Review

Authors: Wojciech Słupski, Paulina Jawień, Beata Nowak...

Osteoporosis is a systemic bone disease characterized by reduced bone mass and the deterioration of bone microarchitecture leading to bone fragility and an increased risk of fractures. Conventional anti-osteoporotic pharmaceutics are effective in the treatment and prophylaxis of osteoporosis, however they are associated with various side effects that push many women into seeking botanicals as an alternative therapy. Traditional folk medicine is a rich source of bioactive compounds waiting for discovery and investigation that might be used in those patients, and therefore botanicals have recently received increasing attention. The aim of this review of literature is to present the comprehensive information about plant-derived compounds that might be used to maintain bone health in perimenopausal and postmenopausal females.

Topics: Animals; Bone Density; Bone and Bones; Botany; Female; Fractures, Bone; Herbal Medicine; Humans; Osteoporosis; Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal; Phytoestrogens

PubMed: 34064936
DOI: 10.3390/nu13051609

Authors: Anna Amtmann

Topics: Botany; Germination; Global Warming; Microbiota; Plant Development; Plant Physiological Phenomena; Plants; Seeds; Stress, Physiological; Temperature

PubMed: 31603569
DOI: 10.1111/pce.13648

Authors: John E Lunn

The Journal of Experimental Botany is pleased to announce the appointment of six early career researchers as editorial interns: Francesca Bellinazzo (Wageningen University and Research, the Netherlands), Konan Ishida (University of Cambridge, UK), Nishat Shayala Islam (Western University, Ontario, Canada), Chao Su (University of Freiburg, Germany), Catherine Walsh (Lancaster University, UK), and Arpita Yadav (University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA, USA) (Fig. 1). The aim of this programme is to help train the next generation of editors.

Topics: Botany; Germany

PubMed: 36913620
DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erad037

Authors: Adeyemi O Aremu, Binsheng Luo, Sakina Mussarat...

This collection on medical ethnobotany focuses on contributions that explore the invaluable potential associated with the ethnobotanical uses of medicinal plants, their phytochemical profiling, safety, and efficacy studies as well as their cultural and ecological context. This call for papers is expected to expand the knowledge base on how medicinal plants contribute toward the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), in this case, goal 15 (life on land).

Topics: Ethnobotany; Humans; Plants, Medicinal; Medicine, Traditional; Phytotherapy

PubMed: 38840100
DOI: 10.1186/s12906-024-04515-0

Review

Authors: Christian R Boehm, Bernardo Pollak, Nuri Purswani...

Plants are attractive platforms for synthetic biology and metabolic engineering. Plants' modular and plastic body plans, capacity for photosynthesis, extensive secondary metabolism, and agronomic systems for large-scale production make them ideal targets for genetic reprogramming. However, efforts in this area have been constrained by slow growth, long life cycles, the requirement for specialized facilities, a paucity of efficient tools for genetic manipulation, and the complexity of multicellularity. There is a need for better experimental and theoretical frameworks to understand the way genetic networks, cellular populations, and tissue-wide physical processes interact at different scales. We highlight new approaches to the DNA-based manipulation of plants and the use of advanced quantitative imaging techniques in simple plant models such as These offer the prospects of improved understanding of plant dynamics and new approaches to rational engineering of plant traits.

Topics: Botany; Chloroplasts; Genetic Engineering; Plants; Plants, Genetically Modified; Synthetic Biology; Transformation, Genetic

PubMed: 28246181
DOI: 10.1101/cshperspect.a023887

Authors:

Topics: Botany; History, 21st Century

PubMed: 35118671
DOI: 10.1111/nph.17900

Authors: Philippa Borrill

Topics: Awards and Prizes; Botany

PubMed: 33459376
DOI: 10.1111/nph.17027

Authors:

Topics: Botany; History, 20th Century; History, 21st Century; Plants

PubMed: 31894590
DOI: 10.1111/nph.16344

Authors: Anne Osbourn

Topics: Botany; Plants; Research; Science

PubMed: 26311283
DOI: 10.1111/nph.13616

Authors: Susanne von Caemmerer, Oula Ghannoum, Robert T Furbank...

It is now over half a century since the biochemical characterization of the C photosynthetic pathway, and this special issue highlights the sheer breadth of current knowledge. New genomic and transcriptomic information shows that multi-level regulation of gene expression is required for the pathway to function, yet we know it to be one of the most dynamic examples of convergent evolution. Now, a focus on the molecular transition from C-C intermediates, together with improved mathematical models, experimental tools and transformation systems, holds great promise for improving C photosynthesis in crops.

Topics: Botany; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Genome, Plant; Models, Theoretical; Photosynthesis; Phylogeny

PubMed: 28110274
DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erw491