Facundo Romani

#Synbio

Marchantia might seem an unlikely biotech crop, but it’s worth trying. In Aurore’s thesis, we pushed this concept by engineering the auronidins with MpMYB14 and using the pigments to dye cotton. It ended up giving a very unique and beautiful product. #PlantScience www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

New preprint! The same TFs can drive distinct regulatory programs depending on where they bind.

TSS → rapid stress responses

Intronic & upstream → cell-type programs

Enhancer-like CRMs → embryo/meristem programs

Coding-sequence binding → repression
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

1/9 Our latest paper on immunity mechanisms in Marchantia just out @pnas.org ! 🔽

Close collaboration between our former PhD students @karimaelm.bsky.social and @chloe-beaulieu.bsky.social !

and the old gard @jacquet-chris.bsky.social @maximebonhomme.bsky.social

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Please share!
PhD position (4 years) available in my group @zmbp-tuebingen.bsky.social. We look for candidates with solid aptitude in computer science to cross disciplines and use cutting edge imaging to understand host infection by destructive plant pathogens.
uni-tuebingen.de/universitaet...

Half of the problems in the western hemisphere can be solve by having an official ID.

Silvia Rojas, brigadista forestal: “El fuego no espera y el Estado llegó tarde” Desde Mallín Ahogado, Silvia Rojas, brigadista forestal e integrante de la organización Sur a Sur, describe una realidad que no entra en partes oficiales. El incendio sigue activo en sectores clave, l...

My mom, Silvia, is my hero. Living abroad while everything is on fire is difficult, but at least I know she is there taking care of the forest. www.vertices.com.ar/contenido.ph...

One of the most rarest and enigmatic bryophytes is now in the lab: Takakia lepidozioides. Thanks to the IMSC and Reski lab at Freiburg for maintaining them. #PlantScience

Auxin signaling dynamics during Ceratopteris male development in response to antheridiogen. The six panels contain confocal time-lapse images showing auxin signaling dynamics in Ceratopteris male gametophytes expressing the DR5v2::ntdTomato transgenic reporter, grown on conditioned fern medium. A male gametophyte was live-imaged every day from 1 to 6 days after germination (DAG). The panels show projection views of tdTomato signals (Fire LUT). The white arrowhead (top left panel) indicates the initial DR5 signal in the early developing prothallus, while yellow arrowheads (top row) indicate DR5 signals in developing rhizoids. Cyan arrowheads and white dashed circles highlight DR5 signaling dynamics during antheridium initiation and maturation. Color bars represent the relative intensity of DR5 signals in Fire LUT images, with low intensity shown in black, intermediate intensity in blue to red, and high intensity in yellow to white. The color scale applies to the entire prothallus but excludes the spore coat. Scale bars: 50 µm.

Ferns alternate between asexual #sporophyte & sexual free-living #gametophyte. This study uncovers the mechanism of male-to- #hermaphrodite conversion in the #fern #Ceratopteris, revealing a novel role for #auxin biosynthesis during #meristem formation @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4k5EcAU

image of a maize inflorescence meristem that is labeled by the plasma membrane marker PIP2-CFP and BAM1D-YFP.

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/JAIVZX...

Excited to share my latest work in @newphyt.bsky.social. Here, we used TurboID proximity labeling with CLAVATA receptors FEA3 and BAM1D in maize meristems to better understand the signaling pathways important for meristem regulation. #PlantScience

Model systems and available resources in non-seed plants. Overview of available and developing resources (sequenced genomes and transcriptomes, single-cell transcriptomics) and experimental methods (stable transformation, CRISPR-Cas-based genome editing) for the main models. *Marchantia paleacea could also be considered a model system for symbiosis and also has several resources. **Several tools were also developed for Selaginella kraussiana, and the single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) is exclusive to S. kraussiana.

With non-seed plant research gaining momentum and a vibrant community emerging, Karima El Mahboubi and Facundo Romani highlight the growing impact of diverse model systems on key questions in plant evolution. doi.org/10.1242/bio....

#MeetingReview #NonSeedPlants #EvoDevo

This is also a first as a senior author, together with Fred. This can be a useful resource for chromatin states in Arabidopsis and Marchantia. Some unique feature but they share a similar "epigenetic code". Hopefully, this provide a useful model to understand TF-chromatin interplay in plants.

Chromatin state architecture governs transcription factor accessibility across plant genomes Author summary In eukaryotes, DNA is tightly associated with histone proteins. Histone covalent modifications and histones isoforms, also called histone variants provide most of the complexity of chro...

This is a very special paper for me. I had the idea of combining transcription factor binding with chromatin in 2016/8. It took some time, but thanks to Fred and Vikas, we can finally share the story in @plos.org Genetics looking at chromatin states in Arabidopsis and Marchantia. #PlantScience

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

Totally agree. When MpGMFR is constitutively expressed, some shoots even look like simple thalloid liverworts. I think we should link more often phenotypes to existing developmental diversity across distant species.

