If you have news you would like us to share on our website, please contact lisa@globalplantcouncil.org 

From Journal of Experimental Botany: Marvellous Little Pulses
The latest special issue from Journal of Experimental Botany focuses scientific attention on pulse crops. A key part of many food cultures, pulses really are ‘little marvels’.

Open-source mungbean genetic database
Scientists and mungbean growers around the world now have access to an open-source website containing the latest genetic information on the qualities of 560 accessions of mungbean.

The evolutionary story of the Birch tree told through 80 genomes
A new study illuminates the evolutionary history of birch, a tree that has not been studied much by scientists despite its commercial value.

More genes turned on when plants compete
The lessons of plant diversity and competition learned from a clover patch can potentially unlock secrets on plant interactions around the globe.

Study finds large chromosomal swaps key to banana domestication
Using a variety of sequencing and bioinformatics tools, chromosomal imaging and PCR technology, scientists have, for the first time, identified a large chromosomal swap in the genome of the Cavendish banana, which prevents the proper reshuffling of its DNA in its progeny.

If you have a conference, meeting, workshop, training course or other event coming up, we can include it in our Events calendar! Please email lisa@globalplantcouncil.org

Plant Biology Scandinavia 2017
16–18 August 2017. Naantali, Finland. 

4th International Symposium on Genomics of Plant Genetic Resources
03–07 September 2017. Giessen, Germany. 

CSIRO workshop: Gene Editing of Crops
28–30 November 2017. Kiama, NSW, Australia

Don’t forget: if you are a member of one of our Member Organizations (see below) you can use the discount code GC237648 to get 20% off anyTransmitting Science training course!

Lots of new reports, and an archive of useful documents from the last few years, are available on our website. Head to the Resources page and click ‘Reports’.

Myanmar’s extensive forests are declining rapidly due to political and environmental change
The loss of intact forest cover in Myanmar has accelerated over the last decade, according to new a study.

Antarctic has seen widespread change in last 50 years, moss study reveals
Researchers confirm that the unprecedented ecological change found in mosses and microbes at the southern end of the Antarctic Peninsula in 2013 are widespread.

Spotted a funding opportunity we’ve missed? Please tell us about it by emailing lisa@globalplantcouncil.org

• Newton Fund Institutional Link grants
• Royal Society International Exchanges scheme
• US–Ireland Research and Development Partnership Call in Agriculture 2017
• VILLUM Young Investigators Programme
• Travel scholarships to attend 4th International Symposium on Genomics of Plant Genetic Resources

Would you like to contribute an article to the GPC’s blog? Please get in touch! Email lisa@globalplantcouncil.org

Student-driven plant breeding symposium addresses global challenges in the 21st century
Francisco Gomez and Ammani Kyanam, graduate students in the Soil and Crop Science Department at Texas A&M University, USA, tells us about the recent Plant Breeding Symposium, a successful meeting run entirely by students at the University.

Water is key to ending Africa’s chronic hunger cycle
In this SciDev.net repost, Esther Ngumbi discusses how governments must invest in sustainable water supplies for Africa to end chronic hunger.

Striga hermonthica – a beautiful but devastating plant
University of Sheffield (UK) student Caroline Wood tells us all about Striga, and her PhD quest to to identify the key defense pathways that determine host resistance to this pretty, but parasitic plant.

The Global Plant Council visits the Australian Plant Phenomics Facility
This month, the GPC’s Executive Director Ruth Bastow visited the Australian Plant Phenomics Facility (APPF) in Adelaide. This blog post was reproduced with the kind permission of the APPF. 

Click here for details of the GPC Member Societies and Affiliates and their representatives. 

Please contact us (info@globalplantcouncil.org) to find out how your organization can join the Global Plant Council. 

If you have news you would like us to share on our website, please contact lisa@globalplantcouncil.org 

From Journal of Experimental Botany: Marvellous Little Pulses
The latest special issue from Journal of Experimental Botany focuses scientific attention on pulse crops. A key part of many food cultures, pulses really are ‘little marvels’.

