Homology of the dark cells of Paleozoic liverworts with the specialized oil body cells of modern liverworts (Marchantiophyta) Tremblay and Mercadal nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/BWYYSE...

Bryophytes (homosporous) show conserved genome colinearity over impressively long timescales compared to e.g. seed plants (heterosporous). These authors show that the same holds for hom vs het lineages of ferns + highlight the different scope for female meiotic drive in hets vs homs.

🌊🔬The unique way of kelp embryogenesis: Cell lineage and single-cell transcriptomics reveal the radical switch turning cells into rhizoids in Saccharina embryos: ▶️ New preprint doi.org/10.64898/202... #evolution #embryo #scRNAseq #marinebiology #kelp #algae #celldivision #transcriptomics

Although the red pigments made by flowering plants and liverworts are produced by distinct chemical pathways, here we found that they are induced by homologous complexes of transcription factors. @currentbiology.bsky.social

Bed of Chara hosting a frogspawn in an Oxford pond

Our work on #hornwort #pyrenoids is finally out in @science.org! 🎉 We uncovered how hornworts pack their Rubisco into pyrenoids and successfully recreated them in Arabidopsis. A key step toward engineering more efficient photosynthesis in crops @btiscience.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Great summaries of our paper www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... in Science: www.science.org/doi/epdf/10.... and New Scientist: www.newscientist.com/article/2515... and in the Science museum blog: blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk/in-the-begin...

How could a simple self-replicating system emerge at the origins of life? RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but existing ones are so large that their self-replication seems impossible. Could they be smaller? Excited to share our latest work in @science.org on a new small polymerase. 1/n

Registration is now open! The 4th edition of the Mendel Early Career Symposium will take place on 21-22 May at the GMI, part of the @viennabiocenter.bsky.social. This two-day event brings together researchers across career stages to discuss the latest research in all areas of plant science.

Come and hear me yap about the #LiverwortHunt, a citizen science project which we (@slcuplants.bsky.social) ran in 2021, and was published last year as a part of the Marchantia polymorpha pangenome paper doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Did you know there are 2 types of avocado varieties? A-types switch from female to male, B-types male to female, within a single day. This reciprocal sex alternation promotes cross-pollination and has a simple genetic basis. Read more in this recent preprint from the final chapter of my PhD thesis 🥑

Amazing lineup of speakers and free registration — now is the time to sign up if you’re interested in pangenome graphs! There’s also an option to present a poster

Made a site comparing the sizes of living things :) The great Julius Csotonyi spent 5 months painting over 60 illustrations for the site, no ai used > neal.fun/size-of-life/

🌱 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...

International Marchantia Workshop 2026 Nov. 27th – 29th, 2026 Kobe, Japan sites.google.com/view/marchan...

@stuartmcdaniel.bsky.social @fernway.bsky.social @jcarlosvillarreal.bsky.social @pierremarcdelaux.bsky.social ...know anyone who would like to come to #Copenhagen for 2 years to work with us on the evolution of symbioses? employment.ku.dk/all-vacancie...

Grow your career with UBC Botany! The department is recruiting a assistant professor in non-seed plant diversity--researchers conducting innovative work in bryophyte, fern or lycophyte diversity are invited to apply: science.ubc.ca/about/careers @ubcbotany.bsky.social

The life of a plant scientist… In order of magnification: me taking some #Marchantia from my courtyard, the picture I took in that very moment, and the microscopy image of that sample sectioned through a gemma cup. Turquoise: chlorophyll, yellow: WGA-FITC (binds chitin of e.g. fungi)!

Not one, but two microscopy masters from @slcuplants.bsky.social speaking at Flora in Focus: A Microscopy Conference for Plant Scientists - Raymond Wightman and How-Wei Wu! #NikonMicroscopy #microscope #lightmicroscopy #plantscience #FLIM #confocal #biology

Next year's Sainsbury PhD studentships have now gone live! 📢 Find out the details about each of the eight exciting opportunities: www.findaphd.com/phds/program...

Modestly, we decided to review a century's worth of theories of balancing selection :) onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

We’re hiring! 📣 DEEP at @stockholm-uni.bsky.social is looking for a tenured Associate Professor in Plant Ecology. Join a vibrant research & teaching community in the heart of Sweden’s capital. Learn more and apply below by 16 Nov.👇

This is a remarkable study describing a new fungal species in a 407 million year old plant - Rugososporomyces lavoisierae Strullu-Derrien and Schornack sp. nov - using some amazing technology. Worth a read 👇

*Postdoc in Evolutionary genomics at Stockholm University* We are recruiting a postdoc for a large interdisciplinary project to investigate evolutionary drivers and genomic consequences of pollen evolution in response to pollination mode shifts in flowering plants. 1/5 su.varbi.com/what:job/job...

Marchantia berteroana at 3000 meters above the sea level. Vallecitos, Mendoza.

