Valentin Hammoudi, Maria Leptin | EMBO Science Journalism Fellow, former postdoctoral researcher & freelance journalist, talks about their experience with the #fellowship and how they transitioned into #ScienceJournalism: https://www.embo.org/people/bringing-new-perspectives-to-science-journalism/ 🧪

In case you missed it: our review titled "Spatial structure: shaping the ecology and evolution of microbial communities" is out! 🚨

Let me hit you with some highlights on why spatial structure matters. (and why you should care!)

Sharing is appreciated 🙏 🧵👇

doi.org/10.1093/fems...

A cloning strategy as depicted in the OpenCloning website

#OpenCloning is a an Open Source alternative to SnapGene/Benchling that supports automation and integration with other software

✅ Free
🔓 Open Source
🧬 More cloning methods than SnapGene
🤖 Can be automated with python
👨‍🔬 Built by a researcher — for researchers!

👉 Check it out at opencloning.org

Hiring a postdoc for an exciting collaborative project on drought, microbiomes, chemistry and herbivores IN TREES! In Jena we offer great living and scientific conditions and a strong system for postdoc support and training vai @jsmc-info.bsky.social. Details/apply: jobs.uni-jena.de/jobposting/7...

#transgenerational transmission of a core #microbiome that protects against downy mildew from soil to #phyllosphere

Fantastic and important study by @jellespooren.bsky.social @rlberendsen.bsky.social
@cornepieterse.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc...
#plantscience

Inducing novel endosymbioses by implanting bacteria in fungi - Nature A study presents an approach to establish and track a new endosymbiotic partnership by implanting bacteria in a non-host fungus and shows that stable inheritance of the implanted bacteria is possible ...

Vorholt Lab re-created endosymbiosis in the lab: injected bacteria into a fungus and evolved a heritable partnership.

Evolution, fast-forwarded.

doi.org/10.1038/s415...

How to Build a Start-up in Plant Sciences | Plantae What is a start-up? When you hear the word “start-up”, you might picture tech hubs, pitch decks, and overnight success stories. But what actually defines a start-up? At its core, a start-up is a…

#JustIn on Plantae: How to Build a Start-up in Plant Sciences. In this new piece, ASPB Plantae Fellows Charlay Wood and @fengoulaavgeri.bsky.social demystifies what a start-up really is and shows plant scientists that they already have the skills to build one. buff.ly/HJMuqeK

#PlantScience

The Charpentier group is recruiting three postdoctoral researchers, in: Bioinformatics/AI, Molecular Biology/Genetics, and Proteomics.

We have three exciting opportunities for Postdoctoral Researchers to join the @charpentiermyriam.bsky.social Group, to work on cutting-edge science in the field of plant calcium signalling on a programme funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

Apply by 27 February: www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/

Spatial distribution of water vapour partial pressures between saturation and gradients and water potentials of the xylem guard cell and cell wall.

Guard cell wall water

📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
by Blatt et al.

@WIleyPlantSci #PlantScience

Local CLE peptides promotes rapid, ABA-independent stomatal closure | Plantae Guard cells might be some of the most well-characterized plant cells due to their accessibility, their importance in land plant survival, and their easily measured responses. Guard cells respond to…

Plant Science Research Weekly --  Local CLE peptides promotes rapid, ABA-independent stomatal closure (Nature Comms.) (Summary by Mary Williams @PlantTeaching.bsky.social) buff.ly/eyOuBLV

#PlantaePSRW

Identification of Phosphorylation and Protein Interactions of Plant Pattern Recognition Receptors Through Immunoprecipitation Plasma membrane-localized pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs) play a crucial role in detecting pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). Among them, leucine-rich repeat (LRR) receptor-like kina...

We have published a methods paper describing how to identify cell surface receptor complexes by immunoprecipitation and map their phosphorylation sites.
We hope this protocol will be useful to the community. link.springer.com/protocol/10....

A Specific Sinorhizobium Flagellin Suppresses Legume Nodulation Through Immune Activation Bacterial flagellin-activated immunity plays a crucial role in shaping plant-microbe interactions, leading to either parasitism, mutualism, or commensalism. In the legume-rhizobium symbiosis, while i....

👀 A Specific Sinorhizobium Flagellin Suppresses Legume Nodulation Through Immune Activation doi.org/10.1111/pbi....

Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue

EVENT - OPEN Friday Seminar - HOPWOOD LECTURE: Prof. Julia Vorholt, ETH Zurich - "Establishing causality: Opportunities of synthetic communities for plant microbiome research"

🗓️ 13 February 2026
⏰ 11:30 am - 12:30 pm
💻 Register to join online: okt.to/s7xUb5

The paradox of immune systems conservation between prokaryotes and eukaryotes - Nature Reviews Microbiology The widespread prokaryotic immune systems, in particular restriction–modification, CRISPR–Cas and defensive toxin–antitoxin systems, are absent in eukaryotes, whereas relatively rare ones, such as Arg...

