Michael Hothorn

My PhD supervisor Klaus Scheffzek (1958-2025) has passed away. tinyurl.com/3dcm73p6 Klaus was an expert structural biologist with degrees in physics and biology, an excellent scientist, a great teacher, and pianist. He made key contributions to G-protein signaling @embl.org @mpi-mr.bsky.social

Results of the @erc.europa.eu consolidator grants. 25 for🇨🇭👏
ETH-EPFL: 9
UNIZH-UNIBS: 12
UNIL: 1
UNIGE: 0
🥸

Check out our latest paper. Very glad to see this one finally out. Fantastic work by @charlotte-dlslle.bsky.social . Learn more about MBAP proteins and their roles in brassinosteroid signaling. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Nice work by the Mayer and @jessenlab.bsky.social labs out in @elife.bsky.social. Inositol pyrophosphates regulate the vacuolar inorganic polyphosphate and Pi pools, allowing Pi to be re-imported into the cytosol when cells experience phosphate starvation. elifesciences.org/articles/108...

This project has been a joint effort with the Fiedler and Panse labs, supported by an @snf-fns.ch Sinergia grant and the @erc.europa.eu. The work from my lab was done by PhD student Kristina Sturm, postdocs Oded Pri-Tal, @fxrico.bsky.social, @hmchen93.bsky.social and technician Larissa Broger (6/6).

Interestingly, only the α-subunit, not the α2β2 CK2 holoenzyme, is regulated by PP-InsPs in vitro. Genetic analyses in Arabidopsis and Marchantia indicate that α-subunits can act independently of β-subunits, underscoring the physiological relevance of PP-InsP-mediated regulation of CK2. (5/6)

Mutations in the CK2 PP-InsP binding site alter flowering time in Arabidopsis. In parallel, the Panse lab showed that this site is essential for CK2 function in yeast (4/6).

Notably, we found the α-subunit of casein kinase 2 (CK2) interact with PP-InsPs and with the PP-InsP kinase VIH2. CK2 binds InsP6/7/8 with micromolar affinity. PP-InsP binding reduces substrate phosphorylation by occupying the kinase’s basic substrate-binding surface (3/6).

The first major surprise was the prevalence of deeply conserved protein complexes among the identified interactors, including the spliceosome, the ribosome, the CFlm complex, and numerous signaling proteins such as protein kinases. (2/6).

An inositol pyrophosphate interaction screen provides insight into the regulation of plant casein kinase II Inositol pyrophosphates (PP-InsPs) are key nutrient messengers in plants, but their protein receptors remain poorly defined. Using a systems-level affinity screen with biotinylated InsP₆, InsP₇, and I...

Our latest collaboration with Fiedler lab @fmp-berlin.de and Panse labs UZH out on @biorxiv-plants.bsky.social. Using bead-adsorbed, non-hydrolyzable inositol pyrophosphate (PP-InsP) analogs, we isolated many putative PP-InsP-binding proteins from Arabidopsis.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... (1/6)

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

Sharing this important article... for no reason whatsoever.

"We must also continue to deepen and refine our understanding of fundamental biological processes because these details frequently hold the keys to major advances in applied research."

elifesciences.org/articles/102...

Very nice application of our constitutive active BIR3-RK chimera from @hohmannulrich.bsky.social (doi.org/10.1105/tpc....) to dissect the contribution of ERECTA to vascular differentiation. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.... Congrats to @lauraragni.bsky.social @bertderybel.bsky.social @bayerlab.bsky.social

Finally out in @nature.com! We uncovered a mechanistic framework for a general and conserved mRNA nuclear export pathway. www.nature.com/articles/s41.... 1/

Our new review is out @theplantjournal.bsky.social! Christian (@unil.bsky.social) and I dive into brassinosteroid perception specificity and the importance of BRs in shaping vascular development. @ibmcp.bsky.social @upv.es @csic.es onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

The University of Toulouse has 44 postdoc positions to fill (Horizon Europe MSCA-COFUND). My lab is looking for candidates to apply and work on how plants regulate cell surface levels of receptors or transporters in response to heat. Please DM me if interested!
tiris.univ-toulouse.fr/en/programs/...

