Now out! We show that TEs can be horizontally transferred between fungal species via Starships. Once transferred, these TEs can become active, changing the genome organization and affecting the lifestyle of the recipient fungus. www.nature.com/articles/s41... @oggenfussursula.bsky.social #TEsky

Happy to share the results of a long-haul post-doc project, now online @science.org, aiming at understanding the rules of transgeneration epigenetic inheritance over TEs in plants and its extent and impact in nature. More below! doi.org/10.1126/scie...

TEs aren’t just genomic parasites, they’re also engines of genomic novelty. Our new study with ~2,000 Z. tritici genomes shows repeated TE mobilization waves during global expansion. With @danielcroll.bsky.social & @guidopuccetti.bsky.social 🧬 www.nature.com/articles/s41... #TEworldwide

Out today, our take on 6-methyladenine #6mA evolution in Eukaryotes @natgenet.nature.com. We asked a simple question, is really DNA 6mA common across the eukaryotes? The answer is "yes" if you're a unicellular eukaryote 🦠, not so if you're multicellular 🐝🌱🍄. www.nature.com/articles/s41... 1/9

Behind the scenes! go.nature.com/4bYY8BM

Our work on chromatin evolution in brown algae is finally out! This is also my first "co-first author" paper!! I’m excited to share what we found 👇

Does hidden protein biology live in the suboptimal alignment space? When we align two divergent proteins, we usually trust a single optimal alignment. 🧬 But what if the real structural signal lies in the space of near-optimal solutions? With EMERALD-UI you can unfold this perspective.

📣 Meet the new ERC Synergy Grant awardees! Sixty-six research teams have been selected for funding, bringing together 239 scientists. Congratulations to all! ➡️ buff.ly/PSn3bi9 #EUfunded #HorizonEurope #ERCSyG

This Halloween, we have a spooky evolutionary story for you. The brainchild of @delaconcepcionjc.bsky.social, Nick Irwin and our fantastic collaborators is now out in @natplants.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41... Here’s why I love this work — and why I think you’ll enjoy it too. 👇

#TEsky A comparative analysis of transposable element diversity and evolution across 75 bee genomes doi.org/10.1186/s128...

1/ Ever needed to annotate TEs in a fungal genome, but didn't know where to start? We have released #MycoMobilome, a community-focused non-redundant database of transposable element consensus sequences for the fungal kingdom, constructed from >4,000 fungal genomes! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Very happy to see our paper published online natcomms.nature.com. Thank you to @wellcometrust.bsky.social for funding this work during my time with @robklose.bsky.social and David Booth! Thanks also to collaborators @garcialabms.bsky.social @alexdemendoza.bsky.social and the other authors!

Excited to introduce Auxenochlorella as a new algal reference organism for fundamental plant science and bioengineering. A paper in two parts: a genetic toolkit for site-specific genomic manipulation, paired with the most unusual genome I’ve ever worked on academic.oup.com/plcell/artic...

1/9 New in @science.org www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ado8005 How does genetic architecture constrain evolutionary trajectories? To address this question, we inferred the genetic architecture of convergent plumage coloration and its evolutionary history in wheatears.

3/9 The black-or-white throat polymorphism is explained by the interaction of a transposable element (an LTR retrotransposon) upstream ASIP with ASIP coding variation. Mantle and neck side coloration is encoded by additive effects of regulatory variants upstream ASIP.

We discovered an endogenous retrovirus that's still spreading in natural D. melanogaster populations! It was horizontally transferred from D. erecta in Central Africa, so we named it "Kuruka", which means "jump" in Swahili. Read its cool story here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Thrilled to share what we learned from re-annotating the mobilome of the brown algae model [Ectocarpus] 🌊🌿🏖️ genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.... A wonderful collaboration with @ericadinatale.bsky.social, @cssmartinho.bsky.social, @rorycraig.bsky.social, and Susana Coelho! 🎉

It would be exciting to study whether there are clear "causal" links between TE regulation and body plan formation in brown algae, where 'artificial' mobilisation of young TEs can drive innovation (and overcome constraints) in the formation of multicellular phenotypes.

So happy to see my first first-author paper published! 🎈 A short thread on how Ectocarpus and its TE secrets have kept me busy lately: rdcu.be/eITQH

New research: With ancient origins & surprising flexibility, #BrownAlgae reveal a compelling story of sex chromosome evolution. This could rewrite how we view sex determination. Learn more: s.gwdg.de/YDoZ3L Congrats to @agalip.bsky.social & Josue Barrera for their work in @natecoevo.nature.com

Genomes of brown algae with different sex determination systems show that U/V sex chromosomes evolved 450–224 million years ago and show remarkable conservation of genes within the sex-determining region, despite independent expansions of the sex locus in each lineage www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Free online ebook: R and python comparisons side by side www.anotherbookondatascience.com/chapter1.html

Delighted to share the peer-reviewed version of our study led by @tomlewin.bsky.social now out in Genome Biology @bmc.springernature.com! We analyzed 64 chromosome-level genomes across 15 animal phyla and found that extensive genome rearrangements are the norm in bilaterians. doi.org/10.1186/s130...

💥🥳 At long last, our latest paper is out! Gag proteins of endogenous retroviruses are required for zebrafish development www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... Led heroically by Sylvia Chang & @jonowells.bsky.social A study which has changed the way I think of #transposons! No less! 🧵 1/n

Transposable elements in brown algae? 🌊 Yes, they’re full of surprises ✨ Come meet Ectocarpus at #ESEB2025! 📍Room 113 - S28.03 🗓️ Thursday, 2:30pm

#ESEB2025 check out poster 221! The amazing work of @petrollromy.bsky.social and @borglab.bsky.social is also here ⤵️ www.cell.com/current-biol...

#TEsky #RNAsky #RNAbiology

#eseb2025 has started. So many friends and colleagues around. This is amazing. Welcome everyone to Barcelona!

Know your insect antennae! #insects #bugs #antennae #entomology #education #art #SciArt

1/ Transposable elements are often called "jumping genes" because they mobilize within genomes. 🧬 But did you know they can also jump 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 cells? 🤯 Our new study reveals how retrotransposons invade the germline directly from somatic cells. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... A short thread 🧵👇

DFAM (database of transposable elements) 3.9 is out! A lot of cool new stuff and a special update for Drosophila melanogaster... 1/2 #Transposon #DFAM

Please spread the word🙏: [PhD Position in Computational Evolutionary Transcriptomics] If you are interested in doing a PhD in gorgeous Scotland on 'Why embryo development goes wrong sometimes?', please consider applying and join our wonderful team in Dundee! www.dundee.ac.uk/phds/opportu...

So happy to see @petrollromy.bsky.social first-author preprint at @biorxiv-genomic.bsky.social ✨ Could you imagine the impact of Plavaka elements on the genome expansion of Bostrychia moritziana? 🌊

#TransposableElements A Homage to Barbara McClintock and Hopi Zea mays, artwork series by Megan Singleton in #KernelsOfCulture #MaizeAroundTheWorld This artwork commission is sponsored by Nancy Ridenour. megansingleton.com Pix: Hopi Purple and Hopi Turquoise photograph series and art book

In our latest @biorxiv-genomic.bsky.social preprint, we describe our approach to use PacBio HiFi reads to detect somatic TE transposition -- good enough to detect rare events that are present in only single cells. Led by Andrea Movilli. #plantscience www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...