Philipp Franken war nicht nur ein herausragender Wissenschaftler, als Professor für Molekulare Phytopathologie an der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin und der Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, sowie zuletzt als Leiter der Forschungsstelle für gartenbauliche Kulturpflanzen (FGK) an der Fachhochschule Erfurt, sondern auch ein Mensch, der mit seiner Fachkenntnis, seiner Neugier und seiner Leidenschaft für Botanik, Molekularbiologie und Mikrobiologie unser Fach nachhaltig geprägt hat. Mit seinem großen Engagement unterstützte er unsere Fachzeitschrift Plant Biology über viele Jahre hinweg und trug als aktives Mitglied des Editorial Boards maßgeblich zur Weiterentwicklung der Zeitschrift bei.

Wir verlieren mit Philipp Franken nicht nur einen exzellenten Wissenschaftler, sondern vor allem einen warmherzigen, humorvollen und integren Menschen, der uns in vielen Momenten ein geschätzter Ratgeber, Gesprächspartner und Kollege war. Sein fachlicher Rat, sein wertschätzender Umgangston und sein bedingungsloser Optimismus werden uns sehr fehlen.

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Im März 2026

Für das Editorial Board der Zeitschrift Plant Biology, Prof. Dr. Christiane Werner, Chair of Ecosystem Physiology, Freiburg University

Zur Zeitschrift Plant Biology

Pre-Conference tours and workshops 

This year, three pre-conference workshops on Corn breeding research, Maize-microbe interactions and Development and cell biology were held prior to the meeting. In parallel, two pre-conference tours to the Juelich Plant Phenotyping facility and to the Bayer Crop Science hub in Monheim were offered to participants of the meeting.

Maize genomics 

One of the major topics of this year's meeting was the rapid progress in maize genomics. New sequencing technologies and large-scale population datasets are enabling increasingly detailed insights into structural variation gene regulation, and the evolution of maize genomes. Several presentations highlighted the integration of genomic resources with functional studies to identify genes underlying agronomically important traits such as yield, stress tolerance, and nutrient use efficiency.

Maize development and genetic control 

Another focus was the genetic control of maize development, including root architecture, meristem maintenance, leaf and kernel development. Talks on single-cell transcriptomics and spatial gene-expression profiling highlighted how developmental processes in maize tissues can now be resolved with unprecedented resolution. These techniques are helping to uncover new regulators of organ formation and developmental plasticity.

Quantitative genetics and opportunities for breeders 

The meeting also showcased progress in quantitative genetics and breeding, with talks illustrating how genomic prediction, high-throughput phenotyping, and machine-learning approaches can accelerate crop improvement. These methods are increasingly used to understand genotype–environment interactions and to develop maize varieties better adapted to changing climates.

Maize, Drosophila and Arabidopsis 

The plenary talks at the maize genetics meeting traditionally included speakers who highlight progress in maize genetics. This time Hilde Nelissen (VIB Ghent), Silvio Salvi (University of Bologna) and Arp Schnittger (University of Hamburg) talked about their work on maize. However, the maize meeting also always hosts plenary talks on the genetics of other model organisms. This year Eileen Furlong (EMBL Heidelberg) talked on Regulatory principles during embryonic development in Drosophila and Yoselin Benitez Alfonso (University of Leeds) talked in her plenary lecture about Dismantling walls and building bridges for communication where she highlighted her own work on cell wall biology in Arabidopsis but also her engagement in the Black in Plant Science network in the United Kingdom.