Aude Bernheim @audeber.bsky.social and Eugene Koonin discuss one of most interesting questions in the field connecting bacterial and animal immunity!

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

Postdoctoral position in biology (m/f/d) (2/2026) Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry (Halle) offers a Postdoctoral position in Biology

Please share! We are looking for a postdoctoral scientist (2 years, extension possible) starting from 01/05/2026 at
@ipbhalle.bsky.social! The project focuses on plant immune receptor biochemistry and structural biology.
Deadline 09/03/2026.

Apply at: ipb-halle.mhm.jobs/11-postdocto...

PhD position in biology (m/f/d) (1/2026) Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry (Halle) offers a PhD position in Biology

Please share! We are looking for a PhD student (4 years) starting from 01/05/2026 at @ipbhalle.bsky.social!
If you are interested in plant immunity, receptor biochemistry and evolution, consider applying! Deadline 09/03/2026.

Application portal: ipb-halle.mhm.jobs/10-phd-posit...

A permanent position as a research scientist is opened in our team! We look for a plant physiologist with expertise in plant / microorganism interactions to identify plant susceptibility factors to fungal disease. Please forward!

Please share!
My group at @zmbp-tuebingen.bsky.social is offering a post-doctoral position (4 years). We look for a structural biologist with experience in Cryo-EM/Cryo-ET to investigate the mechanisms of host invasion by pathogenic fungi. Deadline February 28th!
uni-tuebingen.de/universitaet...

Highly recommended

Crinkler proteins—first discovered in Phytophthora—can be fused to ADP-ribosyltransferases, acting as epigenetic parasitic elements in free-living eukaryotes.
#AACRNL #Evolution doi.org/10.1038/s414...

GCN5 negatively regulates class III peroxidases PRX71 and PRX33 to promote lignin deposition in Arabidopsis https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.27.701911v1

Flyer with announcement of the FEBS advanced course in Amsterdam

Join us in Amsterdam for a FEBS advanced course on "Functional Imaging of cellular dynamics" from 31st of May - 6th of June 2026
Info: microscopy2026.febsevents.org

A New Multiplex TaqMan qPCR for Precise Detection and Quantification of Clavibacter michiganensis in Seeds and Plant Tissue | Plant Disease Bacterial canker of tomato caused by Clavibacter michiganensis (Cm) is one of the most devastating bacterial diseases affecting the tomato industry worldwide. As the result of Cm colonization of the x...

A New Multiplex TaqMan qPCR for Precise Detection and Quantification of Clavibacter michiganensis in Seeds and Plant Tissue | Plant Disease apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/10.1094/...

Phytobacteriology December 2025 Rescheduled ​Broadcast Date: January​ 29, 2025 | 11:00 a.m.​ CentralThis is the rescheduled date due to an​ IT outage. Price: FREE for members, $49 for nonmembers Register Now!​ Thanks to the generosi...

Rescheduled Date for Dr. Caitilyn Allen’s APS Webinar on January 29: “Catching the Scent: How Plant Pathogenic Ralstonia Know They Are in a Host”
Register here 👉 bit.ly/3WqLF2p
#PlantScience #PlantPathology #plantdisease #scicomm

The new textbook Essential Plant Biology, written by @johninnescentre.bsky.social and TSL experts, is now available! 🌱

This richly illustrated textbook is accessible undergraduate biologists and will be a valuable resource for all biology students and teachers 🌿

Full announcement ➡️ buff.ly/AmDw3en

📢 2 PhD Positions Available in Plant Immune Receptor Bioengineering at Imperial College London
🌱 Start: Oct 2026
📅 Deadline: 10 Feb 2026
🇬🇧 UK/settled status only
💰 Fully funded (48 months)
ℹ️ Info: shorturl.at/po61I
#PlantImmunity #PlantPathology #SyntheticBiology
🙏 Share with interested candidates!

TSL Summer Conference in Plant-Microbe Interactions, 20th – 31st July… Inviting Early Career Researchers to join international experts in discussing the latest approaches and discoveries in Plant-Microbe Interactions …

Join us in Norwich this July for the TSL Summer Conference in Plant-Microbe Interactions! ☀️🌱🧬

Discuss the latest approaches & discoveries in plant health with international and local speakers.

⏰ APPLY by 30 March '26

New keynote speakers ⬇️

🆕 version work @sylvain-vicente.bsky.social and collaborators #BIOSP #MathNum @inrae-dpt-spe.bsky.social. Re-evaluation of STAMP modelling, introducing time-resolution. Works also on Animal-bacterial infection models. #infection #Ralstonia #Pseudomonas #Klebsiella www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

VACANCY - We're looking for a Postdoctoral Researcher to join the @philcarella.bsky.social Group, working in the field of Evo-MPMI (Evolutionary Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions).

okt.to/yIlgTU

Closing date - 10 February 2026
Salary - £37,500 - £45,350
Contract - Full-time, 3 years