News

A new project, co-led by Dr Renata Retkute from the Department of Plant Sciences’ Epidemiology and Modelling group, aims to safeguard banana and plantain production in East and West Africa by reducing crop losses caused by banana bunchy top virus (BBTV).The research will provide key insights to help reduce the spread of BBTV, one of Africa’s most d…

In the largest ever survey of rainforest birdlife, scientists have discovered that deforestation to create pastureland in Colombia is causing around 60% more damage to biodiversity than previously estimated.Researchers have conducted the world’s biggest ever bird survey, recording 971 different species living in forests and cattle pastures across t…

This year’s Plants @ Cambridge Botanicon took place at St John's College on Friday 4 July. The event was organised by, and brought together, early-career researchers from across the plant biology network in Cambridge.The event involved a range of activities, including short talks, poster sessions and hot techniques workshops, allowing early-career …

Julian Hibberd, Professor of Photosynthesis and Head of the University of Cambridge Department of Plant Sciences joins the community of over 2,100 leading life scientists today as the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) announces its newest members.He is among 69 scientists from across Europe and beyond that have been elected to the EMBO…

Dr Min-Yao Jhu, Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Sustainable Crop Nutrition group at the Crop Science Centre (CSC), has published a review exploring how plants adaptively reuse core developmental pathways to build highly specialised organs during both mutualistic and parasitic interactions.The review, 'From hosts to parasites: hormones drivin…

University of Cambridge Library and Archives staff have brought to light a handwritten and illustrated thesis by the famous Bloomsbury artist Roger Fry in the Department of Plant Sciences archives.Roger Fry graduated from King’s College Cambridge with a degree in Natural Sciences in 1888 before travelling to Italy and France to study art and eventu…

Studying Plant Sciences at Cambridge can open up a wealth of career opportunities. In this series, we hear from Plant Sciences alumni about their experiences of studying here, how it shaped their careers and what they are doing now. If you would like your alumni story featured, please email us at alumni@plantsci.cam.ac.uk.Dr Greg Reeves may now be …

Imagine a plant with entirely new abilities – more nutritious food, crops that survive heatwaves, or leaves that grow useful materials. Two groups involving researchers from the University of Cambridge’s Department of Plant Sciences are among nine teams to have been awarded funding today from the UK’s Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA)’s S…

Congratulations to Julian Hibberd, Professor of Photosynthesis and Head of the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge, who has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of sciences.Professor Hibberd’s election is in recognition of his work on C4 photosynthesis. His findings are now playing an impo…

Studying Plant Sciences at Cambridge can open up a wealth of career opportunities. In this series, we hear from Plant Sciences alumni about their experiences of studying here, how it shaped their careers and what they are doing now. If you would like your alumni story featured, please email us at alumni@plantsci.cam.ac.uk.About JennyProfessor Jenny…

The Postdoc Innovation Awards were launched in 2024 to fund innovations by Postdoctoral researchers in the Department of Plant Sciences. Two projects were funded as part of the pilot, and here Unnati Sonawala talks about her project 'Optimizing a high-throughput screen for nematode effector genes in tomato root protoplasts' and what the funding has…

Congratulations to Professor Uta Paszkowski, Acting Director of The Crop Science Centre and head of the Cereal Symbiosis group, who has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), USA. Professor Paszkowski said “I still cannot believe that this is true. I thank the NAS for the recognition of our work, but even more I feel an immense gra…

Researchers from the University of Cambridge in collaboration with colleagues from the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa and the University of Essex, have identified new genetic factors that can influence the efficiency of photosynthesis in maize.The research offers a valuable new approach to improving productivity in crops like maize – one of the…

Targeting a newly discovered vulnerability in the signals that cyst nematodes use to infect plant roots could be a powerful method for reducing the damage the parasitic worms cause in crops such as soya beans. A new study from the University of Cambridge in collaboration with the John Innes Centre, Iowa State University and the United States Depart…

A tool predicting how to protect European citrus farms from a deadly epidemic shows how mathematical modelling can help prepare for future plant disease invasions.Citrus greening or huánglóngbìng (HLB) is the most damaging disease of citrus worldwide. Citrus production in Florida has decreased by 80% since 2005, and experts estimate the United Stat…