Bert De Rybel

During secondary growth, primary protective barriers break, and a new one forms beneath: the phellem.

But what triggers phellem to differentiate and become a functional barrier? Our results show it’s mechanical cues from tissue rupture 🌱
Check out our preprint 👇
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 🧵/1

Registration for the 13th PhD School on Plant Development is open! 🌾 🔬 🌺 🧬 🌵 🧪

Deadline: June 30, 2026
Link to registration form forms.gle/tbmUxaw2vmEn...
Cost: €350.- (incl. board, lodging and social event)
For details re payment and abstracts see form or homepage raissiglab.org/plantdevosch...

🚨 PhD Position in Plant Molecular Biology 🌱
We are looking for a motivated PhD student to join our team to study root protective barriers. If you are interested in confocal microscopy, cell wall biology, and plant development, this project might be for you! Please share!
#PlantScience #PlantSciJob

Very proud that two former lab members: @maitesaura.bsky.social and Yanbiao Sun were now awarded an MSCA postdoc fellowship to continue their scientific journey! Congratulations!

🌱Save the date! It’s time to plant the seeds of discovery at our 4th edition of #PlantResearch26. From roots to results, explore breakthroughs in genetics, sustainability, crop innovation, and future food systems.
Let’s grow ideas together, in Ghent, 17-18 September: vibbio.tech/4s31Pg5
#VIBConf

I am happy to announce the launch of a new Arabidopsis genomics resource! Check out arabidopsislyrata.org Now you can easily look at the natural genetic variation across the entire species range of A. lyrata and A. arenosa.

Recruitment of bifunctional regulator thermospermine to methylated ribosomes directs xylem fate Polyamines are often associated with ribosomes and are thought to stabilize their integrity. In Arabidopsis, the polyamine thermospermine (tSpm) affects xylem cell fate. tSpm induces translation of SU...

In @science.org this week, thermospermine affects ribosome methylation, which in turn regulates translation of xylem development proteins www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

#plantscience

May the force be with you

Given the described activators of cambium growth, we reasoned repressors were needed to balance the system. Here they are! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Discovery: Xing, Jingyi, Emma, Riikka, Anne-Maarit, Julia, Qing, Hanan, Raluca, Joanna, Yuqi, Wiki
#plantscience #plantdev

Evolutionary adaptations to the hormonal regulation of vascular tissue development | PNAS Vascular tissues provide long-distance transport and physical support in the vascular plant lineage, providing a significant adaptive advantage. Al...

PAPER from @bertderybel.bsky.social in @pnas.org
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

👍

Thanks Javi! Much appreciated.

Happy to present our latest: Evolutionary adaptations to the hormonal regulation of vascular tissue development | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/.... Work by Wei Xiao and funded by @erc.europa.eu

Very much looking forward to this!

Save the date: Plant Development PhD school (i.e. Retzbach 2.0) in Neustadt, Germany.

Sept 23rd-25th, 2026
~€350 all inclusive

Excellent speakers and a relaxed atmosphere for early-career researchers (PhDs & postdocs). Registration opens soon.

For more info, see
raissiglab.org/plantdevosch...

We are pleased to announce the official release of PLAZA 5.1, our plant genomics platform, which comes with a major front-end redesign. This results in improved performance, enhanced visualization tools, and refined Toolboxes. Src: www.vandepoelelab.be/plaza/news#28

We just released a new version of MINI-EX, our tool to infer cell-type specific gene regulatory networks in plants starting from single-cell RNA-Seq data. MINI-EX v3.2 can now be run on large datasets of over 100,000 cells! More info here: github.com/VIB-PSB/MINI...

Delighted to be in the EMBO YIP list! @uniofnottingham.bsky.social @uonresearch.bsky.social

We are hiring! There is a PhD-position available in my group on environmental signal integration in plants. @swammerdamuva.bsky.social
More information:
werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...

“The ZAT14 family promotes cell death and regulates expansins to affect xylem formation and salt tolerance in Arabidopsis”. Now out in @theplantcell.bsky.social led by Ming Feng and colleagues. A 🌱 thread 👇 1/x
academic.oup.com/plcell/advan...

An AINTEGUMENTA phosphoswitch controls bilateral stem cell activity during secondary growth | PNAS Plant stem cells have the remarkable ability to give rise to distinct tissues and organs throughout development. Two concentric cylinders of active...

It’s finally out! 🎉
Work led by former PhD student @wei-xiao-botany.bsky.social , in collaboration with @bayerlab.bsky.social and @bertderybel.bsky.social
AINTEGUMENTA phospho-switch regulates bilateral stem cell activity during secondary growth.

🔗 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

#PlantSciences

Auxin transport positions stem cells in the vascular cambium during normal development and regeneration | PNAS The vascular cambium contains bifacial stem cells producing secondary phloem in one and secondary xylem to the opposite direction. In Arabidopsis r...

By combining molecular genetics with cell-ablation experiments, we found that vascular cambium stem cells and xylem-identity cells form an interchangeable unit, a stem cell niche. Meticulous work by @xixizhang9001.bsky.social, Ondrej Smetana, Jing Zhang & Xiaoyu Wang 1/x www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

On growth and flow: hydraulic aspects of aboveground meristems Water is essential for plant growth under both normal and stress conditions. Aboveground, two key meristems control plant development: the shoot apical meristem and the vascular cambium. Here, stem c...

Very excited to share my first solo Tansley Insight. An integrated view on the hydraulics of aboveground plant meristems, and the framework of my future work as part of this community #PlantScience

@newphyt.bsky.social

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

New OA Article: "Cambium LBDs promote radial growth by regulating PLL-mediated pectin metabolism" rdcu.be/eP4mp

LBD TFs in the cambium drive radial plant growth by regulating PECTATE LYASE-LIKE (PLL) enzymes that remodel cell wall pectin, promoting cell expansion.

Unlocking the potential of brassinosteroids: A path to precision plant engineering Brassinosteroids are essential plant hormones that play a central role in regulating growth, development, and stress responses. Their impact on plant architecture and productivity makes them attractiv...

Another great collaboration with @trevormnolan.bsky.social and @nvukas.bsky.social where we give our vision on how brassinosteroid research can pave the way to precision plant engineering www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Our latest review, co-authored with @agustilab.bsky.social (@ibmcp.bsky.social), “Environmental regulation of plant vascular networks,” is now published in @cp-trendsplantsci.bsky.social! Read it here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Inspiring visit and exciting talk by @likeyoda1.bsky.social today in @psb-vib.bsky.social. Impressive progress after starting her lab only 2 years ago!

Congrats AP, very well deserved!

Interested to learn more about Plant Biotechnology? Enroll in our one-year Subsequent Master program and enjoy a training at Europe's largest Agro-biotech campus: masterplantbiotechnology.ugent.be

Final, edited version of the paper now available
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...