Great day at the Israeli Plant Proteostasis meeting! Fantastic talks on autophagy, leaf senescence, and ethylene- 3 topics that sound like they’re all talking about the same thing, but turned out to be completely different science🙃 Plus our first ‘Beyond the Bench’ discussions!

At a scientific conference, I found myself telling an early-career researcher not to mistake a prof.‘s silence for arrogance, sometimes it’s just introversion. This book captures the quiet power of genuine 1-on-1 conversations and the impact they can have. An inspiring read 🫶

Congratulations to MSc student Adi Kedem , our very own “Master of Lettuce”, on winning the Dr. Zechariah Haber Excellence in Agriculture Prize! 🥬🏆 A well-deserved recognition of outstanding work and dedication. We’re proud of you, Adi!

Great read about life as a bat researcher 🦇 As a molecular biologist, I spend my days with tubes and enzymes..meanwhile, some scientists are out chasing bats at night. Same job title, same faculty @ TAU, completely different worlds. 🤩 (also I dare you to count the # of times he says echolocation 🙃)

From our FY26 New Investigator call: By generating genomic and metabolic profiles of Dunaliella, Lital Davidi will identify how these stress-tolerant algae produce oils and pigments to advance bioenergy research. jgi.doe.gov/user-science/science-stories/jgi-announces-2026-new-investigator-portfolio

Hiding in plain sight! 2.3M conserved non-coding sequences traced back 300M years across 284 plant species Ground-breaking study out in First Release @science.org from labs of @madelaineb.bsky.social, @idane.bsky.social & Zach Lippman ▶️ doi.org/10.1126/scie... ▶️ www.slcu.cam.ac.uk/news/hiding-...

Had a fantastic time showcasing our work on the role of the UPS during plant rehydration at the FISEB/Ilanit 2026 conference 🌱💧 It was truly inspiring to be part of such a vibrant community of plant scientists and to share our research in this wonderful session. 👨‍🔬👩‍🔬

Today the Tal Lab celebrated science at the Ilanit Conference! 🎉🌱 Speedy talks and posters by our two PhD students, Ifat Goldstein and Guy Azrieli. We are proud of the exciting research they presented and the great discussions. 👏💪

Two-thirds through this audiobook and I’m moved by the stories of scientists who committed their lives to understanding one question deeply. Listening to this at the height of the tenure-track race feels… complicated. As a bonus, I loved discovering the story of Mildred W. Wells👩‍🔬Highly recommended.

That moment when two of your students are picked for speedy talks before their poster session, back to back. Very proud PI today. 😍🥹💪

Behind the scenes 🌿 MSc student Yuval Brazilay in action, taking thermal images of plants to reveal their physiological responses.🌈📷

Was super excited to host @shabeklab.bsky.social in Tel Aviv for the first time since starting my position here and to hear all about the cutting-edge science his lab has been up to since we parted ways! Truly inspiring talk. ✨🤩💪🌱 @ucdavis.bsky.social @telavivuni.bsky.social

New group photo from the Israeli Plant Sciences Conference, framed by the soft desert light of Sde Boker. Couldn’t ask for a better team! …and if you zoom in, you might even spot some of the local wildlife that tried to sneak into our photo. 🐐🌿💛📸

This week in our Practical Plant Genetics course, we had the pleasure of hosting Tamar Avin-Wittenberg as a guest lecturer 🌿👸 @taw-lab.bsky.social She guided our students through the fascinating world of autophagy, unveiling its mysteries and vital roles in plant development and stress responses.🌱✨

Today we celebrated the new year and the successful completion of two MSc projects! 🎉🤩 Congrats to Guy on graduating his MSc and even more exciting, he’s staying with us for a PhD on florigen signaling 🌱🍅 To mark the occasion, a cup printed with his favorite protein!

Exciting opportunity for a PhD student or Postdoc to join our lab on an ISF-NSFC 🇮🇱🇨🇳funded project exploring targeted protein degradation in the plant response to drought and rehydration. 🌱💧 If you’re passionate about plant proteolysis - email me!

Big cheers to the Tal lab crew for organizing an epic school happy hour to close out a challenging academic year! 🎉 They brought the fun and pulled it off brilliantly! 🍕🍻

🎬 3… 2… 1… Action! PhD student Ifat Goldstein is capturing her rehydration response phenotype on camera 🤩 because science looks even cooler in time-lapse.🌱💦🎥

Inspired and empowered by incredible women at Tel Aviv University’s unique professional development workshop for pre-tenure faculty—strong voices, great discussions, and invaluable insights!

Diving deep into ROS signaling in our favorite UPS-governed protein degradation pathway with @yosefichman.bsky.social!

Departmental happy hour 🍻 at the beautiful botanical garden of Tel Aviv University.

I’m setting up the Clontech/Takara y2h system..these yeast look nothing like what I am used to (why is that the case for everything single thing in a new lab?) BUT the controls work as expected. The Y2H-Gold strain grow in a dark rusty color. I’m wondering if any one has some thoughts about this.

And that’s a wrap for this year’s Practical Plant Genetics course! Proud of our undergraduates for tackling global challenges and proposing solutions through transgenic plants. Great discussions, big ideas, and lots of fun! this is what it’s all about! 😎🌱

This week in the ‘Practical Plant Genetics’ course, more future plant scientists showcased their creativity by presenting innovative solutions to global challenges using transgenic plants as part of their final task.

My first yeast transformation in 7 years (& as a PI) worked. 💪🤩 Bench work is so satisfying! 😍These should provide some much needed answers for about 3 different projects in the lab. Crossing all my finger for some positive PP interactions🙏

Today in my ‘Practical Plant Genetics’ course, students presented innovative ideas to tackle global challenges using transgenic plants. Their creative ideas were fun and and inspiring. Proud to witness the potential of these bright young minds. 🌱🫶

And today #newPI I found out that no one in the lab is growing liquid cultures correctly 😳 and spent some time DIYing cotton plugs.

Very happy to see our work on deleterious mutations in #tomato published in @naturegenet.bsky.social 🧬🌱🍅! We identify deleterious mutations that were enriched during #domestication and apply #CRISPR to repair a mutation in cultivated tomato. #genetics #plantscience www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Repairing a deleterious domestication variant in a floral regulator gene of tomato by base editing - Nature Genetics

A deleterious mutation in the tomato transcription factor SSP2 was enriched during domestication. Repairing the deleterious mutation in cultivated tomato by base editing leads to compact growth and ea...

nature.com

First PhD student of the Tal lab has passed her PhD proposal committee/ QE with good feedback from 3 distinguished researchers, and I’m so proud, pleased and excited for her and for myself. 🙏

For 2025 I’ve decided that I will have a side project on the bench🤗 going back to it after two years spent solely in front of a screen feels so good. The only issue I’ve encountered is that when everything is marked with your own initials it becomes harder to tell what’s actually yours😅