Emilie Brasset

The tiny germline chromosomes of Paramecium aurelia have an exceptionally high recombination rate and are capped by a new class of Helitrons Background. Paramecia belong to the ciliate phylum of unicellular eukaryotes characterized by nuclear dimorphism. A diploid germline micronucleus (MIC) transmits genetic information across sexual gene...

Excited to share our new preprint on BioRxiv!
A collaborative effort spanning many years and several labs to uncover what the germline chromosomes of Paramecium really look like. 🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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Our lab is actively looking for posdocs and there is NOW an Open Call for Postdoc contracts (3 years) here: www.aei.gob.es/en/announcem...

Fluorescent protein and peptide tags alter condensate formation and dynamics in vivo and in vitro | EMBO reports imageimageProtein and peptide tags can profoundly alter condensation in a tag- and protein-specific manner, both in cells and in vitro, highlighting the need for careful validation in condensate studi...

www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

anybody looking for exciting opportunities in RNA research, with the goal to use and learn state of the art thinking and experimenting: here is a good starting point. Ulrich is an outstanding scientist and natural leader.
👇👇👇👇

Excited to share our new @narjournal.bsky.social paper!

Using ReLo and AlphaFold, we described a network of interactions between Drosophila piRNA pathway factors suggesting new links how they coordinate to ensure transposon silencing and genome integrity.

academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

Transposon Regulation in the Caenorhabditis elegans Germline and Soma Transposons are parasitic nucleic acids present in most genomes. The ability of transposons to mobilize makes them a source of genetic diversity and a threat to genome integrity. Interestingly, mutati...

Transposon Regulation in the Caenorhabditis elegans Germline and Soma

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Congratulations to Magnus Nordborg of the GMI and @oeaw.bsky.social who, together with Leandro Quadrana and @pierrebaduel.bsky.social, has received an @fwf-at.bsky.social Grant for the project “Genetic and epigenetic determinants of transposon dynamics”.

More here: www.oeaw.ac.at/gmi/detail/n...

The virulence gene ToxB is both amplified and disrupted by transposons in the wheat pathogen Pyrenophora tritici-repentis ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, https://ror.org/051dzs374 Alberta Grain Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commissio...

Our latest pre-print on TE-mediated tandem duplication of the ToxB effector is now online...still a puzzle for us but we think it is in a Helitron! Together with amazing collaborators, Reem Aboukhaddour and Ryan Gourlie #TE #fungi
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

piRNA-directed DNA methylation may not be a mammalian invention, but can already be found in the germline of axolotl salamanders
Donal O’Carroll and coworkers
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

TE x ZFP = Evolution!
Writing this with Olga @orpsf.bsky.social & Didier @trono-lab.bsky.social was a major highlight of my 🇨🇭sabbatical. Such a treat! 🍫Hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoy piecing it together.

Adenine DNA methylation associated with transcriptionally permissive chromatin is widespread across eukaryotes - Nature Genetics Long-read sequencing in 18 unicellular eukaryotes reveals that 6mA is widespread across eukaryotes and is enriched at transcriptionally permissive regions, which are also marked by H3K4me3.

Out today, our take on 6-methyladenine #6mA evolution in Eukaryotes @natgenet.nature.com. We asked a simple question, is really DNA 6mA common across the eukaryotes? The answer is "yes" if you're a unicellular eukaryote 🦠, not so if you're multicellular 🐝🌱🍄. www.nature.com/articles/s41... 1/9

Molecular mechanisms of selfish elements and strategies Certain genes, chromosomes, organelles, or entire sets of chromosomes can bias their transmission to the next generation, propagating themselves at the expense of the rest of the genome. Referred to …

(1/9) Join us in Bern, Switzerland (8–11 Feb 2026) for our EMBO Workshop on Molecular Mechanisms of Selfish Elements and Strategies!

Organized with Tanja Schwander, Laura Ross (@laurarossevo.bsky.social) and Axel Imhof.

meetings.embo.org/event/26-sel...

#EMBOselfishElements #EMBOevents

Some impressions from the rather fabulous #EMBOmobilegenome Mobile Genome meeting in Heidelberg
Morning walk through the woods, exciting panel discussion, flash talks, lab community, drosophila friends, …
@events.embl.org

The transposon community is going very strong. see you all again in 2027!!

great to be at the #EMBOMobileGenome meeting in Heidelberg with a wonderful bunch of colleagues, speakers and attendees.
this meeting is a good reflection of the excitement and collegiality in the transposon field.
kindly sponsored by @embo.org

TET exhibits enzymatic-independent and-dependent functions during Drosophila flight muscle development and aging - Skeletal Muscle Background Enzymes of the Ten-Eleven Translocation family are responsible for 5-methylcytosine (5mC) oxidation and play a key role in regulating DNA demethylation during various developmental processe...

Glad to share our latest work showing that #drosophila epigenetic enzyme TET controls muscle development independently of its catalytic activity but prevents muscle aging in a catalytic-dependent manner!
Congratulations to Vincent and Emilie @igred.fr !

links.springernature.com/f/a/L1ogzL3H...

