Actualia (2024) - Notifications of the Society

The recent Strasburger Hot Topic Symposium on "Co- and Post-translational Control in Chloroplasts" was held at the University of Münster in November 2024. It brought together more than 50 researchers from six countries to discuss the latest developments in control of chloroplast functions and on advances in our understanding of co- and post-translational modifications, protein interactions, and stress responses within chloroplasts.

Thanks to several photographers more than 1,000 images from our recent Botanik-Tagung in Halle in September were taken from which many are available via our Intranet. Please log in first.

The fourth international Thermomorphogenesis Symposium was organized in Würzburg, Germany, from 4^th to 6^th September 2024. Almost 50 participants joined the meeting to exchange unpublished research results about plants’ adaptions to higher temperatures – a topic becoming more and more important due more frequent heat waves occurring with climate change. Main organiser Dr Daniel Maag summarises the conference topics and points out how early career scientists profited from the exchange with other scientists during the DBG-supported gathering. 

Around 60 researchers gathered in Bochum for this year's symposium of the International Society of Endocytobiology (ISE) from September 10 to 12. This year’s conference was organized by Professor Danja Schünemann and her team at the Ruhr University Bochum. Over two and a half days, 35 presentations and 13 posters highlighted the latest research findings in the field of endocytobiology. A key focus of the symposium, once again, was on the evolution of chloroplasts and mitochondria and their molecular functions, including aspects such as gene expression, protein sorting, and organelle/membrane biogenesis. Additionally, many contributions centered on the analysis of organismic symbiosis. In her report Schünemann pronounces the importance of conferences especially for early career scientists and lists the awarded presentations. 

Unanimously, the member assembly decided that the emerita Professor Dr. Ulla Bonas will become new honorary member of the German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG). Proposed by DBG’s board, our president Professor Dr. Andreas Weber and honorary member Prof. Dr. Birgit Piechulla conveyed the news to Bonas, professor for Plant Genetics at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, since she unfortunately was unable to participate at our International Conference of the German Society for Plant Sciences. Our honorary member Professor Dr. Regine Kahmann summarizes in the laudation how Professor Bonas has made exceptional scientific discoveries. For example, her group was able to crack the recognition code of the newly discovered DNA binding domain in TAL effector proteins. The modular architecture of the proteins enabled the design and construction of artificial DNA-binding proteins with new specificities, which led to TALENs (Transcription activator-like effector nucleases). This was a major breakthrough to inactivate genes in eukaryotic genomes. The technological advancement cannot be underestimated and deserves the greatest recognition. TALENs would still be used today if the more-easy-to-use CRISPR Cas9-based gene editing system would not have been invented. Moreover, Bonas and her group gained major insights into the mechanisms as to how bacterial pathogens manipulate their host plants. Bonas received many prestigious awards and also serves the scientific community, e.g., as vice president of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, as Kahmann’s laudation describes, which DBG’s president Weber presented at our member assembly in Halle, Germany, on 17^th September 2024. 

Recent advances in scientific iron nutrition in plants to solve global challenges based on scientific evidence were in the focus of the 21st International Symposium of Iron Nutrition and Interactions in Plants (ISINIP 2024) at Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU), Germany. Special emphasis was given to the significance of research of the critical micronutrient for food security, environmental sustainability, and the molecular regulation of iron uptake, allocation, and storage. The conference brought together more than 100 international plant science experts and early career scientists to broaden their expertise and helped to build their networks. Conference chair, Professor Dr Petra Bauer, reports about the topics of the meeting that took place in July, which comprised fundamental biology, soil ecology and biotechnology approaches of plant iron nutrition.

For her exceptional commitment and her impressive efficiency, with which Professor Dr Caroline Müller (Bielefeld) executes her office as the Secretary General of our German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG) in the years from 2018 until today DBG’s president thanked her in the name of all the more than 1,100 members. Her management still sets new standards and shaped the development of our Society substantially, Weber pointed out during the regular member assembly at the Martin Luther University of Halle, Germany. The auditorium thanked Müller with long lasting applause for her work. She will continue her office until the end of the year, until the newly elected Secretary General will take over her office according to our statutes, since professor Müller did not wanted to be considered for reelection. President Weber also thanked Christine Fiebig (Bielefeld), who has supported Müller over all these years and is going to retire soon, and our Secretary Dr. Thomas Janßen (Berlin) for his office in the years 2012 until 2024. Both could not make it to this year’s member assembly in Halle.  

