Very happy to see that SUBER GENE1 (SBG1; At1g52565) is now annotated in TAIR and Aramemnon! We identified this gene through a GWAS on natural variation in endodermal suberin and had the privilege of naming it. For those interested, the study can be found here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Unlike its wild ancestor teosinte, maize lost much of its seed protein during domestication. A paper @nature discovers teosinte genes that, when expressed in modern maize, increase seed protein without lowering crop yield. shorturl.at/zdsvY & highlight @natplants.nature.com: shorturl.at/e3f6C

Teosinte alleles enhance nitrogen assimilation and seed protein in maize - Nature

Teosinte alleles enhance nitrogen assimilation and seed protein without lowering crop yield when expressed in modern maize, providing a powerful strategy for crop improvement to meet future population demands.

shorturl.at

Water is essential to life; so how do cells sense and respond to the stress associated with changes in water levels? Work @nature shows that when water is scarce, the plant protein SAM8 forms condensates, trapping RNA-processing factors and so reprogramming translation. shorturl.at/4VZQf

Cellular water-potential sensing through biomolecular condensation - Nature

Plants sense water deficiency through SAM8 protein condensation, which responds to reduced hydration and triggers stress adaptation by altering RNA export and gene translation.

nature.com

Team effort from @fxrico.bsky.social, Oded, Pierre, Andrea, @hmchen93.bsky.social, Larissa now out in @pnas.org The Kelch phosphatase BSU1 is a PP1-like serine/threonine phosphatase involved in cell cycle regulation, not a tyrosine phosphatase in brassinosteroid signaling 👍 doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

Very proud to be in the news of RTS🀄️🀄️

@mariebarberon.bsky.social · 3mo ago

The RTS (Swiss TV) visited our lab and talked about our recent work on natural variation for suberin in the News yesterday evening! (In French)

Final week to apply! 🚨 We're looking for a postdoc to join the RO2T Respiration lab at University of Nottingham working on root oxygen biology, as part of our ERC-funded Breathing Underground programme. Closes 20 May. #plantscijobs

Vinay Shukla@vinayshukla.bsky.social · 3mo ago

We're hiring! 🌱 The RO2T Respiration Group is looking for a PhD student and a postdoc to work on root oxygen biology! Please spread the word! #plantscijobs

Early-bird registration for PADiBa2026 closes in few days (May 15th)! wp.unil.ch/padiba2026/

@mariebarberon.bsky.social · 5mo ago

The 7th International Symposium on Plant Apoplastic Diffusion Barriers (PADiBa2026) will be held in Lausanne, Switzerland from August 31th to September 3rd 2026. We now have a website: wp.unil.ch/padiba2026/ Registrations will open on April 1st.

It’s FINALLY out! We investigated the natural variations for endodermal suberin and identified SUBER GENE1 (SBG1)- Type One Protein Phosphatases (TOPPs) as a novel module that regulates endodermal suberization. @mariebarberon.bsky.social rdcu.be/fgU6g #PlantScience

GWAS reveal SUBER GENE1-mediated suberization via type one phosphatases

Nature Plants - A genetic screen across Arabidopsis accessions identifies SBG1 as a regulator of root abscisic acid response and endodermal suberin deposition via type 1 protein phosphatases,...

rdcu.be

We're hiring! 🌱 The RO2T Respiration Group is looking for a PhD student and a postdoc to work on root oxygen biology! Please spread the word! #plantscijobs

Dr Susannah Lydon@susieoftraken.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Postdoc job (to April 2029) and PhD studentship here at Nottingham with @vinayshukla.bsky.social, looking at effects of oxygen availability in roots PDRA - jobs.nottingham.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx... PhD - jobs.nottingham.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx... #PlantSciJobs 🌱🧪🔬

It's finally out! With this new paper, Salma and Monica show that hypoxia-regulated ERFVIIs are not immediately destabilised during reoxygenation: they instead persist in the nucleus to control oxidative stress genes. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

New paper out from the Synoxys lab! We asked an important question: what if plants sensed oxygen like animals do? what if we swapped the O2 sensing across? We built the system to find out. 🧵 www.nature.com/articles/s41... #plantscience @syno2xis.bsky.social @beagiuntoli.bsky.social @biology.ox.ac.uk

a poster for indiana jones and the last crusade with a man in a hat

ALT: a poster for indiana jones and the last crusade with a man in a hat

media.tenor.com

Registrations are open for PADiBa2026!

@mariebarberon.bsky.social · 5mo ago

The 7th International Symposium on Plant Apoplastic Diffusion Barriers (PADiBa2026) will be held in Lausanne, Switzerland from August 31th to September 3rd 2026. We now have a website: wp.unil.ch/padiba2026/ Registrations will open on April 1st.

The 7th International Symposium on Plant Apoplastic Diffusion Barriers (PADiBa2026) will be held in Lausanne, Switzerland from August 31th to September 3rd 2026. We now have a website: wp.unil.ch/padiba2026/ Registrations will open on April 1st.

During secondary growth, primary protective barriers break, and a new one forms beneath: the phellem. But what triggers phellem to differentiate and become a functional barrier? Our results show it’s mechanical cues from tissue rupture 🌱 Check out our preprint 👇 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 🧵/1

Highly recommended EMBO Workshop on Plant Photobiology (ISPP2026) in Les Diablerets, Switzerland! (even if I may be slightly biased...) Registration open. We are very much looking forward to seeing you there! ⬇️

Please consider attending this conference in the Swiss Alps meetings.embo.org/event/26-pla... . Exciting science & great venue, lots of opportunities for selected talks from abstracts. Join the conversation on Bluesky with #EMBOispp2026

😬 www.science.org/content/arti...

