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 Almost 50 participants joined the meeting to exchange unpublished research results about plants’ adaptions to higher temperatures – a topic becoming more and more important due more frequent heat waves occurring with climate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.

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.

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 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.

To celebrate the 200^th birthday of the phycologist Nathanael Pringsheim (30 November 1823 – 6 October 1894), the Matthias-Schleiden-Institute at the University of Jena, where Pringsheim was a professor for around four years, held a symposium on 19 December. In her introductory remarks, phycologist Professor Dr Maria Mittag placed Pringsheim in the ranks of the Institute's outstanding professors. DBG's president, Professor Dr Andreas Weber, reported on the history of our German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG), which Pringsheim founded in Berlin in 1882, under the title "From 1882 to 2023: 141 years of promoting plant science". Pringsheim led our society until his death in 1894. He was instrumental in the transition from an association into a scientific society [1]. Professor Dr Andreas Deutsch introduced the sexual revolution in algal research in citing important scientific findings that Pringsheim elicited from algae: "Nathanael Pringsheim was able to observe how male gametes swam towards female egg cells and united with them in an inconspicuous alga. This discovery, made in 1855, was a scientific sensation," Deutsch writes in his latest book [2]. This was the first direct observation of the fertilisation process in a living organism.

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^{[1] Ekkehard Höxtermann (Hrsg., 2007): 125 Jahre Deutsche Botanische Gesellschaft. Festschrift anlässlich der Botanikertagung in Hamburg. Basilisken-Presse, Marburg}

^{[2] Andreas Deutsch (2023): Urformen der Sexualität. Wie Nathanael Pringsheim den Algen die Unschuld nahm. GNT-Verlag, Diepholz}

The research of early career scientists (ECR) and their networking were the focus of the conference “Specialized products from plants and microbes – a natural source for biologically active compounds” of DBG’s Natural Products Section. Competently and enthusiastically, the more than twenty participants presented and discussed their research results from the broad field of plant and microbiological compounds. Prof. Dr. Maike Petersen and Prof. Dr. Ute Wittstock summarize topics and research focus of the participants and explain, in which way participants profited from the in-person meeting, which was financially supported by DBG.

Advancement of early career researchers (ECR), opportunities for members to participate in shaping our organisation, workshops for professional development and the topic of outreach into politics and society were just some of the points that were discussed during a workshop of our board meeting. With the moderation of our communicator, Dr. Esther Schwarz-Weig, the participants compiled what excites them about our DBG. They also developed solutions to respond to the challenges that scientific societies face due to changes in research, publishing, science policy, networking and communication. In order to inform everyone about these topics and to enable active participation, there will soon be a digital town hall meeting.

The symposium of our Section Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology took place from 23^rd to 26^th August 2023 at the University of Gießen in the lecture halls of the Hermann Hoffmann Academy.  Altogether 94 scientists participated (only 4 last-minute cancellations), 34 of them students. With two international keynote speakers the organizers Prof. Dr. Volker Wissemann, Prof. Dr. Elvira Hörandl, Dr. Anže Žerdoner Čalasan, and Dr. Natalia Tkach welcomed a European audience; with most participants from Germany. The programme encompassed 19 talks and 21 posters from students. Gender balance was a 2:2 male:female ratio with the invited keynote speakers, and 17 female compared to 13 male speakers, reflecting a strong presence of females at early career stages in systematics. Elvira Hörandl summarizes the scientific highlights, names the awardees and reports about the Section’s meeting and elections.

On the 6^th and 7^th July, over 50 scientists came together at Kiel University for the Kiel Plant Centre (KPC) Workshop on Plant Evolution with a particular focus on the adaptation of plants to terrestrial environments. The program, that included keynote talks from international experts, short talks from early career scientists as well as two poster sessions, covered a broad variety of topics encouraging lively discussions and exchange. Organiser Prof. Dr. Birgit Classen summarizes the topics of the workshop and this research discipline and reports why basic research on the adaptions of living on land Millions of years ago is also important for current and applied questions.

More than 50 researchers met in Leipzig, including many early-career researchers, and discussed plant physiology themes. They presented their research topics and gained feedback as well as inspiration from experts from related research disciplines. The topics covered a wide range of organism groups from unicellular cyanobacteria and microalgae to vascular plants. Although most of the presentations dealt with basic research, the presentations from applied disciplines were the liveliest. Dr. Raimund Nagel and Dr. Torsten Jakob from the organisational team led by Prof. Dr. Severin Sasso describe the conference, the specific topics of the presentations and the ways in which early career researchers benefited from the DBG-funded conference.

Several dozens of scientists from more than ten countries met in June in Halle (Saale), Germany, to discuss latest findings on plant cytoskeleton research. Organiser Katharina Bürstenbinder reports about the current research topics in this field, the awarded presentations and in which way the many participating early career scientists profited in this meeting that was supported by our DBG.

The Plant Science Student Conference took place at the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) Gatersleben on 3^rd and 4^th of July 2023. Since 2019 this years’ conference was first time held again in person. Organisation and outline of the 18^th PSSC was done by IPK’s doctoral candidates with the focus to improve networking with doctoral candidates from Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry (IPB) Halle and Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS) as well as with students from other institutes. Overall, 100 participants - nearly all of them PhD-candidates - registered and attended. Together with invited speakers as Wilma van Esse (Wageningen), Tobias Züst (Zurich), Cathy Westhues (Göttingen) and Elliot Heffner (Corteva R&D) everyone enjoyed a warm and positive atmosphere on site.
The concept of the conference was to combine impulses from leading scientists with insights in students’ research and workshops to improve soft and hard skills. The presence of representatives of our sponsoring partners at site offered also the chance to discuss recent research topics with representatives from industry. Stephanie Frohn reports the scientific topics in more detail.

The Wilhelm Pfeffer Foundation of our German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG) awards Dr. Prathiba Kumari the Prize for the best plant science publication, which is endowed with 1,000 Euros. "In the published work, Dr. Kumari has identified a class of proteins that govern the correct positioning of the cell plate during cytokinesis and thus play a key role in plant cell division”, the board of the foundation explains its decision. These IQD proteins are linked to the cytoskeleton of plant cells and are part of a navigation system that coordinates the spatial control of cell division. Consequently, plants lacking these IQD proteins display chaotically arranged plant cells. With her article published in the journal Nature Plants (IQ67 DOMAIN proteins facilitate preprophase band formation and division-plane orientation DOI: 10.1038/s41477-021-00923-z), Dr. Kumari from the working group of Dr. Katharina Bürstenbinder from the Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry in Halle, Germany, has significantly expanded our understanding of cell division in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and thus of plant growth and development. Dr. Kumari, who is currently conducting plant research as a PostDoc at the Umeå Plant Science Centre at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), will be awarded the certificate in 2024 at the next International Conference of our German Society for Plant Sciences in Halle, Germany; the plant scientist already received the prize money by now.

More on promotions of early career plant scientists

Sorry, in German only

Im Winter verstarb Professor Alfermann, eines der Gründungsmitglieder unserer Sektion Pflanzliche Naturstoffe. In ihrem Nachruf erinnert Prof. Dr. Maike Petersen nicht nur an einen Pionier der Produktion medizinischer Wirkstoffe für das Herz und gegen Krebs und einen Erforscher pflanzlicher Biosynthesewege, sondern auch an einen herzlichen Menschen: Alfermann hatte stets ein offenes Ohr und förderte viele junge Wissenschaftler*innen. An seinem Institut an der Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf entstanden so zahlreiche Freundschaften und sogar Ehen.

