Björn Usadel

What an amazing development here!
@hhu.de 🤝@fz-juelich.de
Best wishes for great science - and the highest hopes for future collaborations!

A molecular ‘gatekeeper’ in plants opens the door for beneficial microbes CIBSS researchers at the University of Freiburg are part of an international team that sheds light on a crucial step in the initiation of the symbiosis between plants and soil bacteria.

📢 #CIBSS research highlight!

Prof. Dr. Thomas Ott @ottlab.bsky.social helped identify SYFO2, a protein that lets legumes 🫛☘️“open the door” to nitrogen-fixing bacteria. 🦠 The team even activated it in tomato 🍅 — suggesting this symbiosis could be engineered in new crops. 🌱

🔗 kurzlinks.de/v7bi

Next position advertised by our cluster: We are searching for a Lab Manager running the single cell-sequencing lab at Heidelberg University.
adb.zuv.uni-heidelberg.de/info/INFO_FD...

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…

#ERGAReads | Helixer: ab initio prediction of primary eukaryotic gene models combining deep learning and a hidden Markov model 🧬
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#GenomeAnnotation #Helixer @natmethods.nature.com

We are very excited to share a new resource from our team: spatial subcellular proteome maps in plants! We developed an MS-based method that registers localizations of about 8000 proteins in Arabidopsis roots in a single experiment.

(1/9)
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...

New AI tool “Helixer” identifies genes in newly sequenced organisms. Helixer identifies genes directly from DNA sequences.

Developed by team around @usadellab.bsky.social @fz-juelich.de, @apmweber.bsky.social , @sebtriesch.bsky.social @hhu.de et al. www.fz-juelich.de/en/news/arch...

KI-Tool „Helixer“ entdeckt Gene in unbekannten Organismen
Forscherinnen und Forscher des Forschungszentrums Jülich und der Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf haben ein Werkzeug entwickelt, das die Genforschung spürbar verändern könn...
weiterlesen

🆕📰‼️ #PaperCBGP

🔬 A study, co-authored by @wabniklab.bsky.social and published in Science, reveals a molecular mechanism blocking inflorescence termination

🧬 A negative feedback loop buffers the floral signal, opening the door to faster-growing & more efficient crops

📎 shorturl.at/rkPwJ

looks really cool!

Haplotype comparison of the fully phased chromosome 9 uncovers a variety of evolutionary processes. Top: Explanation of the approach to assign haplotypes to accessory nodes of the pangenome and subsequent visualization: 1. create a pangenome graph and parse its variation; 2. the graph is transformed into a sequence alignment for visualization; 3. the core and unique nodes remain unchanged, while the accessory nodes are recursively assigned to different haplotypes. Middle: Pangenome graph of the phased chromosome 9 created with Minigraph-Cactus and visualized with Bandage. The nodes of the graph are coloured based on the haplotypes assigned in the bottom panel. Bottom: Alignment of haplotypes of chromosome 9 for all phased P. effusa isolates, derived from the pangenome graph in 4 kb windows, as described in the top panel.

#Plant pathogens secrete effectors to establish infections, but resistant crops select for resistance-breaking #pathogens. @mfseidl.bsky.social &co use #pangenome graph analyses of 19 resistance-breaking races of an #oomycete pathogen to identify several effectors @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4qA6nKC

Happy to share our recent preprint:
"DNA-intercalating antiphage molecules trigger abortive infection through mutual destruction and synergize with bacterial immunity"

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

@spp2330.bsky.social, @mibinet.bsky.social, @dfg.de @hhu.de @fzj.bsky.social

As our #H2020 project enters its last month, our coordinator, @apmweber.bsky.social, reflects on the importance and potential of the GAIN4CROPS to boost crop yields! 🌻

“Our project can [contribute] to a more sustainable agriculture in Europe, but also in other places in the world.”🌍

New Article: "Imputation integrates single-cell and spatial gene expression data to resolve transcriptional networks in barley shoot meristem development" rdcu.be/eYiMF

With Research Briefing rdcu.be/eYiM7

BARVISTA visualises gene expression in the barley shoot apical meristem with single-cell resolution

@edgardemesa.bsky.social @usadellab.bsky.social @simonrdg.bsky.social @isaiavardanega.bsky.social @plantgen-hhu.bsky.social @hhu.de @ceplas.bsky.social

www.plabipd.de/projects/han...

