Mary Williams

I studied Biochemistry at Berkeley (BA), Plant Molecular Biology at Rockefeller (PhD), did a postdoc at Berkeley with Ian Sussex, and then spent 14 years as a Biology professor at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California. In 2009 I started working at the American Society of Plant Biologists as Features Editor of the journal Plant Cell and the developer of Teaching Tools in Plant Biology. My passion lies in making it a little bit easier for students of all ages to understand plants and plant science research. I live in Glasgow, Scotland, with my family and our much adored dog.

In Brief: Xanthine Dehydrogenase in ROS Metabolism

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This week’s Research in Focus is reprinted from an In Brief published by Science Editor Nancy Hofmann in The Plant Cell, which summarizes an article newly published by  Ma et al. This study explores the dual and opposing roles of the enzyme xanthine dehydrogenase in modulation of ROS metabolism during defense responses in Arabidopsis.  Xanthine … Read more

Newest Teaching Tool: Rhythms of Life: The Plant Circadian Clock, by Katharine Hubbard and Antony Dodd

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The first of the Teaching Tools Competition winning entries has been published. The latest in this series, “Rhythms of Life: The Plant Circadian Clock” was written by Katharine Hubbard (Lecturer in Biological Science, University of Hull) and Antony Dodd (Royal Society University Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer, University of Bristol). This teaching tool explores circadian … Read more

New in Plant Physiology: Seed Production Affects Maternal Growth and Senescence in Arabidopsis

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This Research in Focus is written by science writer Peter Minorsky (ASPB and Mercy College) who writes the monthly On the Inside column for Plant Physiology. This summary describes a paper by Wuest et al., published in the  May 2016 issue. In some plant species, floral initiation can overlap temporally with the development of seeds. … Read more

Recognizing featured Plant Cell first authors, April 2016

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Recently, we’ve been profiling first authors of Plant Cell papers that are selected for In Brief summaries. Here are the first-author profiles from the April issue of The Plant Cell. Kimberley Tilbrook, featured first author of UV-B perception and acclimation in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Current Position: OCE Postdoctoral Fellow at CSIRO Agriculture, Black Mountain, ACT, Australia. … Read more

An introduction to the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology (MPI-MP)

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I recently visited the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology (MPI-MP) in Potsdam-Golm, outside of Berlin, Germany. I’d like to introduce you to this institution, a truly outstanding center for plant science research. The MPI-MP is one of more than 80 Max Planck Institutes in Germany. Five of the Institutes have a focus on … Read more