Mit einem Hinweis auf die diesjährige online-Bundesdelegiertenversammlung am 11. Oktober startet das Update zu den Tätigkeiten des Verbandes Biologie, Biowissenschaften und Biomedizin in Deutschland (VBIO), in dem auch unsere DBG Mitglied ist. Der Dachverband freut sich auf den Biologentag NRW zum Thema "Chemische Ökologie" am 9. November 2024 am MPI für Pflanzenzüchtungsforschung in Köln. Informationen aus Wissenschaftspolitik und Wissenschaftskommunikation runden den Rückblick auf den Monat August ab.

Link zur August-Ausgabe (LogIn erforderlich)

If you want to use childcare services during the Botanik-Tagung, our international plant science conference in September in Halle, Germany, make sure to reserve a place until 15th August 2024, since only registered children can be looked after! Unfortunately, an on-site registration for childcare will not be possible!

Der Verband Biologie, Biowissenschaften und Biomedizin (VBIO) ist Mitglied im Bündnis universitärer und außeruniversitärer Biodiversitätsforschung. Dieses hat einen Impuls vorbereitet, in dem die Verhandlungsführer bei der nächsten Biodiversitätskonferenz im Oktober 2024 aufgefordert werden, den offenen, freien, und fairen Zugang zu Digitalen Sequenzinformationen (DSI) zu erhalten. Eine  Zusammenstellung aus Hochschul- und Wissenschaftspolitik desselben Monats runden die Rückschau des Dachverbandes ab.

Link zur Juli-Ausgabe (LogIn erforderlich)

Registration is open for DBG's second Eduard Strasburger Hot Topic Workshop. It focusses on "Co- and posttranslational control in chloroplasts" (#DBGHotTop2024) and will be organized in Münster, Germany, from 18 – 20 November 2024. Attendance to the workshop is free for early career researchers (ECRs) and made possible through DBG's funding. The workshop will be organised by Dr Jürgen Eirich and Jens Mühlenbeck from the Institute for Plant Biology and Biotechnology at Münster University.

Der Verband Biologie, Biowissenschaften und Biomedizin (VBIO) blickt zurück auf sein Dialogforum Ende Juni, einer online-Veranstaltung mit Beiträgen aus bio-wissenschaftlicher und ethischer Sicht, zu dem über 160 Teilnehmende zusammen kamen. Mit vielen Denkanregungen - aber (erwartungs-gemäß) keinen einfachen Merksätzen. Meldungen aus Wissenschafts- und Hochschulpolitik sowie aus anderen Fachgesellschaften runden die Rückschau ab.

Link zur Juni-Ausgabe (LogIn erforderlich)

Our international Botanik-Tagung in Halle in September is already on the horizon and this issue of the newsletter informs about most recent news like workshops, excursions, Section’s sessions and keynotes. There are only a few days left to submit your contribution to the Botanik-Tagung. Don’t miss this opportunity and join the largest conference entitled “Growing Solutions for Growing Challenges” in the heart of Europe. Discuss latest research results with the people behind papers, mingle with your scientific community and experts in the fields, and get an update on neighboring scientific disciplines.
Since several deadlines are in May, it is also worth checking out the two conference rubrics and the invitation to our member assembly.
In den anderen Rubriken stehen u.a.: Faszinierende neu entdeckte Symbiosen, wie ein Ereignis in der Evolution Formenvielfalt hervorbrachte, wie Peptide Befruchtungsprozesse steuern und wie Pflanzen das Klima beeinflussen (nicht nur umgekehrt!). Über ein frisch bewilligtes Graduiertenkolleg sowie über Stipendien für den Blick über den Tellerrand informiert der Newsletter ebenfalls.

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Wie Pflanzengene und Zuckertransporter das Mikrobiom mitbestimmen, wie ein neuer Lebensraum die pflanzliche Abwehr beeinflusst und welche pflanzenwissenschaftliche Forschungsgruppe gerade frisch bewilligt wurde, steht in den ersten Rubriken.
DBG asks you to nominate early career candidates for our three prestigious science awards. They will be invited to Halle to present their findings at our Botanik-Tagung. Thanks to conference chair Edgar Peiter and the great team around him, we can already look forward to meeting you and your team members at our well-known Botanik-Tagung, our International Plant Science Conference in Halle in September. Join this largest conference in the heart of Europe entitled “Growing Solutions for Growing Challenges”. Discuss latest research results with the people behind papers, mingle with your scientific community, and get an update on neighboring scientific disciplines. One of the recommended reviews in our journal Plant Biology summarizes gene editing tools targeting on genes to develop disease‐resistant plants and the other on the world’s largest mimicry system. Please also note the various deadlines listed in the two conference sections of our newsletter, some of them will expire soon.

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Wann der älteste komplexe Vorfahre von Landpflanzen und Algen lebte, wie mehr Fettsäuren in Samen transportiert werden und mit welchem Trick es gelang, gezielt Protonen in Zellen zu schicken und dabei einen neuen Säuresensor zu entdecken, steht in der Forschungsrubrik. Wie man Roboter im eigenen Labor mit Sprache zur Arbeit antreibt und welche Themen jüngst Forschungsfinanzierung ergatterten, steht in der zweiten Rubrik.
DBG’s international Botanik-Tagung conference is getting more and more interesting every day, since not only 29 internationally leading plenary and keynote speakers are expected to attend but the event also offers to meet your scientific family and the people behind papers. Since first-come-first-serve travel grants are already in the making, we suggest to think about your participation already now.
Recently our DBG has awarded 18 master theses. In short DBG will be looking for nominations to award exceptional plant scientists and invite the awardees to Halle.
A review on the ecology, physiology, and emerging technologies on mycorrhization in trees in our journal Plant Biology as well as a conference overview rounds of the Newsletter.

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Dear members of the German Society for Plant Sciences,

you are invited to participate in the first town hall meeting of our society on 9^th January 2024 at 3 p.m. Topics:

• News about our society (short report from strategy workshop of board, change of “Satzung” etc)
• Possibilities for engagement in the DBG board
• Possibilities for early career researchers
• Reminder: Workshops, prizes
• Plant Biology Journal (faces behind the papers,...)
• Your suggestions and ideas

Join via Zoom (see link in your e-mail or in the Newsletter in our Intranet).

Andreas Weber and DBG's board

Ob früher tatsächlich mehr Lametta war, ist nicht wissenschaftlich untersucht. Dass es noch viel früher jedoch eine größere Blütenvielfalt gab, steht in den Forschungsergebnissen. Erfahren Sie, wie Kannenpflanzen zu Fleischfressern wurden, vor welcher Institutstüre man Arabidopsis neues Wissen entlockte, wie Pflanzen Stress abbauen und warum der Geschmack eines Grünkohls nicht dem eines anderen Grünkohls gleicht. Außerdem: Vier laufende Ausschreibungen, wo Gelder und Belohnungen winken, sowie zwei Einladungen unserer DBG (eine bereits im Januar!).
The recommended review summarizes allelopathy and allelobiosis. Both have never been systematically reviewed thus far. Moreover the authors provide recent research on the application of allelopathy and allelobiosis in agroecosystems in future studies.