Major Chinese funder to stop paying fees for 30 pricey open-access journals

Move comes amid effort to grow the country’s own journals

science.org

Alexis Verger 🧬🧫🧪@alexis-verger.cpesr.fr · 6mo ago

starting March 1, 2026, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences are prohibited from using central government funds to pay Article Processing Charges for high-priced OA journals, specifically Nature Communications and Science Advances.

🚨 Positions available in Plant Science! Please share. We’re hiring: 1. Postdoc 2.PhD (UK applicants only) Focus: root oxygen dynamics, developmental signalling. Come help us uncover how O2 shapes root development. More info here- sites.google.com/view/root-re... #plantscijobs #plantscience

New preprint out! Zhoubo Hu et al "A redox-regulated RCC1-like protein controls catalase activity in Arabidopsis". We identify CAIR1, a UVR8-interacting protein, as a redox-responsive regulator of catalase localization and activity, maintaining cellular ROS balance. 🌱 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

PhD opportunity in the newly minted RO2T Respiration Group! Please share! Interested in root biology, oxygen dynamics, imaging & modelling? We’re recruiting a PhD student at the University of Nottingham. Deadline 15th February. jobs.nottingham.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx... #plantscijobs #plantscience

🌱📢Join us at the 𝐆𝐑𝐒 𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐌𝐚𝐲 23-24, 2026 in 𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐳𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝! 💡Specially encourage ECRs to apply to present your work! Its a great forum to connect with peers and mentors in the field. 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲👉 www.grc.org/salt-and-wat... Please repost! #plantscience #abioticstress #ECRs

Our new year starts of course with new preprint on brassinosteroid signaling tinyurl.com/nhzcfkxd. We re-analyzed the function of Kelch phosphatases, which were previously characterized as protein tyrosine phosphatases that dephosphorylate the critical pTyr200 in the GSK3 kinase BIN2. (1/6)

Plant Kelch phosphatases are Ser/Thr phosphatases involved in cell cycle regulation

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are plant steroid hormones sensed at the cell surface by the membrane receptor kinase BRI1. Activation of BRI1 leads to the dephosphorylation of BZR1/BES1 transcription factors ...

tinyurl.com

We (Nordborg & Weigel labs) need input on the next generation of genome browsers & data download modes for the #Arabidopsis #1001GenomesPlus project. We have now a curated collection of over 500 long read genomes. Please help us by filling out this questionnaire: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Next generation of 1001 Genomes Plus browser and data download

Please indicate all features you would like to see in a browser that displays features of completely sequenced Arabidopsis thaliana genomes

docs.google.com

It’s finally out! 🎉 Work led by former PhD student @wei-xiao-botany.bsky.social , in collaboration with @bayerlab.bsky.social and @bertderybel.bsky.social AINTEGUMENTA phospho-switch regulates bilateral stem cell activity during secondary growth. 🔗 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... #PlantSciences

An AINTEGUMENTA phosphoswitch controls bilateral stem cell activity during secondary growth | PNAS

Plant stem cells have the remarkable ability to give rise to distinct tissues and organs throughout development. Two concentric cylinders of active...

pnas.org

Interested in learning about the latest and greatest research in how plants respond to excess salt, too little or too much water? Come to the GRC in Salt and Water Stress in Switzerland. Lots of opportunities for all career levels. www.grc.org/salt-and-wat.... Please repost!

A long road to the Cover of Science! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Localized glutamine leakage drives the spatial structure of root microbial colonization

Plant roots release exudates to encourage microbiome assembly, which influences the function and stress resilience of plants. How specific exudates drive spatial colonization patterns remains largely ...

science.org

Very excited to see our @nikogeldner.bsky.social lab x Feng Zhou lab work featured on the cover of Science! (1/5) We reveal how root architecture and nutrient leakage shape spatial patterns of microbial colonization, moving beyond traditional models of uniform exudation.

Science Magazine@science.org · 10mo ago

Using precise spatial and temporal analysis, researchers in Science provide insight into how bacteria around the root interact both with the plant and with each other. Learn more in this week's issue: https://scim.ag/3WgNajk

Great article in Cell: Time-resolved reprogramming of single somatic cells into totipotent states during plant regeneration It's about #Arabidopsis and #auxin. www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Time-resolved reprogramming of single somatic cells into totipotent states during plant regeneration

In Arabidopsis, transcriptional factors LEC2 and SPCH enhance local auxin biosynthesis, establishing a transcriptional framework that enables differentiated single somatic epidermal cells to regain to...

cell.com

Honoured & excited that ‘Breathing Underground’ has been funded by the ERC! This will let me explore one of the most fundamental questions of plant life: how roots breathe underground? @erc.europa.eu

Today’s Department seminar by @luciastrader.bsky.social @salkinstitute.bsky.social on auxin transcription factors.

Out in @science.org The crazy sequence of events from planting maize in dense fields. Density-dependent linalool release triggers release of compounds into the soil affecting microbes and plants. Article: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Perspective: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... #PlantScience

Linalool-triggered plant-soil feedback drives defense adaptation in dense maize plantings

High planting density boosts crop yields but also heightens pest and pathogen risks. How plants adapt their defenses under these conditions remains unclear. In this study, we reveal that maize enhance...

science.org