Prizes and awards for outstanding research 

The Maize Genetics Cooperation also awards several prizes in different categories each year. This year the McClintock Prize for Plant Genetics and Genome Studies was awarded to Joe Ecker from the Salk Institute, San Diego. The McClintock prize recognizes the most outstanding plant scientists working on genetics and genomics in the present era. Joe gave an award presentation on Epigenomic diversity from plants to the nervous system. The Maize Genetics Cooperator Award went this year to Kan Wang (Iowa State University) for her pioneering work on maize transformation and her service to the maize community. Furthermore, the Maize Genetics Leadership Award, which is given to persons, who have inspired the lives and careers of other maize researchers, went to Thomas Slewinski of Bayer Crop Science. Moreover, the M. Rhoades Early-Career Maize Genetics Award was won by Addie Thompson (Michigan State University) and the L. Stadler Mid-Career Maize Genetics Awards went to Candice Hirsch (University of Minnesota). Last but not least the R. Emerson Lifetime Maize Genetics Award, which recognizes extraordinary lifetime achievements in maize genetics, and is awarded to persons, who made seminal contributions to the understanding of maize genetics, went to Karen Cone (National Science Foundation) and Albrecht Melchinger (University of Hohenheim).

Support of early career scientists and next meeting

As in previous years, the conference strongly supported early-career scientists, who contributed a large number of oral and poster presentations. Several travel programs and mentoring initiatives facilitated the participation of students and early-career researchers and fostered interactions with established scientists in the field. The Maize Genetics Cooperation covered the hotel costs for all 118 graduate and undergraduate students who attended the conference. The 69th Annual Maize Genetics Meeting will return to the USA and be held in Chicago in 2027, continuing the long-standing tradition of bringing together the global maize research community.

Development, flowers, photoreceptors, and organelles

The term ‘development’ encompasses research towards organs or reproduction, but could also include responses to light by microbes and tissues or organelles. For the former two completely different examples were explained: one using Arabidopsis with a specific mutated F-box protein, which causes reproductive problems and for which subcellular localization and interaction partners were investigated. The second was presented in a talk with a broader approach given by a guest scientist from Portugal, who explained the question how asymmetric flowers are made on a molecular level and when this development occurred in the land plant lineages. The talk highlighted which specific genetic factors are needed to make the dorsal identity of flowers and with which other factors they interact. Finally, the question was discussed as to when was this module established and which functions it may have had in early land plants such as Marchantia. Detailed work was presented on the characteristics of blue-light photoreceptors of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii of the DASH type cryptochrome and its regulatory function for cellular metabolism using mutant analysis. Also light as a regulatory factor was described for differences in metabolic processes from a heterotrophic soil bacterium Pseudomonasprotegens. The presentation showed a novel role for light instability of a signaling molecule. An example for factors important for organelle development was presented with Whirly proteins that are known to bind to DNA with a specific domain and also to localize to the DNA-containing organelles and the nucleus of higher plants. The presentation here looked at transport of these proteins into chloroplast and alternative organelles. An important molecule in plant biology is Rubisco, which was analyzed in a population of Fragaria varieties in which its evolution occurred through redistribution of structural dynamics, rather than modification of catalytic architecture. 

Abiotic stressors including malnutrition

Several major stress factors were discussed during the meeting: salt stress, nutritional deprivation and waterlogging. The latter results in oxygen deprivation, which holds a completely different challenge for a plant to cope with. One presentation described the tolerance response of Arabidopsis mutants with higher or lower NO content; NO being a known signal involved in waterlogging determining different physiological, biochemical and molecular parameters. The second dealt with the functional characterization of components involved in the NO modulation and hypoxia response of Arabidopsis. The aim of another presentation was to screen halophytic relatives of crops for their physiological responses to salt stress and a possible use of the traits in comparison to sensitive plants. Malnutrition also presents a stressor for plants and therefore in the field high rates of fertilizations are used. The project therefore dealt with N-fertilization of rapeseed and tried to identify markers for early N-deprivation using drones in combination with molecular methods. An idea to generate more stress-tolerant plants in the model Arabidopsis used Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms creating phenotypic diversity within natural populations. In turn this could result in the adaptation of populations to diverse environmental conditions. 

Interactions also among more than two partners

Interactions between probably expected partners, but even more with unexpected ones were highlighted during the meeting. So, a marine Chlamydomonas species with two bacteria or barley with Nostoc species. In the former, a complex series of experiments established mutualisms between three different partners. In the latter endophytic localization and differentiation in barley roots under nitrogen deficiency was described to occur, which resulted in better growth of the host plants. Another presentation was investigating complicated tripartite interactions with sugar beet, an insect vector and phytopathogenic bacteria, the latter need the host and vector to transfer and prosper. Physiological parameters were investigated in terms of understanding possible resistance mechanisms in this complex system. 

