A person points to items on a table while presenting an activity to a student.
This week, Dr. Hawkins led one of our favorite activities at Glencairn Elementary’s Science Night! Students explored how metabolism creates the pleasant aromas of bananas & other fruits, discovering through a hands-on activity how plant metabolism is what gives these fruits their signature scents.
Novel roles of #sulfur #metabolism in #stress-controlled #stomata aperture regulation
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
#PlantScience #SciComm @newphyt.bsky.social @plantlifeuk.bsky.social @stomagenesis.bsky.social @stomatasky.bsky.social @plecevo.bsky.social @plantmetabolism.bsky.social
The hidden role of #amino acids and secondary #metabolites in plant #drought tolerance
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#PlantScience #StressTolerance @plantsciencedbg.bsky.social @plantsciencedbg.bsky.social @plantbiology.bsky.social @plantstress.bsky.social @plantmetabolism.bsky.social
Three people smile together while sitting at a round, white table. Other people sitting at tables can be seen in the background.
The 2026 @nappn.bsky.social Annual Conference is in full swing at Michigan State University! We're looking forward to the next two days of innovation in #plantphenotyping across scales, including tomorrow's talks by PRI members Christopher Topp, Jonathan Concepcion, and Anuradha Singh! #NAPPN2026
A graphic of a young girl dreaming of science with text that reads "International Day of Women and Girls in Science"
Today we celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science!
The Plant Metabolic Network recognizes and honors the women advancing plant metabolism research and inspiring the next generation of scientists.
A large group of hackathon participants stand and kneel together while smiling and wearing matching lanyards and gray t-shirts with a drawing of the state of Michigan on them. The person taking the photo leans into the frame on the front left, and there is a brown and white dog in the center of the group. They are inside a sunny building, posing in front of a wall of windows between two white pillars.
Three people on the winning hackathon team pose together in front of a chalkboard. There is a poster behind them of a cartoon corn kernal holding a sign that says "Kernel Crew" on it. The two people on the end are holding their arms up in a flexing motion, and the person in the middle is holding up finger hearts.
Nine hackathon organizers and partners gather together while smiling in front of a brick wall that has abstract, metal sculptures hanging on it.
This past weekend, interdisciplinary trainees came together to tackle real-world agricultural data challenges at the MSU Bayer Hackathon! As a proud sponsor, the Plant Resilience Institute celebrates the creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration demonstrated by everyone involved! #MSUAgHack2026
A dark green background with a headshot of a man in a black top and glasses. The image has a text box with the individual's biography.
Say hello to the newest member of PMN!
Mohan Varghese, Ph.D is joining the PMN team as a Postdoctoral Researcher with The Maeda Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison!
Join us in welcoming Mohan!
To view the full PMN team, visit: plantcyc.org/people/
@hiroshi-maeda.bsky.social
An image featuring an art exhibit banner on the right, next to a sign that features the Michigan State University Spartan logo and the Multicultural Center sign.
An image down a hallway that shows multiple art exhibit images featuring plant scientists.
An image of two art exhibit banners hung up in a hallway.
The PCA & @msupri.bsky.social 's art exhibit featuring historically significant Black scholars in honor of Black History month is now on display at Michigan State University's Multicultural Center.
Check it out in-person during the month of February or visit: www.plantcellatlas.org/pca-art-exhi...
The lime green and navy graphic has a background image of computer code and DNA with the Michigan State University word mark in the top left corner. Contained in a white circle, there is the North American Plant Phenotyping Network (NAPPN) logo above the following text: Bayer Hackathon, February 7-8, 2026, Michigan State University. A free, hands-on plant breeding hackathon for students and trainees before the 2026 NAPPN Annual Conference. Register: plantphenotyping.org/conference-home Sponsored by:" with the Bayer and PRI logos at the bottom.
Bayer and the Plant Resilience Institute are hosting a free plant breeding hackathon for trainees, February 7-8 at Michigan State University! Register by January 30 for this fast-paced, collaborative event focused on engineering solutions in predictive breeding: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
@rheelab.bsky.social @hiroshi-maeda.bsky.social
A dark green image with a plant metabolite structured boarder. The image includes the PMN logo and promotes the release of PMN 17.
