Alex Bowles

The hidden history behind every rose blooming this summer For @ConversationUK theconversation.com/the-hidden-his… A story, millions of years in the making, unfolding beneath every petal 🌹🌍

I’m happy to share that the third chapter of my doctoral dissertation has been published in Global Ecology and Biogeography: Diversification and Evolutionary Dynamics in Tropical Montane Regions Huge thanks to my co-authors for their support! doi.org/10.1111/geb.70…

Hiding in plain sight! 2.3M conserved non-coding sequences traced back 300M years across 284 plant species Ground-breaking study in First Release @ScienceMagazine from labs of Madelaine Bartlett, Idane Efroni & Zach Lippman ▶️ doi.org/10.1126/scienc… ▶️ slcu.cam.ac.uk/news/hiding-pl…

Petunia hybrida has been bred into an incredible diversity of colors and patterns. Most arise from mutations in the anthocyanin pathway or post-transcriptional gene silencing that turns pigment genes on and off 🧬🎨

Around the world, the total toxicity and ecological harm from agricultural pesticides are rising, despite recent United Nations commitments to halve pesticide use and risks by 2030, according to a new study in Science. The findings establish a global, toxicity-weighted baseline for pesticide use and identify a subset of pesticides, crops, and countries driving the most biodiversity impacts. scim.ag/3ZXmwxL

The first-place-winning video in Nikon’s Small World in Motion Competition 2025 documents the self-pollination of a thymeleaf speedwell flower. Filming at 5X magnification, winner Jay McClellan used a custom-built motion-control system to capture the flower. on.natgeo.com/4jMSUwn

A 2015 @ScienceAdvances study found that #Christmas trees once had a second set of genes—a feature that allows one copy to change what it does without affecting the organism’s survival. scim.ag/3VKUMeg

Kamounia striata -- a 300 million year-old oomycete fossil! Thank you Christine Strullu-Derrien ☺️ doi.org/10.1016/j.isci…

“the students and researchers of plant science are primarily motivated by curiosity and enthusiasm for plants. We argue that this inherent fascination with plants needs to be a centerpiece of communication and outreach strategies to lead plant science to a fruitful future”

🌱 Dispatch for @CurrentBiology - Plant evolution: Making a splash! Discover how plants have evolved to life in water in surprising ways 🔗 doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.…

From octopuses to snails, the complicated molluscan family tree has been mapped in unprecedented detail, researchers reported earlier this year in Science. This includes sequences for 13 new complete genomes from across the phylum. scim.ag/3LfmvBF

For exceptional UK 'home' student applicants only: Well funded (est. £31,000/yr) 4-yr DTP PhD project @slcuplants @Cambridge_Uni with Sarah Robinson & @dromius DIY Plant Walls: Engineering Plant Cell Size and Material Strength using Fungal Proteins findaphd.com/phds/project/d…

New opportunity to join our #EvoMPMI group @JohnInnesCentre as a Postdoctoral Researcher working in the mechanistic basis of immunity in diverse plants. Please spread the word, reach out by email, and/or apply if interested! More details here: jic.ac.uk/vacancies/post…

Long before flowers dazzled pollinators with brilliant colors and sweet scents, ancient plants used another feature to signal insects: heat. The findings in Science, based on an analysis of the biology and relationship between modern cycad plants and the rare beetle species that pollinate them, offer new insights into what shaped the earliest eras of plant-animal coevolution. scim.ag/4pYyx0V

New online! The biodiversity, genomics, ecology and evolution of mushroom-forming fungi bit.ly/48zmgJn

A great opportunity! As a current Glasstone Research Fellow, I’d strongly encourage any early-career researcher to apply.

About 120 million years ago, an aerial reptile known as a pterosaur fell from the sky and died in a shallow pond. A fine layer of sediment washed over it, preserving not only its skeleton, but, to the delight of modern paleontologists, its stomach. The resulting fossil is the first pterosaur ever found with a belly full of plants. Learn more on #NationalFossilDay: scim.ag/3KTUxLb

Bryophytes hold a larger gene family space than vascular plants | Nature Genetics nature.com/articles/s4158…

New online! Human transformation of past terrestrial ecosystems bit.ly/3I5VUFR

We are hiring the second cohort of EvoReSt PhD students. If you are interested in deep evolutionary questions, checkout: uni-goettingen.de/de/687607.html Apply here: obp.uni-goettingen.de/de-de/OBF/Inde…