Molecular Biology of Plants conference (MBP 2025)

MBP2025 - Molecular Biology of Plants 2025

The Conference Molecular Biology of Plants (MBP) 2025 of the Section Plant Physiology and Molecular Biology of the DBG took place in Hennef, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, from 10th to 13th Febuary 2025. It was organized by Prof. Dr. Hans-Henning Kunz (LMU, Munich), Prof. Dr. Christopher Grefen (Bochum), and Prof. Dr. Ute Höcker (Cologne). Click here to see more information.

Deepti Varshney and Dr. Saskia Hiltemann jointly presented a Talk and Poster entitled "DataPLANT, MAdLand, and Galaxy: Tools and Resources for Plant Research"

MAdLand is a DFG-funded research consortium exploring the molecular mechanism behind the transition from water to land, from alga to land plant. All work presented at MBP2025 is part of a collaboration between MAdLand, NFDI4Plants (DATAplant), Galaxy & de.NBI. In their talk, Dr. Saskia Hiltemann and Deepti Varshney presented tools & resources useful for plant research: Galaxy, Galaxy training Network (GTN), MAdLand DB (GenomeZoo), TAPscan v4, and DataPLANT ARCs. Belowe is the abstract of their talk.

Galaxy is a free and open-source, web-based platform for conducting data-intensive life science research. It offers thousands of popular data analysis tools to enable researchers who lack coding expertise to engage in computational analyses. Moreover, the Galaxy platform promotes collaboration and knowledge sharing among scientists. Its features include accessibility, reproducibility, and data-sharing capabilities to create a collaborative environment that encourages researchers to exchange/publish data analysis protocols, reproduce results, and foster an open science culture within the community. The European Galaxy server, is managed by the University of Freiburg, and freely available to all researchers. GTN offers over 400 comprehensive tutorials across a wide range of scientific topics, which walk learners through real-world analyses in Galaxy step-by-step.

MAdLandDB (Genome Zoo) represents a comprehensive protein database accessible through the Galaxy EU platform. Focusing on non-seed plants and streptophyte algae, it delivers non-redundant, reliable protein sequences by utilizing BLAST and Diamond search functionalities for comparative and evolutionary questions in plant biology. The database contains a collection of 21 million sequences, representing a diverse group of more than 600 species belonging to various lineages, featuring e.g., fungi, animals, phylo-diverse algae, bacteria, and archaea for comparative purposes. It is actively developed and maintained within the MAdLand framework. Additionally, we offer a guided tutorial within the Galaxy training network (GTN) for performing sequence similarity searches against the MAdLandDB. This training resource facilitates and enhances the user’s understanding of efficient navigation and analysis.

TAPscan v4 represents an advanced tool for genome-wide annotation of plant transcription-associated proteins (TAPs), comprising transcription factors (TFs) and transcriptional regulators (TRs). For v4 of TAPscan, we updated the web interface accessible at https://tapscan.plantcode.cup.uni-freiburg.de which enables an in-depth representation of the distribution of 138 TAP families (including 23 subfamilies) for all species of MAdLandDB. Moreover, TAPscan v4 has also been integrated into Galaxy, empowering users to analyze their datasets.

DataPLANT NFDI4Plants is a consortium from the heart of the German plant research community which aims to establish sustainable Research Data management (RDM) by providing digital (e.g., in the form of software or teaching material) and personal (e.g., via on-site consultation or workshops) assistance. DataPLANT is committed to developing a RDM system that meets community requirements and facilitates the processing and contextualization of research datasets in accordance with the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable). DataPLANT’s mission is to lead the digital transformation in plant science by advancing from traditional publications to innovative data-driven formats like Annotated Research Contexts (ARC). ARCs encapsulate all your research data, including raw data and metadata in a FAIR, open, and standardized format. MAdLand is committed to contributing its research data to the DataPLANT Research Data Management (RDM) platform.

Acknowledgements: The Presenters would like to thank the organizers of MBP2025 for providing the opportunity to present at the conference. The presenters also like to thank the MAdLand/Rensing lab, Galaxy, NFDI4PLANT and de.NBI.