Andreas P.M. Weber 🌾🌱🧬

Congrats Marco! Great place to live and work.

🌱 The #TaCoCass Team in the field: evaluating #cassava lines with diverse architecture and productivity. The trials highlight the genetic variation that underpins efforts to boost photosynthetic efficiency in cassava, paving the way toward more resilience and higher yield
#Cassava #Photosynthesis

New Insights Into Bacterial Motility and DNA Transfer:
a small press on our discovery of ComFB signaling family by @claussenarne.bsky.social @hhu.de

www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
w/ @mygalperin.bsky.social @thethormannden.bsky.social
@cmfi.bsky.social @mibinet.bsky.social @sfb1381.bsky.social

Or these mean viruses that are distributed by whiteflies. Good thing is there are many CMD resistant cultivars.

Yeap.

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

Yes, I received Andrew's decision on a PP paper just a few weeks ago.

We are deeply saddened by the news that Andrew D. Hanson (@adhansonlab.bsky.social) is no longer with us. He was an exceptional scientist, mentor, and leader in multiple fields. He constantly reminded us that over-promising would backfire. Rest in peace, Andrew.

RETICULATA1 (RE1) exports basic amino acids from plastids—implications for amino-acid homeostasis and development.
News & Views: “Reticulata Weaves the Metabolic Net” (Katrin Philippar, Nature Plants). doi.org/10.1038/s414... @natplants.nature.com #PlantScience #Arabidopsis

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

These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of plastidial amino acid transport and its coordination with leaf development and nutrient allocation in plants. We hypothesize that other members of the RE/DUF3411 protein family also function as amino acid transporters.

The RE protein family, defined by DUF3411, is exclusive to plastid-containing organisms. This suggests an early evolutionary origin, potentially concurrent with the establishment of primary endosymbiosis. 🌍 #EvolutionaryBiology #ComparativeGenomics

Functional characterization, including yeast complementation and in vitro transport assays in liposomes, confirms RE1's role in basic amino acid transport. Isotope labeling experiments demonstrate that RE1 deficiency affects basic amino acid biosynthesis rates and pool equilibration. 🔬 #Biochemistry

We report RE1 as a plastid-localized transporter for basic amino acids (Arg, Citr, Orn, Lys). Loss-of-function Arabidopsis thaliana mutants (re-6) exhibit a reticulate leaf phenotype and reduced basic amino acid content. Functional redundancy with RER1 is indicated, as the double mutant is lethal. 🧬

Nine of the proteinogenic amino acids that are indispensable for plant development are exclusively synthesized in plastids. The specific transporters that facilitate their efflux across the plastid inner envelope have not yet been fully characterized. 🌿 #PlantMetabolism #CellBiology

Coming out in @NaturePlants today (rdcu.be/eBScJ): The mechanism for essential amino acid transport across the chloroplast envelope. We identified RETICULATA1 (RE1) as a new type of transport protein. #PlantScience #AminoAcidTransport #Chloroplasts. @franzikuhnert.bsky.social @weberlab.bsky.social

Last month, our consortium met in Tartu, Estonia, to share our latest progress and reflect on what’s next for our #H2020 project. Here is a sneak peek! 📽️ 🌻

There were lots of updates, including cross-consortium publications, regulatory deliverables, and upcoming trials.

Single-nuclei sequencing of Moricandia arvensis reveals bundle sheath cell function in the photorespiratory shuttle of C3-C4 intermediate Brassicaceae Abstract. Spatially confined gene expression determines cell identity and is fundamental to complex plant traits. In the evolutionary transition from C3 to

GDC, but also SHM, GGAT, and GOX are predominantly bundle-sheath expressed in C3-C4 intermediate Moricandia

Single-nuclei sequencing of Moricandia arvensis reveals bundle sheath cell function in the photorespiratory shuttle of C3-C4 intermediate Brassicaceae url: academic.oup.com/jxb/article/...

Luftbild vom Gebäudebereich 25/26. Auf einer runden weißen Fläche ist das Logo des Tags der Forschung zu sehen. In einer Lupe steht die Abkürzung TDF. Rundherum sind wissenschaftliche Symbole zu sehen: ein Doktorhut, ein Schlangenstab, ein Buch, ein Balkendiagramm, ein Pi, ein Gehirn und ein DNA-Strang.

🔍 Guten Morgen, HHU! Am Samstag ist Tag der Forschung an der HHU!
Am 5. Juli laden wir alle großen und kleinen Interessierten von 11-15 Uhr zum Ausprobieren und Entdecken auf den Campus ein.
Freut euch auf ein vielfältiges Programm:
• Interaktive Experimente
‭• Mitmachaktionen für Groß & Klein 1/3

A TNL receptor mediates microbiome feedbacks in Arabidopsis Plant performance depends on the soil microbiome. While microbiome feedbacks are well documented, the mechanisms by which plants perceive and mediate these feedbacks remain unclear. We established a f...

Updated preprint: MMF1 is "a microbiota receptor” through which Arabidopsis plants perceive their soil microbiome. Perception optimises root microbiome composition, immune status and ultimately leads to better growth. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Good parties need a good host :-)

"...we propose here that the host genes, as the stable part of the holobiont, play a leading role expressing phenotypes through its microbiome-shaping capacity, possibly through the establishment of universal host genotype-specific core microbiota."

rdcu.be/esIrX

URGENT The Naked Scientists needs your help. This is one of the best #science #podcast out there. #Cambridge University is planning to make Dr. Chris Smith redundant, which would likely kill the podcast. More info and how you can help here:
www.thenakedscientists.com/sos-cambridg...

New genomic techniques in organic production: Considerations for science-based, effective, and acceptable EU regulation The EU has a goal of 25% organic farmland by 2030, but lower yields in organic farming versus non-organic farming puts strain on sustainable food production. Utilizing new genomic techniques (NGTs) in...

“Utilizing new genomic techniques #NGT in #organic production could improve yields …. and will help achieve the #EU ’s sustainable #agriculture goals” several authors together with our president @apmweber.bsky.social advocate in Cell Reports Sustainability www.cell.com/cell-reports...

In defense of funding foundational plant science (Joanna Friesner , Cristiana T Argueso , Wolfgang Busch , Thorsten Hamann , Lucia Strader , Mary Williams , Shuang Wu , Adrienne H K Roeder) Read more at: doi.org/10.1093/plce... #PlantScience

Congratulations Julian @jmhibberd.bsky.social this is well deserved!

A gatekeeper for gene transfers - Nature Plants Large-scale genetic screening for plastid-to-nucleus gene transfers identifies that fast double-strand break repair functions as a key barrier for nuclear integration of organellar DNA and provides in...

With their clever setup to visualize ongoing endosymbiotic gene transfers (EGTs), Enrique Gonzalez-Duran, Ralph Bock and team reveal how double-strand break repair limits excessive EGT. Check out their new Nature Plants paper and my News and Views summary! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Bring back the phenotype When thinking about evolutionary change, many practicing biologists will focus on changes in allele frequencies over time. This gene-centric view of evolution has strongly impacted how evolution (and...

Bring back the phenotype.

Not limited to #plantscience

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Fantastic group of students made #PlantAct2025 a great experience, thank you all! @cbgpmadrid.bsky.social

Nominate papers from #ECR s for the @plantsciencedbg.bsky.social Best Paper Award by April 15. Papers must come from Master or PhD thesis.
Only members of the German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG) are eligible to submit nominations; self-nominations are also accepted for this prize. #PlantScience