Lessons learned through listening to biology students during a transition to online learning in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the Spring Semester of 2020, an outbreak of a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and the illnesses it caused (COVID-19) led to widespread cancelling of on-campus instruction at colleges and universities in the United States and other countries around the world. Response to the pandemic in university settings included a rapid and unexpected shift to online learning for faculty and students. The transition to teaching and learning online posed many challenges, and the experiences of students during this crisis may inform future planning for distance learning experiences during the ongoing pandemic and beyond.

Overexpression of induces salicylic acid-dependent defense against through the regulation of its targets .

microRNAs are powerful regulators of growth, development, and stress responses in plants. The microRNA was previously found to regulate diverse processes including flower development, root development, and response to osmotic stress by controlling the patterns of expression of its target genes and . Here, we report that also modulates defense against pathogens through and .

Episodic herbivory, plant density dependence, and stimulation of aboveground plant production.

Herbivory is a major energy transfer within ecosystems; an open question is under what circumstances it can stimulate aboveground seasonal primary production. Despite multiple field demonstrations, past theory considered herbivory as a continuous process and found stimulation of seasonal production to be unlikely. Here, we report a new theoretical model that explores the consequences of discrete herbivory events, or episodes, separated in time.

Links between soil microbial communities and plant traits in a species-rich grassland under long-term climate change.

Climate change can influence soil microorganisms directly by altering their growth and activity but also indirectly via effects on the vegetation, which modifies the availability of resources. Direct impacts of climate change on soil microorganisms can occur rapidly, whereas indirect effects mediated by shifts in plant community composition are not immediately apparent and likely to increase over time. We used molecular fingerprinting of bacterial and fungal communities in the soil to investigate the effects of 17 years of temperature and rainfall manipulations in a species-rich grassland near Buxton, UK.