Kirk Amundson

Amazing work! Congratulations!

Creating a functional single-chromosome yeast - Nature Successive fusion of yeast chromosomes is used to produce a single-chromosome strain that is viable, albeit with slightly reduced fitness.

never mind all that work to merge yeast chromosomes - your (whatever was assembled, assuming corn) did it all on it's own!

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

Myosin 2 drives actin contractility in fast-crawling species outside of the amorphean lineage Myosin 2-dependent actin contractility—the force that powers cell division and migration in animals, fungi, and other Amorphea—had been previously unknown outside this single eukaryotic group. Guest e...

Our work on Naegleria Myosin 2 is out!

Naegleria encodes 3 Myo2s which contract its actin network—the first evidence of contractile Myo2 outside of Amorphea.
Myo2 is actually widespread in Naegleria's relatives and correlates with fast cell crawling.

Read more: www.cell.com/current-biol...

🌱 Postdoc position in Plant Genomics/Bioinformatics!

Love genome plasticity, computational methods, and solving big questions in plant biology? Join our newly established Institute for Crop Biology at HHU Düsseldorf.

More info on schneebergerlab.org/career/
Apply by Nov. 30 | 3-year position

Finally out! We measured mutations in tetraploid potato. Highlights:

- higher mutation rates in L1 than L2
- even higher rates and a distinct oxidative stress signature outside of meristems
- lower mutation rates in genes everywhere we looked

More 👇
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2514507122

Are you looking for a PhD in Plant Science? Check our our project on barley canopy architecture. Combine genetics and physics to understand how awns influence barley grain development. Find out more here: lnkd.in/eWhWammJ Apply by 14th December. #PhDPosition
#PlantSci @instmolplantsci.bsky.social

Warning. ⚠️ If you are writing an NSF GRFP, new this year, you need official transcripts to apply. Beware. They will not review applications without official transcripts. ‼️

Our lab’s variegated peperomia makes green flecks on leaves, but only on the abaxial side. It’s the typical sandwich: L1 green-L2 yellow-L3 green, so guessing flecks are L1-derived cells dividing periclinally into L2. But how only on the abaxial side? Something to do with the super thick epidermis?

Come work with us!!

We have a great group of plant biologists already, and there are FOUR searches for new plant biologists of different flavours across campus. We also have an outstanding group of animal physiologists (including @mstager.bsky.social ). Please apply!!

Just for fun, here's a game I like to call "Find the neuron" with examples of olfactory sensory neuron images from Šmít et al 2017 (doi.org/10.7554/eLif...) and Filoreta ramosa, a free-living syncytial amoeba from a salt marsh.

My PhD work is up on bioRxiv! Read all about the #actin and #microtubule #cytoskeleton of the Rhizarian #amoeba Filoreta ramosa here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

A deep-time landscape of plant cis-regulatory sequence evolution Developmental gene function is conserved over deep time, but cis -regulatory sequence conservation is rarely found. Rapid sequence turnover, paleopolyploidy, structural variation, and limited phylogen...

From @kirkamundson.bsky.social this looks pretty amazing. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Gene universal does 150-500 bp for $79 per fragment. According to our resident gene editor, the turnaround time is good, but they won’t take on tricky/repetitive synthesis projects that some other companies will

www.geneuniversal.com/service/gene...

Simons Postdoctoral Fellowships in Plant Biology Simons Postdoctoral Fellowships in Plant Biology on Simons Foundation

PD fellowship opportunity! New project ideas on medicinal plant engineering, cell type specific response to elicitation of biosynthesis, and epigenome/cloning evolution of long term cultured plant cells in the context of chemical production. www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons...
Email me!

The @uncchapelhill.bsky.social Department of Biology is searching for tenure-track Assistant Professor in Plant Molecular Biology. Chapel Hill is a wonderful place and Biology is an amazing group of people. To apply, see:
unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/307...

Of note: "Of particular importance, the successful candidate will have a demonstrated understanding of the strength that is brought to science through diversity, equity, inclusivity, and accessibility."

Here is a great job for the right plant physiologist.

UMass Amherst Biology is recruiting a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the area of Plant Physiology. Deadline Nov 1. Please spread the word and apply!

careers.massachusetts.edu/mob/en-us/jo...

Looks like the solicitation finally posted! www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

USDA funding delays under Trump compromise agricultural research Sharp drop in grant awards leaves researchers frustrated

"With 2 weeks left before the end of this fiscal year, USDA’s [NIFA] had awarded just 558 competitive grants ... 68% fewer than during the prior fiscal year—and $741 million less in competitively awarded research funds"

Don't forget #PlantSci and ag research, folks.
www.science.org/content/arti...

My department is hiring! Join us! jobs.colostate.edu/postings/165...

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)

While full solicitation isn’t up, looks like we have 2025 proposal deadlines for the GRFP: www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

Patagonia Changed the Apparel Business. Can It Change Food, Too?

Once more, with feeling.

Using Kernza, a perennial grain with 1/3 the yield of wheat, to make crackers and beer for rich people is NOT a climate solution.

Only at the end does this piece quote @mikegrunwald.bsky.social on Kernza's yield problem.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/07/b...

Spread the word 😃
Our department has an open position at the Assitant Professor level 🌱

Partial retention of ancient function increases genetic pleiotropy in grass evolution https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.22.670905v1

What about building the haplotypes from pollen single cell data? Bit of a project but maybe cheap depending on multiplexing capability.

from www.nature.com/articles/hdy...

Some of the really old papers on plant chimeras describe formation of shoots from roots in geranium. Here, a chimera with genetically white L3 sprouts a white shoot from an L3-derived shoot-borne root.

Still wouldn't call this a RAM sprouting a shoot though. Maybe theres a callus phase

Clonal strains of the fresh-market potato cultivar Russet Norkotah changed the domestication gene CDF1 Dear Editor,

Clonal variants of the Russet Norkotah potato cultivar are popular for their vigorous growth, delayed maturity and higher yield.

We tracked down the mutation that likely drives these changes to a TE that hopped out of CDF1. Out now in @plantphys.bsky.social

academic.oup.com/plphys/artic...

if there's a close match in a public database, pretty easy. mash sketch + distance does this in seconds
mash.readthedocs.io/en/latest/tu...