Four persons were elected in the member’s assembly to become new board members of the German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG) on 17^th September 2024 in Halle. Professor Dr Iris Finkemeier (Münster) becomes our new Secretary General and takes over this office from Professor Dr Caroline Müller (Bielefeld), who did not wish to stand for re-election. With this Professor Finkemeier advances from one of the two offices as extended board members, which she had filled since 2016, to our executive board. Professor Dr Boas Pucker (Braunschweig) will also join the executive board as our new secretary, since Dr Thomas Janßen has stepped down from this office, which he occupied since 2012. New members of the extended board are Dr Sophie des Vries (Göttingen), representing early career researchers, and Professor Dr Christopher Grefen (Bochum) as designated conference chair of the next international Botanik-Tagung 2026. Unanimously, Professor Dr Andreas Weber (Düsseldorf) was re-elected as DBG’s president as well as Professor Dr Raimund Tenhaken (Salzburg) to be our treasurer. 

The participants voted for the ten best out of the almost 400 science posters presented at the Botanik-Tagung, International Conference of the German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG). DBG’s awardees will receive 142 Euros each, since DBG was founded 142 years ago. The list with the names of first authors and the titles of the awarded posters, as well as single photos of each of the hand-overs of the certificates are summarized here:

In his opening speech of the Botanik-Tagung, International Conference of the German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG), our president, Professor Dr Andreas Weber, reminded us that plants as our common study objects are not only at the base of most food webs and important to maintain ecosystem function. But plant science can also contribute to find ways to effectively remove carbon from the atmosphere as well as for developing solutions to prevent further biodiversity loss. He reminded us, that the loss of biodiversity is an even greater threat to humankind than climate change, since we are losing diversity at an alarming rate of 150 to 200 species per day through human activities. Weber therefore motivated and encouraged all participants of the conference with the motto “Growing Solutions for Growing Challenges” to become proactive, leave the academic ivory tower and to translate research results into societal benefits. Our interdisciplinary Botanik-Tagung provides a space to bring together plants, people and societal benefits.

The Young Session of the Second European Congress on Photosynthesis Research was held in Padua, Italy, on June 24 and 25, 2024. More than 120 early-career scientists from over 20 countries actively participated in this event. The program featured over 20 talks covering a diverse range of topics including biophysics, molecular biology, ecophysiology, and new technologies, along with a poster session showcasing over 100 research posters. The DBG sponsored the attendance of three young scientists selected by the organizers, whose insights are highlighted in this conference report.

During the Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on mitochondria and chloroplasts more than 150 participants from botany, zoology, mycology and medicine discussed recent advances as well as unpublished research results. Co-chair, Professor Andreas Weber summarizes current topics in this research area, about which established as well as early career scientists discussed during an intensive and the participant’s enriching week near Barcelona in July.

During the International Conference of our German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG) the Botanik-Tagung, plant geneticist Dr. Henryk Straube received the Wilhelm Pfeffer Pize, microbe scientist Dr. Eliza Loo got the Eduard Strasburger Prize, and bioinformatician Dr. Martin Lewinski’s work was awarded with the Horst Wiehe Prize. The three awardees were invited to present their research in a plenary lecture. Also cell biologist Dr. Pratibha Kumari was handed over the certificate for the best plant science paper, awarded in 2023, during DBG’s biannual science conference. Their excellent plant research results will help future research in measuring rare DNA nucleotids, improving plant health, analyzing RNA binding proteins, or looking into plant cell division.
Details about this year’s science awards can be retrieved from the press release published beforehand: “Roots are like human guts, new enzyme discovered, and new lab method established”.

The symposium has a long tradition and took place in 1957 in Wageningen (The Netherlands) for the first time. It is held every three years and was held in Germany for the second time from 4th until 8th August in Haus Neuland in Bielefeld as SIP18. About 170 participants from at least 19 countries discussed recent research on insect-plant interactions, extending also to other interaction partners. Exciting keynote talks were given by Renee M. Borges (India), Rieta Gols (The Netherlands), Scott Johnson (Australia), Meredith Schuman (Switzerland), Anurag A. Agrawal (USA), Beata Gabryś (Poland), Georg Petschenka (Germany), Sharon E. Zytynska (UK) and Robert R. Junker (Germany). Additional research was presented and discussed in selected scientific talks as well as in form of numerous scientific posters. The organising committee – Caroline Müller, Rabea Schweiger and Christine Fiebig (Chemical Ecology, Bielefeld University) – report on a fruitful scientific exchange in a great network, accompanied by exciting excursions, a workshop and a productive get-together in a very green environment.

The 19^th Plant Science Student Conference (PSSC 2024) took place at the Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry (IPB) from June 17th to 20th in 2024. The conference represents almost two decades of tradition between the IPB and the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), in which students at the institutes invite other students of the plant sciences to share their knowledge, build connections and experience an academic conference in a student-friendly atmosphere. Approximately 60 PhD students participated this year, joining not only from IPB and IPK, but also from the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU). In addition, the conference invited Prof. Dr. Gabriel Schaaf from the Rheinische Friedrich Wilhelms University Bonn, Dr. Marie Barberon from the University of Geneva and Prof. Dr. Stefanie Ranf-Zipproth from the University of Fribourg as keynote speakers. As part of the organizing team Max Jonas Paulmann, Lilly Eger, and Jolina Marx from IPB report participants spent four exciting days full of inspiring science, fruitful interaction and – of course – delicious food.

