🧬 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...

Not that this passes without being noticed: The GreenRobust cluster of excellence is officially alive since Jan 1, 2026! Looking forward to at least seven years of exciting science in the field of plant ecology, molecular biology, agriculture and the combination of all these fields. Stay tuned!

At the end of 2024 I did a chronological round up of all the #plantscience in @science.org that year. So how did 2025 pan out? This year, I’m grouping papers thematically instead of chronologically so read on to find out what exciting plant science came out over the last 12 months. (1/22)

🔬 EXPERT VIEW 🔬 In this review, Cox & Czymmek cover the recent developments of expansion microscopy techniques in plant systems and provides examples of their applications in plant biology research. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/... #PlantScience 🧪 @kcox-bioguy.bsky.social

Advice I now give to grad students and postdocs in the sciences: Don’t just try to meet and impress senior scientists. They’ll retire soon. Get to know your fellow students - make friends where possible, be colleagues at least. These are the people you’ll be sharing the field with for decades.

Finally, we’ve solved a long-standing mystery: what tintinnid shells are actually made of: A new class of biomaterial formed by remarkable structural proteins unique to tintinnids. A major milestone after 3 years of work! Read about it in our preprint: doi.org/10.64898/202... #ProtistsOnSky

A super detailed protocol + video on Cryo-ExM - Cryo-Expansion Microscopy, led by the labs of our former postdocs @marinelap.bsky.social & @ebertiaux.bsky.social. Clear, practical, and very useful for anyone doing nanoscale imaging 🚀 app.jove.com/t/68595/expa...

The In Situ Structure and Distribution of V-ATPase in C. elegans Apical Membrane Stacks www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.19.695382v1 #cryoem

⏰Call for Applications - Join Our Team and Help Shape Our Cluster @goetheuni.bsky.social and the Cluster of Excellence SCALE - Subcellular Architecture of Life are seeking 3 highly motivated scientists to join a vibrant and innovative research community on Campus Riedberg. Share with your network!

Apply now for a PhD in Life Sciences at IMPRS “From Molecules to Organisms”! Research nanomechanics of cellular machines and track kinesin motors at high resolution in Tübingen in Erik Schäffer’s group at the University of Tübingen. More information available on our website: www.phd.tuebingen.mpg.de

Final version is out! Our large-scale cryo-ET dataset 🔬 of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii 🦠 is now published in @cp-molcell.bsky.social Huge collaborative effort! So glad to see the community already using it to develop new resources & tools. Check it out here: shorturl.at/z4i4c #CryoEM #CryoET

Dear Plant ECRs, don't miss this wonderful opportunity!

OMG - there’s a word for this???? Szilard Point = when the costs of getting a grant equal the value of an awarded grant EVERY UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATOR SHOULD READ THIS (to remind them of what academic scientists are facing right now): www.nature.com/articles/d41...

I’m excited to share a new preprint from Carella group #CarellaCapybaras! biorxiv.org/content/10.6... In this study, we show molecular co-evolution of two popular nonhost resistance genes in plants, RAR1 and SGT1, in ferns. For a quick read before Christmas, here’s the thread:

We are thrilled to share our new pre-print on the molecular anatomy of nuclear proteasome in human sperm cells! #In-cellcryo-ET + #SPA + #LM! @piotrkolata.bsky.social @a-dsantos.bsky.social, @tomdendooven.bsky.social!! doi.org/10.64898/202...

Lab survived its first months thanks to these people. LEGO microscopes were a small Christmas token of appreciation 🎉

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

HMA-TKP engineering: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

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...

JOB ALERT: Operations Director (DCI–Lausanne). The DCI, a joint initiative of EPFL, UNIL, UNIGE and UNIBE, is recruiting an Operations Director to lead the cryo-EM facility in Lausanne. 📩 Questions: CEO of the DCI: @chgenoud.bsky.social 🔗 Apply here: careers.epfl.ch/job/Lausanne...

New opportunity to join our #EvoMPMI group @johninnescentre.bsky.social as a Postdoctoral Researcher working on the mechanistic basis of immunity in diverse plants. Please spread the word, reach out by email, and/or apply if interested! More details here: www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/po...

It’s out! Using cryo-ET in Dicty cells, we take a fresh in situ look at vaults. Surprisingly, we uncover vaults associated with ER and NE membranes, and find that many vaults enclose ribosomes in defined orientations, opening new avenues to their cellular function! www.biorxiv.org/lookup/conte...

The Clavel Group is recruiting a new postdoc for two possible projects dealing with plant-virus interactions and selective autophagy! More (wordy) details below ⬇️🌱🦠

Pleased to share this thoughtful essay by Jess on my flower design project🌹🧬 As a small thank-you for spreading the work, I'm randomly giving away 5 of these new morphogenesis hoodies to whoever reposts this!

Genetic engineering, painting, sculpting, floristry, and fantasy are united in @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social 's flower design art project. New essay out now on a blossoming frontier of transgenic art!

🚨We’re hiring! Please help spread the word! Our lab at @TheSainsburyLab is recruiting a pre-doctoral intern to work on plant immunity research. Ideal for those who are planning to pursue a PhD and seeking research experience. tatsuyanobori.com

Lab Xmas party with the traditional arm wrestle with ⁦‪Camilla Molinari, brilliantly organised by ⁦‪@mattrwengler‬⁩ ⁦‪@puginiercamille‬⁩

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN NON-SEED PLANT DIVERSITY (BRYOPHYTES, FERNS, LYCOPHYTES). Vancouver, Canada. #plantscijobs #plantscijob botany.ubc.ca/job-postings...

