Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Sophia Zebell

Morgan Carter @morgancarterphd.bsky.social · 21d

"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...

USDA funding delays under Trump compromise agricultural research

Sharp drop in grant awards leaves researchers frustrated

www.science.org

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Reposted by Sophia Zebell

Nature Portfolio @natureportfolio.nature.com · Aug 24

A paper published in Nature Genetics presents a comprehensive pan-cistrome of maize leaves, revealing over 200,000 variants linked to transcription factor binding sites under both well-watered and drought conditions. go.nature.com/4785q5p 🧪🌾#plantscience

Genetic variation at transcription factor binding sites largely explains phenotypic heritability in maize - Nature Genetics

Pan-cistrome of the maize leaf under well-watered and drought conditions profiled by haplotype-specific MOA-seq highlights the relevance of transcription factor binding QTLs for understanding phenotypic diversity in maize.

go.nature.com

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Sophia Zebell @sophiazebell.bsky.social · Aug 21

What a relevant justification! I can't wait to read the resulting issue!

Sophia Zebell @sophiazebell.bsky.social · Jun 29

Thanks for posting! I haven't seen your blog before and I really enjoyed the bountiful footnotes and citations!

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Sophia Zebell @sophiazebell.bsky.social · Jun 12

Other authors, if you can find their contact information online. I know my inbox is less cluttered than senior folks and I try to respond promptly to requests!

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Sophia Zebell @sophiazebell.bsky.social · May 24

An enjoyable read, with clear simple experiments that show tomato conservation of a core developmental mechanism previously demonstrated in Arabidopsis.

Plant Physiology @plantphys.bsky.social · May 23

The quantitative effect of seed production triggers the end of flowering in tomato (María Jesús López-Martín , Cristina Ferrándiz , Concepción Gómez-Mena) doi.org/10.1093/plph... #PlantScience

doi.org

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Reposted by Sophia Zebell

Maddy Seale @maddyseale.bsky.social · Mar 30

2 papers in @science.org this week uncover wheat tandem kinase function. Working in parallel, the authors of each paper show that two different tandem kinases converge to activate the same NLR!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

#PlantScience

A wheat tandem kinase activates an NLR to trigger immunity

The role of nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) receptors in plant immunity is well studied, but the function of a class of tandem kinases (TKs) that confer disease resistance in wheat and ba...

www.science.org

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Sophia Zebell @sophiazebell.bsky.social · Mar 5

This paper is a tour de force from many friends and collaborators across Solanum expertise! Check it out to learn about the behavior of paralogs in genomes plus the Solanum genus and it's incredible potential for new crops! #plantscienceresearch

Matthias Benoit @mattbnt.bsky.social · Mar 5

🚨New paper published in @nature.com! Using pan-genetics across the Solanum genus🍅🥔🍆we reveal why gene duplications🧬are major contingencies in crop engineering. My postdoc work in the Lippman lab @CSHL, collab. with @katiejenike.bsky.social @mikeschatz.bsky.social chatz.bsky.social and many others!

Solanum pan-genetics reveals paralogues as contingencies in crop engineering - Nature

Gene duplication and subsequent paralogue diversification are major obstacles to genotype-to-phenotype predictability.

nature.com

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Reposted by Sophia Zebell

David Lowry @davidlowry.bsky.social · Feb 26

www.science.org/content/arti...

U.S. gene banks, key to new crops, hobbled by Trump job cuts

Newly appointed head of USDA’s genetic repositories axed along with key staff

www.science.org

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Sophia Zebell @sophiazebell.bsky.social · Feb 25

This team and our unique dataset have been instrumental in shaping my thinking about paralogs, epistasis, and quantitative genetics. I hope our work inspires others to reconsider the role of genomes in producing the diverse phenotypes of the natural world! #plantscienceresearch

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Sophia Zebell @sophiazebell.bsky.social · Feb 25

Thrilled to share our latest preprint, an interdisciplinary look at epistasis between variants in the coding and noncoding genome! #plantscienceresearch www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Cryptic variation fuels plant phenotypic change through hierarchical epistasis

Cryptic genetic variants exert minimal or no phenotypic effects alone but have long been hypothesized to form a vast, hidden reservoir of genetic diversity that drives trait evolvability through epist...

www.biorxiv.org

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Sophia Zebell @sophiazebell.bsky.social · Feb 19

Nice work on evolution of genetic interaction between cis-reg elements in floral development! This study really hammered home for me the vast aesthetic difference between having one fewer petal (hideous) and one extra petal (charming) in brassicas. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... #plantscienceresearch

PNAS

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...

www.pnas.org

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Reposted by Sophia Zebell

Dr. Becca @docbecca.bsky.social · Feb 11

“Your work is your rebellion” 💪

www.reddit.com/r/labrats/co...

To My Fellow Lab Rats: A Letter From a Postdoc Who Survived the Bolsonaro Years

www.reddit.com

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Sophia Zebell @sophiazebell.bsky.social · Jan 3

Strong genetics and such a cool example of the consequences of altered TF-DNA binding in domestication!

Tatsuya Nobori @tatsuyanobori.bsky.social · Jan 3

Repairing a deleterious domestication variant in a floral regulator gene of tomato by base editing www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Repairing a deleterious domestication variant in a floral regulator gene of tomato by base editing - Nature Genetics

A deleterious mutation in the tomato transcription factor SSP2 was enriched during domestication. Repairing the deleterious mutation in cultivated tomato by base editing leads to compact growth and ea...

www.nature.com

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Sophia Zebell @sophiazebell.bsky.social · Dec 31

Thanks for sharing! I enjoy the concept of "permitting yourself the feeling of doneness".