Methods and proof-of-concept

While there were several presentations specifically dealing with method development, other talks also of course included the presentation of methodology needed to complete the work. The aim here was the achievement of multi colored marker lines based on using only one construct for two and even three different fluorescent dyes which would need only one transformation event. The majority of presentations were directed to alternative and/or better metabolite or protein production systems. One presentation elucidated the possibility to make secondary metabolites in guttation fluids of plants, which would reduce the background of other compounds. Other possible systems to produce proteins are cyanobacteria or algae. Also here, the biological systems need to be understood. In cyanobacteria protein secretion is occurring via a two-step process. Two different cyanobacteria were used and characterized in terms of salt, nutrient and buffer effects on protein secretion. Bacterial microcompartments are self-assembling, protein-based structures that confine specific enzymes and substrates. Proof-of-concept study on heterologous assembly of such microcompartments in cyanobacteria took structures into account, which are needed for biosynthesis of chemicals. In the green algal species Chlamydomonas reinhardtii higher glycolate production by random mutagenesis should be achieved. The talk presented evidence in the project for the proof-of-principle to work.

Hands on Open Science 

The presentations from the bench also frequently pointed out problems, e.g., that methods were not well described in publications, or that data cannot be (partially) reproduced. The presentation about the network on “open science” gave advice on how every individual can improve on that. Consequently, the talk encompassed more details on three important topics, namely data management, method descriptions and data presentation/visualization.

Farewell

We are looking forward to the next conference, taking place in Leipzig, which will already be the 25th of the series.

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in March 2026

Prof. Dr. Jutta Ludwig-Müller, Professur für Pflanzenphysiologie, TU Dresden, https://tu-dresden.de/mn/biologie/pflanzenphysiologie 

With twelve international keynote speakers invited, the local organiser and spokesperson for the CSCS Research Unit, Prof. Dr. Thomas Dresselhaus, welcomed a high-calibre selection of renowned plant scientists from Europe (Madelaine Bartlett, UK; Tom Beeckman, Belgium; Cristina Ferrandiz, Spain; Hilde Nelissen, Belgium; Annis Richardson, UK; Robert Sablowski, UK), Asia (Ikram Blilou, Saudi-Arabia; Yonghong Wang, China) and the USA (Andrea Gallavotti, David Jackson, Paula McSteen, Mike Scanlon). Thus, female speakers were in the majority among the invited speakers. The strong presence of women in plant meristem research is also reflected in the overall participant numbers, with women accounting for 56% of attendees.

During the four days of the conference participants discussed the current trends and achievements in in cereal meristem and stem cell research. The programme comprised a total of 40 presentations and additional posters. The topics covered ranged from the establishment of embryogenic meristems and the role of meristems in different parts of plants (shoots, roots, stems, inflorescences and flowers) to the effects of environmental stress on the activity of plant stem cell systems. In addition to the eudicot model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and the cereal model Brachypodium distachyon, the focus was primarily on crops such as maize, wheat, barley, rye, oats, rice and tomatoes.

Prizes and promotion of early career scientists

Thanks to the generous support of the German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG) the organisers were able to offer several PhD students free participation in the symposium. In addition, two early career researchers (ECRs) were awarded for the best poster and for the best oral presentation, respectively. The award for the best abstract talk went to Ella Penny (John Innes Centre, Norwick, UK) for an outstanding presentation entitled “Decoding wheat architecture: How meristem dynamics shape the inflorescence”. The best poster prize was awarded to Ludi Wang for her excellent poster showing the “Cellular and molecular mechanisms of pistil suppression in maize” (University of Cambridge, UK). 