Open-source mungbean genetic database
Scientists and mungbean growers around the world now have access to an open-source website containing the latest genetic information on the qualities of 560 accessions of mungbean.

The evolutionary story of the Birch tree told through 80 genomes
A new study illuminates the evolutionary history of birch, a tree that has not been studied much by scientists despite its commercial value.

More genes turned on when plants compete
The lessons of plant diversity and competition learned from a clover patch can potentially unlock secrets on plant interactions around the globe.

Study finds large chromosomal swaps key to banana domestication
Using a variety of sequencing and bioinformatics tools, chromosomal imaging and PCR technology, scientists have, for the first time, identified a large chromosomal swap in the genome of the Cavendish banana, which prevents the proper reshuffling of its DNA in its progeny.

If you have a conference, meeting, workshop, training course or other event coming up, we can include it in our Events calendar! Please email lisa@globalplantcouncil.org

Plant Biology Scandinavia 2017
16–18 August 2017. Naantali, Finland. 

4th International Symposium on Genomics of Plant Genetic Resources
03–07 September 2017. Giessen, Germany. 

CSIRO workshop: Gene Editing of Crops
28–30 November 2017. Kiama, NSW, Australia

Don’t forget: if you are a member of one of our Member Organizations (see below) you can use the discount code GC237648 to get 20% off anyTransmitting Science training course!

Lots of new reports, and an archive of useful documents from the last few years, are available on our website. Head to the Resources page and click ‘Reports’.

Myanmar’s extensive forests are declining rapidly due to political and environmental change
The loss of intact forest cover in Myanmar has accelerated over the last decade, according to new a study.

Antarctic has seen widespread change in last 50 years, moss study reveals
Researchers confirm that the unprecedented ecological change found in mosses and microbes at the southern end of the Antarctic Peninsula in 2013 are widespread.

Spotted a funding opportunity we’ve missed? Please tell us about it by emailing lisa@globalplantcouncil.org

• Newton Fund Institutional Link grants
• Royal Society International Exchanges scheme
• US–Ireland Research and Development Partnership Call in Agriculture 2017
• VILLUM Young Investigators Programme
• Travel scholarships to attend 4th International Symposium on Genomics of Plant Genetic Resources

Would you like to contribute an article to the GPC’s blog? Please get in touch! Email lisa@globalplantcouncil.org

Student-driven plant breeding symposium addresses global challenges in the 21st century
Francisco Gomez and Ammani Kyanam, graduate students in the Soil and Crop Science Department at Texas A&M University, USA, tells us about the recent Plant Breeding Symposium, a successful meeting run entirely by students at the University.

Water is key to ending Africa’s chronic hunger cycle
In this SciDev.net repost, Esther Ngumbi discusses how governments must invest in sustainable water supplies for Africa to end chronic hunger.

Striga hermonthica – a beautiful but devastating plant
University of Sheffield (UK) student Caroline Wood tells us all about Striga, and her PhD quest to to identify the key defense pathways that determine host resistance to this pretty, but parasitic plant.

The Global Plant Council visits the Australian Plant Phenomics Facility
This month, the GPC’s Executive Director Ruth Bastow visited the Australian Plant Phenomics Facility (APPF) in Adelaide. This blog post was reproduced with the kind permission of the APPF. 

Click here for details of the GPC Member Societies and Affiliates and their representatives. 

Please contact us (info@globalplantcouncil.org) to find out how your organization can join the Global Plant Council. 

If you have news you would like us to share on our website, please contact lisa@globalplantcouncil.org 

From Journal of Experimental Botany: Marvellous Little Pulses
The latest special issue from Journal of Experimental Botany focuses scientific attention on pulse crops. A key part of many food cultures, pulses really are ‘little marvels’.

Open-source mungbean genetic database
Scientists and mungbean growers around the world now have access to an open-source website containing the latest genetic information on the qualities of 560 accessions of mungbean.

The evolutionary story of the Birch tree told through 80 genomes
A new study illuminates the evolutionary history of birch, a tree that has not been studied much by scientists despite its commercial value.