Very important paper and resource. Bryophyte genomes expanded by one order of magnitude. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Oxford Biology is growing 📢 We’re appointing 3 Associate Professors in: 🌱 Plant Sciences 🦉 Animal Behaviour 🔬 Molecular Cell Biology 3 fields. 3 opportunities. One new home for Oxford Biology. Learn more 👉 bit.ly/41S2Tc7 Apply now 👉 bit.ly/488CNW3

Out after peer review, collaborative study from Nordborg & Weigel labs with help from many others. Not the largest collection of new Arabidopsis thaliana genomes, but we hopefully put forward some good ideas for how to think about pangenomes and their analysis! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Are you interested in plant evolution? 🦠🌱🫛 Join us @gmivienna.bsky.social for the 4th #EMBO Workshop "Plant evolution: from origins to diversification on land" on November 25-27 2025 Submit your abstract by August 25! #algae #bryophytes #nonseedplants #plantevodevo

Today @englishse.bsky.social will be at #ESEB2025 discussing the challenges and opportunities for flexible and inclusive working patterns in academia💪🏼Join in the discussion on S11 Room 122+123 @ 2.30pm! @eseb2025.bsky.social

1/ How do animals develop immunity against a newly encountered transposable element from scratch? Our study reveals that the mobility of TEs is their Achilles heel, allowing hosts to develop a powerful small RNA-mediated silencing response. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Some positive stories 👇🏾 “Countries with widespread HPV vaccination and regular cervical cancer screenings are already seeing dramatic reductions in cancer rates. They demonstrate that it’s possible to effectively eliminate the disease” @scientificdiscovery.dev ourworldindata.org/hpv-vaccinat...

After a lot of work, we are finally able to share this project about the cell cycle in Marchantia from the Haseloff lab. If you want to find out how cell division is controlled, you can’t miss out this one… #PlantScience #Synbio #EvoDevo www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

First Ma lab #GMI paper is now online! It‘s a mini-review on insect-induced plant #galls —their coolness and research potential! Plant galls induced by insects: Coordinated developmental reprogramming and defence manipulation www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

OrthoFinder just dropped a major update It’s faster, more accurate, and ready for thousands of genomes Let’s break it down (1/10) github.com/OrthoFinder/... www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

An interview with @thibautbrunet.bsky.social with, among others, a refreshing view on scientific research!

Excited to host the UK NonSeed Plant Meeting in Norwich this year on Friday December the 12th. It’s a great community and these meetings are always fun and informative. Whether you’re a seasoned expert or a newbie looking to diversify your research, please consider joining us!

At the Gregor Mendel Institute, collaboration and core facilities are foundational to our research environment. If you're a scientist who thrives in such a resource-rich space, join us! The GMI is hiring new Group Leader positions. Links are below.

Semi-automated workflow for high-throughput Agrobacterium-mediated plant transformation. Summary of our efforts to accelerate plant transgenics with the @earlhaminst.bsky.social Biofoundry. Now published in @theplantjournal.bsky.social. #PlantScience #Synbio onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Join the GMI as a Junior Group Leader! The GMI is seeking a talented scientist to lead an independent research group, addressing fundamental questions in molecular plant biology. More information is below.

Plants & their pollinators🌼🐝 Plants can’t move but they still need a mate. How do they do it? Our Director @beverleycubg.bsky.social joined @bbcradio4.bsky.social In Our Time with Melvyn Bragg, Jane Memmott & @larschittka.bsky.social for a fascinating discussion bbc.co.uk/programmes/m... 👋Bluesky!

Recently, two papers showed the potential of population genetics in Marchantia from @pierremarcdelaux.bsky.social and Dolan's lab. Here is my dispatch for Current Biology talking about them. www.cell.com/current-biol...

Do you use Darwin Tree of Life (DToL) genomes for your work or grant applications? If so, can you please fill out this form? docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... We are gathering info on how DToL genomes are used. It will help us raise money to continue producing publicly available high-quality genomes.

Just extended the deadline to March 21 for this position in the Plant Phylogenomics group at the University of Vienna. It is sort of a "post doc plus" position funded for up to six years. Please reach out if you want to chat - I'd love to talk to you about it! jobs.univie.ac.at/job/Universi...

The GMI announces a new EMBO workshop titled "Plant evolution: from origins to diversification on land" - right here in Vienna. The hybrid event will be held on November 25-27 at the Vienna BioCenter. Register by August 25 at meetings.embo.org/event/25-plant-evolution.

Big news - I'm going to be moving to a new position at The Company of Biologists, working across all our journals. This means my job is up for grabs! If you're an experienced editor with a love of developmental biology and its community, this could be the role for you. Full details in the link.

✨We are hiring!✨🧪🏛️🧬 The @nhmdk.bsky.social at the University of Copenhagen is seeking a permanent, full-time Molecular Biology Lab Manager to help us establish and run our National Facility for #Museomics in the heart of one of Europe's most beautiful cities! Please reskeet!

Please share! A 4-year position to work on genome duplication and evolution in Bath, part of our BBSRC sLOLA project determining the extent and effects of rediploidisation across eukaryotes! www.bath.ac.uk/jobs/Vacancy...

📢📢The International ICIPS symposium "Evolution of Plant Reproduction" organized by @icips.bsky.social will take place near the botanical garden of Berlin (Germany) from March 25-28, 2025. 🟠To register: dfg-icips.org/berlin2025/ 🟠Deadline registration: 14.02.2025

Check out our exciting programme of early-career speciation research talks for the Gordon Research Symposium on Speciation, this March in Ventura www.grc.org/speciation-g... Graduate students & postdocs, if you'd still like to join us: make sure to register before the 1st of Feb!