John Hodge
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jghodge.bsky.social
John Hodge
@jghodge.bsky.social
Post-doc at UIUC studying stomatal patterning. Botanist by training with interests broadly in evo-devo, mechanistic modeling, and genetics, particularly in relation to grasses and cereals. Opinions my own.
Reposted by John Hodge
I'm hiring a full time fixed-term 1yr lab tech to assist with field and greenhouse projects related to floral evolution and plant reproductive ecology. Please share! Ideal start date early 2026.

jobs.clemson.edu/psc/ps/JOBS/...
November 24, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Reposted by John Hodge
47th New Phytologist Symposium: Extreme Heat – extending the thermal limits of life

2–5 June 2026
University of Córdoba, Spain

Travel grant and selected speaker application deadline: 2 February 2026

Poster abstract deadline: 2 March 2026

www.newphytologist.org/events/47-nps

#PlantScience
November 26, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Reposted by John Hodge
Aquilegia formosa, the nonnative Western Columbine, blooming in my yard. It doesn't grow in the wild in Colorado but is native further west, especially in the Sierras. I grew these ones because I love Columbines!

#FallBackFlowers #FallBack to May 25 🌿
November 26, 2025 at 12:10 AM
Reposted by John Hodge
It’s the season of giving thanks — and it turns out humans have been doing it for a long, long time.

As more researchers dig into the science of gratitude, they’ve found the feeling likely played a key role in helping our ancestors band together and survive. (from 2023)
https://to.pbs.org/3usOxB7
How gratitude became key to human social bonds
Researchers believe gratitude probably helped early humans work together and survive as social animals.
www.pbs.org
November 26, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Reposted by John Hodge
My first extension article is published :) www.canr.msu.edu/news/plantsg... #PlantsGiving #iamabotanist #botany
November 25, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Reposted by John Hodge
After more than a century of munching on her favorite foods of romaine lettuce and cactus fruit, beloved Galapagos tortoise Gramma, the oldest resident of the San Diego Zoo, has died. https://to.pbs.org/43Tdww9
Gramma the Galapagos tortoise, oldest resident of San Diego Zoo who delighted visitors for almost a century, dies at about 141
Known as "the Queen of the Zoo," Gramma lived through two World Wars and 20 U.S. presidents.
www.pbs.org
November 25, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Reposted by John Hodge
Is it a flagellate? A tiny ball with tentacles? Contamination in my ciliate culture? NEW SUPERGROUP OF EUKARYOTES? Yes to all 4! Meet Solarion - just out in #Nature doi.org/10.1038/s415... Huge congrats to Marek Valt, Cepicka Lab & the star team! Very happy to be part of this project. #ProtistsOnSky
November 19, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Reposted by John Hodge
💨🌿 REVIEW 💨🌿

Environmental factors such as wind and plant-specific traits including leaf size can be manipulated to alleviate limitations imposed on photosynthesis by low leaf boundary layer conductance - Dupont et al.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪 @silverevialet.bsky.social
November 25, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Reposted by John Hodge
CALL FOR PAPERS 🌿 DEADLINE NOV 30

Submit your proposal for the #AppsPlantSci special issue: “Beyond #phylogenomics: Innovative applications of target capture data”

More info at: botany.org/home/publica... @yannickwoudstra.bsky.social @erikarmoore11.bsky.social @emcassey.bsky.social #genomics
November 24, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Reposted by John Hodge
Really pleased to share the first paper to come out of the lab.
We found that hospital patients were frequently colonised with P. aeruginosa and that the same clone was shared between the gut and the lung.
The phylogenies indicate that the clones moved from lung->gut

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
High frequency body site translocation of nosocomial Pseudomonas aeruginosa - Nature Communications
Here, the authors report within-host diversity and body site translocation dynamics in hospital samples of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and reveal that body site sharing was likely due to within-patient tra...
www.nature.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Reposted by John Hodge
#OpenCloning is a an Open Source alternative to SnapGene/Benchling that supports automation and integration with other software

✅ Free
🔓 Open Source
🧬 More cloning methods than SnapGene
🤖 Can be automated with python
👨‍🔬 Built by a researcher — for researchers!

👉 Check it out at opencloning.org
November 24, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Reposted by John Hodge
Looking at the physical state of the White House, I could see why this move happened.