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Wie statistische Verfahren helfen können, stressresistente Weizensorten ausfindig zu machen, was dem Erhalt der Artenvielfalt in Deutschland nützt, wie ein Pflanzenhormon die Stickstoffaufnahme über Wurzeln steuert und welcher Rezeptor wilden Kartoffelsorten Resistenz gegenüber Knollenfäule verleiht, sind nur einige der Themen in der Forschungsrubrik.
Wie unsere Zeitschrift Plant Biology dabei hilft unsere Anliegen zu realisieren, warum unsere DBG Sie und Euch demnächst zu einem Town Hall Meeting einlädt und was Sie bei der FESPB abrufen können, steht in der DBG-Rubrik. Wir ermuntern außerdem zur Mitbestimmung, wer in Zukunft über Ihre und Eure Förderanträge bei der DFG entscheidet.
One review is recommended by the Editors of our journal Plant Biology around Editor in Chief, Professor Christiane Werner: The paper summarizes how plants under hypoxia/anoxia ensure a steady oxygen supply to their cells and identifies three types of pressurized (convective) flows. Moreover, guest editors and our Editor in Chief are inviting papers for two Special Issues of our journal. 

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Die Deutsche Botanische Gesellschaft (DBG) begrüßt den Vorschlag der EU-Kommission vom 5. Juli 2023 zur Regulierung der Nutzung von mit neuen genomischen Techniken (NGT) erzeugten Sorten, um das Gentechnik-Recht an den aktuellen Wissensstand anzupassen. Es hat sich aus wissenschaftlicher Sicht als sinnvoll erwiesen, neue Pflanzensorten nach ihren Eigenschaften und nicht nach Art ihrer Erzeugung zu bewerten. Die DBG schätzt die Vorschläge der EU zur Kategorisierung und den einzelnen genetischen Änderungen im Folgenden ein und schlägt konkrete Präzisierungen vor.

Eine online-Befragung unter Pflanzenwissenschaftler*innen in Deutschland zeigt großen Bedarf an Freilandstudien mit gentechnisch veränderten Pflanzen. Nur mit Studien im Freiland lassen sich aussagekräftige Ergebnisse z.B. zur Ertragsbildung sowie Klima- und Stresstoleranz gewinnen. Vor gezielter Zerstörung gesicherte Freilandflächen (sog. Protected Sites) sind ein Lösungsansatz. Für 83 Prozent der Teilnehmer*innen an der Umfrage eröffnen sich damit neue Forschungsperspektiven. Die Einrichtung solcher zerstörungssicheren Freilandflächen kann die internationale Konkurrenzsituation der Pflanzenwissenschaften in Deutschland grundlegend verbessern. Dies ist wichtig, weil derzeit auch genomeditierte Pflanzen unter die Regularien des Gentechnikgesetzes fallen. Deshalb besteht dringender Handlungsbedarf  ̶̶  unabhängig von einer zukünftigen, an den Stand wissenschaftlicher Erkenntnis angepassten Neuregulierung genomeditierter Pflanzen in der EU.

zu den Ergebnissen und Abbildungen

The European Plant Science Organisation (EPSO) published a statement against the war and support for scientists. EPSO, in which our DBG is an associate, wants to contribute to building a better Europe and world by an expanding list to facilitate refugee scientists from Ukraine in finding a host lab.

Read EPSO’s statement, in which they are referring to international law (Geneva Convention and UN convention) here:
https://epsoweb.org/epso/scientists-contributing-to-building-a-better-europe-and-world-stop-war-in-ukraine-offer-support-to-ukrainian-scientists/2022/02/28/

If you would like to add a new lab to this list, use their continuously updated Google-form: https://www.google.com/url?q=https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeRGe5Da_b6GGyC6VT7CLGViGs06SzeuX7wRKpC4K5tnvlhgg/viewform?usp%3Dsf_link__;!!C5qS4YX3!XnBWdlPAURTnwcPm57vNyo8-fN22nGHUvvPxL_RNPg4FR-40RmUPbMQ0l5qxmDHB$&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1646826005305500&usg=AOvVaw24bwgzVzsQ060tb-Fs3sTi

If you are looking for a labs, use their continuously updated Google list: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HqTKukfJGpmowQnSh4CoFn3T6HXcNS1T1pK-Xx9CknQ/edit#gid=320641758

132 European research institutes and science associations – with DBG being one of them - strongly recommend to the European Council, European Parliament and the European Commission to revise the existing directive for precision breeding, also known as genome editing. This is not only important for recovery from the COVID-19 crisis but also since genome-editing offers many solutions for a fast, relatively simple and much more directed way to create resilience to climate change compared to previous breeding techniques. Moreover the breeding of plants that are less dependent on fertilizers and pesticides is more efficient. Use of these methods preserves natural resources of our planet and supports to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations as well as the Green Deal of the EU. The European Sustainable Agriculture through Genome Editing (EU-SAGE) Network, under which the institutions named above are unified, recommends the European Commission to endorse this message for the benefit and welfare of all EU citizens and to adapt the current regulations to use genome-editing for crop and plant breeding to recent scientific results. In its Open Statement the EU-SAGE network cites scientific studies that demonstrate the successful creation of genome-edited plants with resilience to climate change and resistance against pests and diseases and therefore higher yields and revenues. Other studies have proven to reduce the dependency on pesticides by improving resistance against diseases in rice, wine, wheat, and grapefruit. In addition precision breeding accelerates the introduction of healthy traits into vegetables and fruits, as studies have shown.

Read EU-SAGE's whole open statement (pdf)

How climate change influences growing seasons length in woody plants and survival of flowers, the substances that influence shape changes of plastids, and the proteins that spur phloem differentiation are in the research focus of the four plant scientists who will receive the science prices of the German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG) this year. Dr. Constantin Mario Zohner, Dr. Jessica Lee Erickson, Dr. Moisés Expósito Alonso and Dr. Eva-Sophie Wallner will get their awards during the Botanikertagung, the International Plant Science Conference in Rostock, Germany. From 16^th to 18^th September, the four will present their research results to the more than 420 conference participants.

DBG promotes the positions of the German Life Sciences Association VBIO on basic research in the life sciences that need to be appreciated, extended and communicated.

Sorry, basic text in German only

Grundlagenforschung braucht mehr Wertschätzung, eine wirksame und längerfristige Finanzierung und die strukturelle Absicherung der dort Beschäftigten. Auch die Wissenschaftskommunikation muss ausgebaut werden, fordert der Verband Biologie, Biowissenschaften und Biomedizin in Deutschland e.V. (VBIO) in seinem Positionspapier. Diese Positionen teilt die DBG, die im Dachverband der Biolog*innen Mitglied ist, und das Papier gemeinsam mit weiteren 12 wissenschaftlichen Fachgesellschaften gezeichnet hat.

Quelle: VBIO

The German Society for Plant Sciences (Deutsche Botanische Gesellschaft, DBG) and its Section Plant Physiology and Molecular Biology (SPPMB) jointly reach out to the newly elected European Parliament and the European Commission to adjust the old EU legislation on genetically modified organisms (GMO), issued in 2001, to current scientific knowledge and international stands. Together with 115 other scientific organisations and institutes, they suggest using the potential of precision breeding techniques like Genome Editing to enable sustainable agriculture and food production in the EU.

