Simon Michaeli

Inside a thylakoid membrane

The molecular architecture of the thylakoid membrane in a vascular plant has been determined with single-molecule precision.
buff.ly/U9TzrOh

Congrats Dr. A. Abdrakhmanov for a fantastic PhD defence @vbcscitraining.bsky.social @gmivienna.bsky.social ! I am proud of you👏

Clathrin-coated vesicles are targeted for selective autophagy during osmotic stress Plants experience hyperosmotic stress due to drought and salinity. This causes cellular water loss, decreases turgor pressure, and reduces cell volume. Osmotic stress affects plasma membrane tension, ...

👉Clathrin-coated vesicles are targeted for selective autophagy during osmotic stress

www.biorxiv.org/content/bior...

#autophagy

Highly specific intracellular ubiquitination of a small molecule

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

📣 Massively proud of this ⬇️ great study, led by the brilliant @mesny.bsky.social surprisingly uncovering that many pathogen effectors stem from ancient antimicrobials 🤯 #EffectorWisdom #EvoMPMI

What's going on today?
A flow of new cool publications (including preprints).
See what I've reposted in just the last couple of hours...

Plant-associated fungi co-opt ancient antimicrobials for host manipulation Evolutionary histories of effector proteins secreted by fungal pathogens to mediate plant colonization remain largely elusive. While most functionally characterized effectors modulate plant immunity, ...

📣 NEW PREPRINT 📝

We identified evolutionary origins of many fungal effectors!
We show that fungi secrete lots of antimicrobial proteins, and that some of them were repurposed by plant pathogens for host immune suppression.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

cc @teamthomma.bsky.social

Linalool-triggered plant-soil feedback drives defense adaptation in dense maize plantings High planting density boosts crop yields but also heightens pest and pathogen risks. How plants adapt their defenses under these conditions remains unclear. In this study, we reveal that maize enhance...

Out in @science.org The crazy sequence of events from planting maize in dense fields. Density-dependent linalool release triggers release of compounds into the soil affecting microbes and plants.
Article: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Perspective: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#PlantScience

Aspergillus fumigatus dsRNA virus promotes fungal fitness and pathogenicity in the mammalian host - Nature Microbiology A mycovirus infecting the pathogenic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus enhances its stress tolerance and virulence in mice.

🚨 Fungi + viruses + mammalian lungs? Buckle up! Our new paper in
@natmicrobiol.nature.com
uncovers the story of a deadly fungus and its gnarly viral hitchhiker — and how this duo may change how we diagnose & treat fungal disease 🍄🫁🚨 doi.org/10.1038/s415... ⬇️

It's critical to switch off ethylene signalling once it has done its job during developmental transitions and stress acclimation. Excited to see this work led by @eleazarrodriguez.bsky.social now on BioRxiv. Happy @rimchaudhury15.bsky.social and I could contribute a bit to the story! #plantscience

Ancestral P-body proteins rewired for autophagic recycling in the early land plant Marchantia polymorpha Processing bodies (P-bodies) are conserved ribonucleoprotein (RNP) granules central to RNA metabolism across eukaryotes. Although the mechanisms underlying their assembly are well understood, the path...

If you’re enjoying some calm while others are on holiday, here’s a #NEW #preprint to dive into — led by the brilliant @vbcscitraining.bsky.social student A. Abdrakhmanov:
👇 A quick thread + link:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Absolutely honoured to see our work featured on this month’s cover! 🎉🧬

Artwork by the incredibly talented @doroteaartscience.bsky.social 👇

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Some experiments advance science. Others advance the reviewer’s sense of power. Guess which costs more. #FridayThoughts

Scientific bedlam at the world’s weirdest and wildest research conference Woodstock Bio2 + Night Science aimed to encourage collaborations through creativity. The walk-on music for presentations was fun, too.

🥂This was the highlight of my year. The "instigators", led by local master of the ceremony @svobodalab.bsky.social will never forget the privilege of organizing it and i think every participant will treasure the experience forever ❤️ @nature.com @josiegz.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/d41...

My country is hijacked by extremists. Polls indicate the overwhelming majority wishes the war to end and release of all hostages. Yet no one up there gives a damn!

Read this manuscript, which describes the in-vivo production of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) against ToBRFV, a devastating #virus threatening #tomato #crops worldwide. 🍅 👉 academic.oup.com/jxb/advance-...

New preprint: In situ Architecture of #Plasmodesmata.

Using #cryoET, #AlphaFold & proteomics, we uncover the native organization of plant intercellular nanopores.

🔗 doi.org/10.1101/2025...

🧪🧵1/n
#teamtomo #PlantScience #Physcomitrium #Arabidopsis #cryoEM

Martinez-Gomez Lab Plant Evo-Devo

A little belated but I've started a faculty position at Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology department at @ucsantabarbara.bsky.social. I'm absolutely stoked! I'll be recruiting at all levels and will be at #Botany2025

Reach out!

www.martinezgomezlab.com

It's proteolysis!
#PlantScience

Global hotspots of mycorrhizal fungal richness are poorly protected - Nature Machine-learning algorithms trained on 25,000 geolocated soil samples are used to create high-resolution global maps of mycorrhizal fungi, revealing that less than 10% of their biodiversity hotspots a...

The first high-resolution, predictive biodiversity map of Earth’s underground mycorrhizal fungal communities shows over 90% of underground mycorrhizal fungal ecosystems are unprotected, threatening carbon drawdown and ecosystem resilience to climate extremes.

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

Very excited that our work on directional symplastic transport in differentiated root is now published!A developmental switch controls cell-to-cell transport in roots via pectin-linked plasmodesmata changes: Molecular Plant www.cell.com/molecular-pl...

I don't remember myself so pessimistic and fearing the future as I was in recent weeks. We are led by a cynical and radical group of people.They must be replaced, soon!

Yes, everything as usual now...

I would like to thank all the nice Czech people I met during the week+ of being a refugee, and especially Viktor, Martin Potocky, and Roman Pleskot of the Institute of Experimental Botany. Thank you guys! 🙏 And what a great place to get stranded at!

So I got stranded in Prague after the incredible #TCTeAC Woodstock Bio due to the F war. But as the old saying goes, if you have lemons make a Mojito🍹. So I contacted Viktor Zarsky, who immediately organized a seminar @charlesuni.cuni.cz which yilded a collaboration!

I am humbled and honored to receive the Arabidopsis dissemination award. Thank you @naascarabidopsis.bsky.social for this recognition and I wish I could be there with you all! #ICAR2025
Thank you @joeecker.bsky.social for welcoming me into the Arabidopsis world!
🙏🏻🌱📖📕

@odedrechavi.bsky.social says he wants to change science for the better.

How? I’m still not quite sure. But 1.5 days into #TCTeAC, the plan seems to involve, among other things, walk-up songs, jumping, dancing, and a hefty serving of joy.

Bet on Pavel #tcteac

#TCTeAC .... where is everyone? This must be tje most boring conference ever!