Fun news! @gcbias.bsky.social and I are teaching a 2-week online population genetics workshop this summer to raise money for the Center for Population Biology at UC Davis. We're trying to gauge interest -- please fill this out if you might be interested! And please share broadly!

If Bad Bunny can cover the history of Puerto Rico, colonialism, transatlantic slavery, hemispheric consciousness, as well as contemporary life and politics in under 14 minutes, you can do your 15- or 20-minute conference presentation with time to spare.

Ouch. I’ve been there too. Recovery takes mental strength, dedication and many many hours of PT. If I can come back, Lindsey Vonn certainly can.

STEM Black History Fact 8/28 Dr. Charles H. Turner demonstrated learning and memory in insects, laying the foundations for behavioral neuroscience.

Sad to read of the death of Steve Long who contributed a huge amount to #plantscience

@yichangsung.bsky.social gave a great talk on tandem kinases for the UC Davis Plant Path seminar.

🧵Good news out of #NIH today. (1) NIH is extending #ESI and #K99/R00 eligibility to accommodate researchers whose eligibility would have ended during the previous shutdown. Take a look at NOT-OD-26-020. If your ESI status would have ended in 2025, you get an automatic extension through 2026/03/31.

Join us in Montpellier in July. pem26.cnrs.fr

Fantastic morning read. "This leads us to ask whether delegating judgment to LLMs ...transforms it into what we call epistemia... producing the illusion of knowledge when surface plausibility substitutes for evidence-based reasoning." www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....

Please forward this REU opportunity (paid summer internship) to undergraduates interested in plant biology and related fields etap.nsf.gov/award/7573/o...

ICE in Minnesota: They tear gas protestors detained on the ground. They murdered Renee Good They kidnapped a 5 year old and used him as bait; kidnapped 2 year old They beat and murdered a VA nurse Then ICE leaders went on TV and lied about it Ultimate gaslighting

Fix your weak headline @nytimes. The video contradicts the government’s lies. Minneapolis Live Updates: Videos Appear to Contradict Federal Account of Killing www.nytimes.com/live/2026/us...

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... Excited to share that PNAS published our research article focused on "Why are Ralstonia goofy?"

USDA postdoctoral fellowships are open. If you’re interested in writing a postdoc fellowship with me in plant immunity, spatial defense, or vector-borne disease, please reach out. (US citizens, nationals, permanent residents only; PhD awarded Jan 2023–Jan 2027.) www.nifa.usda.gov/grants/progr...

I'm excited to see this out after hearing Matt give a nice seminar a few months ago. Ralstonia is such an interesting pathogen! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

My 14yo “Did you major in photosynthesis?” 😂

NSF needs to hear from you. Among other points, I suggested: keep politics out of science; stop using the threat of cancelling scientific grants to try to control universities; increase NSF funding for fundamental research. Pls send around. Deadline is January 27. Thanks www.nsf.gov/od/updates/n...

When postdocs and grad students move on, I don’t worry about “losing” projects. If a postdoc wants to extend their work beyond my lab, my answer is yes. They should take their momentum with them. I have plenty of ideas, and there will always be more questions to ask.

Extracellular NAD(P) links hypersensitive response to localized acquired resistance www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

My friends local to Minnesota, whom I trust a great deal, would like to share the following resources that could use support. PowWowGrounds - Native American Coffee Shop doing direct food and supply aid to their communities- Venmo @powwowgrounds www.powwowgrounds.com

Lovely.

Our new article is now online on @natplants.nature.com! ✨ We identified and characterised AvrPm4 and SvrPm4, a pair of powdery mildew effectors controlling avirulence on the wheat kinase fusion resistance protein Pm4 🌾 check it out ➡️ www.nature.com/articles/s41...

We’re delighted to welcome Prof. Saskia Hogenhout as the new BSPP President, whose pioneering research on plant-microbe-insect interactions is transforming our understanding of pathogen transmission and plant health. More about her work @johninnescentre.bsky.social www.jic.ac.uk/people/saski...