We are SO excited to announce that, along with the launch of our new website, PMN 17 is live!
PMN 17 is our largest release & includes 583 single-species databases, including updated versions of 155 databases from PMN 16!
You can use PMN 17 now and check out our updated website here: plantcyc.org
The MSU PRI supports and contributes to several center-level research grants including the Plant Metabolic Network.
Because of PRI's support, the PMN is able to continue working towards our goal of bringing together biochemical pathway databases and communities focused on plant metabolism.
Happy to share our🆕article "The hidden role of #AminoAcids and secondary #metabolites in plant drought tolerance🌾🌱" is out in #PlantScience @elsevierconnect.bsky.social🤩🥳
Congrats to all authors👏
🔗 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#PlantScience @scinews.bsky.social @jennifermach.bsky.social
Congratulations to the PMN Principal Investigator, Dr. Sue Rhee, on her achievement!
@rheelab.bsky.social
The graphic has a faded background image of hands scooping up a seedling in the dirt with the Plant Resilience Institute logo in the top left corner. In a green gradient arrow, there is text that says, “Now Hiring: Howe Lab Postdoctoral Researcher.” In the bottom right corner, there is the MSU PRI logo and the text, “Apply online at careers.msu.edu.”
🚨 Hiring alert! MSU's Plant Resilience Institute is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Associate to advance discovery of new regulatory metabolites driving plant stress responses. #PlantSciJobs
Join us as we push the boundaries of plant resilience research: careers.msu.edu/jobs/researc...
A graphic with a blue background image of computer code and DNA with the Plant Resilience Institute logo in the top left corner. In a green gradient arrow, there is text that says, “Now Hiring: EWAS Postdoctoral Researcher.” In the bottom right corner, there is the MSU PRI logo and the text, “Apply online at careers.msu.edu.”
PRI is seeking a postdoctoral researcher with strong computational and data science skills to join a project focused on identifying causal environmental drivers of crop resilience and yield.
🧬 Learn more and apply: careers.msu.edu/jobs/researc...
#PlantSciJobs #PlantScience
Promotional image of a plant growing in the desert for the First Annual WALII Symposium: Exploring Life Without Water. The graphic includes the date and time of the event and information on how to register.
The First Annual Virtual WALII Symposium: Exploring Life Without Water is ONE WEEK AWAY! 🗓️💧
Register now to join us on November, 18!
www.walii.science/virtual-symp...
PMN member Dr. Hiroshi Maeda joined an international group of researchers to publish a study on "Mapping multi-substrate specificity of Arabidopsis aminotransferases."
To read more about the study: bit.ly/43nGVyt
To read the study: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@hiroshi-maeda.bsky.social
A man in a blue shirt stands facing a group of students as he talks. Above them is a canopy of trees.
A young woman smiles as she holds and looks at a part of a tree.
A man points to the trunk of a tree while students look on.
The new CURE course at UC Davis, led by PMN member Philipp Zerbe, is helping students to create an interactive chemical map of Arboretum plants.
Read about it here:
biology.ucdavis.edu/news/whats-l...
Photos: Katrina Huynh - UC Davis
@ucdavisplants.bsky.social
Representative images of transgenic Wm82 soybean roots expressing RUBY alone (EV), RUBY with overexpression of wild-type Rhg1-GmAAT (Rhg1-GmAAT WT), RUBY with overexpression of Rhg1-GmAAT Y268L, and RUBY with overexpression of Rhg1-GmAAT D122A constructs. Scale bars = 10 cm.
Soybean Cyst Nematode-Resistant Protein AATRhg1 Affects Amino Acid Homeostasis and Betalain Accumulation (Yulin Du, Soyoung Jung, Hiroshi Maeda, Andrew F. Bent) buff.ly/jfHRbLv #PlantScience
Promotional graphic for the 'First WALII Symposium: Exploring Life Without Water.' The graphic features a sandy, desert landscape with a blue sky background. The WALII logo is present on the bottom of the graphic. The rest of the text reads: "Present at one of our four symposium sessions: Science of Drying & Rehydrating Tools & Technologies Engineering, Biotechnology, and Applications of Desiccation Tolerance Integrating Across Scales & Organisms Abstract Submission Deadline: October 9, 2025."