Read joint statement (pdf)

More than 85 European scientists and plant science organisations including our German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG) unite to ask the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for immediate review of EU legislation concerning new breeding technologies like #CRISPR. They want to safeguard precision breeding for sustainable agriculture. Read the open letter supported across Europe at the VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology. If you want to support this position you are welcome to add your name to the list of signatories.
Letter and option to support the position at VIB-UGent

PhD position (m/f/d)

The role of small RNAs in transgenerational plasticity in plants

University of Mainz, Institute for Organismic and Molecular Evolution, group Plant Evolutionary Ecology, Mainz, Germany

Start: January 2025

Details (pdf)

PhD position (m/f/d)

The role of Hfq and exRNAs in plant infections with Xylella fastidiosa

Ludwigs-Maximilian-Universität München (LMU), Graduate School Life Science Munich (LSM-LMU) "from Molecules to Systems", Munich, Germany

Online interviews: 13-16 January 2025

Deadline: 24 October 2024

Details: LSM-LMU (pdf)

PhD position (m/f/d)

Role of NADPH-dependent thioredoxin reductase C in acclimation of plants to low temperatures

Ludwigs-Maximilian-Universität München (LMU), Graduate School Life Science Munich (LSM-LMU) "from Molecules to Systems", Munich, Germany

Online interviews: 13-16 January 2025

Deadline: 24 October 2024

Details: LSM-LMU (pdf)

PhD position (m/f/d)

Role of thioredoxins in acclimation of plants to elevated light intensity

Ludwigs-Maximilian-Universität München (LMU), Graduate School Life Science Munich (LSM-LMU) "from Molecules to Systems", Munich, Germany

Online interviews: 13-16 January 2025

Deadline: 24 October 2024

Details: LSM-LMU (pdf)

PhD position (m/f/d)

Regulation and enhancing of photosynthesis

Ludwigs-Maximilian-Universität München (LMU), Graduate School Life Science Munich (LSM-LMU) "from Molecules to Systems", Munich, Germany

Online interviews: 13-16 January 2025

Deadline: 24 October 2024

Details: LSM-LMU (pdf)

Professorship (m/f/d)

Soil Ecology

Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, School of Biology and Environmental Sciences (IBU), School of Mathematics and Science (School V), Oldenbrug, Germany

Start: as soon as possible

Deadline: 31 October 2024

Details (pdf)

Assistant/Associate Professor (Tenure) (m/f/d)

Photosynthesis

Michigan State University (MSU), College Of Natural Science, Plant Research Laboratory, East Lansing, USA

Review of applications starts: 4 November 2024

Details: MSU

12 PhD positions / Research Assistants (m/f/d)

Biological Clocks on Multiple Time Scales: Investigation of timekeeping in different organisms  - interdisciplinary collaboration between experiment and theory/modelling (DFG Research Training Network)

some are in the plants

University of Kassel, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences and Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Kassel, Germany

Start: 1 April 2025

Deadline: 29 October 2024

Details: University of Kassel

Contact the editor:  stellen [at] deutsche-botanische-gesellschaft.de     

Publishing your ad is free of charge for members and other plant scientists.

In their review authors Pittman and Hirschi summarize recent findings on the significance of CAX transporters (Cation/H⁺ Exchangers) in plant signal transduction and element partitioning. This may open future ways of strategically manipulating the temporal loss of CAX function in agriculturally important crops that may bolster plant immunity, enhance cold tolerance, and fortify resilience against one of agriculture’s most significant challenges, namely flooding. In their review entitled "CAX control: multiple roles of vacuolar cation/H⁺ exchangers in metal tolerance, mineral nutrition and environmental signalling" the authors also address the use of genetically encoded Ca²⁺ sensors, the loss of CAX functions and specific stress conditions, as well as the determination of optimal timing and approach for modulating the expression of CAX.

Read whole paper open access in our scientific journal Plant Biology (2024) DOI: 10.1111/plb.13698

Since the precise mechanisms through which nitrogen influences lignin biosynthesis have not been fully elucidated, the authors Peng, Shrestha, Zhang, Fan, Yu and Wang summarize a systematic search of the literature. Among the selected studies, 64.52% refer to lignin content found a negative correlation between nitrogen availability and lignin content. High nitrogen decreases the lignin content, delays cell lignification, increases p-hydroxyphenyl propane monomer content, and regulates lignin synthesis through the expression of key genes. Nitrogen deficiency enhances lignin synthesis through the accumulation of phenylpropanoids, phenolics, and soluble carbohydrates, and indirect changes in phytohormones, secondary metabolites, etc. The paper "How lignin biosynthesis responds to nitrogen in plants: a scoping review" provides new insights and important references for future studies on the regulation of lignin biosynthesis.

Read whole paper in our scientific journal Plant Biology (2024) DOI: 10.1111/plb.13627

(DBG's members are able to access all Plant Biology papers via our intranet).

In their review "The modelling of flower colour: spectral purity or colour contrast as biologically relevant descriptors of flower colour signals for bees depending upon the perceptual task" authors Lunau and Dyer ask whether quantitative modelling of flower signals should strive for repeatable consistency enabled by parameter simplification, or whether modelling should reflect the dynamic way in which bees are known to process signals. They also touch why colour is an interpretation of spectral information by the animal's brain, and how bee's colour perception is based on physiological, neuroanatomical and behavioural evidence to provide a pathway for modelling flower colours. They ask, whether flower petals and floral guides as viewed against spectrally different backgrounds should be considered as a simple colour contrast problem or require a more dynamic consideration of how bees make perceptual decisions. The authors also discuss exploitative vs. honest signalling.

Read whole paper open access in our scientific journal Plant Biology (2024) DOI: 10.1111/plb.13682 

Cytisus scoparius (L.) Link, commonly referred to as Scotch broom, is a Mediterranean shrub capable of thriving in a variety of ecosystems that has invaded every habitable continent on Earth. The authors PW Hacker and NC Coops here present a timeline and estimated rate of expansion from 1816 to 2016. They also model its expected range over the next 70 years, and highlight the need for investigation into its expansion mechanisms and the establishment of monitoring programs.

Read whole paper open access in our scientific journal Plant Biology (2024) DOI: 10.1111/plb.13662

It is challenging to maintain high crop yields, even in arid and drought-prone regions that depend on irrigation. In this review authors Geilfus, Zörb, Jones, Wimmer & Schmöckel explain water use efficiency (WUE) and options to improve water use and thus crop yield. Nutrient management might represent another possibility to manipulate water uptake and use by plants. An emerging topic involves agroforest co-cultivation, where trees in the system facilitate water transfer through hydraulic lift, benefiting neighbouring crops. Other options to enhance crop yield per water use are also discussed.

Read paper in our scientific journal Plant Biology open access (2024) DOI: 10.1111/plb.13652

Breeding of new plant varieties with lower mesophyll resistance for CO₂ diffusion requires knowledge of its diffusion components. Authors Janová, Kubásek, Grams, Zeisler-Diehl, Schreiber & Šantrůćek therefore tested a new method to estimate relative drawdowns of CO₂ concentration across hypostomatous leaves of Fagus sylvatica integrated over the lifetime of the leaf. The new method shows that intercellular components is minor but not negligible part of CO₂ diffusion and reflects leaf anatomy traits, i.e. leaf mass per area and thickness.