Bruce Hammock was a scientific legend, brilliant and kind. He was always happy to talk and collaborate without ego. Like many others, I will miss him. 💔

Plants are master synthesisers of defensive compounds. So are spruce trees producing anti-microbial compounds that are protecting them against fungal infection. 🧵1/5 Image credit: Benjamin Weiss, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology

🧬 New preprint on fungal effector 🍄🍎 We identify AvrRvi6, the first AVR from Venturia inaequalis. AvrRvi6 is a MAX effector with apoplastic activity, expanding the functional landscape of this major effector family. 📄 bioRxiv: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Although it went online in 2025, here is our second paper of 2026! 🎉 Bravo to @jiaxuwu.bsky.social for leading this (possibly) controversial, but much-needed, analysis. Enjoy! Now out in the January 2026 issue of Trends in Genetics. 🔗 www.cell.com/trends/genet...

Just making sure that 2025 is definitely over

New preprint on pop #genomics of #spittlebug—the main insect vector of Xylella, the bacterium that has ravaged olive groves in southern Italy 🇮🇹 🫒 Take-home: problematic insect vector may be less widespread than initially thought—important implications for disease control 💥 👇

🍄 RESEARCH 🍄 Tue1, a fungal effector belonging to the structurally conserved Tin2-fold effector family widespread among smut fungi, suppresses plant jasmonate signalling by targeting JAZ10, showing diversified modes of action in this family- Gul et al. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/... #PlantScience 🧪

Another exciting preprint! Two additional HMA-TKP sensors from wheat and barley, swapping HMAs can confer recognition specificity. Evo analyses supporting HMA-TKP has differentiated to recognize different effectors through HMA diversification. other links below. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Bob was incredible. I spoke with him a week before he passed and all he wanted to talk about was his plans for teaching in the Spring. He was an amazing scientist and pushed for teaching excellence in the department at every meeting. He will be sorely missed. newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/in-m...

Excited to share our #plantimmunity preprint on engineering cereal TKPs www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... A short thread below 👇

Tandem Kinases containing HMA domains can be engineered to sense additional effectors. Parallels with NLR HMA engineering and highlights the versatility of this interesting integrated domain. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

NSF plans to streamline merit review to heal self-inflicted staffing wound www.science.org/content/arti...

UC Davis research is at risk. The federal government - its top funder - is pulling and threatening key grants, putting life-changing innovations in medicine and tech in jeopardy. ucdav.is/3KZr1Ej #FromLabsToLives

Two researchers at UC Davis have been awarded a VinFuture Prize in recognition of their work developing self-cloning crops, a breakthrough for sustainable agriculture. Read more: ucdav.is/4oJ41Hx

Plant Com Dec 2025 issue online 🎉Focus Issue on Peptides and Receptor-like Kinases🎉Cover story: A small peptide APP3-14 disrupts pathogen–insect mutualism by modulating plant MYC2-mediated olfactory defense. cell.com/plant-commun...

Just because you can do a good job at something doesn’t mean you should agree to do it.

UF Biology is searching for an Asst Prof in Evolution, Ecology of Infectious Disease - spread the word! @ufresearch.bsky.social @ufgeog.bsky.social @sse-evolution.bsky.social explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/53...

Please RT‼️ #TenureTrack position @zmbh.uni-heidelberg.de one of the best #proteostasis research centres in the world. www.nature.com/naturecareer...

🚀 PhD opportunity! Join us (@pierrebuscaill.bsky.social & @chofski.bsky.social) in Bristol 🌱✨ Design, test & model synthetic promoters in Nicotiana benthamiana, focusing on plant immunity. Apply now! 🔗 www.findaphd.com/phds/project... #PlantSci #SyntheticBiology #PhD #PlantBioDesign #BristolUni

Trump used his press briefing to unleash one of the most overtly racist rants ever delivered by an American president. Hate is a reflection of personal insecurity and weakness. Can he even find Somalia on a map? Of course this leads to safety concerns for Somalis. This reality show is exhausting.

@charisramsing.bsky.social gave a great seminar on Clavibacter for UC Davis’ Plant Pathology Department today. New insights into tomato colonization and effector recognition. #MPMI