🤯

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi boost plant resilience by remodelling the plant-pathogen membrane interface Check-out the latest paper from @alexguyon.bsky.social & @dromius.bsky.social 📖 doi.org/10.1016/j.ce... in @cp-cellreports.bsky.social News article www.slcu.cam.ac.uk/news/arbuscu...

🌱 2x David Sainsbury Career Development Fellowships at @slcuplants.bsky.social Unique opportunity for early-career researchers to launch their own independent research programme in quantitative plant development, with generous support & world-class facilities. www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/david-s...

Zwei Forscherinnen und drei Forscher der Universität und des Universitätsklinikums Tübingen erhalten hochdotierte Förderungen für Projekte in der #Medizin, der #Mikrobiologie und dem Maschinellen Lernen. Herzlichen Glückwunsch! 👏 uni-tuebingen.de/universitaet/…#ERCR#ERCCoGo#MachineLearningng

👉Excited to share our latest work @natmicrobiol.nature.com, revealing a decrease in cytoplasmic crowding during filamentous growth in the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans. Furthermore we found that inhibition of ribosome biogenesis can trigger filamentous growth in this pathogen rdcu.be/eT1Su

I’m very excited to share that I have been awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant! @erc.europa.eu I’m deeply grateful to all current and former lab members, collaborators, mentors, and colleagues for their support. Looking forward to this exciting new chapter! #ERCCoG

We have great news!🎉 @csic.es researcher at CRAG Julia Qüesta (@jiquesta.bsky.social) has been awarded a prestigious ERC Consolidator Grant @erc.europa.eu for #tuneCHILL, a project that will uncover how plants respond to cold to help develop climate-smart, more resilient crops. 🌱❄️

Check out the new preprint from the Hückelhoven lab @huckelhovenr.bsky.social. Includes beautiful microcroscopy images of powdery mildew haustoria from my former colleague Mariem Bradai.

Now out in full form. Again, a big thanks to #teamtomo and @alisterburt.bsky.social for developing the infrastructure to build this on. journals.iucr.org/d/issues/202...

I am happy to share that my postdoctoral work in the @gerlichlab.bsky.social at @imbavienna.bsky.social is finally out 🎉! Our study reveals how cohesin guides focused and accurate homology search. Read more 👉 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Follow along for key insights and updates! 🧵

Excited to share our latest work on plant immune receptor biochemistry! @kamounlab.bsky.social @hsuanpai.bsky.social @mpcontreras.bsky.social Jose Salguero Linares @danielluedke.bsky.social @adnroide.bsky.social @jiorgoskourelis.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Have you ever wondered how it is possible that systemically infected plants produce (a certain percentage of) healthy progeny? 💚 Check out the first preprint of the @incavirus.bsky.social lab and first preprint of my postdoc! 🍀 We'd be very happy about feedback and discussions!

Preprint alert! It is my great pleasure to announce the first manuscript from the lab, a story that started @gmivienna.bsky.social and was mainly accomplished by the intrepid @gesahoffmann.bsky.social at @mpi-mp-potsdam.bsky.social. A brief thread with our findings www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

The @embo.org Workshop at the GMI and the @viennabiocenter.bsky.social has come to a close! From November 25th-27th, researchers attended inspiring talks and engaged in discussions on the topic of plant evolution. #EMBOplantEvo

the original news article w/ @philippdexheimer.bsky.social beautiful illustration www.oeaw.ac.at/gmi/detail/n...

Glad to have this finally published: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... lots of new data since the #preprint. If you are into selective #autophagy, #evolution, #proteostasis Please have a look!

Worth about 200M€ = 150 ERC StG! Not convinced this is a good move for Europe research!

Great talk by @delphinem-p.bsky.social from @geminiteamlab.bsky.social yesterday: “Hijacking the Plant #Spliceosome” on how alternative splicing drives #viral infection and #tomato fruit development 🍅 Thanks to our host @incavirus.bsky.social for organizing this insightful seminar! 👏

The conoid is a structure in #Apicomplexans that extrudes during egress, gliding motility & invasion. This study shows that the coiled-coil protein RNG2 tethers the conoid to the apical polar ring in #Toxoplasma and is essential for invasion @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/489blpq

AI model Helixer predicts eukaryotic genes ab initio, directly from a plain text FASTA file. No RNA-seq. No protein homology. No repeats, hints, or curated evidence. Raw genome → accurate gene models. Deep learning + HMM, published in @natmethods.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Outstanding PhD fellowship call OPEN for excellent students. lacaixafoundation.org/en/doctoral-... This is for students incoming from outside Spain. And it is VERY well supported (ie at European levels). If you’re interested in doing a PhD in our lab @irbbarcelona.org, reach out!!!!

This year’s @embo.org Workshop is held at the @viennabiocenter.bsky.social. Open to 120 participants, it is over-enrolled with 180 attendees! Thank you to the organizers @isabelmonte.bsky.social, Aino Komatsu, @moodytomato.bsky.social, and Liam Dolan for making this event possible. #EMBOplantEvo