Delighted to share the outcome of a 10y long project – published today in @ScienceMagazine ! This study unveils how multipartner symbioses between aggressive insect partners can be stable. https://t.co/nfxt4PmIm4

Excited to share this opinion paper on the nature of domesticator-domesticate interactions. Great fun to work with the great Judie Bronstein at Wiko and in Oxford. Are domesticator-domesticate interactions mutualistic? Well, not always. @DurBiol https://t.co/nGxxDmQFdE

Kudos to Yulong Yu, who led this super study, with my friend Gao Chen at Kunming Institute of Botany

Check the supplementary videos to see how this mechanism work!

The process is super generalist -- any seed carried by the ants -- as long as it's not too heavy, can be dispersed by Bengalia

There can be many cycles of dispersal involving ant then fly then ant again dispersal

The mechanism is completely crazy -- the obligate kleptoparasite flies Bengalia that would ONLY feed if the food is carried by an ant (!) steal seeds carried by ants that are dispersing elaiosome-bearing seeds; fly away with it, feeds on the elaiosome, and discard the seeds

Fun to see our paper 'Seed dispersal by kleptoparasitic flies' out in @CurrentBiology We provide the first demonstration of flies playing an important seed dispersal role -- and this might be widespread in South East Asia and Africa https://t.co/tuqWmD9U2y

@DurBiol @WashUBio

Fun to see our paper in @ScienceMagazine highlighted in @nytimes ! https://t.co/gxVDaOesZ8

Fun to write a short piece in @ConversationUK about our article in @ScienceMagazine 'This tropical plant builds isolated ‘apartments’ to prevent battles among the aggressive ant tenants it relies on for survival' https://t.co/mjt3yEU0v8

The solution to this problem turns out to be very simple: Squamellaria plants build isolated ‘apartments’ to avoid battles between the distinct tenants. Great team with Susanne Renner, Alivereti Naikatini in Fiji and Dirk Metzler in Munich @DurBiol @WashUBio

Dream Masters by research (MRes) advertised! No fees! 'Origin and evolutionary dynamics of rainforest assembly in the Fiji Islands' Please get in touch to to discuss the project Calling to all botanists! Please RT! https://t.co/ZkIM1SRLvi

Excited to share our latest paper, led by the great Justin Stewart. We show that contrary to expectations, crops yields are not higher outside of their centers of origins, with key implications for indigenous crop use. https://t.co/s5CW3qNpAx @DurBiol @OneEarth_CP

So happy to see this out! I was lucky to follow it from the start and it is so nice to see it now in its final format. Well done all the authors! @durham_uni @DurBiol Redox-regulated Aux/IAA multimerization modulates auxin responses | Science

Super cool to see our petiole cross sections from our fern story make it to the cover of @NaturePlants . Cudos to our collaborator Richard Sibout and his team. https://t.co/Pma0nSbxiz

Fun to talk about Fijian ant-plant symbioses at @pace_sd @UniSouthPacific this morning! @DurBiol

In a new Science study, researchers report that a plant transcription factor involved in jasmonate hormone signaling is a crucial player in resistance against Huanglongbing. This finding may have substantial implications for eventual control of the disease. Learn more in a new

We did a deep dive into the genetics of giant waterlilies - and here's what we found:

Really excited to say that my lab's paper on color transitions in Mimulus sect. Erythranthe is out! We found that some traits demonstrate evolutionary convergence in phenotype & genotype, while others are divergent, & that this matters for bee choice! https://t.co/KzmcYouXTS