More genes turned on when plants compete
The lessons of plant diversity and competition learned from a clover patch can potentially unlock secrets on plant interactions around the globe.

Study finds large chromosomal swaps key to banana domestication
Using a variety of sequencing and bioinformatics tools, chromosomal imaging and PCR technology, scientists have, for the first time, identified a large chromosomal swap in the genome of the Cavendish banana, which prevents the proper reshuffling of its DNA in its progeny.

If you have a conference, meeting, workshop, training course or other event coming up, we can include it in our Events calendar! Please email lisa@globalplantcouncil.org

Plant Biology Scandinavia 2017
16–18 August 2017. Naantali, Finland. 

4th International Symposium on Genomics of Plant Genetic Resources
03–07 September 2017. Giessen, Germany. 

CSIRO workshop: Gene Editing of Crops
28–30 November 2017. Kiama, NSW, Australia

Don’t forget: if you are a member of one of our Member Organizations (see below) you can use the discount code GC237648 to get 20% off anyTransmitting Science training course!

Lots of new reports, and an archive of useful documents from the last few years, are available on our website. Head to the Resources page and click ‘Reports’.

Myanmar’s extensive forests are declining rapidly due to political and environmental change
The loss of intact forest cover in Myanmar has accelerated over the last decade, according to new a study.

Antarctic has seen widespread change in last 50 years, moss study reveals
Researchers confirm that the unprecedented ecological change found in mosses and microbes at the southern end of the Antarctic Peninsula in 2013 are widespread.

Spotted a funding opportunity we’ve missed? Please tell us about it by emailing lisa@globalplantcouncil.org

• Newton Fund Institutional Link grants
• Royal Society International Exchanges scheme
• US–Ireland Research and Development Partnership Call in Agriculture 2017
• VILLUM Young Investigators Programme
• Travel scholarships to attend 4th International Symposium on Genomics of Plant Genetic Resources

Would you like to contribute an article to the GPC’s blog? Please get in touch! Email lisa@globalplantcouncil.org

Student-driven plant breeding symposium addresses global challenges in the 21st century
Francisco Gomez and Ammani Kyanam, graduate students in the Soil and Crop Science Department at Texas A&M University, USA, tells us about the recent Plant Breeding Symposium, a successful meeting run entirely by students at the University.

Water is key to ending Africa’s chronic hunger cycle
In this SciDev.net repost, Esther Ngumbi discusses how governments must invest in sustainable water supplies for Africa to end chronic hunger.

Striga hermonthica – a beautiful but devastating plant
University of Sheffield (UK) student Caroline Wood tells us all about Striga, and her PhD quest to to identify the key defense pathways that determine host resistance to this pretty, but parasitic plant.

The Global Plant Council visits the Australian Plant Phenomics Facility
This month, the GPC’s Executive Director Ruth Bastow visited the Australian Plant Phenomics Facility (APPF) in Adelaide. This blog post was reproduced with the kind permission of the APPF. 

Click here for details of the GPC Member Societies and Affiliates and their representatives. 

Please contact us (info@globalplantcouncil.org) to find out how your organization can join the Global Plant Council. 

If you have news you would like us to share on our website, please contact lisa@globalplantcouncil.org 

From Journal of Experimental Botany: Marvellous Little Pulses
The latest special issue from Journal of Experimental Botany focuses scientific attention on pulse crops. A key part of many food cultures, pulses really are ‘little marvels’.

Open-source mungbean genetic database
Scientists and mungbean growers around the world now have access to an open-source website containing the latest genetic information on the qualities of 560 accessions of mungbean.

The evolutionary story of the Birch tree told through 80 genomes
A new study illuminates the evolutionary history of birch, a tree that has not been studied much by scientists despite its commercial value.

More genes turned on when plants compete
The lessons of plant diversity and competition learned from a clover patch can potentially unlock secrets on plant interactions around the globe.

Study finds large chromosomal swaps key to banana domestication
Using a variety of sequencing and bioinformatics tools, chromosomal imaging and PCR technology, scientists have, for the first time, identified a large chromosomal swap in the genome of the Cavendish banana, which prevents the proper reshuffling of its DNA in its progeny.

