CEPLAS - Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences

Helixer: ab initio prediction of primary eukaryotic gene models combining deep learning and a hidden Markov model - Nature Methods By leveraging both deep learning and hidden Markov models, Helixer achieves broad taxonomic coverage for ab initio gene annotation of eukaryotic genomes from fungi, plants, vertebrates and invertebrat...

AI model Helixer predicts eukaryotic genes ab initio, directly from a plain text FASTA file.

No RNA-seq.
No protein homology.
No repeats, hints, or curated evidence.

Raw genome → accurate gene models.
Deep learning + HMM, published in @natmethods.nature.com

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

How do plants fight disease? 🌱 #NASmember Jane Parker studies NLR proteins that help plants sense attackers and launch powerful immune defenses. She shares her latest findings on how these proteins signal plants to resist disease in a new @pnas.org QnAs: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Überschrift: Highly cited researchers. Darunter sind 9 türkisfarbene Kreise platziert, sechs davon sind mit Porträts der Ausgezeichneten gefüllt.

🎖Sechs HHU-Forscher gehören zu den Highly Cited Researchers 2025.
Das Unternehmen Clarivate hat Forschende ausgezeichnet, deren Arbeiten weltweit besonders häufig zitiert werden. Gleich sechs Wissenschaftler der HHU zählen dazu. Sie gehören im Web of Science-Index zu den besten 1 % ihres Gebiets.1/4

Volles Haus beim 1. Kölner Wissenschaftsfestival! CEPLAS und @mpipz.bsky.social geben spannende Einblicke in die Pflanzenforschung!

In Vivo Online Monitoring of Intracellular Lipid Accumulation in Ustilago maydis Single cell oils produced in microorganisms constitute appealing alternatives to plant oils. Oleaginous fungi accumulate triacylglycerols in lipid droplets (LD). Their biosynthesis is typically indu...

MibiNet & @ceplas.bsky.social Data Management Team supported this new publication in making its raw data FAIR and accessible in the DataHUB🎉. This is how transparent research is done!
analyticalsciencejournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
#FAIRdata #OpenScience #DataHUB #DataPLANT

Ensuring effective removal of transgenes before release of genome-edited crops - @research-science.bsky.social @ceplas.bsky.social @hhu.de go.nature.com/3WbbKlW

📣 New @biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social preprint, another joint-venture of @wolki95.bsky.social & @antonkraege.bsky.social, co-directed by @nicksnelders.bsky.social. Here’s a 🧵

TaCoCass folks in a cassava field

Cassava leaves with red petioles and some cassava flowers and fruits

A new crop in the lab. 🌱 Field day with TaCoCass team members — working to boost photosynthetic efficiency in cassava and secure a more sustainable food future. #Cassava #Photosynthesis #FoodSecurity

📚 Within the last three years, our postdocs have contributed to more than 50 publications!
This outstanding achievement highlights their essential role in advancing CEPLAS research and shaping the future of plant science. 👏🌱✨
#PostdocAppreciationWeek #ResearchExcellence #CEPLAS

@forscherrobert.bsky.social from @leibnizipk.bsky.social explained how his research team used genome editing to replicate wild mutations found in East Asian barley, successfully transferring virus resistance to European breeding lines. 🌾🛡

#GiveGenesAChance

Professor @apmweber.bsky.social, our project coordinator from @hhu.de talked about how to improve water use efficiency in maize through genome editing. 🌽

He pointed out that the EU should allow gene editing to make organic farming more sustainable: www.eurekalert.org/news-release...

🌍 Our current postdocs come from 15 countries - bringing diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and ideas. This diversity is a key strength of our community and enriches our research every day. We’re proud of this global team! 💡🌱
#PostdocAppreciationWeek #DiversityInScience #CEPLAS

🌟 It’s Postdoc Appreciation Week! 🌟
We are proud to currently have 33 postdocs at CEPLAS driving our projects forward with their expertise, creativity, and dedication! 🌱 #PostdocAppreciationWeek #PlantScience @hhu.de @unicologne.bsky.social @mpipz.bsky.social @leibnizipk.bsky.social @fz-juelich.de

I am thrilled &honoured, what a journey that was!
Only possible with the great support from family, all lab members, friends, current @unicologne.bsky.social / @ceplas.bsky.social & former colleagues & mentors.
With this project, we will do all that we can to help protect plants from diseases (1/2)

📢📢 We are hiring!! We are looking for a coordinator for science communication and a project manager! www.ceplas.eu/de/nachwuchs...

