Ian Henderson

Genomic Islands in Wolbachia Prophages Drive Amplification andDiversification of Cytoplasmic Incompatibility Genes in Culex pipiens https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.03.680192v1

The Length of Haplotype Blocks and Signals of Structural Variation in Reconstructed Genealogies Abstract. Recent breakthroughs have enabled the accurate inference of large-scale genealogies. Through modelling the impact of recombination on the correla

Delighted that our paper about the distribution of genomic spans of clades/edges in genealogies (ARGs), and using this for detecting inversions and other SVs (and other phenomena that cause local disruption of recombination) is out in MBE academic.oup.com/mbe/article/... (1/n)

Russell R. Geiger Professorship of Crop Science www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/russell... @cam.ac.uk @camplantsci.bsky.social

CDCA7 facilitates MET1-mediated CG DNA methylation maintenance in centromeric heterochromatin via histone H1 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

YouTube video by Stowers Institute for Medical Research How Stowers Scientists Found the DNA Site Where Robertsonian Chromosomes Fuse

🚂 The T2T train keeps rolling: "The formation and propagation of human Robertsonian chromosomes" with Gerton and Garrison labs is out! What's a Robertsonian chromosome? Let Jen tell you herself in this great video, or read our paper: [1/3]
📺 youtu.be/JmlY5omxQVc
📄 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Transposable elements are vectors of recurrent transgenerational epigenetic inheritance DNA methylation loss at transposable elements (TEs) can affect neighboring genes and be epigenetically inherited in plants, yet the determinants and significance of this additional system of inheritan...

Out First Release in @science.org this week:

A large scale analysis of the epigenetics of transposable elements in Arabidopsis shows transgenerational stability

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

#PlantScience

Enhancing local meiotic crossovers in Arabidopsis and maize through juxtaposition of heterozygous and homozygous regions Nature Plants - This study discovered that locally confined DNA differences boost crossover rates in both Arabidopsis and maize, revealing a conserved mechanism that can accelerate plant breeding...

Excellent work from @piotraz.bsky.social group demonstrating juxtaposition of heterozygous & homozygous regions in maize attracts meiotic recombination to het regions rdcu.be/eHmn9 @natplants.nature.com builds from work we did together in Cambridge on Arabidopsis way back in 2015. Great stuff Piotr!

Photo showing the inside atrium of the new Life and Mind Building

Oxford Biology is growing 📢

We’re appointing 3 Associate Professors in:
🌱 Plant Sciences
🦉 Animal Behaviour
🔬 Molecular Cell Biology

3 fields. 3 opportunities. One new home for Oxford Biology.

Learn more 👉 bit.ly/41S2Tc7
Apply now 👉 bit.ly/488CNW3

DNA methylation influences human centromere positioning and function - Nature Genetics Genome-wide and targeted perturbation of DNA methylation at centromeres affects CENP-A positioning and centromere structure, resulting in aneuploidy and reduced cell viability.

#1 Centromeres are epigenetic loci defined by CENP-A, positioned in unmethylated DNA flanked by highly methylated regions. Our work, published in @natgenet.nature.com in collaboration with @naltemose.bsky.social investigates the role of DNAme at human centromeres www.nature.com/articles/s41...

IT BEST HEALTH! FOR SKIN! MAYBE ELAINE FUCHS INVOLVED! NEED CELLULAR EPIGENETICS FOR EVERYTHING PLEASE!

It’s such an amazing location!

Some nice pyrite-ammonites we found on Charmouth beach #fossilhunting

A cytological framework of female meiosis in Arabidopsis Female and male meiosis often differ in many aspects, such as their duration and the frequency as well as the positioning of crossovers. However, studying female meiosis is often very challenging and ...

Six more years—plus a lot of blood, sweat, and tears—later, we are thrilled to finally share it: a cytological framework of female meiosis in Arabidopsis!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

What beauty!

An old image of a salivary gland chromosome from Drosophila melanogaster, with lines across different segments indicating contact points.

The original circos plot? From the 1947-1948 Carnegie Yearbook, the page prior to McClintock's Mutable Loci in Maize paper.

Out after peer review now, follow up from our 2019 pna-NLRome paper (which was based on enrichment and long-read sequencing). It is remarkable how much more can be learned with complete genome sequences. Next. pan-NLRome from hundreds of A. thaliana long-read genomes! Big thanks to the entire team!