If you have a conference, meeting, workshop, training course or other event coming up, we can include it in our Events calendar! Please email lisa@globalplantcouncil.org

Plant Biology Scandinavia 2017
16–18 August 2017. Naantali, Finland. 

4th International Symposium on Genomics of Plant Genetic Resources
03–07 September 2017. Giessen, Germany. 

CSIRO workshop: Gene Editing of Crops
28–30 November 2017. Kiama, NSW, Australia

Don’t forget: if you are a member of one of our Member Organizations (see below) you can use the discount code GC237648 to get 20% off anyTransmitting Science training course!

Lots of new reports, and an archive of useful documents from the last few years, are available on our website. Head to the Resources page and click ‘Reports’.

Myanmar’s extensive forests are declining rapidly due to political and environmental change
The loss of intact forest cover in Myanmar has accelerated over the last decade, according to new a study.

Antarctic has seen widespread change in last 50 years, moss study reveals
Researchers confirm that the unprecedented ecological change found in mosses and microbes at the southern end of the Antarctic Peninsula in 2013 are widespread.

Spotted a funding opportunity we’ve missed? Please tell us about it by emailing lisa@globalplantcouncil.org

• Newton Fund Institutional Link grants
• Royal Society International Exchanges scheme
• US–Ireland Research and Development Partnership Call in Agriculture 2017
• VILLUM Young Investigators Programme
• Travel scholarships to attend 4th International Symposium on Genomics of Plant Genetic Resources

Would you like to contribute an article to the GPC’s blog? Please get in touch! Email lisa@globalplantcouncil.org

Student-driven plant breeding symposium addresses global challenges in the 21st century
Francisco Gomez and Ammani Kyanam, graduate students in the Soil and Crop Science Department at Texas A&M University, USA, tells us about the recent Plant Breeding Symposium, a successful meeting run entirely by students at the University.

Water is key to ending Africa’s chronic hunger cycle
In this SciDev.net repost, Esther Ngumbi discusses how governments must invest in sustainable water supplies for Africa to end chronic hunger.

Striga hermonthica – a beautiful but devastating plant
University of Sheffield (UK) student Caroline Wood tells us all about Striga, and her PhD quest to to identify the key defense pathways that determine host resistance to this pretty, but parasitic plant.

The Global Plant Council visits the Australian Plant Phenomics Facility
This month, the GPC’s Executive Director Ruth Bastow visited the Australian Plant Phenomics Facility (APPF) in Adelaide. This blog post was reproduced with the kind permission of the APPF. 

Click here for details of the GPC Member Societies and Affiliates and their representatives. 

Please contact us (info@globalplantcouncil.org) to find out how your organization can join the Global Plant Council. 

If you have news you would like us to share on our website, please contact lisa@globalplantcouncil.org 

In New Phytologist: Feeding fat to fungi: evidence for lipid transfer in arbuscular mycorrhiza
Scientists have produced the first experimental evidence to suggest that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi get their lipids, as well as sugars, from the host plant.

From Elsevier: Free access to all Flora articles
To celebrate 200 years of Flora, Elsevier is providing free, open access to all articles from this journal until March 2020. What fascinating gems from the past will you discover?

From Journal of Experimental Botany: Scent, flowers, all that JAZ
Check out the latest Special Issue from J Exp Bot, which celebrates 10 years of research on JAZ proteins.

Wiley, ASPB and SEB partnering on new open access journal Plant Direct
Two of the Global Plant Council’s Member Organizations, the American Society of Plant Biologists, and the Society for Experimental Biology, have launched a new open access journal in collaboration with Wiley. 

Barley genome sequenced
Research published in Nature reveals the complete sequence for the barley genome.

If you have a conference, meeting, workshop, training course or other event coming up, we can include it in our Events calendar! Please email lisa@globalplantcouncil.org

International Conference on Arabidopsis Research
19–23 June 2017. St. Louis, Missouri, USA. 

Plant Biology 2017
24–28 June 2017. Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. 

