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galofir.bsky.social
Gal Ofir
@galofir.bsky.social
620 followers 1K following 18 posts
Departmental Group Leader - Plant Immunogenomics 🌱🧬🦠
Max Planck Institute for Biology - Tübingen 🇩🇪. Plant immunity and other small things
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Gal Ofir
sramundo.bsky.social
There are a couple of empty chairs at our table — want to sit with us?
Reach out to me or any lab member www.oeaw.ac.at/gmi/research... We’ll be hiring two postdocs in 2026.
We’re excited about ambitious and creative ideas and are committed to supporting future group leaders 1/2
November 29, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
somssich.bsky.social
"Leaf It to Science: Uncovering Plant Immune Systems Through Technological Advances Open Access"

Reflections on Career, #PlantScience and #PlantImmunity by Xinnian Dong

academic.oup.com/plphys/advan...
Abstract For the past two years, I have been contemplating how best to write this review that not only reflects on a few significant and nostalgic moments in my more than three decades of professional career in the molecular plant-microbe interaction (MPMI) field, but also offers my personal outlook on the future aimed at inspiring young scientists to join this exciting discipline. Rather than a comprehensive overview, I would like to place greater emphasis on the “whys” and the “hows” than the “whats”. I finally decided to use technological advancements critical for the development of our field as a thread to connect the past with the future. Founder's Review
November 29, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
mpi-mp-potsdam.bsky.social
Looking for a #PhDposition in #PlantScience ?
Our #IMPRS @mpi-mp-potsdam.bsky.social and @unipotsdam.bsky.social is #hiring !

📅 Apply by 10 January 2026

More info:
👉 www.mpimp-golm.mpg.de/IMPRS-PhD

Please share this post to plant it in the right feed 🌱 #PlantSciJobs
Graphic with Arabidopsis thaliana plant. It says in the text: We're hiring: 5 PhD positions, apply by 10 January, 2026. Over the caption, there are keywords: Plant Physiology, Epigenetics, Biotechnology, Cell Biology, Bioinformatics. At the bottom there are logos of IMPRS, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, University of Potsdam and the Max Planck Society.
November 28, 2025 at 8:05 AM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
mgstetter.bsky.social
TWO positions open in our group. 1 postdoc and 1 PhD position. Join us for some exciting evolutionary plant biology! #PlantSciJobs #PlantSciJob
November 28, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
mpi-mp-potsdam.bsky.social
Great talk by @delphinem-p.bsky.social from @geminiteamlab.bsky.social yesterday: “Hijacking the Plant #Spliceosome” on how alternative splicing drives #viral infection and #tomato fruit development 🍅

Thanks to our host @incavirus.bsky.social for organizing this insightful seminar! 👏
Delphine Pott (left) and Marco Incarbone (right) standing in front of a yellow wall and next to a window facade in an office building. Both are smiling.
November 27, 2025 at 9:42 AM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
wvschaik.bsky.social
An amazing article. Highly recommended!
kevinsblake.bsky.social Kevin Blake PhD @kevinsblake.bsky.social · 5d
Every biologist knows the story of Fleming's chance discovery of penicillin. But is it true?

Here, with @asimovpress.bsky.social, I write about inconsistencies in the canonical story, and explore a few alternative theories about what really happened in that St. Mary's lab in the summer of 1928.
The Penicillin Myth
Competing theories seek to explain inconsistencies surrounding Alexander Fleming’s famed discovery.
press.asimov.com
November 26, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
pnas.org
Medieval agricultural and trade practices in southwestern Germany boosted plant diversity for centuries, with biodiversity peaking around 1000 CE and declining only when human activity contracted during the Black Death. In PNAS: https://ow.ly/Q6ca50XxIvC
Woodcut illustration to Michael Beuther’s Calendarium Historicum, published in Frankfurt by David Zephelius in 1557. Image shows a person pollarding a tree and another person sowing seeds. CREDIT: The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license.
November 25, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
yehumoran.bsky.social
1/5
🚨🚨 preprint alert! 🚨🚨
I wish to introduce CARDIB, not the singer, but the protein.
CARDIB=CARD Inhibitory Binding protein.
In our new work we discover this antiviral protein that is found in all Anthozoa (sea anemones and corals 🪸) but not in other animals.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
An ancient anthozoan protein reveals an alternative evolutionary path of antiviral signaling
How antiviral immunity first arose in animals is a central question in evolutionary biology. Using the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis, we identify CARDIB, a previously uncharacterized gene located...
www.biorxiv.org
November 25, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
sverwimp.bsky.social
Protein domains have no single definition, so why stick to one segmentation? 🧩

Instead of forcing structures into rigid classifications, we built AFragmenter. It uses AlphaFold PAE networks for a tuneable approach to domain parsing.

You control the granularity. 👇
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/bioi...
November 24, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
hassansalem.bsky.social
Some news 🎉
After five incredible years in Tübingen, it’s time to say goodbye.