Recently our Secretary General, Prof Dr Caroline Müller, has sent you an e-mail to ask our members for suggestions to update our statutes (written in German), on which will be decided at our next member assembly during our Botanik-Tagung on 17^th September 2024 in Halle, Germany. The update and decision of our status was announced at our town hall meeting earlier this year and in the latest newsletter. All members are invited to bring in their suggestions until 30^th June 2024 the latest.

The speakers invited to DBG's second Eduard Strasburger Hot Topic Workshop "Co- and posttranslational control in chloroplasts" (#DBGHotTop2024) in Münster, Germany, from 18 – 20 November 2024, are

• Carmela Giglione, University of Paris-Saclay
• Bernhard Grimm, HU Berlin
• Manajit Hayer-Hartl, MPI Martinsried
• Georg Hochberg, MPI Marburg
• Paul Javis, University of Oxford
• Matt Johnson, University of Sheffield
• Dario Leister, LMU München
• Paula Mulo, University of Turku
• Klaas J. van Wijk, Cornell Universit

Registration is planned to start in June 2024. Attendance to the workshop is free for ECRs. The workshop will be organised by Dr Jürgen Eirich and Jens Mühlenbeck from the Institute for Plant Biology and Biotechnology at Münster University. More to come on the workshop's website soon.

You are invited to take part in our upcoming member assembly on Tuesday, 17^th September 2024, within our International Conference of our German Society for Plant Sciences at Martin-Luther University Halle. The member assembly will take place in Lecture Hall XXII, Universitätsplatz 1, D-06108 Halle, Germany from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m.; a lunch packet will be served. All members received the invitation together with the latest newsletter. Our board is looking forward to meeting you in Halle.

Download all agenda topics (German pdf file)

The seventh international “Fascination of Plants Day” (#plantday) will be launched by plant scientists across the world under the umbrella of the European Plant Science Organisation (EPSO), in which our DBG is an associated member. The goal of this activity is to get as many people as possible around the world fascinated by plants and enthused about the importance of plant science for agriculture and sustainable production of nutritious food, as well as for horticulture, forestry and the production of plant-based non-food products such as paper, timber, chemicals, energy and pharmaceuticals. Activities can happen from 1^st March to 30^th November 2024, with a peak around 18^th May. In 2022 a total of 810 events in over 54 countries were held (for more details see power-point file as well as facts and figures 2024). If you would like to add your activity or event, please submit it to the organisers. The password to do so will be send to our members in the next DBG newsletter. The organisers also provide a PR toolbox with Logos, Posters and things like that to help you in promoting your event.

More than 100 scientists discussed how plant science on crops can contribute to mitigate climate crisis at the first international PlantACT! Conference in Düsseldorf, Germany. Co-Organiser Andreas Weber summarizes three approaches of science based strategies. The report also suggests other scientific disciplines the plant sciences should collaborate with. Workshops on how to communicate research results and a public panel rounded off this first meeting of its kind, which will be continued next year in Spain.

The 37^th Molecular Biology of Plants conference (MBP2024) took place at the Sportschule Hennef (close to Bonn, Germany) from 4^th until 7^th March 2024. Conference chair Ute Höcker (University of Cologne) shares both scientific and non-scientific highlights of this annual meeting. This includes the two keynotes on male-female interactions during endosperm development and how potato plants prevent above-ground tuber formation. She also reports the winners of the awards for best talks, best posters and for science communication, as well as about the career session and the outcome of the traditional soccer game between PIs against PhD students and PostDocs. The new venue, Sportschule Hennef, has once again proven to be a first-rate replacement for our previous long-term venue in Dabringhausen.

This year’s “Mitteldeutsche Pflanzenphysiologietagung” took place for the 22^nd time and was hosted by the Friedrich Schiller University Jena. More than 70 researchers - the majority were early career scientists (BSc, MSc and PhD students) - convened in Jena to discuss their latest findings and network with fellow early career researchers. A wide range of plant research topics from Dresden, Halle, Leipzig and Jena were discussed. In total 16 oral presentations and 9 posters were presented, which gave insights into a diverse range of research from fundamental characterization to applied aspects and from unicellular cyanobacteria to higher plants. The guest speaker Julia Kehr (Universität Hamburg) reported about recent work on long-distance RNA signaling in plants in her keynote lecture which could also be followed online in a live-stream. The organisers around Alexandra Furch and Julie Zedler look back on a lively conference which initiated many discussions and thank the DBG for supporting the early career researchers to attend this meeting.