Society for Experimental Biology Annual Main Meeting
03–06 July 2017. Gothenburg, Sweden

GPC/SEB workshop: New Breeding Technologies in the Plant Sciences
07–08 July 2017. Gothenburg, Sweden

Lots of new reports, and an archive of useful documents from the last few years, are available on our website. Head to the Resources page and click ‘Reports’.

Nearly 2 billion people depend on imported food
Finnish researchers have been able to show a broad connection between resource scarcity, population pressure, and food imports, in a study published in Earth’s Future.

Weather extremes and trade policies were main drivers of wheat price peaks
USDA research finds that price peaks of wheat on the world market are mainly caused by production shocks, such as those induced by droughts. Protective trade policies exacerbate these shocks.

Spotted a funding opportunity we’ve missed? Please tell us about it by emailing lisa@globalplantcouncil.org

• Leverhulme Trust Visiting Professorships (UK researchers and international partners)
• Nuffield Foundation Flowers Fellowship (UK PhD students)
• Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation (RIRDC) Non-Executive Director positions (Australia)
• Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) Global Scholars program (researchers of any nationality within 5 years of PhD)

Would you like to contribute an article to the GPC’s blog? Please get in touch! Email lisa@globalplantcouncil.org

Roots of a second Green Revolution
We spoke to Professor Jonathan Lynch from Penn State University (USA) about his research on root traits, and how this has deepened our understanding of the way in which plants adapt to drought and low soil fertility.

Healthy soil is the real key to feeding the world
In this report from The Conversation, Professor David Montgomery (University of Washington, USA), explores how regenerative farming practices can increase agricultural productivity and sustainability, even on small scales. 

How diverse is your food?
Dr Colin Khoury, food biodiversity scientist at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Colombia, has launched the Changing Global Diet website, where you can interactively explore how and why human diets have changed over time in 152 countries.  

Calling all botanists! Share your science with Botany.Live!
Find out how you can get involved with this virtual, online live-streaming event for Fascination of Plants Day 2017 (18th May). 

Click here for details of the GPC Member Societies and Affiliates and their representatives. 

Please contact us (info@globalplantcouncil.org) to find out how your organization can join the Global Plant Council. 

If you have news you would like us to share on our website, please contact lisa@globalplantcouncil.org 

In New Phytologist: FRED database gathers root traits to advance understanding of below-ground plant ecology
The Fine-Root Ecology Database (FRED) is a new global, centralized database of plant root traits that can advance our understanding of how the hidden structure of plants belowground may interact with and relate to life aboveground.

In Nature Plants: How plants can tell friend from foe
Japanese scientists says the plant’s immune system can recognize whether a piece of RNA is an invader or not based on whether the RNA has a threaded bead-like structure at the end.

In Journal of Experimental Botany: To branch or not to branch?
A new Insight article from JXBot explores how plants use shade, abscisic acid and auxin to decide whether or not to form branches.

Current Plant Biology and Current Opinion in Plant Biology supporting journals for Plant Genome Evolution 2017
GPC sponsor Current Plant Biology and its sister journals are supporting the forthcoming Plant Genome Evolution meeting in Spain during October 2017.

If you have a conference, meeting, workshop, training course or other event coming up, we can include it in our Events calendar! Please email lisa@globalplantcouncil.org

State of the World’s Plants Symposium
25–26 May 2017, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK. 
**GPC/SEB travel bursary now available! Click here for details!**

ASPB Plant Biology 2017
24–28 June 2017, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

GPC/SEB workshop: New Breeding Technologies in the Plant Sciences
07–08 July 2017, Gothenburg, Sweden. 

Lots of new reports, and an archive of useful documents from the last few years, are available on our website. Head to the Resources page and click ‘Reports’.

New EASAC report on genome editing
A new report by the European Academies’ Science Advisory Council on genome editing gives advice to European policy-makers on groundbreaking research involving genome editing and plants, animals, microbes and patients.

Spotted a funding opportunity we’ve missed? Please tell us about it by emailing lisa@globalplantcouncil.org

• Addressing misleading information about scientific or medical issues.
• Bringing sound evidence to bear in a public or policy debate.
• Helping people to make sense of a complex scientific issue.

