Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Stéphanie Robert @srobertgroup.bsky.social · 1d

Fantastic UPSC cutting edge seminar by @apmahonen.bsky.social dissecting secondary growth in plants one step at the time! Such an amazing contribution to the field! @umeaplantsciencecentre.se

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Reposted by Stéphanie Robert

Carolyn Rasmussen @carolynplants.bsky.social · 4d

Excited to share this preprint on the microtubule severing protein Katanin, and its role in cell elongation and division in maize. First author Stephanie Martinez worked collaboratively with many folks to bring you this preprint. Check it out! 🔬🌽 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

KATANIN promotes cell elongation and division to generate proper cell numbers in maize organs

Microtubule severing is essential for proper eukaryotic cell elongation and division. Here we show that the microtubule severing protein, KATANIN, is encoded by two genes in Zea mays (maize) called Di...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Stéphanie Robert

Sylvie Coursol @sylviecoursol.bsky.social · 4d

The IJPB meets the public: wonderful moments of exchange! 🤩

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Reposted by Stéphanie Robert

Liz Haswell @ehaswell.bsky.social · 3d

I started to work on MscS-Like proteins 20 years ago, dreaming that they were involved in plant mechanotransduction. And it is becoming more & more clear that they are!
#plantscience 🧪
"DmMSL10 is crucial for mechanosensing, facilitating AP firing by generating a receptor potential (RP) amplitude."

Arif Ashraf @aribidopsis.bsky.social · 9d

🍀🔬

MSL10 is a high-sensitivity mechanosensor in the tactile sense of the Venus flytrap @natcomms.nature.com from Toyota lab.

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

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Reposted by Stéphanie Robert

Molecular Plant & Plant Communications @mplantpcom.bsky.social · 6d

The winners of rising stars in plant sciences 2025 #Editorial #MolecularPlant cell.com/molecular-pl...

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Reposted by Stéphanie Robert

Xander Jones @xanderjones.bsky.social · 7d

Only a few days left to apply!

My group is looking for a postdoc to engineer and deploy new tools to precisely manipulate and decode how auxin coordinates plant morphogenesis.

@starmorph-syg.bsky.social

Research Associate - Reprogramming Development (closes 7 October 2025)

www.cam.ac.uk

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Stéphanie Robert @srobertgroup.bsky.social · 8d

And it made the cover! Even better!

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Stéphanie Robert @srobertgroup.bsky.social · 8d

This story blew my mind! Amazing work. Highly recommended. Congrats to all! @nikogeldner.bsky.social @tonnigrubeandersen.bsky.social

Localized glutamine leakage drives the spatial structure of root microbial colonization | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Localized glutamine leakage drives the spatial structure of root microbial colonization

Plant roots release exudates to encourage microbiome assembly, which influences the function and stress resilience of plants. How specific exudates drive spatial colonization patterns remains largely ...

www.science.org

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Stéphanie Robert @srobertgroup.bsky.social · 18d

@lorindaloi.bsky.social @rahulpvnewland.bsky.social two more tags to this wonderful group of people!

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Stéphanie Robert @srobertgroup.bsky.social · 18d

Having fun with the group for Sandeep Farewell! @sharmavinod.bsky.social @siamsadoyle.bsky.social @loupitgreg.bsky.social @sandeep18887.bsky.social @absolutemaverick.bsky.social @umeaplantsciencecentre.se

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Reposted by Stéphanie Robert

KleineVehnLab @kleinevehnlab.bsky.social · 21d

Thrilled to share our latest story on the ERAD machinery and how it controls the conditional turnover of PIN-LIKES for acclimative growth

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

ERAD machinery controls the conditional turnover of PIN-LIKES in plants

Plant ERAD machinery governs the turnover of auxin transporters involved in developmental and stress responses.

www.science.org

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Reposted by Stéphanie Robert

Sjon Hartman @hartman-plantlab.com · 22d

Starting our first @dompsfr.bsky.social #plantscience seminar series of the academic year with a thank you by @elkebarbez.bsky.social for postdoc appreciation day, chocolates and a talk by @beritebert.bsky.social on cell walls and glycans!