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Reposted by Sophia Zebell

Journal of Integrative Plant Biology @jipb.bsky.social · Dec 31

This remarkable new RNA-based adenine and cytosine #BaseEditing system achieves targeted and efficient A-to-G and C-to-T conversions in lettuce, with potential applications in #crop breeding and #PlantBiotechnology.
doi.org/10.1111/jipb...
#PlantScience

Diagram illustrating the 4 stages in DNA-free base editing: (1) in vitro transcription, (2) protoplast transfection, (3) protoplast regeneration, and (4) base-edited plants.

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Reposted by Sophia Zebell

Ian Henderson @hendersi.bsky.social · Nov 29

Associate Professor / Professor of Evolutionary Genomics
www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/49389/

Associate Professor / Professor of Evolutionary Genomics - Job Opportunities - University of Cambridge

Associate Professor / Professor of Evolutionary Genomics in the Department of Genetics at the University of Cambridge.

www.jobs.cam.ac.uk

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Reposted by Sophia Zebell

W M @sorrywm.bsky.social · Nov 27

Calling all #genomics researchers! The small, diverse, friendly Dept of Biological Sciences at Lehigh has a #tenuretrack position: bit.ly/3CYRb5B. App review starts 12/2 (not a hard cutoff). Please join our awesome team!

Lehigh University, Department of Biological Sciences

Full service online faculty recruitment and application management system for academic institutions worldwide. We offer unique solutions tailored for academic communities.

bit.ly

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Reposted by Sophia Zebell

BSA-ecophys @bsa-ecophys.bsky.social · Nov 25

🚨TT job alert 🚨
Asst. Prof. of Plant Biology @ucf.bsky.social
Deadline: Jan 16 2025

Assistant Professor, Integrative Plant Biology - Orlando, Florida, United States

The OpportunityThe Department of Biology in the College of Sciences (COS) at the University of Central Florida (UCF) invites applications for a 9-month, tenure track assistant professor, anticipated t...

jobs.ucf.edu

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Reposted by Sophia Zebell

georgia 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 @blahttodea.bsky.social · Nov 11

hey everyone! i made a list of some useful starter packs (primarily biology/earth sciences with a few bonus things thrown in) to share with friends who have joined bsky in the last week and thought it may be useful for some people here too! 🌍🧪 #SciSky #BioSky docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Starter packs

BIOLOGY Ecology Macroecology https://go.bsky.app/GBn9pNZ Global ecology https://go.bsky.app/V6tN4cv Trait based ecology and evolution https://go.bsky.app/PThMXeX Invasion biology https://go.b...

docs.google.com

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Sophia Zebell @sophiazebell.bsky.social · Nov 19

Sometimes it's just about the right moment for the idea. I know that doesn't fit with the urgent need to secure funding, but if you can hold out and try again I bet your ideas will find their time to shine. I find your love for development inspiring!

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Sophia Zebell @sophiazebell.bsky.social · Nov 5

Putting my postdoc hat back on for a moment to share this beautiful work by Amy Lanctot! She demonstrates both activation and repression within a tomato CRE and shows a different regulatory landscape in Arabidopsis, all with amazing flowering phenotypes! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Antagonizing cis-regulatory elements of a conserved flowering gene mediate developmental robustness

Developmental transitions require precise temporal and spatial control of gene expression. In plants, such regulation is critical for flower formation, which involves the progressive differentiation o...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Sophia Zebell

PlantEvolution 🌱🌾 @plantevolution.bsky.social · Aug 2

Phenomenal study from the Lippman lab on convergent evolution: a single gene is responsible for the loss of an important defense trait in many species, from monocots to dicots!
#PlantScience
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Convergent evolution of plant prickles by repeated gene co-option over deep time

An enduring question in evolutionary biology concerns the degree to which episodes of convergent trait evolution depend on the same genetic programs, particularly over long timescales. In this work, w...

www.science.org

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Reposted by Sophia Zebell

Mary Williams @PlantTeaching @plantteaching.bsky.social · Jun 13

We're looking for two cohorts of Plant Physiology Assistant Features Editors to start in 2025 and 2026!
See the editorial. Advanced PhD students & postdocs.
I'd be delighted to tell you more in person, at #PlantBio2024, #ICAR2024SanDiego, or #BT2024DBG.
Or message me!
doi.org/10.1093/plph...

Plant Physiology. Calll for Assistant Features Editors.
Deadline for applications: October 15, 2024.

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Reposted by Sophia Zebell

edelinegagnon.bsky.social @edelinegagnon.bsky.social · Feb 23

Part of this manuscript actually used herbaria to examine evolution of prickles loss across the spiny Solanum... How cool is that!

Sophia Zebell @sophiazebell.bsky.social · Feb 22

Intrigued by the proliferation of prickly plants across lineages? Jack Satterlee and a triumph of collaborators have answers about convergent evolution of these sharp projections, and how to get rid of them! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Pictures of prickles (sharp projections) on various plants: Rosa, Senegalia greggii, Ceiba Speciosa, Bixa orellana, Datura stramonium, Solanum pyracanthos, Aralia spinosa, Smilax, Astrocaryum alatum, Victoria amazonica, Ceratozamia mexicana, and Alsophila firma

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