Starting February, the Mutualisms Lab will relocate to the John Innes Centre, right next door to @berasymbionts.bsky.social and her group at The Sainsbury Laboratory 🪲🦠
Hassan, Aileen, and a local resident by the Norwich Cathedral.
November 24, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
johninnescentre.bsky.social
PRESS RELEASE – Dr Hassan Salem to lead independent research group on plant-insect interactions

Following an international search, we are delighted to announce that Dr Hassan Salem @hassansalem.bsky.social will be joining us in early 2026: www.jic.ac.uk/press-releas...
Dr Hassan Salem
November 24, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
vbcscitraining.bsky.social
The Vienna BioCenter Summer School 2026 call is now open for talented undergrads, it's a great opportunity for students who are interested in graduate study in the life sciences. Georg Busslinger from CeMM is recruiting! Please share
https://training.vbc.ac.at/summer-school/
November 24, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
plantaeofficial.bsky.social
Plant Science Research Weekly -- Cracking the oat code: a comprehensive pangenome and pantranscriptome resource (Nature) @howarthoats.bsky.social (Summary by Ching Chan) buff.ly/tJW1bEw

#PlantaePSRW
Cracking the oat code: A comprehensive pangenome and pantranscriptome resource | Plantae
Oat (Avena sativa) is a globally cultivated cereal for its rich dietary fiber and health-promoting benefits. Yet, despite its nutritional importance, oat genomics has long lagged behind other cereals…
buff.ly
November 24, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
arburga.bsky.social
🪱 Selfish genes are everywhere and drive some of biology’s biggest innovations (CRISPR, antibody recombination, epigenetics). Yet almost no one asks the obvious question: how does a selfish gene begin? Our new manuscript uncovers how selfishness can emerge directly from the host genome.
November 24, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
thesainsburylab.bsky.social
📣NEWS: We are delighted to share that Dr Aileen Berasategui @berasymbionts.bsky.social will join us as a new group leader next year.

“Aileen is an exceptionally talented scientist and brings new expertise to TSL in plant-insect-fungal interactions” says @talbotlabtsl.bsky.social

buff.ly/kRs4ASU
November 24, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
bpucker.bsky.social
Getting ready for our #PlantGenomics courses! 🌱🔬
The course is almost full, so check out the details soon if you want to join and learn about the power of long-read sequencing and cloud-based data analysis.
Feel free to spread the word!

👉 www.izmb.uni-bonn.de/en/pbb/news#...
@puckerlab.bsky.social
Screenshot of the de.NBI project for our upcoming courses. Details: https://www.izmb.uni-bonn.de/en/pbb/news#denbi2025
November 19, 2025 at 6:01 AM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
miketilapia.bsky.social
Our new preprint is online! Viruses, bacteria and parasites use effector proteins to evade immunity and rewire host cell pathways. Together with @AlexanderStark8, we wondered if we could systematically map what these effectors, regardless of their origin, do in human cells. 1/8
www.biorxiv.org
November 18, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
embo.org
"I was (...) surprised to learn about the #childcare #grants available through EMBO. Not many other institutions provide these opportunities (...)” says Sheila Roitman, EMBO Postdoctoral Fellow at Max-Planck-Gesellschaft: https://www.embo.org/people/a-resilient-journey-through-science/ 🧪 #funding
November 18, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
drpchronicles.bsky.social
Very proud of Catarina Lino for facilitating the first ever sequencing of a plant genome on Zimbabwean soil, together with local organiser and collaborator Prince Marowa.
With thanks to the Max Planck Society ARTEMIS Bridging Minds and the University of Zimbabwe! www.linkedin.com/posts/dr-pat...
💪🏽 Very proud of Catarina Lino for facilitating the first ever sequencing of a plant genome on Zimbabwean soil, together with local organiser and collaborator Prince Marowa. The workshop's lecture...
💪🏽 Very proud of Catarina Lino for facilitating the first ever sequencing of a plant genome on Zimbabwean soil, together with local organiser and collaborator Prince Marowa. The workshop's lecture ser...
www.linkedin.com
November 17, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
mpipz.bsky.social
We’re #hiring! Our #IMPRS @mpipz.bsky.social & @unicologne.bsky.social recruits 4 PhD students. We look for candidates with a keen interest in experimental & computational plant biology to join us in 2026!

Find details at www.mpipz.mpg.de/imprs/imprs-... and apply by Jan 5.

#PlantSciJobs
A Banner that shows the open call for the international PhD program on interdisciplinary Plant Biology in Cologne Germany between University of Cologne and Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research. A button reads "apply now!".
November 17, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
mehr.nz
periodic reminder of the existence of Atkinson Hyperlegible, a free font available from the Braille Institute designed to improve readability for people with low vision

I use it in talks because it's pretty and also because, as an audience member, I am perpetually squinting at people's slides
Atkinson Hyperlegible Font - Braille Institute
Read easier with Atkinson Hyperlegible Font, crafted for low-vision readers. Download for free and enjoy clear letters and numbers on your computer!
www.brailleinstitute.org
November 17, 2025 at 4:19 AM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
jlsteenwyk.bsky.social
NEW pub in @science.org 🥳

Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?

For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.

We provide new evidence suggesting that...

🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
November 13, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
soreklab.bsky.social
Congratulations to Sorek lab alumnus Nitzan Tal, who won the prestigious 2025 Science & SciLifeLab prize for the best PhD thesis in Systems Biology! 💫

Read her Prize Assay, published in the journal Science today

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

@nitzantal.bsky.social
November 14, 2025 at 6:33 PM
galofir.bsky.social
Thanks so much for the invitation and hospitality @somssich.bsky.social and Viktor! Super impressed by the work you do at @kwsgroup.bsky.social! I have now a whole new appreciation for sugar beet 🫜🧬🤯
somssich.bsky.social Marc Somssich @somssich.bsky.social · 15d
This week we welcomed @galofir.bsky.social from @mpi-bio-fml.bsky.social at @kwsgroup.bsky.social for our #PlantScience R&D Lecture.
It was a pleasure to finally meet, learn about his #PlantImmunity & #ImmunoGenomics work to uncover evolutionary conserved defense mechanisms, & talk plant science. 👍🤓
Gal Ofir at the KWS Headquarters. He is standing in front of a large world map, which shows KWS' Research Centres and Stations. Behind him, below the map, are four silos containing sugar beet seeds in different stages of processing, from raw, to cleaned, processed and final product. It is visible that the volume filles get's smaller and smaller and with each processing step.
November 14, 2025 at 4:23 PM