First paper out: ""Silicon and Plant Natural Defenses against Insect Pests: Impact on Plant Volatile Organic Compounds and Cascade Effects on Multitrophic Interactions" !!!! Do not hesitate to have a look: mdpi.com/2223-7747/8/11… JT Cornelis (he/him) Félix de Tombeur

What’s the one thing better than a #wombat? A wombat with a miniature, even fuzzier version of itself!! #WildOz

I’ve come across quite a few people who scream when a moth flies at them. So for anyone with a moth phobia (Mottephobia) here is one all tucked up sleeping 💤 on a eucalypt leaf 🍃 in my back yard. Not so scary #eyelashes #moths #lepidoptera #mottephobia

Rebecca Vandegeer gives a 5 min speed talk at #JointAusBio19 explaining how interactions between silicon and osmotic stress affect herbivores. Herbivores suffer from both; thicker leaves and physical defences?

Excellent talk by Casey Hall at #JointAusBio19 on alkaloid defences as affected by plant silicon. Really cool interplay and interaction between resistance mechanisms

🐛 This week I want to show you how beautifully diverse caterpillars have evolved. Which one is your favorite? 🦋 #caterpillarweek #caterpillar #nature #pollinators #wildlife #cute

New paper out shows that not all droughts are equal in the eyes of a grass... Western Sydney U - HIE Australian Society of Plant Scientists sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

Congratulations to Tarikul @Tarikul67150456 on passing his CoC and to Rocky @rputrabio on his birthday. Last lab meeting of Professor Scott Johnson before Christmas. @Fikadu03792669 @aphid_whisperer Casey Hall Rebecca Vandegeer Jamie Waterman Ximena Cibils, PhD

Happy #PhytochemicalFriday from #PAGXXVIII #PAG2020! Today: Aconitine: deadly poison from Aconitum spp. (aka Monkshood / Wolf's-bane) that features in modern mysteries and literature from Ancient Rome (Ovid). The alkaloid binds sodium ion channels & interferes with neuron firing.

If you enjoy the flavor of hops this #PhytochemicalFriday, you're tasting isohumulones, products of a hop chemical (humulone) as it degrades during brewing. They provide hops a characteristic bitter flavor. Their parent, humulone, seems to act as an antiviral and antimicrobial.

I like how the genome of the Wuhan coronavirus trails off in a scream, like it's been stabbed or pushed off a cliff ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/MN9089…

Flies on vacation: evidence for the migration of Australian Syrphidae (Diptera) doi.org/10.1111/een.12…

Home office c/o Andy Austin 🧑🏼‍💻🐴🍷Getting it done! You be the judge. School of Biological Sciences Postgrad Association @InvasionEcology Jeremy Austin 🧬🕵🏻‍♂️🌈🚴‍♂️ Michelle Guzik Emma Sherratt #UoAHomeOffice

Feeling sympathy for the caterpillars 🐛 Counting silicified prickle cells from leaf epidermal peels #Homelab #WFH #siliceousplants #plantdefence Rebecca Vandegeer Professor Scott Johnson

Have you got a few minutes to channel your inner possum and see if you can tell the difference between Australian mistletoe leaves and those of their hosts? Play the game here: conflict-ecology-games.github.io/MistletoeGame/… . #mimicry #ecology #citizenscience #plantblindness ⚛️🧪 🌎🌳S112 Module Team 🪐🧬🧫🌋 matthew bulbert

Microbes in Helicoverpa armigera oral secretions contribute to increased senescence around plant wounds doi.org/10.1111/een.12…

New #siliceousplants paper out in Plants MDPI led by Casey Hall with Professor Scott Johnson. We found that silicon acts as a direct defence against chewing herbivores by altering the morphology of physical defence structures, not leaf mechanical traits. mdpi.com/2223-7747/9/5/…

Siliplant1 (Slp1) protein precipitates silica in sorghum silica cells (doi.org/10.1093/jxb/er…) JXB @jxbotany.bsky.social Martin Hodson

Here's the step-by-step checklist for this leafhopper nymph's blastoff: ✅squirt a little honeydew ✅tuck the front legs ✅hold a statue pose all the way into outer space unused sequence (captured at 4,300fps) from this: youtu.be/8PW-0r4Fj4Y