Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology 🌱🧪

Rapid origin and turnover of genomic imprinting by transposable elements Genomic imprinting, the preferential expression of alleles based on their parent-of-origin, is an epigenetic mechanism that plays a key role in endosp…

I am thrilled to share our review with @claudiakohler11.bsky.social in which we discuss on the latest research on the classical and emerging roles of transposable elements in shaping genomic imprinting in plants. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#imprinting #epigenetics #plantReproduction

Final call! Registration for Plants & People 2025 closes July 31!
Don’t miss the chance to hear cutting-edge plant science and share your work.
🔗 Register here: plants-and-people.mpg.de/form/registr...
#PlantsandPeople #PnP25

Plant science meets machine learning, space, and storytelling. From cells to ecosystems, from satellites to society. Register now for Plants & People 2025, Sept 9–10 at MPI-MP!

Poster abstract deadline: July 31
🔗 Register here: plants-and-people.mpg.de/form/registr...
#PlantsandPeople #PnP25

Yesterday, we had the pleasure of welcoming Georgina Hernandez Delgado from UNAM, Mexico. Her talk about unraveling novel plant regulators of the common bean was fascinating and sparked some great discussions!

A big thank you to @carogutj.bsky.social for hosting and making this visit possible!

Another PhD success! Congratulations to Dr. Yogeswari Rajarathinam from group Kopka at the
@mpi-mp-potsdam.bsky.social on this incredible achievement!
Wishing you all the best! 🍾

Registration is OPEN for the 7th Plants & People Conference (P&P’25)! Join us Sept 9–10 at MPI-MP for talks on plant science, AI, space research & more. Poster submissions are welcome!

Sign up here: plants-and-people.mpg.de/form/registr...

#PlantsandPeople #P&P’25

We were thrilled to welcome Stephen Rader and Martha Stark yesterday! The talk ‘Tiny Genomes, Tricky Introns, and Thermal Springs: How Intron-Encoded RNAs Allow Some Introns to Persist in a Dramatically Reduced Algal Genome’ sparked great discussions and fresh ideas. Thank you both for visiting!

👋 Meet our “Plant Cell Biology and Morphodynamics” group led by Arun Sampathkumar. They run our microscope unit and provide training, advice on experiments and support with image analysis and interpretation.
They also run their own research, focusing on how cell growth and structure shape plants.

We are delighted to announce another PhD success at @mpi-mp-potsdam.bsky.social‬! 🎉 Dr. Jinghan Liu has passed her PhD viva in the group of Reimo Zoschke. 🌱🔬

Huge congratulations on this achievement—wishing you all the best for what’s next! 🎓✨

Yesterday we had the pleasure to welcome Andrea Fulgione from @mpipz.bsky.social ‪to our institute and learn about his group’s research on Arabis alpina – a plant that might serve as a model to understand responses to climate change. ⛰️🌼
‬
Thank you @claudiakohler11.bsky.social for hosting!

Fantastic news! 🎉 Dr. David Scharf has passed his PhD viva in Ralph Bock's Lab @mpi-mp-potsdam.bsky.social

Huge congrats, Dr. Scharf, and best of luck with your next steps! 🚀🌱🎓

Today Balakumaran Chandrasekar shared his insights with us into Glycomics and Proteomics approaches to better understand M. phaseolina-soybean interactions. His fascinating findings may help make soybeans more resistant to charcoal rot disease.

Thanks to @alexanderforderer.bsky.social for hosting!

Jeff Schell Prizes awarded to exceptional young scientists in molecular evolution and seed development Dr. Enrique Gonzalez Duran and Dr. Rita Bastos Lima receive the Jeff Schell Prize for significant advances in plant research.

🌱 Congrats to @egonzalezduran.bsky.social & Dr. Rita Bastos Lima on receiving the Jeff Schell Prize for their outstanding research in molecular evolution & seed development 👏

www.mpimp-golm.mpg.de/2797204/news...

Registration is now OPEN for the 7th Plants & People Conference (P&P’25)! Join us Sept 9–10 at MPI-MP for talks on plant science, AI, space research & more. Poster submissions are welcome!
Sign up here: plants-and-people.mpg.de/form/registr...

#PlantsandPeople #P&P’25

Huge thanks to 🌾 Rita Sharma from the National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (NABI) for her inspiring talk on the Genetic Enhancement of Sorghum for Sustained Nutritional Yield! 🌱✨ Her work is both impactful and motivating. 🙌

Also a big shoutout to @duartedf.bsky.social for hosting! 👏

Huge congrats to @dunkelmann.bsky.social‬‬ who secured £9.1 million funding for project SyncSol to develop a universal chloroplast genome for plants of the nightshade family. If successful, SyncSol could revolutionize plant breeding.‬ 🌱🧬

More: www.mpimp-golm.mpg.de/2796756/news_publication_24809749

Today we had the pleasure of welcoming Jean-Marc Deragon for a fascinating talk on post-translational regulation of gene expression under stress.