Sorry, in German only

Unser Ehrenmitglied, der Evolutionsforscher, Pionier der Karyotaxonomie, Lehrbuchautor und Initiator der Florenkartierung Mitteleuropas, Professor Friedrich Ehrendorfer, ist am 28. November 2023 im 97. Lebensjahr gestorben. Ehrendorfer klärte an der Universität Wien nicht nur die komplexe Evolution und Verwandtschaft unter Labkräutern und Rötegewächsen mit multidisziplinären Ansätzen auf, sondern verfasste mehr als 200 Publikationen und zwei Kapitel in Strasburgers Lehrbuch der Botanik. Er vertiefte sich bereits in taxonomische Fragestellungen auch wenn diese Fachrichtung seinerzeit als unseriös galt und erst später Anerkennung erfuhr. Die Exkursionen des Pflanzenkenners waren bei den Studierenden beliebt, erinnert Ehrendorfers Mitarbeiter, der Taxonom Prof. Manfred A. Fischer in seinem Nachruf. Ehrendorfer erhielt mehrere Auszeichnungen für sein wissenschaftliches Werk, das in seinen zahlreichen Publikationen und in den von ihm ausgebildeten Taxonominnen und Taxonomen weiterlebt.

The nominations for the three prestigious awards for aspiring early career plant scientists are open now. DBG members and others, please nominate suitable candidates for the Eduard Strasburger Prize, the Wilhelm Pfeffer Prize and the Horst Wiehe Prize. Also read "Übersicht der Wissenschaftspreise der DBG". Application deadline is 1^st May 2024 for each of them.

Summary table (in German, pdf)

Prof. Dr. Edgar Peiter and his organizing committee invite all plant scientists to take part in Botanik-Tagung, the International Conference of the German Society for Plant Sciences, at Halle/Saale, Germany, from 15^th until 19^th September 2024. The programme brings together 29 internationally leading plenary and keynote speakers, who span the entire field of plant sciences - from molecules to ecosystems. This year’s motto Growing Solutions for Growing Challenges reflects the potential of plant sciences to counter existential problems of our planet, such as carbon sequestration and the adaptation of crops to climate change challenges. The Botanik-Tagung furthers scientific exchange to improve our fundamental understanding of plants and to translate it into resilient crops and ecosystems. Workshops, the programme, and the city of Halle stimulate to socialize and to continue scientific discussions until late

> read Welcome Note on conference website

> Conference Website: Botanik-Tagung.de

> To Conference Poster including all Plenary and Keynote Speakers as well as all Sessions (pdf)

Update 08 April 2024: all 60 grants have already be allocated.

To support participation of early career plant scientists (ERC) in our International Conference of the German Society for Plant Sciences (BT2024: Botanik-Tagung 2024 15^th to 19^th September 2024 in Halle a.d.S., Germany), DBG provides a maximum of 60 travel grants up to 400 Euro each for members, who actively take part in the conference with a talk or a poster. DBG reimburses traveling and accommodation costs as well as registration fees. Grants will be allocated according to the order in which applications are received; until 25^th May the latest. It therefore is advantageous to apply rapidly.

Details are in our intranet (login required)

The topics in the master theses ranged from parasite defence over a hands-on model for teaching, an interactive database to help people protecting endangered plants, the search for resistances in crops up to the effects of microplastics as well as drought stress, just to name a few. They received the prizes for best master theses which were awarded by DBG last year. The 18 awards at the participating universities were given to eight female and ten male students for their excellent studies. The following summary provides their names and research details.

To list of awardees and research topics

During the so-called Town Hall Meeting on January 9^th, members were invited to give their feedback on the further development of our scientific society. President Prof. Andreas Weber presented the results of the Presidium’s strategy workshop and invited the meeting’s participants – among them two former DBG presidents - to comment on them. These comprised the inclusion of early career researchers (ECR) in the DBG’s executive committee (incl. a change of the DBG’s statutes) and in the many activities of our society. Proposals from the audience included having a meeting of ECRs during the upcoming Botanik-Tagung, International Conference of the German Society for Plant Sciences as well as introductory seminars of newly appointed researchers – in addition to the already existing Strasburger-(Hot-Topic-)Workshops. Weber also asked the participants to apply for the two positions on the DBG board, which will be up for re-election during the Botanik-Tagung this summer. He also asked for nominations for the DBG’s upcoming science prizes awarded to ECRs. The editor-in-chief of our science journal Plant Biology, Prof. Christiane Werner, highlighted the publication possibilities and the opportunity to organize special issues. Weber thanked all meeting participants for their ideas and feedback, which will now be implemented by our board. Everyone who has further ideas and suggestions is invited to contact one of the board members.