Click here for more information and to nominate. Deadline 31st July 2017.

Early career researcher travel bursary to attend State of the World’s Plants Symposium
The SEB has kindly agreed to sponsor one early career researcher to travel to London, UK, to attend the State of the World’s Plants Symposium (25–26 May 2017) on behalf of the Global Plant Council. To apply, you should be a PhD student or within 5 years of your PhD, a member of the SEB (or willing to become one, if selected). Click here for more information.

Would you like to contribute an article to the GPC’s blog? Please get in touch! Email lisa@globalplantcouncil.org

Lentils under the lens: Improving genetic diversity for sustainable food security
Crystal Chan explains the Application of Genomic Innovation in the Lentil Economy project at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada.

How to publish your work in New Phytologist
In two short videos, New Phytologist Editor-in-Chief Prof Alistair Hetherington provides a step by step guide for early career researchers.

Synthetic biology in chloroplasts
Dr Anil Day, a synthetic biologist at the University of Manchester (UK) has developed an impressive array of tools and techniques to transform chloroplast genomes.

Plants in Action! Developing a free expert-written plant science textbook
If only there was an online, open access textbook to help teach undergraduates all about plant science… Oh wait, thanks to the plant science societies in Australia and New Zealand, there is!

Click here for details of the GPC Member Societies and Affiliates and their representatives. 

Please contact Ruth Bastow (ruth@globalplantcouncil.org) to find out how your organization can join the Global Plant Council. 

If you have news you would like us to share on our website, please contact lisa@globalplantcouncil.org 

In New Phytologist: FRED database gathers root traits to advance understanding of below-ground plant ecology
The Fine-Root Ecology Database (FRED) is a new global, centralized database of plant root traits that can advance our understanding of how the hidden structure of plants belowground may interact with and relate to life aboveground.

In Nature Plants: How plants can tell friend from foe
Japanese scientists says the plant’s immune system can recognize whether a piece of RNA is an invader or not based on whether the RNA has a threaded bead-like structure at the end.

In Journal of Experimental Botany: To branch or not to branch?
A new Insight article from JXBot explores how plants use shade, abscisic acid and auxin to decide whether or not to form branches.

Current Plant Biology and Current Opinion in Plant Biology supporting journals for Plant Genome Evolution 2017
GPC sponsor Current Plant Biology and its sister journals are supporting the forthcoming Plant Genome Evolution meeting in Spain during October 2017.

If you have a conference, meeting, workshop, training course or other event coming up, we can include it in our Events calendar! Please email lisa@globalplantcouncil.org

State of the World’s Plants Symposium
25–26 May 2017, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK. 
**GPC/SEB travel bursary now available! Click here for details!**

ASPB Plant Biology 2017
24–28 June 2017, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

GPC/SEB workshop: New Breeding Technologies in the Plant Sciences
07–08 July 2017, Gothenburg, Sweden. 

Lots of new reports, and an archive of useful documents from the last few years, are available on our website. Head to the Resources page and click ‘Reports’.

New EASAC report on genome editing
A new report by the European Academies’ Science Advisory Council on genome editing gives advice to European policy-makers on groundbreaking research involving genome editing and plants, animals, microbes and patients.

Spotted a funding opportunity we’ve missed? Please tell us about it by emailing lisa@globalplantcouncil.org

• Addressing misleading information about scientific or medical issues.
• Bringing sound evidence to bear in a public or policy debate.
• Helping people to make sense of a complex scientific issue.

Click here for more information and to nominate. Deadline 31st July 2017.

Early career researcher travel bursary to attend State of the World’s Plants Symposium
The SEB has kindly agreed to sponsor one early career researcher to travel to London, UK, to attend the State of the World’s Plants Symposium (25–26 May 2017) on behalf of the Global Plant Council. To apply, you should be a PhD student or within 5 years of your PhD, a member of the SEB (or willing to become one, if selected). Click here for more information.