I expect American buildings to become less safe, less efficient, less creative, and less elegant long-term as a result of the Trump administration's policies

www.dezeen.com/2025/11/24/a...
Architecture no longer considered a "professional degree" in USA
Students in the USA will receive lower loans under the terms of the One Big Beautiful Bill as architecture will not be considered a professional degree.
www.dezeen.com
November 24, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Reposted by John Hodge
Very happy to share that this paper is now online on @currentbiology.bsky.social !! 🥳🧪 Check out the final published verion here: www.cell.com/current-biol...
#mimuluspropaganda
November 24, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Reposted by John Hodge
Serial section videography (SSV): A low-cost protocol for generating 3D reconstructions of internal plant structure

New in #AppsPlantSci by Jacob Suissa & Giselle Reyes

bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... #botany #plantanatomy #plantdevelopment #microCT #PlantScience
November 20, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Reposted by John Hodge
With zero explanation, Wellesley College closing down a beloved and successful (and donor-funded) environmental justice program that (among other things) helps Indigenous students. thewellesleynews.com/22287/news-i...
Paulson Initiative to close, Suzanne Langridge dismissed
Wellesley College rejected Paulson Initiative donor Wendy Judge Paulson ’69’s renewed offer of donation, prompting the Paulson Ecology of Place Initiative to close at the end of the academic year. Pro...
thewellesleynews.com
November 23, 2025 at 3:04 AM
Reposted by John Hodge
Spatiotemporal dynamics of CYCLOIDEA expression during early floral development in monkeyflower www.cell.com/current-biol...
Spatiotemporal dynamics of CYCLOIDEA expression during early floral development in monkeyflower
Bilateral floral symmetry is a repeated evolutionary innovation governed by the CYCLOIDEA-dependent program, yet how the dorsal-specific CYC expression is initiated and maintained remains elusive. Min...
www.cell.com
November 23, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Reposted by John Hodge
More cool #Lignin and #PlantCellWall suff from @icesarino.bsky.social et al.
#TansleyReview: Physiological roles of #lignins – tuning cell wall hygroscopy and #biomechanics

Pesquet, Cesarino, Kajita & Pawlowski
👇

📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

#LatestIssue
November 23, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Reposted by John Hodge
In this tough and moving essay, Caroline Kennedy's 35-year-old daughter Tatiana Schlossberg reveals that she is terminally ill with leukemia. She has some choice words about how her cousin Bobby has made the limited time she has left worse. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
A Battle with My Blood
When I was diagnosed with leukemia, my first thought was that this couldn’t be happening to me, to my family.
www.newyorker.com
November 22, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Reposted by John Hodge
Live within 40 miles of Norwich and think you might be low in vitamin D? 📍

Take part in our study investigating whether tomatoes biofortified through gene editing to be high in vitamin in D can help boost vitamin D levels🌞
➡️ buff.ly/eH1w2rB

@johninnescentre.bsky.social
November 22, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Reposted by John Hodge
#FluorescenceFriday check out this time projection of microtubules in a katanin maize mutant taken by PhD student Steph Martinez 🔬
November 22, 2025 at 3:34 AM
Reposted by John Hodge
After 10 Fridays, 10 flowers, and 100+ drawings, the Florédex is complete! ✨

Come take a tour of the design and science behind 10 iconic flowers 🌺🧵
November 21, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Reposted by John Hodge
Among the cracked earth & blinding sunlight of California's Death Valley, one native plant not only survives — it thrives.

Read the story of how this plant helped @rheelab.bsky.social scientists reveal a blueprint for engineering heat-resilient crops: msutoday.msu.edu/news/2025/11...

#PlantScience
November 20, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Reposted by John Hodge
🍇 From UC Davis: Study finds cabernet sauvignon still carries stable epigenetic marks from its parent varieties, revealing centuries-long molecular memory in clonally propagated vines. (Dario Cantù, Carole Meredith)
▶️ www.ucdavis.edu/food/news/ca...
#Viticulture #Genetics
Cabernet Sauvignon’s Long Memory Revealed
UC Davis scientists find chemical "switches" that control gene expression in cabernet sauvignon remain stable across hundreds of years of clonal reproduction.
www.ucdavis.edu
November 18, 2025 at 7:14 PM