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Reposted by Stéphanie Robert

Ghent Rooting-lab/Steffen Vanneste @stvanneste.bsky.social · 24d

#roots

rootdevelopment.bsky.social @rootdevelopment.bsky.social · 28d

Looking for some clarity in the labyrinth of terms regarding lateral root initiation (priming, founder cell specification, pre-branch sites, oscillation zone, root clock,...)? Here is our new paper hopefully bringing some light in the darkness:
track.smtpsendmail.com/9032119/c?p=...

Marker-assisted in vivo imaging reveals pre-patterning events prior to lateral root organogenesis

The branching pattern of the Arabidopsis root is established as early as in the distal tip of the primary root.

track.smtpsendmail.com

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Reposted by Stéphanie Robert

Ralf Reski @reskilab.bsky.social · 24d

Great article in Cell:
Time-resolved reprogramming of single somatic cells into totipotent states during plant regeneration
It's about #Arabidopsis and #auxin.
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Time-resolved reprogramming of single somatic cells into totipotent states during plant regeneration

In Arabidopsis, transcriptional factors LEC2 and SPCH enhance local auxin biosynthesis, establishing a transcriptional framework that enables differentiated single somatic epidermal cells to regain to...

www.cell.com

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Reposted by Stéphanie Robert

Jonathan Jacobs @bioinformer.bsky.social · 25d

This is epic! @officialatcc.bsky.social announced the winners of the 2025 Photo contest! They look amazing! Check the Alt text and follow the link for tons more. www.atcc.org/about-us/upc...

I love this! Please reshare! #microscopy #biology #research #science #cellbiology #microbiology #biotech 🧪🧬

2025 Most Popular Image Award for Microbiology
Bouquet of Trebouxia
Photographer - Sandra Story, NUBAD, LLC
Trebouxia (ATCC 30426) is a free-living green alga that often forms a symbiotic relationship with certain fungi. Trebouxia has a complex life cycle showing many cellular forms including motile.

2025 Most Popular Image Award for Cell Biology
Mitosis in Color: A Super-Resolution View
Photographer - Avishkar Sawant, Vanderbilt University
Super-resolution image of a fixed hTERT-RPE1 cell (ATCC CRL-4000) undergoing mitosis, highlighting the intricate organization of cytoskeletal networks. DNA (cyan), vimentin (depth color-coded), microtubules (red), and actin (magenta) were visualized using NSPARC. The image is presented as a maximum intensity projection of NSPARC stacks.

2025 ATCC Excellence Image Award for Microbiology
Microbial Minimalism
Photographer - Mindy Engevik, Medical University of South Carolina
This is an SEM image of Lactobacillus reuteri (ATCC 6475).

2025 ATCC Excellence Image Award for Microbiology
The Butterfly Effect
Photographer - Sandra Story, NUBAD, LLC
Klebsiella pneumoniae (ATCC 13883) and Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 6501). Fluorescence microscopy composite image of a mixture of bacteria that can be representative of a chronic poly-bacterial infection. Large masses of cells are Klebsiella pneumoniae exposed to a high dose of ertapenem causing the cells to elongate 10-50 times their normal size. Long rigid filaments are Bacillus subtilis common in soil, while Klebsiella pneumoniae are part of the normal microbial flora of the human lower digestive tract. Mixed genera of bacteria can coexist as poly-bacterial biofilms which supports exchange of drug resistance determinants via inter-species and inter-genus horizontal gene transfer. The biofilm-mode of growth supports other synergistic interactions that enhance virulence and promote resistance to antimicrobials resulting in difficult to treat chronic infections. Bacteria were cocultured in nutrient broth exposed to penicillin and incubated at 37 degrees Celsius to allow biofilm development. Samples of the biofilm were stained with three fluorescent dyes FM-64 (red, membrane stain), DAPI (blue, nucleic acid stain for both live and dead cells) and SYTOX Green (green, nucleic acid stain for dead cells) and then spotted onto an agarose nutrient pad sandwiched between a microscope slide and coverslip. The sample was viewed using a Leica DMi8 and illuminated using Texas red, DAPI and GFP filter sets. Images were taken with a K5 microscope camera. Scale bar 20 uM, 1000X magnification.

