William Rutter

Build your understanding of sequencing technologies, experimental design, and data analysis in our High Throughput Sequencing: Fundamentals for Plant Disease Diagnostics course—now available on demand. Enroll today: bit.ly/3QVwfQG #ondemand #apscourse

Letter to the Editor: “Maximizing the Biocontrol Potential of Bacteriophages: A Call for Critically-Needed Field Research,” by George W. Sundin et al. Read the article to learn more—open access in Plant Disease: doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-0… @michhulin @MojganRabiey

Kansas State University is hiring a new wheat breeder: careers.k-state.edu/jobs/assistant…

Efficient genome editing by CRISPR-Cas12a in common wheat via shoot apical meristem delivery (Weifeng Luo , Selda Ors , Hong Fang , Minting Zeng , Yanhao Cheng , Andrew Emil Sidawy , Yiping Qi) doi.org/10.1093/plphys… @ASPB #PlantSci

🎇What a start to the new year! A new Review on the roles of plant microRNAs in defence against pathogens: bsppjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.11…

We used AI to classify alfalfa root system architecture from images, improving accuracy with confident and reactive machine learning. ResNet-18 models saw up to 13% accuracy gains. #MachineLearning Details: doi.org/10.34133/plant…

Three Novel Genomes Broaden the Wild Side of the Capsicum Pangenome (Christina Papastolopoulou, Ronald Nieuwenhuis, et al) doi.org/10.1002/pld3.7… @ASPB @Wileyplantsci @SEBiology #PlantSci

Researchers from @AarhusUni report a major advance in nitrogen fixation. By modifying two amino acids in a root receptor, they enabled cereals like barley to engage with nitrogen-fixing bacteria. @ISTAseedtesting learns how this development could reduce fertilizer reliance and emissions worldwide. Read more: tinyurl.com/2kpayx3v #seedquality #seedtesting

Pat Schnable (@schnablep) invented 17 patents and spun 5 companies out of his work at ISU. Now elected to NAI. Also a great story about how @IowaStateU made a conscious decision to support professors translating research into private sector impact. Congratulations, Dad.

A new paper, co-authored by WormAtlas directors Dave Hall and Nate Schroeder, describes how C. elegans community research resources, including WormAtlas, provide the infrastructure that supports nematode research around the world. pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pn…

We are thankful for our farmers! In case you missed it -- check out this video of ARS scientists in Charleston, SC, developing ways to identify sweetpotatoes, watermelons, and peppers that are resistant to certain pests. loom.ly/R9IaVoA #Thanksgiving

I’m a chemist. And I need to say this - because it’s getting dangerous out there. The biggest health myth in the world isn’t about vaccines. Or GMOs. Or fluoride. It’s the root of all of them. It’s called chemophobia - and it’s killing science. Fear of “chemicals” now drives vaccine rejection, GMO bans, food hysteria, and entire political movements. From tampons to tap water, people have been taught to fear chemistry - the very thing that keeps us alive. Chemophobia tells us: “Natural is good.” “Synthetic is bad.” That’s a lie. Botulinum toxin is 100% natural and one of the deadliest molecules known. Aspirin is synthetic and life-saving. We’ve gone from banning harmful substances for good reason…to banning safe, well-tested molecules for emotional reasons. You’ve seen the slogans: “If you can’t pronounce it, don’t eat it.” “Paraben-free.” “Clean beauty.” They sound empowering. But they’re not science - they’re marketing. And they’re making the world dumber, poorer, and sicker. Your body doesn’t care if a molecule comes from a plant or a lab. Vitamin C is vitamin C. Formaldehyde is formaldehyde and your body makes more of it every day than any vaccine ever could. Dose matters. Source doesn’t. This fear isn’t harmless. It shapes public policy. It blocks innovation. It raises food prices. It slows down cancer treatments. Chemophobia is now mainstream and it’s costing lives. Scientists aren’t losing because we’re wrong. We’re losing because fear spreads faster than facts. Because influencers sell fear for clicks. Because lawyers monetize doubt. And because scientists are too tired to fight back. So here’s my message, as a chemist and as a citizen: 🧪 Learn how toxicology works. 📣 Call out chemical fear-mongering. ✅ Support policies based on evidence, not emotion. Chemistry isn’t the enemy. It’s the reason you have clean water, safe food, and modern medicine. If we let fear win, we lose all of it.

Adaptive sampling with Oxford Nanopore offers a simple way to improve the efficiency of plant metagenomic studies nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/np… ♻️

Anaerobic soil disinfestation (ASD) shows promise as a safer alternative to fumigants for managing Fusarium oxysporum in strawberries. James Littrell et al. showed that ASD effectiveness depends on amendment composition and soil texture: doi.org/10.1094/PHYTO-… @PlantDiseaseGuy

Chemistry writes the story of life. Every cell, every second, it tells it again - powered by molecular design. At the core of this process lies the citric acid cycle, the central hub of metabolism. Here, acetyl-CoA derived from carbohydrates, fats, or proteins enters a precise series of reactions that convert fuel into energy. Each step transfers electrons, drives ATP synthesis, and sustains the continuous renewal of life at the cellular level. What may seem invisible is, in fact, the most constant motion in existence; the quiet rhythm of biochemistry that powers everything we do.

Hydroponic barley grows in 7 days, soil-free and weather-proof. Cows love it, farmers save, and feed is evolving.

RNA tomography reveals spatial gene expression maps of Arabidopsis thaliana roots infected with Heterodera schachtii nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/np… ♻️

What if we could watch pathogenesis in real time? Our collab with @tapomoy89, jointly led by Syona @syonaphyceae and Sree @padmanabh97, shows how soil-like 3D regimes reshape our understanding of plant-fungal interactions! shorturl.at/32kzX @NCBS_Bangalore

Soybean Cyst Nematode weakens plants, making them more susceptible to other diseases — which can decrease your yield and revenue. Find out how to test (right after harvest!) and tackle SCN in K-State Department of Agronomy's eUpdate: eupdate.agronomy.ksu.edu/.../protect-yo…...

𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 🌾 Wheat transformation This study presents a co-transformation method that boosts regeneration in hard-to-edit wheat using the mGRF4-GIF1 gene, enabling efficient genome editing and precision breeding. 👉 doi.org/10.1111/tpj.70…