Read paper in our scientific journal Plant Biology open access (2024) DOI: 10.1111/plb.13655

In their paper the authors Park et al. provide a brief overview of recent progress in genome-editing technologies, including zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-associated protein 9 (Cas9) technologies. They classify disease resistant mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana and several crop plants based on the roles or functions of the mutated genes in plant immunity and suggest potential target genes for molecular breeding of genome-edited disease-resistant plants. Genome editing technologies are resilient tools for sustainable development and promising solutions for coping with climate change and population increases.

Read whole paper in our scientific journal Plant Biology (2024) DOI: 10.1111/plb.13625

(DBG's members are able to access all Plant Biology papers and reviews via our intranet).

In the open access paper "pollen, anther, stamen, and androecium mimicry" authors Lunau, De Camargo and Brito review the hypotheses, why the yellow UV-absorbing floral centre is so frequent in angiosperms. They review the pollen, anther, stamen, and androecium mimicry (PASAM) hypotheses, present new and published data on pollenating and pollen-collecting pollinators’ responses to PASAM structures and discuss how widespread these systems are around the globe. Their ultimate goal is to promote the idea that PASAM is a plausible first approach to understanding floral colour patterns in angiosperms.

Read whole paper in our scientific journal Plant Biology (2024) DOI: 10.1111/plb.13628

The paper summarizes the ecological and physiological significance of mycorrhization. As the authors Chaudhury et al. describe: Dual mycorrhization relationships in trees and even triple relationships among trees, mycorrhizal fungi and bacteria offer an interesting physiological system to understand how plants interact with other organisms for better survival. Besides, studies indicate additional roles of mycorrhization in learning, memorizing and communication between host trees through a common mycorrhizal network (CMN). Recent observations in trees suggest that mycorrhization may even promote tolerance to multiple abiotic (e.g., drought, salt, heavy metal stress) and biotic (e.g. fungi) stresses. Due to the extent of physiological reliance, local adaptation of trees is heavily impacted by the mycorrhizal community. This knowledge opens the possibility of a non-GMO avenue to promote tree growth and development. Indeed, mycorrhization could impact growth of trees in nurseries and subsequent survival of the inoculated trees in field conditions.

Read whole paper in our scientific journal Plant Biology (2024) DOI: 10.1111/plb.13613

(DBG's members are able to access all Plant Biology papers via our intranet).

In their review authors Han et al. summarize and classify allelochemicals and chemical signals according to their function and structure in relation to environmental factors and generation and diffusion of such signals, since allelopathy and allelobiosis have never been systematically described thus far. Moreover the authors provide recent research on the application of allelopathy and allelobiosis in agroecosystems in future studies.

Read whole paper in our scientific journal Plant Biology (2023) DOI: 10.1111/plb.13582 

(DBG's members are able to access all Plant Biology papers via our intranet).

In the article "An overview of oxygen transport in plants: diffusion and convection" author G. G. Striker summarizes how plants under hypoxia/anoxia ensure a steady oxygen supply to their cells and identifies three types of pressurized (convective) flows: humidity-induced pressurization (positive pressure), thermal osmosis (positive pressure with air flow against the heat gradient), and venturi-induced suction (negative pressure) caused by wind passing over broken culms.

Read whole paper in our scientific journal Plant Biology (2023) DOI: 10.1111/plb.13558.

(DBG's members are able to access all Plant Biology papers via our intranet).

In the article "Evolution of a non-flying mammal-dependent pollination system in Asian Mucuna (Fabaceae)" author S. Kobayashi summarizes the available knowledge of pollination in Asian Mucuna (Fabaceae), a genus mainly distributed in the tropics, and discusses the evolution of plants pollinated by non-flying mammals in Asia. Nineteen pollinator species have been recorded and pollination systems have been categorized into four types. An examination of the relationship between Mucuna species and their pollinators from the lineage perspective revealed that all species in Mucuna, subgenus Macrocarpa, which are distributed in Asia, are pollinated exclusively by non-flying mammals, f.e. from squirrel species.

Read whole paper in our scientific journal Plant Biology (2023) DOI: 10.1111/plb.13557.

(DBG's members are able to access all Plant Biology papers via our intranet).

In their review "Recent advances in the genetics underlying wheat grain protein content (GPC) and grain protein deviation (GPD) in hexaploid wheat", the authors Paina and Gregersen summarize the scientific findings about the genetics underlying wheat GPC and GPD, representing the relationship between grain protein content and yield), together with the performance of genomic prediction models characterizing these traits. A total of 364 significant loci related to GPC and GPD are positioned on the hexaploid wheat genome, one of the most important global crops which therefore is of major interest in breeding programs.

Read whole paper in our scientific journal Plant Biology (2023) DOI: 10.1111/plb.13550 (Open Access)

(DBG's members are able to access all Plant Biology papers via our intranet).

In their article "Molecular gibberellin (GA) pathways as conserved integrators for adaptive responses" Bouré and Arnaud summarize the elements of GA metabolism and signalling pathways, with emphasis on the key role of the GA/GID1/DELLA complex as a conserved developmental integrator. They also discuss how the GA signalling pathway - together with feedback regulation on GA metabolism -  contributes to the integration of endogenous and exogenous signals to provide an adaptive output.

Read whole paper in our scientific journal Plant Biology (2023). DOI: 10.1111/plb.13549.

(DBG's members are able to access all Plant Biology papers via our intranet).

The autors Touhami et al. review the current state of knowledge on the effects of climate change on sclerophyllous and semi-deciduous forest ecosystems in Tunisia. They found alarming results concerning the tree cover lost to fires, as well as shifted phenological parameters like start and end of the green season. And they call upon scientists, policymakers, and managers to adapt Mediterranean forests to climate change.

Read whole paper in our scientific journal Plant Biology (2023). DOI: 10.1111/plb.13524

(DBG's members are able to access all Plant Biology papers via our intranet).

10-13 February 2025: Conference Molecular Biology of Plants (MBP2025) of our Section Plant Physiology and Molecular Biology in Hennef, Germany

27-29 August 2025: Scientific meeting of our Section Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology in Heidelberg, Germany

1-3 September 2025: Scientific meeting of our Sections Natural Products and Applied Botany in Hildesheim, Germany

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Members receive more notes on conferences via our newsletter; incl. dates of DBG's supported meetings.

