Rahul Puthan Valappil

@rahulpvnewland.bsky.social

Postdoctoral Researcher (2025-, UPSC, SLU, Sweden) | PhD (2017-2024, PCDB Group, IISERBhopal) | BS-MS (2012-17, IISERB) | 🇮🇳🇸🇪 Plant Cell & Development 🌱🔬/ Light Signaling 💡/ Flowering 🌺 https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=JnVMydYAAAAJ&hl=en

Such an honor to have been elected as an EMBO member and I am looking forward to contribute to the EMBO community! I got spoiled by my fantastic group today! @embo.org

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Umeå Plant Science Centre@umeaplantsciencecentre.se · last mo.

🧪🌾NEWS - Congratulations to @srobertgroup.bsky.social on being elected an EMBO Member!🎉 "I want to share this recognition with the many fantastic members of my research group at UPSC over the years," says Stéphanie Robert. Read more: www.upsc.se/about-upsc/n... #EMBOMembers2026 @embo.org

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🧪🌾VACANCY: Postdoctoral scholarship in Seasonal Adaptation & Environmental Signalling🔬 Interested in how trees use environmental cues to time growth, dormancy & bud break? Join Rishikesh Bhalerao's group and study tree adaptation in a changing climate. Apply by July 1👇 www.upsc.se/jobs/6690-tw...

Umeå Plant Science Centre - Two-Year Postdoctoral scholarship in Seasonal Adaptation and Environmental Signaling

Umeå Plant Science Centre - A centre of excellence for experimental plant biology in Umeå Sweden. ©UPSC

upsc.se

The latest biorxiv of the lab and first full poplar paper :-). Nice collaborative work with Nat Street and Kathryn Robinson @umeaplantsciencecentre.se @siamsadoyle.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...

A drought stress-induced MYB transcription factor regulates pavement cell shape in leaves of European aspen (Populus tremula)

The leaf pavement cells of many plant species develop fascinating jigsaw puzzle-like shapes in which neighboring cells interdigitate with each other, providing an ideal model for the study of cell shape acquisition. We analyzed pavement cell shape complexity in a natural population of European aspen ( Populus tremula ) genotypes and then used a genome-wide association study (GWAS) approach to identify a new candidate gene in cell shape regulation, Potra2n8c18226, encoding the transcription factor MYB305a. We subsequently validated a role for MYB305a in regulating aspen leaf pavement cell shape. We then demonstrated that drought conditions strongly induced MYB305a promoter expression in these cells and provided evidence implying that MYB305a plays a role in simplification of the cell shape in response to drought stress. Finally, we demonstrated negative correlations of pavement cell shape complexity with water-use efficiency, as well as with average precipitation, latitude and longitude of the genotypes' original sampling sites in the natural European aspen population. Taken together, our results suggest that climatic variables affect the shape complexity of pavement cells in aspen leaf and provide a first step towards unravelling the molecular mechanisms controlling pavement cell shape acquisition in this species in response to environmental conditions, by implicating the involvement of the transcription factor MY305a. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Swedish Research Council, https://ror.org/03zttf063, VR-2020-03420 Kempe Foundation, https://ror.org/05cszw148, JCK-1732, JCK-1912 Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, https://ror.org/004hzzk67 VINNOVA, https://ror.org/01kd5m353 European Research Council, https://ror.org/0472cxd90, ERC-2024-SyG STARMORPH 101166880 Trees and Crops for the Future (TC4F)

biorxiv.org

Excited to share that our work on the Barrel Assembly Machinery protein BamA is now accepted in Chemical Science!

R. Mahalakshmi@mahas999.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Excited to share acceptance of our research in Chemical Science @chemicalscience.rsc.org! We meticulously map the folding mechanisms and lipid-regulated functional dynamics of the Barrel Assembly Machinery protein BamA. Congratulations Anjana @anjanageorge.bsky.social, Anusree, Akanksha, and Varsha!