A Marchantia gemmaling producing ectopic vegetative propagules

Happy to share the pre-print on GEMMIFER, a novel ERF required for the initiation of gemma in Marchantia. One of the coolest phenotypes that I have ever seen. Congratulations to Yuki and Go, who led this research. #PlantScience @biorxiv-plants.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Fig. 1.Schematic diagram of tRNA-gRNA multiplexing for plant genome editing. (A) A plasmid is constructed containing a tRNA-gRNA cassette driven by the U6 promoter, together with a transcription unit for Cas9 expression. (B) After transformation into the plant, the primary RNA transcript is cleaved by the endogenous tRNA-processing enzymes RNase P and RNase Z, resulting in functional guide RNAs for genome editing.

✂️🧬 EDITOR’S CHOICE 🧬✂️

Frangedakis et al. present an improved method for generating complex CRSIPR-mediated genome modifications in Marchantia polymorpha using the tRNA-gRNA approach together with an optimized protocol for thallus transformation.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪

our hornwort paper got the cover of the @newphyt.bsky.social
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Plant Kelch phosphatases are Ser/Thr phosphatases involved in cell cycle regulation Brassinosteroids (BRs) are plant steroid hormones sensed at the cell surface by the membrane receptor kinase BRI1. Activation of BRI1 leads to the dephosphorylation of BZR1/BES1 transcription factors ...

Our new year starts of course with new preprint on brassinosteroid signaling tinyurl.com/nhzcfkxd. We re-analyzed the function of Kelch phosphatases, which were previously characterized as protein tyrosine phosphatases that dephosphorylate the critical pTyr200 in the GSK3 kinase BIN2. (1/6)

Thrilled to share our latest publication: Chlamydomonas chloroplast genes tolerate compression of the genetic code to just 51 codons | PNAS 🧬

Grateful to all involved!

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
@alisonsmith25.bsky.social @camplantsci.bsky.social @andreholzer.bsky.social

Draft Genome Sequence of Rhizobium rhizogenes Strain ATCC 15834 - PubMed Here, we present the draft genome of Rhizobium rhizogenes strain ATCC 15834. The genome contains 7,070,307 bp in 43 scaffolds. R. rhizogenes, also known as Agrobacterium rhizogenes, is a plant pathogen that causes hairy root disease. This hairy root induction has been used in biotechnology for the g …

It must be sequenced. Quick search pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27469966/ pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25359916/

Is this only for the US students?

A SABATH family enzyme regulates development via the gibberellin-related pathway in the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.11.693594v1

It was a great meeting, thanks to all the speakers, particularly @sramundo.bsky.social and @rensingstefan.bsky.social for their keynotes.
Next year is already announced, looking forward to #NonseedUK2026 in Edinburgh,organised by @justingoodrich.bsky.social and @sandyheth.bsky.social 🙂
#Plantscience

📢 New publication 'The B-class #auxin response factor MpARF2 is essential for #meristem organization in free-living #plant gametophytes' by Eduardo Flores-Sandoval et al. in Current Biology 🧪🌱

doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...

Non-seed plant research in the spotlight Summary: With non-seed plant research gaining momentum and a vibrant community emerging, this Meeting Review highlights the growing impact of diverse model systems on key questions in plant evolution.

Looking forward to Friday's Non-seed plant meeting in Norwich. Together with @karimaelm.bsky.social, we wrote a Review about the last year meeting. We discuss about the latest advances and the importance of using in models. Thanks @biologists.bsky.social and @biologyopen.bsky.social. #PlantScience

Carbon availability acts via cytokinins to promote gemma cup formation in Marchantia polymorpha Liverworts can clonally propagate by producing compact shoot structures called gemmae, which develop within basket-like structures known as gemma cups. It was previously reported in Marchantia nepalen...

Very happy to share this study in collaboration with @jaz-humphreys.bsky.social and @frannybarbs.bsky.social , with our little contribution, on the role of Ck on Sugar-mediated gemma formation @biorxiv-plants.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

The B-class auxin response factor MpARF2 is essential for meristem organization in free-living plant gametophytes Land plants (embryophytes) are multicellular eukaryotes with a remarkable capacity to grow continuously during their life span. They achieve this by m…

Out today... From Bowman lab, MpARF2 is the first essential transcription factor to be described for meristem maintenance in Marchantia. Glad to have contributed to another paper with Eduardo. #plantsciences #evodevo www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Giant chromosomes of a tiny plant - the complete telomere-to-telomere genome assembly of the simple thalloid liverwort Apopellia endiviifolia (Jungermanniopsida, Marchantiophyta) AbstractBackground. The liverwort A. endiviifolia, a dioicous, simple thalloid species, is notable for its cryptic diversity, habitat adaptability, genomic

Our paper “Giant chromosomes of a tiny plant” is out in @gigascience.bsky.social! We present a T2T genome assembly of the simple thalloid liverwort Apopellia endiviifolia with truly giant chromosomes. 🌱🧬 #plantgenomics #T2T #liverworts @nanoporetech.com
Thanks @ncn.gov.pl !

tinyurl.com/m8tkkxd3

Industrial and agricultural chemicals exhibit antimicrobial activity against human gut bacteria in vitro - Nature Microbiology Screening of 1,076 compounds reveals 168 chemical pollutants with inhibitory effects on gut bacteria and genetic screens indicate commonality between pollutant and antibiotic resistance.

Excited to share our latest research in @natmicrobiol.nature.com . We uncover hundreds of inhibitory interactions between common chemical pollutants and human gut bacteria. A thread🧵 (1/10) #microbiomesky #microsky @kiranrpatil.bsky.social lab @mrc-tu.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...