Co- and posttranslational control in chloroplasts - DBG's Eduard Strasburger-HOT TOPIC-Workshop

Münster, Germany
18 - 20 November 2024
Applicant: Dr. Jürgen Eirich

1^st International Workshops on Alpine and Mountain Plants (iWAMP)

San Michele all'Adige, Italy
23 - 25 October 2024
Applicant: Dr. Stefan Martens
Website: https://sites.google.com/fmach.it/iwamp2024 

Botanik-Tagung, International Conference of our German Society for Plant Sciences

Halle Saale, Germany
15 - 19 September 2024
Applicant: Prof. Dr. Edgar Peiter
Website: https://botanik-tagung.de

Symposium of the International Society of Endocytobiology 2024

Bochum, Germany
10 - 12 September 2024
Applicant: Prof. Dr. Danja Schünemann
read conference report in our Actualia

International Conference on Thermomorphogenesis

Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Germany
4 - 6 September 2024
Applicant: Dr. Daniel Maag
read conference report in our Actualia

18^th Symposium on Insect-Plant Relationships (SIP)

Universität Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany
4 - 8 August 2024
Applicant: Dr. Rabea Schweiger
read conference report in our Actualia 

International Symposium on Iron Nutrition and Interactions in Plants (ISINIP)

Düsseldorf, Germany
8 - 11 July 2024 (excursion 12^th July)
Applicant: Prof. Dr. Petra Bauer
read conference report in our Actualia

Mitochondria and Chloroplasts - Energy Transducing Organelles: Fundamental Processes and Translation in Agriculture and Medicine

Gordon Research Conference
Barcelona, Spain
7 - 12 July 2024
Applicant: Prof. Dr. Andreas Weber
read conference report in our Actualia 

2^nd European Photosynthesis Congress (ePS2): ePS Young Session

Padua, Italy
24 - 25 June 2024
Applicant: Dr. Anja Krieger-Liszkay
read conference report in our Actualia 

Plant Science Student Conference (PSSC) 2024

Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzenbiochemie (IPB), Halle (Saale), Germany
17 - 20 June 2024
Applicant: Jolina Marx, Prof. Dr. Tina Romais
read conference report in our Actualia

PlantACT! Plants for Climate Action Conference

Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Germany
10 - 13 March 2024
Applicant: Prof. Dr. Andreas Weber
read conference report in our Actualia

37^th Molecular Biology of Plants

Of our Section Plant Physiology and Molecular Biology
Sportschule Hennef, Germany
4 - 7 March 2024
Applicant: Prof. Dr. Ute Höcker
read conference report in our Actualia

22. Mitteldeutsche Pflanzenphysiologie-Tagung

Universität Jena
23 - 24 February 2024
Applicant: Jun.-Prof. Dr. Julie Zedler and PD Dr. Alexandra Furch
read conference report in our Actualia

The German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG) awards Dr Eliza Loo (Düsseldorf), Dr Henryk Straube (Hannover/Copenhagen) and Dr Martin Lewinski (Bielefeld) for their excellent research. According to Loo’s research, colonization of root microbes can be separated into different parts along the root, which resembles the human gut. Tiny amounts of rare nucleotides can now be measured thanks to Straube’s research, with which he also discovered a nucleotide-degrading enzyme. Lewinski established a lab protocol to analyse RNA-binding proteins in living plants, which now allows the study of their regulation network. The three scientists will present their results at the Botanik-Tagung, International Conference of the German Society for Plant Sciences, in Halle (Saale) in September, where more than 600 plant scientists are expected to participate.

How climate change influences growing seasons length in woody plants and survival of flowers, the substances that influence shape changes of plastids, and the proteins that spur phloem differentiation are in the research focus of the four plant scientists who will receive the science prices of the German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG) this year. Dr. Constantin Mario Zohner, Dr. Jessica Lee Erickson, Dr. Moisés Expósito Alonso and Dr. Eva-Sophie Wallner will get their awards during the Botanikertagung, the International Plant Science Conference in Rostock, Germany. From 16^th to 18^th September, the four will present their research results to the more than 420 conference participants.

The algal researchers of the DBG nominated the Blue-Green Rock Dweller Chroococcidiopsis for the alga of the year 2017. The single celled organism lives inside rocks and lichens, survives extreme climatic conditions and makes hostile environments accessible – today and most likely thousands of millions of years ago as well. While doing so, it paved the way for plants and animals. The blue-green rock dweller, belonging to the cyanobacteria lives like all algae, from sunlight, and is of great interest to ecologists, biotechnologists, and desert- and space researchers. It is the favorite research subject of Prof. Dr. Burkhard Büdel from the University of Kaiserslautern, who has been investigating it for more than 30 years. He is a member of the Phycology Section of the German Society for Plant Sciences, DBG, in which the algal researches are organized and who nominate this year an alga of the year for the tenth time this year.

Wilhelm Pfeffer-Preis der DBG geht an Dr. Manuel Steinbauer

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Weil er herausfand, wo auf Inseln besonders viele, nur dort lebende, endemische Pflanzen vorkommen und ökologische Theorien weiterentwickelte, erhält der Biogeograph Dr. Manuel Steinbauer von der Universität Bayreuth den diesjährigen, mit 2.500 Euro dotierten Wilhelm Pfeffer-Preis der Deutschen Botanischen Gesellschaft (DBG).

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Weil er Pflanzen der Gattung Genlisea (Reusenfallen) so gründlich untersuchte, dass diese sich zu neuen Modellorganismen für Genomstudien mausern können, erhält Dr. Andreas Fleischmann den diesjährigen Strasburger-Preis der Deutschen Botanischen Gesellschaft (DBG). Diese fleischfressenden Pflanzen eignen sich besonders dafür zu erforschen, wie und warum es einige Organismen schaffen, ihren gesamten Bauplan und ihre gesamte Erbinformation auf sehr wenig „Speicherplatz“ unterzubringen, während andere − oft sogar nahe verwandte Arten − dafür ein Vielfaches mehr benötigen. Diese Frage beschäftigt Evolutionsbiologen schon lange. Fleischmann erhält den mit 2.500 Euro dotierten, von Springer Spektrum gestifteten Strasburger-Preis, am Montag, den 31. August 2015 während der diesjährigen Botanikertagung in Freising aus den Händen des Präsidenten der DBG, Prof. Dr. Karl-Josef Dietz.

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Jonas Zimmermann erhält Horst Wiehe-Preis der Deutschen Botanischen Gesellschaft

Weil er das DNA-Barcoding als neue Methode für Gewässergüteanalysen mit Kieselalgen etablierte, erhält Dr. Jonas Zimmermann den diesjährigen Horst Wiehe-Förderpreis der Deutschen Botanischen Gesellschaft (DBG). In seiner Dissertation identifizierte Zimmermann diejenigen Abschnitte auf der Erbsubstanz, die sich als zuverlässige Marker für das DNA-Barcoding eignen, einer mit den Strichcodes auf Waren im Supermarkt vergleichbaren Erkennungsmethode. Dabei entdeckte er auch vier neue Arten von Kieselalgen in Berliner Gewässern, die der Wissenschaft bis dato völlig unbekannt waren. Die neue Methode wird in Zukunft Umweltanalysen erleichtern, die zur Überwachung von Gewässern in der Europäischen Wasserrahmenrichtlinie (WRRL) vorgeschrieben sind. Da er gleichzeitig bestehende Referenz-Datenbanken verbesserte, profitieren nicht nur Umweltbiologen sondern auch alle Kieselalgenforscher von seiner Arbeit. Zimmermann, der inzwischen am Botanischen Garten und Botanischen Museum in Berlin (BGBM) arbeitet, erhält den mit 2.000 Euro dotierten Nachwuchspreis während der Botanikertagung am Montag, den 31. August 2015, in München aus den Händen von Prof. Dr. Karl-Josef Dietz, dem Präsidenten der DBG.

