The 30th Europe-wide seminar of the series supported by the European Plant Science Organisation (EPSO) and aimed at the Plant Science community and its stakeholders.

TTT: The seminar will be held online each third Thursday of the month at three (CET).

On 15th February 2024 at 15:00 (CET) we will present three talks exploring “Harnessing Photobiology for Future Plants”

 

Dr Gabriela Toledo-Ortiz, The James Hutton Institute, Dundee, UK: “Tomatoes for tomorrow”

Andreas Weber, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany: “Natural variation and synthetic improvement of photosynthetic carbon assimilation in land plants”

Roman Ulm, University of Geneva, Switzerland: “Seeing the invisible – UV-B perception and signalling in plants”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The seminars will be hosted on Zoom and last approximately 1.5 hours. Numbers will be limited to 300 attendees and therefore please register early if you would like to join. There will be ample opportunities to ask questions and join the debate. So please join us to support this new and exciting initiative for European Plant Science by following this link just prior to the start of the seminar.

EPSO members register in advance for this meeting: registration link

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

In the coming months we will be on the lookout for talented plant scientists among the EPSO membership to present their findings and perspectives to the EPSO seminar series. If we approach you to talk, we hope you will be happy to support the initiative. This is a fantastic opportunity for both eminent world leaders and talented up-and-coming early career researchers to present their research to an international audience and to network with potential collaborators. If you wish to suggest a theme for one of the upcoming seminars and / or nominate yourself or one of your colleagues to give a seminar, we most welcome your suggestions. Please contact Tim George ([email protected]) to provide your name and potential talk title.

We look forward to seeing you all for the 30th EPSO seminar on the 15th February 2024.

 Tim George, Alan Schulman and Marie-Theres Hauser

EPSO Plant Science Seminar Series Organising Committee

 Click here to read: Full EPSO news item

 

Contacts:

Tim George, Hutton / UK & EPSO Board

Alan Schulman, LUKE / FI & Adviser to the EPSO Board

Marie-Theres Hauser BOKU / AT & EPSO Board

 

EMBO launches a new award: The EMBO Lab Sustainability Award will recognise new and significant contributions to the development of sustainable wet and dry labs with a focus on their environmental impact. The award will be made to an individual representing the initiative or project.

The award winner will have the opportunity to present their initiative or project at scientific events. In addition, the winning project will be supported with a grant of 10,000 euros.

Apply via the EMBO website by 15 March 2024.

Click here to read: Full announcement

EMBO Lab Sustainability Award Link

 Contacts:

EMBO call: Philipp Weber, Sustainability Project Officer, EMBO

EMBO / EPSO collaboration: Karin Metzlaff, EPSO Executive Director

The EC proposed to introduce a new classification called NGT, which encompasses genome-edited plants and plants with targeted insertions of new DNA, as long as the DNA originates from the same species or a crossable species. The EC suggest a more relaxed regulation of NGT plants compared to traditionally genetically modified organisms, provided that the genetic changes introduced are similar to those obtained using conventional breeding methods.

Since then, negotiations among the Member States and in European Parliament have introduced several possible amendments to the original legal proposal put forward by the European Commission. Some of the changes threaten the utility of the proposal for improving the current legislation. EPSO has therefore identified key components in the legal proposal that should be protected:

  • The criteria for determining NGT1 status should be based on similarity to what can be obtained using conventional breeding methods.
    • As long as modifications introduced using NGT are similar to modifications created by conventional breeding methods, EPSO sees no need for criteria based on a risk assessment.
  • Products derived from NGT1 plants should not be labelled.
  • Text on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) should not be included in the NGT legislation.

EPSO provided detailed comments and suggested a few amendments to the legal proposal in the EPSO statement on the European Commission’s legal proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on plants obtained by certain NGTs and their food and feed…, 06.11.2023. For example:

  • The criteria for determining NGT1 should be counted per a basic set of chromosomes.
  • Legislation should further enable field trials for scientific purposes.
  • NGT1 plants should not be excluded from organic farming practices.

EPSO looks forward to engaging as a major stakeholder with Member States, the European Parliament and the European Commission to achieve a well-balanced regulation. EPSO will continue providing scientific input in the course of the discussions with policy makers and other stakeholders.

 Read the full EPSO Annex to the statement, 19.1.2024

Read the full EPSO statement to the EC’s legal proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on plants obtained by certain NGTs and their food and feed, 5.11.2023.

Read the summary that was submitted to the EC consultation on 5.11.2023 [Feedback reference F3442539].

 

Contacts:

Jens Sundström, SLU Uppsala, EPSO Chair WG Agricultural Technologies

Alan Schulman, LUKE / FI, EPSO Chair WG Agricultural Technologies

Odd Arne Rognli, NMBU / NO, EPSO President

Karin Metzlaff, EPSO, Executive Director

The 29th Europe-wide seminar of the series supported by the European Plant Science Organisation (EPSO) and aimed at the Plant Science community and its stakeholders.