Would you like to contribute an article to the GPC’s blog? Please get in touch! Email lisa@globalplantcouncil.org

Lentils under the lens: Improving genetic diversity for sustainable food security
Crystal Chan explains the Application of Genomic Innovation in the Lentil Economy project at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada.

How to publish your work in New Phytologist
In two short videos, New Phytologist Editor-in-Chief Prof Alistair Hetherington provides a step by step guide for early career researchers.

Synthetic biology in chloroplasts
Dr Anil Day, a synthetic biologist at the University of Manchester (UK) has developed an impressive array of tools and techniques to transform chloroplast genomes.

Plants in Action! Developing a free expert-written plant science textbook
If only there was an online, open access textbook to help teach undergraduates all about plant science… Oh wait, thanks to the plant science societies in Australia and New Zealand, there is!

Click here for details of the GPC Member Societies and Affiliates and their representatives. 

Please contact Ruth Bastow (ruth@globalplantcouncil.org) to find out how your organization can join the Global Plant Council. 

If you have news you would like us to share on our website, please contact lisa@globalplantcouncil.org 

In Journal of Experimental Botany: imaging technique widens our view on the inner worlds of plants and their guests
Scientists from the UK’s John Innes Centre have succeeded in improving an imaging technique that helps us to explore 3D gene activity in fixed or living plant structures as large as 6 cm in length.

In New Phytologist: where do flowers come from? Shedding light on Darwin’s “abominable mystery”
Reporting in New Phytologist, French and British scientists have partially solved the mystery that is the origin of flowering plants.

In Nature Plants: how to reduce the environmental impact of a loaf of bread?
In a groundbreaking study researchers have calculated the environmental impact of a loaf of bread and which part of its production contributes the most greenhouse gas.

Current Plant Biology call for papers: special issue on microRNA genes 
Current Plant Biology invites submissions for an upcoming Special Issue on MicroRNA genes – submit by 30 June 2017.

If you have a conference, meeting, workshop, training course or other event coming up, we can include it in our Events calendar! Please email lisa@globalplantcouncil.org

ASPB Plant Biology 2017
24–28 June 2017, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

GPC/SEB workshop: New Breeding Technologies in the Plant Sciences
07–08 July 2017, Gothenburg, Sweden. 

GPGR4: 4th International Symposium on Genomics of Plant Genetic Resources
03–07 September 2017, Giessen, Germany. 

Lots of new reports, and an archive of useful documents from the last few years, are available on our website. Head to the Resources page and click ‘Reports’.

Forests to play a major role in meeting Paris climate targets
Forests will be important for meeting the objectives of the Paris Climate Agreement; however, a consistent, robust, transparent and credible approach to measuring the impact of forests on greenhouse gas emissions is needed.

Spotted a funding opportunity we’ve missed? Please tell us about it by emailing lisa@globalplantcouncil.org

• American Society of Plant Biologists internships
• Grants from The Royal Society
• Canadian Society of Plant Biologists travel bursaries
• Botanic Gardens Conservation International competition
• Society for Experimental Biology internships and prizes
• American Society of Agronomy/Crop Science Society of America/Soil Science Society of America scholarships

Would you like to contribute an article to the GPC’s blog? Please get in touch! Email lisa@globalplantcouncil.org

Mother grain genome: insights into quinoa
The GPC’s Sarah Jose delves into the recently published Quinoa genome and reveals some of the secrets of the ‘mother grain’. 

RNA clay offers green alternative to plant pesticides
In this SciDevNet repost, Neena Bhandari explains how a nano-sized bio-degradable clay-comprising double stranded ribonucleic acid (dsRNA) could offer a cost-effective, clean and green alternative to chemical-based plant pesticides.

Chickpea innovation: Revisiting the origins of crops to solve the challenges of modern agriculture
Dr Doug Cook from the University of California, Davis, looks to chickpea’s origins to solve modern problems in agriculture.

Click here for details of the GPC Member Societies and Affiliates and their representatives. 

Please contact Ruth Bastow (ruth@globalplantcouncil.org) to find out how your organization can join the Global Plant Council.