Imputation integrates single-cell and spatial gene expression data to resolve transcriptional networks in barley shoot meristem development - Nature Plants Spatially resolved gene expression during barley development was done by integrating an scRNA-seq dataset from cells with unknown position with spatial transcriptomics. This dataset is publicly availa...

paper is out now in Nature Plants, here is a link: Imputation integrates single-cell and spatial gene expression data to resolve transcriptional networks in barley shoot meristem development. Nat. Plants (2026). doi.org/10.1038/s414...

For some years we have been working on wild relatives of cultivated tomato including the green-fruited Solanum pennellii and orange-fruited Solanum cheesmaniae. These species, and other wild tomatoes, are genetically diverse and used in breeding to improve the cultivated tomato.

3rd Early Career Plant Researcher Network Meeting

Calling experienced PhD students & postdocs with a passion for plant research. Present your work, connect with peers and discuss the key steps toward building an independent research career.

Apply by 23 Jan 2026
Details: www.plant-ecr-networking.eu

Dear Plant ECRs, don't miss this wonderful opportunity!

Lichen and moss are brilliant 👇💚

Are you interested in @ceplas.bsky.social single cell data and spatial transcriptomic data analysis and inference? Then apply for this PhD position in our graduate school HDS-LEE in my group co-supervised by Prof Assent. www.fz-juelich.de/en/careers/j.... For questions don't hesitate to contact me.

🚨JOB ALERT!
We’re hiring a Head of the new Imaging Facility at Goethe University Frankfurt. You’ll support researchers across disciplines, train users, and help enable cutting-edge science with high-end microscopy platforms.
tinygu.de/TknxZ
If facility-building + imaging is your thing, please apply!

Sie ist lila, manchmal weiß, manchmal stachelig: die Aubergine.
Erstmals haben Forschende eine Übersicht über Gene und wichtige Eigenschaften erstellt – basierend auf 3.400 Sorten. 🧬 Das ebnet den Weg für robustere Sorten und hilft, Erträge zu sichern. 🌾🌡️
👉 www.fz-juelich.de/de/aktuelles...

We are looking far and wide for this position! So if you are motivated, interested in academia, and want to explore the world of plant-virus interaction, we are ALSO happy to host you for a PhD! More detail below🔽☘️🦠

Happy to share our latest paper: The symbiosome space needs to be continuously cleared from demethylated pectins to keep rhizobia happy. Former PostDoc Chao Su took this story with him when moving back to China and finished it off.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#PlantScience; @uni-freiburg.de

W2-Professur für Pflanzenphysiologie (m/w/d) - Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU) Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU) bietet Stelle als W2-Professur für Pflanzenphysiologie (m/w/d) in Kaiserslautern - jetzt bewerben!

Professorship Plant Physiology. Kaiserslautern, Germany.
#PlantSciJobs #plantscijob
www.academics.de/jobs/w2-prof...

W3-Universitätsprofessur Stressresilienz von Pflanzen - RWTH Aachen University RWTH Aachen University bietet Stelle als W3-Universitätsprofessur Stressresilienz von Pflanzen in Aachen - jetzt bewerben!

Professorship Stress resilience of plants. Aachen, Germany.
#PlantSciJobs #plantscijob
www.academics.de/jobs/w3-univ...

W3 Professorship for Functional and 3D Modeling of Plants - Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn - Landwirtschaftliche Fakultät Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn - Landwirtschaftliche Fakultät bietet Stelle als W3 Professorship for Functional and 3D Modeling of Plants in Bonn - jetzt bewerben!

Professorship for Functional and 3D Modeling of Plants. Bonn, Germany.
#PlantSciJobs #plantscijob
www.academics.de/jobs/w3-prof...

New WUR Chair in Plant Breeding: ‘The tech revolution is boosting crop improvement’ Professor Agnieszka Golics will join Wageningen University & Research (WUR) on 1 March 2026 as Professor and new Chair of the Plant Breeding group. With her background in cutting-edge plant breeding t...

Congrats Agnieszka Golics, New @WageningenUR Chair in Plant Breeding:

‘The tech revolution is boosting crop improvement’

www.wur.nl/en/news/new-...

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...

🚀 Big news in genome annotation! The latest Nature Methods paper presents Helixer. Developed as part of the @denbi.bsky.social infrastructure, Helixer makes high-quality genome annotations more accessible and efficient for the community.
🔗 nature.com/articles/s41592-025-02939-1

Cell wall patterning regulates plant stem cell dynamics The plant cell wall regulates development through spatiotemporal modulation of its chemical and mechanical properties. Pectin methylesterification is recognized as a rheological switch controlling wal...

Out in @science.org this week:
PME5 is sequestered in the nucleus and released during cytokinesis allowing its activity to be timed with cell division.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

#PlantScience
#PlantSci