On the cover - Congrats @jeromeavellaneda.bsky.social @nunoluis.bsky.social
flies fly! @fly-eds.bsky.social www.cell.com/developmenta...

Graphical abstract: The Drosophila OSC Genome as a resource for transposon and piRNA biology. The figure illustrates the workflow and key findings. Left: De novo genome assembly using Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) long reads and Hi-C data generates a phased assembly distinguishing unique (blue) and repetitive (orange) sequences. Dot plot comparison between OSC-r1.01 and dm6 reference genomes shows overall synteny with extensive structural variation. Middle: A freely accessible UCSC genome browser session displays multi-omics data tracks including gene models, transposon insertions, chromatin accessibility, transcription, small RNAs, and histone modifications. Right: New insights into flamenco piRNA cluster biology reveal >730 kb transcribed from a single promoter without major splicing. Tethering assays demonstrate long-range silencing effects across the locus, and genome browser tracks show coordinated regulation of piRNA production, transcription, and chromatin state. This resource enables comprehensive studies of transposon regulation and piRNA pathway function in a widely-used Drosophila cell line.

When transposons jump, genomes diverge - even in cultured cells.
I am happy to share our new preprint: a chromosome-scale genome assembly for Drosophila OSC cells, one of the key model systems in the piRNA field, especially for nuclear piRNA biology. 🧬🧵 (1/12)

It is today and tomorrow! #IBENS International Symposium on Epigenetic Inheritance will bring together leading international experts in the field and pay tribute to Vincent Colot and Eric Meyer, two pioneers of epigenetics and eminent colleagues, on the occasion of their retirement.

Love RNA biology?

Join us to explore the piRNA pathway with structural and genetic approaches (see 👇👇).

PhD student/postdoc position co-supervised by Clemens Plaschka & myself.

DM or email us if you’d like to know more!

@vbcscitraining.bsky.social @imbavienna.bsky.social @impvienna.bsky.social

🌿⚖️ Growth or defense? A new study in Science Advances
shows how the PAF1 complex helps plants toggle between growth and immune responses by regulating gene expression.
📖 science.org/doi/10.1126/...
🔬 Collaboration between Wuhan Univesity & @cnrs.fr

Students (Master's/PhD), do not miss this fantastic Developmental Biology course of @sorbonne-universite.fr and @institutcurie.bsky.social - It is FREE and open to international students, however, room and board + travel are not included.

training.institut-curie.org/courses/deve...

Novel insights into the silencing of an understudied transposable element - check out our latest preprint by @jakobschnabl.bsky.social and colleagues

H3K27me3 expands the epigenetic control of piRNA transcription Nature Structural & Molecular Biology - Constitutive heterochromatin can promote piRNA transcription, a crucial step in genome defense. Two studies now show that piRNA transcription in...

Honored to see our work highlighted in this News & Views by Germano Cecere @cecerelab.bsky.social and @arantxarojas.bsky.social in @natsmb.nature.com!
A great read on how H3K27me3 shapes piRNA transcription in 🪱 worms and 🪰 flies. rdcu.be/euuRJ

Huge thanks to Ben Czech Nicholson, Greg Hannon, and all co-authors @abdouak.bsky.social @susbo.bsky.social for this amazing work!
#transposon #drosophila #piRNA

A little late to share, but still thrilled 🤗!
What started as two independent stories, one in Clermont-Ferrand (@igred.fr) and one in Cambridge (Hannon’s group @cruk-mi.bsky.social ), turned into a joint adventure to decode how Rhino picks its favorite piRNA clusters.
When forces unite…
👇👇👇

Image of three covers of Journal of Cell Science

Did you know…
It’s free to publish in Journal of Cell Science – there are no submission charges, page charges or colour fees. We also plant a tree for every peer-reviewed article we publish🌳
For details, visit our website:
journals.biologists.com/jcs/pages/re...

Very excited to have joined the @mpi-ie.bsky.social !
Thank you for the warm welcome 🤩🤩

How rogue jumping genes can spur Alzheimer’s, ALS Our genomes are peppered with DNA segments called retrotransposons that can move from place to place. When unleashed, some can kill nerves and promote inflammation — a discovery that may inspire treat...

Nice write up on @joshdubnau.bsky.social's "transposon storm" hypothesis: Alzheimer’s and ALS may be triggered by reawakened viral-like jumping genes that spark inflammation and kill neurons. Antiviral drugs could stop the storm.

knowablemagazine.org/content/arti...

MRC Postdoctoral Research Scientist - MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences The MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences (LMS) is a biomedical research institute where scientists and clinicians collaborate to advance the understanding of biology and its application to medicine. LMS...

The Chromatin And Development lab are hiring a postdoc!

Come join us; we are a happy and hard working team @mrc-lms.bsky.social in London UK. Projects span the intersection of chromatin and transposon biology in dev't and disease. Email/DM for more info. Pls RT!

lms.mrc.ac.uk/work/vacanci...

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