Job

Coordinator position: Science Communication #SciComm

In Excellence Cluster @ceplas.bsky.social
"SMART Plants for Tomorrow’s Needs"
@hhu.de ‬

www.deutsche-botanische-gesellschaft.de/en/job-openi...

DFG sucht zum 01.01.2026 Wissenschaftsmanager (m/w/d) im Bereich Pflanzenwissenschaften.
dfg.concludis.de/prj/shw/5218...

How amino acids are transported in plants Plants produce all amino acids essential for human life. This commonly occurs in specialised cell organelles, so-called plastids. A research team headed by Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (H...

How amino acids are transported in plants | EurekAlert! www.eurekalert.org/news-release...

@hhu.de @franzikuhnert.bsky.social @weberlab.bsky.social @ceplas.bsky.social

"Pflanzen sind die besten Chemiker der Welt", sagt John D'Auria vom @leibnizipk.bsky.social im Podcast querFELDein des @zalf.bsky.social. Mit Manuela Nagel erklärt er dort nicht nur das Projekt "Obi von Knobi", sondern auch, wie es zun dem Namen kam. Reinhören lohnt!!!

➡️https://tinyurl.com/yup3n7d

In silico encounters: Harnessing metabolic modelling to understand plant-microbe interactions Abstract. Understanding plant-microbe interactions is vital for developing sustainable agricultural practices and mitigating the consequences of climate ch

In silico encounters: Harnessing metabolic modelling to understand plant-microbe interactions

#FEMS Microbiol Rev by Martina Feierabend and Nadine Töpfer @ceplas.bsky.social

academic.oup.com/femsre/advan...

✈️ Summer travel plans? Great! But maybe leave that cute cactus or mystery seed behind 🌵🛑 Bringing plants into the EU without a phytosanitary certificate can cause big plant health problems.
Read more from @plants4thefuture.bsky.social:

www.plantetp.eu/wp-content/u...

#PlantHealth #TravelTips

Is plant single cell/nuc. & spatial transcriptomics your passion? Do you want to understand plant adaptation using cutting edge molecular & bioinformatics tools? Then come and join us to work together with @ceplas.bsky.social & @wggc-de.bsky.social. #plantjobs
www.fz-juelich.de/de/karriere/...

Speech bubble with text: we are hiring

Please RT: We are hiring 📣! We are looking for a coordinator of our CEPLAS Graduate School!
If you are interested in working in an international and dynamic academic environment with highly motivated and talented ECRs, check out the details here: karriere.hhu.de/index.php?ac...

🎤🧑‍🌾🌾 Benjamin Menn, joint PhD student at the labs of Antonio Molina (CBGP) and Markus Pauly (HHU, @ceplas.bsky.social), also shared his research on sustainable crop protection solutions.🌾

#CropProtection #Agroecology

Today at #2025ISMPMI and up for some chat over root colonization patterns and the role of oxidative stress? We show how the spatial patterns of ROS shape the cell differentiation of B. subtilis. Our work at Grossmann Lab @hhu.de up on poster P429 - @ceplas.bsky.social @guidogrossmann.bsky.social

Awesome to see next generation of group leaders from @earlhaminst.bsky.social presenting at #2025ISMPMI 👏

Host-adapted enzymatic deconstruction of acetylated xylan enables mutualistic colonization of monocot roots Intracellular accommodation of mutualistic fungi in plant roots depends on selective remodeling of host cell walls while minimizing activation of plant immune responses. In this study, we identify a h...

Our latest article in bioRxiv. A very good and comprehensive paper by Mathias Brands, Vicente Ramirez, Laura Armbruster et al. on the deconstruction of acetylated xylan in symbiosis. If you would like to learn more, please talk to Mathias at #2025ISMPMI, poster P-239.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Enjoying TEAM scientific discussions at the #2025ISMPMI.

Great to see two teams from the Plant Science and #QBIO communities making it to the podium at yesterday’s HHU Ideas Competition by #CEDUS! 🌱🧠
Exciting projects and well deserved — very curious to watch these ideas grow! 🚀👏 @healthycrops.bsky.social @plantgen-hhu.bsky.social

Das @leibnizipk.bsky.social ist neuer Partner im Exzellenzcluster @ceplas.bsky.social. Wie er von der Entscheidung erfahren hat, was mit den Partnern geplant ist und was junge Forscherinnen und Forscher davon haben, erläutert Nicolaus von Wirén im Interview.

➡️Alles Infos: tinyurl.com/4k5p7s6c