TTT: The seminar will be held online each third Thursday of the month at three (CET).

On 18th January 2024 at 15:00 (CET) we will present two talks exploring the “Potential for the use of cell omics in plant science”

 

Stefania Giacomello, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm: “Transcriptomics profiling using barcoded microarrays”

Jörg Becker, Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier (ITQB-NOVA), Oeiras, Portugal: “Insights into sperm cell development using single-cell type transcriptomics”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The seminars will be hosted on Zoom and last approximately 1.5 hours. Numbers will be limited to 300 attendees and therefore please register early if you would like to join. There will be ample opportunities to ask questions and join the debate. So please join us to support this new and exciting initiative for European Plant Science by following this link just prior to the start of the seminar.

EPSO members register in advance for this meeting: registration link

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

In the coming months we will be on the lookout for talented plant scientists among the EPSO membership to present their findings and perspectives to the EPSO seminar series. If we approach you to talk, we hope you will be happy to support the initiative. This is a fantastic opportunity for both eminent world leaders and talented up-and-coming early career researchers to present their research to an international audience and to network with potential collaborators. If you wish to suggest a theme for one of the upcoming seminars and / or nominate yourself or one of your colleagues to give a seminar, we most welcome your suggestions. Please contact Tim George ([email protected]) to provide your name and potential talk title.

We look forward to seeing you all for the 29th EPSO seminar on the 18th January 2024.

 Tim George, Alan Schulman and Marie-Theres Hauser

EPSO Plant Science Seminar Series Organising Committee

 Click here to read: Full EPSO news item

 

Contacts:

Tim George, Hutton / UK & EPSO Board

Alan Schulman, LUKE / FI & Adviser to the EPSO Board

Marie-Theres Hauser BOKU / AT & EPSO Board

 

The fascinating world of plants will be once more in the spotlight thanks to the celebration of the seventh international Fascination of Plants Day on and around May 18th 2024.

This global campaign aims to plant virtual and constantly germinating seeds in the collective intelligence of the public, recalling that plant science is of critical significance to social, environmental and economic issues on our Earth today and in the future.

Scientific institutions, universities, botanical gardens and museums together with schools, farmers and companies will offer a variety of plant-based interactive events and activities for all interested people from toddlers to grandparents.

Check the FoPD website www.plantday18may.org  for further details and find your event around 18 May 2024, and follow us on our social media accounts:

To read the full press release click here.

Contact the Global Coordinators:

John Fitzgibbon, EPSO, BE; Trine Hvoslef-Eide, NMBU Norway; Przemysław Wojtaszek, AMU, Poland; Karin Metzlaff, EPSO, BE.

The 28th Europe-wide seminar of the series supported by the European Plant Science Organisation (EPSO) and aimed at the Plant Science community and its stakeholders.

TTT: The seminar will be held online each third Thursday of the month at three (CET).

On 14th December 2023 at 15:00 (CET) we will present three talks exploring The Cutting Edge of Cell Imaging in Plants

 

Prof. Ralf Jungmann, The Max Planck Institute of Biochemstry, Munich, Germany: “Ångström-resolution fluorescence microscopy”

Manuel Neumann, Institute for Biology, Humboldt-University Berlin, Germany: “A 3D gene expression atlas of the floral meristem based on spatial reconstruction of single nucleus RNA sequencing data”

Assoc. Prof. Notburga Gierlinger, BOKU, Institute of Biophysics, Vienna, Austria: “Raman Imaging of Plant Tissues: microchemistry in context with anatomical structure”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The seminars will be hosted on Zoom and last approximately 1.5 hours. Numbers will be limited to 300 attendees and therefore please register early if you would like to join. There will be ample opportunities to ask questions and join the debate. So please join us to support this new and exciting initiative for European Plant Science by following this link just prior to the start of the seminar.

EPSO members register in advance for this meeting: registration link

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

In the coming months we will be on the lookout for talented plant scientists among the EPSO membership to present their findings and perspectives to the EPSO seminar series. If we approach you to talk, we hope you will be happy to support the initiative. This is a fantastic opportunity for both eminent world leaders and talented up-and-coming early career researchers to present their research to an international audience and to network with potential collaborators. If you wish to suggest a theme for one of the autumn seminars and / or nominate yourself or one of your colleagues to give a seminar, we most welcome your suggestions. Please contact Tim George ([email protected]) to provide your name and potential talk title.

We look forward to seeing you all for the 28th EPSO seminar on the 14th December 2023.

 Tim George, Alan Schulman and Marie-Theres Hauser

EPSO Plant Science Seminar Series Organising Committee

 Click here to read: Full EPSO news item

 

Contacts:

Tim George, Hutton / UK & EPSO Board

Alan Schulman, LUKE / FI & Adviser to the EPSO Board

Marie-Theres Hauser BOKU / AT & EPSO Board