Illustrating the World of Plants and Their Biotic Environment

Accessible Science Talks 2022 Annual Science Meeting, Norwich Research Park

Illustrating the world of plants and their biotic environment

Lives on earth are living in a close association with other organisms, especially the plant holobiont is a complex system in balancing the beneficial and pathogenic interactions. In contrast to animals, the non-mobile property makes plants more resilient to the surrounding environment. While plants have developed multilayered immune system to protect themselves, as a counter-act, microbes evolved effectors and other strategies to regulate host performance for successful colonization. The crosstalk between host plants and microbes shaped today’s plant biology, ecology, and evolution. We all appreciate plants in our lives: they served as life essentials, as ornamentals, and as a factor in the changing seasons. However, people might never have had a glance into the micro-universe of plants and its associated microbes. With the aid of scientific illustration, the visual communication bridge the gap between technical and conceptual. Researchers could share knowledge and their findings in an accessible approach to a wide range of audiences. This talk introduces the fascinating world of molecular plant-microbe interactions in a pictorial way, plus a brief guide for developing graphical abstracts.

About the speaker: Hsuan Pai 

Pai is a technician at The Sainsbury Laboratory. As a scientist, she helps the team to work on deciphering the plant immune networks. When off from academic, she enjoyed drawing and crafting, and is interested in communicating scientific concepts through illustrations.