Last week we hosted our first workshop in the context of the #MeioCOntrol @fwovlaanderen.bsky.social anderen project! 🔬🧠 Researchers from @ILVO, De Storme lab @kuleuvenplantinst.bsky.social and Pauwels lab @mobi-ugent.bsky.social came together to learn and brainstorm about CRISPR in plants 🌿🧬

🪱 Session 2 🪱 #Nematodes 💡 @valeria-orl.bsky.social - Fera Science ♻️ Lilian Atira - SETU Ireland 🪱 Beth Waweru @mobi-ugent.bsky.social 🍅 Karam Mostafa - Ondokuz Mayis University 🌾 Leidy Rusinque @ucoimbra.bsky.social

🌱Can smart polymer design unlock plant RNAi? Paper from GLYCO shows that guanidinylated polymers enable safe & efficient dsRNA delivery in plant cells —improving stability, uptake, and transient gene silencing. A big step for RNAi-based crop protection🌿 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

🌿 Plant Immunity in Focus - Join us on Dec 9, 2025 at Coupure, Ghent @fbwugent.bsky.social 🕒 15:00 Melissa Mageroy (NIBIO) 🕒 15:45 @jurriaanton.bsky.social (Sheffield U) 🎓 Followed by PhD defense of Jasper Matthys at 17:00. #PlantScience #Epigenetics #PlantImmunity #UGent #DoctoralSchool

New manuscript by Yaseen Ahmad and colleagues from Tina Kyndt lab in #PlantStress journal describes the upcycling of agricultural byproducts into bioprotectant compounds. doi.org/10.1016/j.st... #nematology #research #articlealert @fbwugent.bsky.social

Freshly out of the lab! Excited to share the results of a great collaboration between the Laurens Pauwels lab @laurenspauwels.bsky.social and the lab of @hildenelissen.bsky.social We developed and validated more efficient CRISPR layouts using a split-cross Cas9/gRNA system in maize !!!

🎉 Great news from MoBi! Gerard Serrat Mayayo will start as an FWO SB doctoral fellow in Prof. @laurenspauwels.bsky.social EDIT group, and Dylan Cool obtained a Baekeland mandate with Prof. Tina Kyndt (EPIC), Prof. Kris Audenaert & BASF Congrats — we look forward to 4 exciting years! 👏

Fantastic PhD defense of Dr. Henry Mwaka on🧬 RNAi-based protection of East African Highland #banana 🍌 against nematodes 🪱 and weevils 🐛! Nice example of plant biotechnology and a great collaboration between @fbwugent.bsky.social and NARO in Uganda.

Last week, Mobi explored how to use AI to transform our research and education 🤖. Great hands-on sessions by Evelyne De Caluwé and AnneMarie Leuridan that went far beyond ChatGPT 🚀✨ #PromptEngineering #VibeCoding #AITrends

Big news for #Agrobacterium2025 in Leuven, Belgium. Thanks to our amazing #sponsors, we’re able to offer travel awards for grad students + poster prizes! 🏆✈️ 📢 New abstract deadline: May 10 👉 www.kuleuven.be/agrobacterium2025 #SciComm #PhDLife #Microbiology #PlantScience

Excited to announce Prof. Patrick Shih @innovativegenomics.bsky.social @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social as an invited speaker for #Agrobacterium2025 on 15-16/9 in Leuven, Belgium Recent publication Shih lab: www.nature.com/articles/s41... Abstract deadline: May 1! www.kuleuven.be/agrobacterium2025

Just arrived in Songdo, Korea! Excited to be teaching 🌱Plant Biotechnology at Ghent University Global Campus for the next few weeks. 🎓 #GUGC @mobi-ugent.bsky.social @fbwugent.bsky.social #plantscience

#Agrobacterium 2025. The 45th American Crown Gall meeting and the 5th European Agrobacterium conference: registration and abstract submission is now open! #deadline May 1, 2025. Thanks to our sponsors we will select some students for travel grants. www.kuleuven.be/agrobacterium2025

🌱✨New article by Karen De Kock and EPIC group on fennel byproduct extracts as novel bioprotectants is now published in the journal Plant Stress! @FbwUGent Read the article here 👉 lnkd.in/eW2Gg-Zn Thanks to @FWOVlaanderen

March IPBO Online Café Series! ☕🌱 @laurenspauwels.bsky.social from @fbwugent.bsky.social and Prof. Runo, Kenyatta University will discuss Agrobacterium-mediated transformation and gene editing to manage witchweed in crops. 📅 Friday, March 7th, 2025 ⏰ 3:30 PM (EAT) 🖱️ Register: lnkd.in/gEMSBa3f

Vacancy @AgroBioTech in Gembloux! Full-time academic position in #plantgenetics to study plant genetic resources for supporting the agroecological transition #vacancy #plantresearch www.gembloux.uliege.be/upload/docs/...

🌱 New publication by GLYCO group: "The Future of Plant Lectinology: Advanced Technologies and Computational Tools" in BBA Advances! 📖 doi.org/10.1016/j.bb... @fbwugent.bsky.social #lectins #plantresearch #glycobiology 🍬

MoBi article alert! 🚨#plantresearch 🌱 Decoding Plant–Pathogen Interactions: A Comprehensive Exploration of #Effector–Plant Transcription Factor Dynamics @fbwugent.bsky.social dx.doi.org/10.1111/mpp.... in @MPPjournal

The Glyco team collaborated with @viblifesciences.bsky.social IRC to unravel the structure of Nictaba, a stress-inducible lectin from tobacco 🌿, uncovering how it binds GlcNAc-containing carbohydrates!🧬 academic.oup.com/glycob/artic... #PlantScience #StructuralBiology #Lectin #Glycobiology

💪 PhD life at MoBi Tip-Filling Party at EDIT (@laurenspauwels.bsky.social) and EPIC labs earlier this week! 🎉🧪 What’s better than tackling this chore together with music and good vibes? 👩‍🔬👨‍🔬 #LabLife #TeamSpirit #ScienceFun

🎉 On Monday was the public defence of Eva Degroote from the EPIC lab @TinaKyndt. "Novel protective agents against nematodes and their application in the field." Congratulations! 👏🎓

MoBi 🚨 Paper Alert! 🚨 by EPIC lab. ARGONAUTE4 and the DNA demethylase REPRESSOR OF SILENCING 1C 🔬 mediate dehydroascorbate-induced intergenerational #nematode resistance in rice 🌾 Now in @plantphys.bsky.social doi.org/10.1093/plph...

Sunny December morning in the EPIC/EDIT lab at the Proeftuinstraat 🥰 ❄️ ☀️ #research #PhDlife #plantscience

The final MoBi group we introduce is #NanoBioTechnology that focuses on synthesis & characterization of innovative #nanobiomaterials, providing solutions to various biological & technological challenges. We also explore cell characterization, transfection & vaccination methods.

Next MoBi lab is the lab of Biochemistry & #Glycobiology (GLYCO) that uses a multidisciplinary approach (biochemistry, molecular biotechnology, cell biology, glycobiology, #RNAi) to study plant growth and increase stress tolerance of plants in changing environmental conditions. #plantscience

The next MoBi group is the Lab for Epigenetics & Defence (EPIC) that investigates the plant immune system from a molecular and biochemical point of view. We try to understand which #epigenetic mechanisms control plant immunity against root-knot #nematodes. #plantscience

#CRISPR is revolutionizing plant breeding. However, plant transformation remains an obstacle. The 1st MoBi group we introduce is Plant Transformation & Gene Editing @laurenspauwels.bsky.social studying the processes behind #Agrobacterium mediated transformation & plant regeneration. #plantscience