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Reposted by Stéphanie Robert

Ele Willoughby @minouette.bsky.social · 25d

I’m making more cyanotypes on handmade paper with a deckle edge:

Fern and wild carrot flower 🐡

minouette.etsy.com/listing/4369...

As described this is a cyanotype on handmade paper with a deckle edge with an image of a fern leaf and a wild carrot flower

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Stéphanie Robert @srobertgroup.bsky.social · 26d

:-) @umeaplantsciencecentre.se

Yasin Dagdas @plantophagy.bsky.social · 29d

Today’s speaker @cosheidelberg.bsky.social is Asa Strand on #Chloroplast development-a tale of two genomes

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Stéphanie Robert @srobertgroup.bsky.social · 28d

Nice!! Congrats!

Ari Pekka Mähönen @apmahonen.bsky.social · 28d

🌱 What happens when lateral root primordia (LRPs) fail to emerge?
Using our new lineage tracing tool LRTracker, Xin discovered that arrested LRPs don’t just disappear—they gradually switch fate and become part of the cambium, contributing to secondary growth.1/x
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Hormonal regulation of cell fate plasticity of xylem-pole-pericycle lineage in Arabidopsis roots

In Arabidopsis roots, xylem-pole-pericycle (XPP) cells exhibit dual cell fates by contributing to both lateral root (LR) and cambium formation. Despit…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Stéphanie Robert @srobertgroup.bsky.social · Sep 5

What a cool story presented by @elkebarbez.bsky.social from @uni-freiburg.de at @umeaplantsciencecentre.se !!

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Reposted by Stéphanie Robert

Rashmi Sasidharan @rsasidharan.bsky.social · Sep 3

🚨Job Alert!! Assistant professor vacancy ‘plant abiotic stress resilience’ in our group @uuplants.bsky.social Come for the science, stay for the amazing colleagues 😀More details here www.uu.nl/en/organisat... Please share!!

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Reposted by Stéphanie Robert

STARMORPH_ERC SYG @starmorph-syg.bsky.social · Sep 3

STARMORPH kick off went smoothly! Nice group of young scientists to work together with! Fantastic couple of days! @xanderjones.bsky.social @kleinevehnlab.bsky.social @nowako76.bsky.social @srobertgroup.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu @umeaplantsciencecentre.se

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Stéphanie Robert @srobertgroup.bsky.social · Sep 1

Fun on the way!

STARMORPH_ERC SYG @starmorph-syg.bsky.social · Sep 1

STARMORPH kick off in @umeaplantsciencecentre.se ! People of the STARMORPH on their way or already enjoying north Sweden! @xanderjones.bsky.social @nowako76.bsky.social @kleinevehnlab.bsky.social @srobertgroup.bsky.social

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Reposted by Stéphanie Robert

Charlotte Kirchhelle @ckirchhelle.bsky.social · Aug 27

Thrilled to share our latest work: how plants control growth through activation of a surface-specific growth programme. Thanks @zoenv.bsky.social, @nathan-german.bsky.social and the other coauthors for all the hard work! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Plant cells at the organ surface use mechanical cues to activate a specific growth control programme

During morphogenesis of multicellular organs, cells acquire distinct identities that meet specific functional requirements. Epidermal identity is widely considered essential for plant morphogenesis du...

www.biorxiv.org

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Stéphanie Robert @srobertgroup.bsky.social · Aug 27

Nice group effort and determination! Thanks to all involved!

Umeå Plant Science Centre @umeaplantsciencecentre.se · Aug 27

🧪🌾News - How do seedlings straighten when emerging from the soil?🔬

@srobertgroup.bsky.social & collaborators have identified a protein that promotes this seedling straightening via the plant hormone auxin.

Read more about the story published in @pnas.org here👇:
www.upsc.se/about-upsc/n...

Eleven pale seedlings grown next to each other in a row with their yellowish tip bend downwards. Photo: Qian Ma

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Stéphanie Robert @srobertgroup.bsky.social · Aug 27

Such a fun and inspiring meeting! Big thanks to the organiser team!!

Maizel lab @maizel-lab.org · Aug 27

Some Impressions of the FASEB Mechanism of Plant Development - 110 attendees, two keynotes, 46 Talks & 83 posters but one passion: understand plant development 🌱🧪🔬🧑‍💻 #PDevSRC

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