This is bad news not only for applicants, but also for reviewers and panel members. With such low acceptance rate, random selection might be the better solution.

Applications for ERC Synergy Grants 2026: Facts and figures The ERC Synergy Grants 2026 call closed for applications on 5 November 2025. These are the preliminary data on the submitted proposals:

957 proposals were submitted in the latest round of ERC Synergy applications. They expect to fund 50 which means around 5% success rate. This is really not sustainable and a lot of people are likely avoiding doing this knowing how poor the chances are.
erc.europa.eu/news-events/...

🌱 Postdoc position in Plant Genomics/Bioinformatics!

Love genome plasticity, computational methods, and solving big questions in plant biology? Join our newly established Institute for Crop Biology at HHU Düsseldorf.

More info on schneebergerlab.org/career/
Apply by Nov. 30 | 3-year position

🇨🇭 🇪🇺 Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin and EU Research Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva signed the Swiss-EU Programme Agreement (#EUPA) in Bern. This means that Switzerland is once again definitively associated with #HorizonEurope, the world's largest research programme.

➡️ sohub.io/4tjw

📷 WBF/DEFR

Unlocking the potential of brassinosteroids: A path to precision plant engineering Brassinosteroids are essential plant hormones that play a central role in regulating growth, development, and stress responses. Their impact on plant architecture and productivity makes them attractiv...

Another great collaboration with @trevormnolan.bsky.social and @nvukas.bsky.social where we give our vision on how brassinosteroid research can pave the way to precision plant engineering www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Promoting research by reducing uncertainty in academic writing: a large-scale diachronic case study on hedging in Science research articles across 25 years - Scientometrics Hedges are important in academic writing since they indicate uncertainty and tentativeness about academic knowledge. However, few studies explore how hedges have changed in academic writing overtime. ...

Researchers use less and less hedges (may, might, perhaps, probably ...) in their papers. Or in other words papers are becoming more like biblical texts.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Establishing 18O-Labeled Inositol Phosphates for Quantitative Capillary Electrophoresis-Mass Spectrometry: Fragmentation Pathways and Comparison with 13C-Labeled Analogs Capillary electrophoresis mass spectrometry (CE-MS) allows for the rapid and accurate quantitative analysis of inositol phosphates (InsPs) and inositol pyrophosphates (PP-InsPs). The recent discovery ...

check out Guizhen´s study on 18O scrambling in the gas phase in InsPs! Establishing 18O-Labeled Inositol Phosphates for Quantitative Capillary Electrophoresis-Mass Spectrometry: Fragmentation Pathways and Comparison with 13C-Labeled Analogs | Analytical Chemistry pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

🚨 New in Developmental Cell @Dev_Cell
Our team uncovered how plants sense phosphorus deficiency and delay flowering — a molecular “switch” that links nutrient stress to development. A step toward breeding nutrient-smart crops! authors.elsevier.com/a/1m2id5Sx5g...
@MSU_PRI @MSUAgBio @MSU_PSM

Faculty are the primary stewards and enactors of the mission of research and teaching; knowledge creation and dissemination. The administration exists only in its capacity to forward that mission.

The ones that people still try to find and want to read? Sure.

Like in a library or book store, the really old and valuable items are behind locked glass doors.

By the @cellsensing.bsky.social and Zipfel labs: The plant receptor kinase HSL3 senses a cyclic, disulfide-bond stabilized peptide phytocytokine. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

We have an open Post Doc position in plant-volatile interactions, starting April 2026. Ideal if you love to use molecular tools to understand the natural world and improve agriculture. Interested? Send your CV, grades, motivation letter and refs (single pdf!) to vera.ogi@unibe.ch. Please share.

A lot of pressure on the different grant schemes, and pretty much independent of career stage.