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PhD student Tuuli Aro has studied how the roots of boreal trees, such as birch, respond to cold (photo: Anne Honsel).
Climate change likely leads to thinner snow cover during winter in northern Europe, leaving tree roots more exposed to cold. PhD student Tuuli Aro found that boreal tree species respond differently to this kind of stress and highlights how genomic tools can help breed for more frost-tolerant trees.
Read more: Thinner snow, colder roots – boreal trees show unique cold responses
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Tamara Hernández-Verdeja is now working on establishing her research group at the Centro de Biotecnología y Genómica de Plantas UPM-INIA in Madrid (photo: Oxel Urra).
Tamara Hernández-Verdeja shifted her research focus to chloroplasts when joining Åsa Strand’s group at UPSC and chloroplasts are still keeping her curiosity alive. End of last year, she received a Ramón y Cajal fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, enabling her to move back to Spain and establish her own research line. In this interview, we have asked her about her career, her motivation to stay in academia and her favourite memories from her time at UPSC.
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PhD student Özer Erguvan (left) at his favourite microscope, together with his supervisor Stéphane Verger (right) (photo: Anne Honsel).
PhD student Özer Erguvan discovered two key sites in plant cell walls that help cells stick together - findings that challenge textbook knowledge. He also found that sugars play a role in this process. In this interview, he shares insights from his PhD journey.
Read more: New discovery challenges old assumptions about how plant cells stick together
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PhD student Laura García Romañach is participating in the Researcher's Grand Prix.
On October 10, Laura García Romañach, a PhD student at SLU, will take to the stage at SciFest to compete in the Researcher's Grand Prix. Using dating apps as a metaphor, she will explain the science behind tree breeding – and why her research is crucial in the face of climate change.
Read more: Looking for the perfect tree partner – Laura competes in the Researcher's Grand Prix
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Ove Nilsson's group has identified a "temperature sensor" that helps trees integrate temperature and day length when deciding to enter dormancy. Four of the six authors of the study are still active in the group (from left to right): Keh Chien Lee, Laura García Romañach, Bo Zhang, Ove Nilsson (photo: Anne Honsel).
Even in summer, sudden cold snaps are common in northern regions such as Umeå. To survive, trees must know when to keep growing and when to stop and prepare for winter. Now, researchers at UPSC have discovered how aspen trees sense temperature and combine it with daylight to make that decision.
Read more: Aspen trees integrate light and temperature to time bud set
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From bud burst to bud set: The different stages of the annual growth cycle in a juvenile aspen tree. Illustration: Domenique André
Aspen trees follow a precise annual rhythm, shaped by the changing seasons. Researchers at UPSC have mapped this natural calendar at the genetic level, comparing trees grown outdoors and in the lab. Their study offers a detailed look into the molecular choreography behind the trees’ seasonal life.
Read more: Scientists map aspen tree genes across seasons, creating a detailed genetic roadmap
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In December last year, Luis Berríos-Negrón, UmArts Research Fellow in Art and Architecture, staged a performance at the UPSC Tree Phenotyping Platform, reimagining it as a ‘tree nursery’. To challenge conventional views of forests and propose trees as sentient beings worthy of care, he transformed the scientific setting into a multisensory experience using sound art, song and live action. In this interview, he talks about the roots of his research and what drew him to the UPSC platform.
Read more: Artistic research turns tree science into a sensory experience
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To investigate how the apical hook forms and opens, researchers grow thale cress seedlings in darkness. Photo: Qian Ma
Seedlings bend their tip as they grow through soil, then straighten when they reach light. Scientists from Umeå have, after years of challenging research, identified a protein that promotes this straightening by regulating cell growth through the plant hormone auxin.
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Rubén Casanova Sáez is loading a sample into the microfluidics unit of the C-trap instrument. Photo: Mattias Pettersson, Umeå University
The C-Trap Facility at Umeå Plant Science Centre is the result of a joint effort of different departments and faculties at Umeå University. Now fully operational, it opens up exciting new possibilities for research at the single molecule scale. At the heart of the facility is the C-trap instrument, which combines laser-based optical tweezers with advanced microfluidics and confocal microscopy, enabling scientists to manipulate and observe dynamic molecular processes in real time.
Read more: New research facility allows scientists to watch molecules in action
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The main authors of the study, Totte Niittylä (left) and Wei Wang (right), began working with OPENER while searching for unknown genes essential for early seed development in Arabidopsis. Photo: Rebecca Forsberg
Scientists have uncovered the functions of many genes and proteins across different organisms, but much is still unknown. Now, researchers at Umeå Plant Science Centre have identified the function of a protein complex involved in establishing protein production in plants.