Ulva, a sea lettuce found in all oceans of the world, became ‘Alga of the Year 2015’. This marine green alga either grows in form of ribbons or of blades but only if the right bacteria induce certain developmental programs. How the alga ensures this is described on the Section's website.

Phycologists of the Botanical Society of Germany have selected Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as alga of the year 2014. This unicellular green alga is distributed throughout the world, is able to sense light, is a fast swimmer and is highly appreciated by algal and plant researchers as well as medical scientists as a model organism. Chlamydomonas even provides the basis for the establishment of novel scientific areas in neurobiology and medicine, such as optogenetics where genetically modified cells are applied as ‘light switches’. The Phycology Section introduces the model organism on its website.

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Dr. Dominik Großkinsky erhält den Wilhelm Pfeffer-Preis der Deutschen Botanischen Gesellschaft für die Entdeckung, dass das Hormon Cytokinin die Abwehrkraft von Pflanzen steigert. Unter dem Einfluss von körpereigenen Cytokininen bildeten die Pflanzen sog. Phytoalexine, steigerten ihre Abwehrkraft also mit körpereigenen Antibiotika und überwanden eine Infektion mit dem Bakterium Pseudomonas syringae. Erstaunlicher Weise wirkte Cytokinin aber auch, wenn es von anderen Bakterien abgegeben wurde und gar nicht von der Pflanze selbst stammte. Das eröffnet neue Wege in der Resistenzforschung und in der biologischen Kontrolle des Erregers Pseudomonas syringae. Dieses Bakterium führt bei Nutzpflanzen wie Äpfeln, Kartoffeln oder Tomaten zu Ernteeinbußen und ist nur schwer zu bekämpfen. Großkinsky wird den mit 2.500 Euro dotierten Preis während der diesjährigen Botanikertagung am 30. September vom Präsident der Wilhelm-Pfeffer-Stiftung, Prof. Dr. Christian Wilhelm, entgegen nehmen.

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Für seine Entdeckung, wie Pflanzen das Hormon Strigolacton herstellen, erhält der Dr. Adrian Alder den Strasburger-Preis der Deutschen Botanischen Gesellschaft (DBG). An der Universität Freiburg hat der 31jährige bisherige Annahmen widerlegt, wie das Hormon entsteht, den korrekten Weg herausgefunden und das Zwischenprodukt Carlacton identifiziert, das ähnliche Wirkungen wie das fertige Hormon entfaltet. Mit Strigolactonen locken Pflanzen symbiontische Pilze zum beiderseitigen Vorteil an. Der pflanzliche Botenstoff wird aber auch von Schmarotzerpflanzen missbraucht. Das einfacher aufgebaute Carlacton eröffnet neue Perspektiven im biologischen Pflanzenschutz, indem es bislang kaum zu bekämpfende Parasiten, die ganze Ernten vernichten, in den Selbstmord treiben kann. Für diese Arbeiten wird Alder am 30. September 2013 mit dem mit 2.500 Euro dotieren und von Springer Spektrum gestifteten Strasburger-Preis ausgezeichnet, den er während der diesjährigen Botanikertagung in Tübingen aus den Händen des Präsidenten der DBG, Prof. Dr. Karl-Josef Dietz, entgegen nehmen wird.

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Dr. Martin Bringmann erhält den Horst Wiehe-Preis der Deutschen Botanischen Gesellschaft (DBG) 2013. Der ehemalige Doktorand am Max-Planck-Institut für molekulare Pflanzenphysiologie in Potsdam identifizierte ein seit den 1960er Jahren postuliertes Bindeglied und klärte den Mechanismus auf, der Pflanzen hilft, Zellulose korrekt in ihren Zellwänden anzuordnen. Die richtige Anordnung verleiht den Zellen nicht nur eine Hülle mit der Reißfestigkeit von Stahl, sondern ist auch für das Richtungswachstum verantwortlich, wenn sich Pflanzen etwa dem Sonnenlicht entgegenstrecken. Wie Pflanzen Zellulose synthetisieren, interessiert nicht nur Pflanzenwissenschaftler, sondern auch die Papier- und Textilindustrie sowie die Hersteller von Bioethanol. Bringmann, der nun in Kalifornien forscht, wird den mit 1.500 Euro dotierten Preis am 30. September 2013 während der Botanikertagung von Prof. Dr. Karl-Josef Dietz, dem Präsidenten der DBG, entgegen nehmen.

Single photos of the three awardees and an additional graph of the SWEET transporters along the plant root can be downloaded here:

Dr Eliza Loo will receive this year’s Eduard Strasburger Award from the German Society of Plant Sciences (Deutsche Botanische Gesellschaft, DBG). Microbiologist and plant scientist Loo discovered that root microbes are distributed non-homogenously along the longitudinal axis of the root. Similar to the root itself, the root microbiota are therefore divided into different zones despite not being identifiable by looking at the Arabidopsis plant root. As Loo and Prof. Dr Wolf Frommer describe in the journal Cell Host & Microbe root microbes influence three SWEET sugar transporters to maintain the balance of metabolite levels in the root. Changes in the root metabolite balance also change the colonization pattern of the root microbes. Different sections along plant roots resemble those sections in the guts of human and fruit flies. Similar to those in human intestines, microbiota help plants retrieve and make soil nutrients available, cope with stressors, and defend plants against diseases. Loo’s result will change the perspective in plant science, since the plant root microbiome from now on has to be considered as an organ with distinct microbial communities. This must be taken into account if microbiota are to be optimized, e.g. for improving plant health. Now Loo, as a group leader of the rice team at the Institute for Molecular Physiology at the University of Düsseldorf, investigates whether her findings are transferable to improve crops. Dr Loo will receive the Eduard Strasburger Award, which is endowed with 2,500 Euros from a foundation of the publisher Springer-Spektrum, from DBG’s president, Professor Dr Andreas Weber, on 17^th September. She is invited to present her research results as a plenary lecture at this year’s Botanik-Tagung, International Conference of the German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG). 

Dr Henryk Straube will be awarded with the Wilhelm Pfeffer Award 2024 of the German Society of Plant Sciences (Deutsche Botanische Gesellschaft, DBG). In his outstanding PhD thesis, Henryk Straube successfully combined several methods that now allow to analyse tiny amounts of rare nucleotides, that are the building blocks for genetic information storage, in plant cells for the first time. Moreover, Straube also was able to measure tiny amounts of damaged metabolites such as inosine triphosphate. At the Institute of Molecular Nutrition and Biochemistry of Plants at Leibniz University of Hannover and supervised by Dr. Marco Herde and Prof. Dr Claus-Peter Witte, Germany, Straube has discovered a new enzyme, the inosine triphosphate pyrophosphatase, which coordinates the degradation of damaged nucleotides. His results will improve basic research in the plant nucleotide metabolism. Now, being a postdoc at University of Copenhagen in Denmark, Straube investigates the biosynthesis of vicine und convicine, two toxic alkaloids in faba beans, a promising source of plant protein in Europe. Interestingly these two alkaloids are not derived from amino acids - like most plant alkaloids - but from nucleotides and are thus produced via a different biosynthesis pathway. Dr Straube will receive the award, endowed with 2,500 Euros, on 16^th September from the president of DBG’s Wilhelm Pfeffer Foundation, Professor Dr Severin Sasso. Straube is invited to present the results of his outstanding dissertation in an oral presentation in a plenary session.