Join us for the first inaugural WALII Virtual Symposium on Tuesday, Nov 18, 2025!
Abstract submissions for a contributed talk are NOW OPEN!
Selected speakers will be chosen in Oct. & will present 10-12 min. talks followed by 3-5 min. of Q&A.
Visit: walii.science/virtual-symp...
Check out the latest publication from members of PMN: "Mapping multi-substrate specificity of Arabidopsis aminotransferases." 🌱
Pictures of the Memorial Union at University of Wisconsin-Madison, where the 2026 PSNA meeting will be held from June 15 to 19, 2026.
Save the date! The 65th Phytochemical Society of North America (PSNA) meeting is coming to Madison, WI, from June 15-19, 2026.
Join us at the Memorial Union for exciting science, supportive community, and Wisconsin's finest! More info at psna-online.org
#PSNA2026 #Phytochemistry #PlantScience
The graphic features a faded background image of hands in a circle cupping seedlings in soil, as well as the PRI logo and the text "PRI Postdocs, Rooted in resilience, branching into brilliance."
In honor of National Postdoc Appreciation Week, we want to extend our sincere gratitude to the postdoctoral researchers at MSU's Plant Resilience Institute. We’re proud to work alongside you and excited to support your continued growth and success. PRI is more resilient because of all of you! 🌱
GLPSC 2025 attendees pose together on the sidewalk in front of the Grand River for a group photo
Thank you to everyone who attended the 1st Great Lakes Plant Science Conference and helped make it a success! This inaugural meeting brought together 416 registrants from 55 institutions. Together, we’ve built momentum for the future of #plantscience in the Great Lakes region and beyond! #GLPSC2025
The graphic has a faded background image of plants under a microscope with the Plant Resilience Institute logo in the top left corner. In a green gradient arrow in the middle of the graphic, there is text that says, “Now Hiring: Tenure Stream Faculty Positions, Assistant, Associate or Full Professor Level." In the bottom right corner, there is the MSU PRI logo and the text, “Apply online at careers.msu.edu.”
The MSU Plant Resilience Institute is excited to launch an open rank tenure-track faculty search!
We're seeking creative, collaborative researchers to join the PRI faculty to investigate plant responses to environmental challenges. 🌱 Apply now: careers.msu.edu/jobs/assista... #PlantSciJobs
@rheelab.bsky.social at Michigan State University is looking to hire a new postdoc position to work on nematodes for desiccation tolerance and plant-pathogenic nematode interactions on both the WALII and @c-spirit.org grants.
For more information, visit: careers.msu.edu/jobs/researc...
This was a long time (too long) in the works, but I'm thrilled that it is finally out:
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
"How evolution repeatedly builds complexity: a case study with C4 photosynthesis in Blepharis (Acanthaceae)"
And this was chosen for a cover photo:
A GLPSC 2025 graphic promoting featured session speakers with a background image of blurred leaves and an outline of the Great Lakes. The text says, "1st Great Lakes Plant Science Conference, September 12-14, 2025, Lansing, MI, USA. Plant Science in a Changing Climate Session Featured Speakers. Learn more and register: research.msu.edu/glpsc2025.” Contained in a white box is a headshot of Alizée Malnoë with the text, “Session Chair: Alizée Malnoë, PhD, Indiana University Bloomington, ‘Regulation and Mechanism of Photoprotective qH in Arabidopsis’." A blue box on the right also includes the headshots and presentation titles of the three other short talk speakers in the session, Manish Tiwari, Andrea Glassmire, and Samuel Hazen.
Explore adaptation, resilience, and sustainable solutions at #GLPSC2025! 🌱 This session will examine the latest advances in plant adaptation and resilience strategies, focusing on molecular, physiological, and ecological responses to climate stress.
Register by August 31: research.msu.edu/glpsc2025
🌿 C-SPIRIT member Sue Rhee will speak at the Cutting-Edge Plant Biotechnology workshop in Tashkent, August 25–27.
🧬 On 8/25, she’ll give two talks, one on developing and pitching research projects & one on plant resilience through thermophilic species
Learn more: cvent.me/RvLkxR
#plantscience