Introducing the 1,000 Flower Collection 🧬🌹

I’m creating 1,000 genetically designed flowers each crafted with new colors, patterns, and shapes.

Here’s how I’m making it happen… and how you can join me on this journey 🧵(1/7)

Oatk: a de novo assembly tool for complex plant organelle genomes - Genome Biology Plant organelle genomes, particularly large mitochondrial genomes with complex repeats, present significant challenges for assembly. The advent of long-read sequencing enables the assembly of complete...

Oatk: a de novo assembly tool for complex plant organelle genomes link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Hi-reComb: constructing recombination maps from bulk gamete Hi-C sequencing. #HiC #RecombinationMaps #GameteSequencing #Genomics #Genetics
academic.oup.com/genetics/adv...

5 August 2025 - Committee vacancy, Magazine Editor | Genetics Society We are searching for a new Editor of the Genetics Society magazine! Check our vacancies page for details on the role and how to apply.

Are you passionate about #genetics and #communication? We're looking for an Editor for our magazine. Training funds are available, you will be a trustee of the society and get free attendance to all of our conferences.

Application deadline: 12 September!

genetics.org.uk/committee-va...

Escherichia coli with a 57-codon genetic code The near-universal genetic code uses 64 codons to encode the 20 canonical amino acids and protein synthesis. Here we designed and generated Escherichia coli with a 4 Mb synthetic genome in which we re...

Escherichia coli with a 57-codon genetic code | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Spindle checkpoint can secure additional cheating time for selfish expanded centromeres Expanded centromere DNA repeats violate Mendel’s law of segregation by preferentially segregating to the egg in animals and plants. Using oocytes collected from hybrid mice, Walton et al. show that th...

Spindle checkpoint can secure additional cheating time for selfish expanded centromeres cell.com/current-biol...
@currentbiology.bsky.social @takashiakeralab.bsky.social

Brain Surfaces of 70 primate species

1
To predict the behaviour of a primate, would you rather base your guess on a closely related species or one with a similar brain shape? We looked at brains & behaviours of 70 species, you’ll be surprised!

🧵Thread on our new preprint with @r3rt0.bsky.social , doi.org/10.1101/2025...

New studious lab pic just dropped ! A few others to be digitally added in due course!

last call!
submit your abstract by tonight to be selected for one of the many oral presentations at the leading European Transposon Meeting. We are very much looking forward to your contribution and attendance!

Annual 307 laboratory day on the river!

Contrasting centromere structures in carnivorous sundews uncover a dynamic evolutionary trajectory shaped by polyploidy and chromosomal remodeling Sundews (Drosera) are carnivorous plants that capture prey using mucilage-producing glands with both secretory and absorptive functions. Within a remarkably diverse clade that includes the Venus flytr...

Happy to share our new work with exciting findings, incl. different centromere organisations and all kinds of weird polyploids giving rise to the mysterious carnivorous sundews! Great word led by my postdoc Laura in collaboration with @plantgenomes.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

The first paper of my PhD is now available as a preprint! 🎉

Transposable elements (TEs) don't just jump within fungal genomes, they also move extensively between species. In this study, we screened over 1,300 fungal genomes and found a conservative estimate of 5,500+ horizontal transfer events.

Phylogenomics of Asgard archaea reveals a unique blend of prokaryotic-like horizontal transfer and eukaryotic-like gene duplication. Asgard archaea hold a pivotal position in the tree of life as the closest known relatives to eukaryotes and are therefore crucial for understanding eukaryogenesis. Earlier genomic analyses revealed th...

Today is Asgard Friday! So happy that the project that has taken a big chunk of my PhD journey is out as a preprint (for now!)

“Phylogenomics of Asgard archaea reveals a unique blend of prokaryotic-like horizontal transfer and eukaryotic-like gene duplication”

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Complex genetic variation in nearly complete human genomes - Nature Using sequencing and haplotype-resolved assembly of 65 diverse human genomes, complex regions including the major histocompatibility complex and centromeres are analysed.

Telomere-to-telomere DNA sequencing is set to transform the field of human genetics in coming years. For a flavour of what's coming, see this exciting work on nearly complete genomes of 65 individuals from diverse populations, out today in @nature.com by @glennislogsdon.bsky.social & colleagues. 👇🧬🧪