Big thanks to @thevirusmc.bsky.social for hosting this insightful session!

The GRAS protein RAM1 interacts with WRI transcription factors to regulate plant genes required for arbuscule development and function | PNAS During arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) symbiosis AM fungi form tree-shaped structures called arbuscules in root cortex cells of host plants. Arbuscules ...

🌱 New discovery in plant-fungi symbiosis:
@carogutj.bsky.social and team have identified the Gene Activator Complex that promotes the exchange of nutrients between plants & fungi.
📖 Read more: www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....

Suppression of plastid-to-nucleus gene transfer by DNA double-strand break repair - Nature Plants Inactivation of double-strand break repair pathways greatly increases the integration of plastid DNA into the nuclear genome of tobacco plants, highlighting the mutagenic potential of organellar DNA a...

New research by @egonzalezduran.bsky.social shows that DSB repair suppresses gene transfer from chloroplasts to nucleus. With DSB repair impaired, transfer rates jump 20× — revealing how plants protect genome stability, with lessons beyond plant biology. Read: nature.com/articles/s41477-025-02005-w

Today we are thrilled to host Benoit Landrein, who shared fascinating insights into how mechanical signals control plant development, using Arabidopsis seeds as a model. A great talk on the mechanics behind seed morphogenesis! 🌱

Thanks @duartedf.bsky.social for hosting!

Hermine Mitter (@jungeakademie.bsky.social, @uni-graz.at), Ralph Bock (Akademiemitglied, #MPI für Molekulare Pflanzenphysiologie), Benjamin Bodirsky (@pik-potsdam.bsky.social) & Harald von Witzke (@humboldtuni.bsky.social) diskutieren über eine Ernährungswende. www.bbaw.de/veranstaltun...

Yesterday, we had the pleasure of welcoming Michael Hippler from @uni-muenster.de for a captivating talk on electron transfer at photosystem I and the cytochrome b6f complex 🌱⚡. It was truly engaging and sparked lively discussion and fresh insights! 💡
Thanks to our own Adrian Nievergelt for hosting!

Yet, we lack understanding of the expression of multiple traits at different time points across the entire growth period of the plant. A research team, incl. @leibnizipk.bsky.social and @mpi-mp-potsdam.bsky.social, has solved this problem.

➡️PR: tinyurl.com/mrxkvvnr
➡️Paper: tinyurl.com/4mn3en96

Yesterday, we had the pleasure of having @ckirchhelle.bsky.social at our institute for her insightful talk “Cell edges – from polarity to growth control” 🔬
Thank you for sharing your fascinating work with us, we truly enjoyed the discussion and learned a lot 🌱
& Thanks to the host Arun Sampathkumar!

Thanks to @incavirus.bsky.social for talking about an argonaute protein, that restricts viral infection from parent to progeny in plant gametes.🦠 His team's findings unveil the first known antiviral mechanism of that kind!

Thanks as well to @carogutj.bsky.social for hosting the #TRR356 seminar!

The biology of grafting and its applications in studying information exchange between plants - Nature Plants This Review discusses the uses of grafting in basic and applied research and summarizes our current understanding of the mechanisms involved in the exchange of genes, genomes, RNA molecules and protei...

The ancient method of grafting has gained renewed interest as a research tool thanks to recent discoveries. Read more about its application in studying information exchange between plants here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@fritz-kragler.bsky.social

👋Our research group 'Translational Regulation in Plants' led by Reimo Zoschke explores how external factors like temperature and light influence the translation of RNA to protein. Their basic research will help fortify crops against the effects of climate crisis.

Stay tuned for their discoveries! 🔬

Today, we welcome @kseniakrasileva.bsky.social from @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social and we look forward to their talk “The Resistance Awakens: Natural Diversity Informs Engineering of Plant Immune Receptors” 🌿

Thanks @alexanderforderer.bsky.social for hosting!

Revolution auf dem Acker - Wo die Zukunft wächst - Die ganze Doku | ARTE Dürre, Hitze oder Starkregen – Extremwetter führen immer häufiger zu Ernteverlusten. Folgt man den Prognosen, bedroht der Klimawandel in naher Zukunft unsere Versorgung mit Lebensmitteln. Die Landwirt...

Be sure to check out this documentary about the future of #Agriculture in the #ClimateCrisis starring @fritz-kragler.bsky.social to learn more about our work 🌻 Thanks for the visit artede.bsky.social ! 💚

👉 arte.tv/de/videos/118993-000-A

#PlantScience #FutureOfFood

Thanks Potsdam #CRC1644 for the invite and inspiring discussions on plasticity in plants @duartedf.bsky.social @claudiakohler11.bsky.social @carogutj.bsky.social Michi Sauer, Markus Grebe, Rene Schneider, Michael Lenhard, Arun Sampathkumar & all @mpi-mp-potsdam.bsky.social @unipotsdam.bsky.social