1 also regulates its activity.

The local organising committee, led by Megan Shelden, did a wonderful job delivering a high quality, professional symposium. I was pleased to re-join the Australian plant science community and was impressed by the kindness and inclusivity of our ASPS members.

 See you in Melbourne soon …..    https://www.combio.org.au/combio2022/

#ComBio2022 The Programme Timetable, Plenary and Symposium Schedule’s are looking great.

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