Dr Martin Lewinski will receive the Horst Wiehe Award 2024 of the German Society of Plant Sciences (Deutsche Botanische Gesellschaft, DBG) for his development of a new experimental protocol to determine binding sites of proteins binding to their target RNA. He succeeded to establish a lab method called iCLIP2 (individual nucleotide resolution crosslinking and immunoprecipitation) to determine binding sites of RNA binding proteins in live plant tissue (in vivo) at high resolution. The method offers the complete step by step instructions for the wet-lab part and bioinformatic analysis to determine the exact spots where a specific protein interacts with RNAs. The method was published in Nature Protocols, and the identification of binding sites on target RNAs now allows insights in the regulatory function of the protein. With this knowledge, developed in Prof. Dr Dorothee Staiger’s lab at Bielefeld University, current paradigms of protein-RNA interaction can now be tested or extended. Lewinski will receive the prize for promising early career plant scientists endowed with 2,000 Euros on 18^th September from DBG’s General Secretary, Prof. Dr Caroline Müller. He will present his method in a plenary talk.

Eduard Strasburger winner: Dr Eliza Loo (Düsseldorf)

Group Leader: Rice team
Building: 26.14
Floor/Room: 00.104
Phone: +49 211 81-41608
E-mail: loo[at]uni-duesseldorf.de 
Website: https://www.molecular-physiology.hhu.de/team-rice/mitglieder-team-rice

Laudatory speech:

Prof. Dr Andreas Weber, President of the German Society for Plant Sciences (Deutsche Botanische Gesellschaft, DBG)
Institute for Plant Biochemistry, Heinrich-Heine-University, Universitaetsstrasse 1, 40225 Düsseldorf
Phone: +49-211-81-12347
E-Mail: andreas.weber[at]uni-duesseldorf.de
Web: www.plant-biochemistry.hhu.de 

Wilhelm Pfeffer Award winner: Dr Hendryk Straube (Hannover/Copenhagen)

Currently:
University of Copenhagen, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Thorvaldsensvej 40, 1871 Frederiksberg C, Denmark
Phone: ++45 35328955
E-Mail: henryk[at]plen.ku.dk   

Laudatory speech:

Prof. Dr Severin Sasso,
President of the Wilhelm Pfeffer Foundation of the of the German Society for Plant Sciences (Deutsche Botanische Gesellschaft, DBG)
Leipzig University, Institute of Biology, Department of Plant Physiology, Johannisallee 21-23, 04103 Leipzig
Tel.: ++49 (0) 341-9736893
E-Mail: severin.sasso[at]uni-leipzig.de
Web: https://www.lw.uni-leipzig.de/en/institut-fuer-biologie/abteilungen/plant-physiology

Horst Wiehe Award winner: Dr Martin Lewinski (Bielefeld)

Universität Bielefeld, Universitätsstraße 25, 33615 Bielefeld
Phone: ++49 (0) 521 106-5639  
E-Mail: martin.lewinski[at]uni-bielefeld.de

Laudatory speech:

Prof. Dr Caroline Müller
Secretary General of the German Society for Plant Sciences (Deutsche Botanische Gesellschaft, DBG)
Lehrstuhl für Chemische Ökologie, Universität Bielefeld, Fakultät für Biologie, W1-142, Universitätsstraße 25, 33615 Bielefeld
Phone: +49 521 106-5524
E-mail: caroline.mueller[at]uni-bielefeld.de 
Web: https://www.uni-bielefeld.de/fakultaeten/biologie/forschung/arbeitsgruppen/chem_eco/

Loo E.P.I., Durán P, Pang TP, Westhoff P, Deng C, Durán C, Lercher M., Garido-Oter, R. & Frommer W.B. (2024) Sugar transporters spatially organize microbiota colonization along the longitudinal root axis of Arabidopsis. Cell Host Microbe 32, 543-556.e6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2024.02.014

Straube, Henryk (2023): Investigation of the metabolism of rare nucleotides in plants. Dissertation. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover, 241 S., Referent: Prof. Dr Claus-Peter Witte. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15488/13270

Lewinski M., Brüggemann M., Köster T., Reichel, M., Bergelt, T., Meyer, K., König, J., Zarnack, K., Staiger, D. (2024): Mapping protein-RNA binding in plants with individual-nucleotide-resolution UV cross-linking and immunoprecipitation (plant iCLIP2). Nature Protocols 19, 1183–1234. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41596-023-00935-3    

Since 1994 the German Society for Plant Sciences (Deutsche Botanische Gesellschaft, DBG) awards the Eduard Strasburger Prize for exceptional and original research results. Springer Spektrum (www.springer-spektrum.de) provides the endowment of 2,500 Euros biannually. The Foundation was initiated on the occasion of the centennial anniversary of the first edition of "Lehrbuch der Botanik für Hochschulen" written by Eduard Strasburger, Fritz Noll, Heinrich Schenck and A. F. Wilhelm Schimper in the year 1894. The election of the winner is reviewed by a jury consisting of the authors of the next circulation of now „Strasburger Lehrbuch der Pflanzenwissenschaften", DBG’s president and the biology planner from Springer Spektrum. See details: https://www.deutsche-botanische-gesellschaft.de/en/about-us-0/promoting-early-career-scientists/strasburger-prize

The German Society for Plant Sciences (Deutsche Botanische Gesellschaft, DBG) awards the Wilhelm Pfeffer Prize for an outstanding PhD thesis (dissertation) in the field of plant sciences. The prize endowment of 2,500 Euros and the award from DBG’s own Wilhelm Pfeffer Foundation is intended to promote the careers of young scientists. The prize is awarded by the foundation’s board members. Details: https://www.deutsche-botanische-gesellschaft.de/en/about-us-0/promoting-early-career-scientists/pfeffer-prize  

The German Society for Plant Sciences (Deutsche Botanische Gesellschaft, DBG) awards the Horst Wiehe Prize every other year for outstanding research results exclusively in the plant sciences. The prize, endowed with 2,000 Euros, is given solely to early career scientists upon receiving a doctorate or before becoming a lecturer. The prize is named after Horst Wiehe who provided an amount of money to initiate this foundation. Details: https://www.deutsche-botanische-gesellschaft.de/en/about-us-0/promoting-early-career-scientists/wiehe-prize  

The German Society for Plant Sciences (Deutsche Botanische Gesellschaft, DBG) is the largest organisation for plant scientists in the German speaking area. The non-profit organisation represents plant scientists, promotes plant sciences nationally and internationally and was founded more than 140 years ago. The DBG furthers early career plant scientists and unites plant scientists of all career stages. DBG supports the scientific exchange among its more than 1,000 members. More: https://www.deutsche-botanische-gesellschaft.de/en/ 

The German Society for Plant Sciences (Deutsche Botanische Gesellschaft, DBG) is the largest non-profit network of plant sciences and botany in the German speaking area. The society represents plant scientists, promotes plant sciences nationally and internationally and furthers scientific exchange among its more than 1,000 members. The DBG is one of the oldest botanical societies in the world, which is still active. It integrates all plant science disciplines, supports early career scientists and unites all generations.

If you want to support plant sciences, be part of and enjoy the benefits of a strong network, please feel free to join our society. Please use the online application form we have created for your convenience.