The CSCS2025 was characterised by cheerful and lively discussions, not only after the presentations, but also during the coffee breaks, the joint dinner and the time spent together, creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere filled with laughter and smiles. Thanks to the tireless work of the organisers, the enthusiasm of many helpers, the positive attitude of the participants and the generous financial contributions of our supporters, such as the German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG), the CSCS2025 was brought to a successful conclusion, and we hope that this conference will mark the start of a new series of conferences in cereal meristem research.

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Prof. Dr. Thomas Dresselhaus and Dr. Melanie Heinrich, Regensburg University and DFG-Research Unit Cereal Stem Cell Systems

Aus der Perspektive einer Pflanzenwissenschaftlerin ist Prof. Dr. Jutta Papenbrock von der Leibniz Universität Hannover begeistert von den Pflanzenaufnahmen, den Vergrößerungen der Details, den genauen Beobachtungen der pflanzlichen Entwicklung im Zeitraffer und den spezifischen Reaktionen von Pflanzen auf ihre Umwelt. „Wir sind jeden Tag von Pflanzen umgeben und schauen viel zu selten genau hin“, fasst sie zusammen.

Im Film wird wunderbar gezeigt, dass sich Menschen zu verschiedenen Epochen und von unterschiedlichen Kontinenten von Pflanzen faszinieren lassen und diese Faszination sogar ihre Lebenswege erheblich beeinflusst: Von den mikroskopisch kleinen Details einer Pflanzenzelle, ihrem Entwicklungszyklus, ihren Metamorphosen bis hin zu ihrem evolutionären Alter, ihrer Langlebigkeit und majestätischen Größe. 

Trotz widriger Bedingungen und zahlreicher Widerstände zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts ist eine junge Frau so begeistert von den Besonderheiten der Pflanzen, der sie sich über die Fotografie genähert hat, dass sie sich in einem von Männern dominierten universitären Umfeld nicht beirren lässt. Mit ihrer pflanzenwissenschaftlichen und methodischen Expertise trägt sie zum Erkenntnisgewinn bei - auch heute noch ein Vorbild für Frauen in der Wissenschaft und unbedingt sehenswert.

Ein Student mitten in den Unruhen Anfang der 1970er Jahre fokussiert sich auf einmal auf eine Geranie und studiert sie genau - ebenfalls eine Ermunterung sich auch einmal wieder Zeit zu nehmen für die nähere (pflanzliche) Umgebung.

Ein Neurowissenschaftler wird wie viele andere vor ihm von einem Ginkgo-Baum in den Bann gezogen. Fossilien der Ginkgo-Gattung aus dem mittleren Jura sind etwa 175 Millionen Jahre alt. Noch heute können Ginkgo-Bäume weit über 1.000 Jahre alt werden. Den Neurowissenschaftler interessieren im Film die Reaktionen des sehr alten Baumes auf seine Umwelt, den er mit Methoden aus der Neurowissenschaft untersuchen möchte, dabei jedoch durchaus an Grenzen stößt. Die Vorstellung, was so alte Bäume schon alles gesehen und erlebt haben, ist auch für Studierende immer wieder faszinierend und wird in diesem Film sehr gut dargestellt, auch durch die zeitliche Verschränkung der Erzählstränge.

Die Darstellung dieser pflanzlichen Vielfalt wird hoffentlich bei vielen Menschen verschiedener Generationen eine Faszination für Pflanzen (wieder)erwecken und der verbreiteten Plant Blindness, also dem Ignorieren von Pflanzen, entgegenwirken. Daher würde sie sich freuen, wenn viele Menschen den Film Silent Friends ansehen, da Pflanzen vielleicht doch mehr zu sagen haben, als wir im täglichen Leben wahrnehmen.

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Prof. Dr. Jutta Papenbrock, Institut für Botanik, Leibniz Universität Hannover

Transparenz-Hinweis: Jutta Papenbrock empfiehlt an dieser Stelle einen fiktionalen Film, der auch mit Aufnahmen aus dem Innen- und Außenleben von Pflanzen aufwartet. Der Film wurde ihr dazu kostenlos zum Anschauen zur Verfügung gestellt. Sachbücher sowie filmische Dokumentationen können wissenschaftliche Details teils besser veranschaulichen.