Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Andrea Paterlini (he/him)

bioRxiv Plant Bio @biorxiv-plants.bsky.social · 21h

Synthetic pectin-cellulose nanofiber capsule provides minimal model capturing mechanics of a regenerating plant cell wall https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.07.680914v1

2 3

Reposted by Andrea Paterlini (he/him)

Katherine Brown @katherine-brown.bsky.social · 1d

Very saddened to hear of John Gurdon’s passing. I’ve been lucky enough to interact with him at multiple points through my career - from undergrad lectures, through his position as former Chair of @biologists.bsky.social’s Board of Directors, and as an author at @dev-journal.bsky.social.

Nobel Laureate Professor Sir John Gurdon dies aged 92

It is with great sadness that the University shares the news of the death of Professor Sir John Gurdon, founder of the Gurdon Institute.

www.cam.ac.uk

3 16 72

Reposted by Andrea Paterlini (he/him)

Sophien Kamoun @kamounlab.bsky.social · 1d

What would aliens take home from Earth? Asks Mary Williams @PlantTeaching

Hint: 🌱 🪴 🌱 🪴

2 19

Reposted by Andrea Paterlini (he/him)

Mary Williams @PlantTeaching @plantteaching.bsky.social · 1d

#NBIAST2025
Designer flowers for art and education
@nickdesnoyer.bsky.social
Combining art, design, and science.

Nick Desnoyer presenting his talk on art and flowers

5 32

Reposted by Andrea Paterlini (he/him)

PlantEvolution 🌱🌾 @plantevolution.bsky.social · 1d

Game changer for cell-based plant genetics: the labs of Caixia Gao & Jin-Long Qiu have developed very efficient self-replicating vectors and they just published a very nice proof-of-concept paper.
#plantscience
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

1 26 58

Reposted by Andrea Paterlini (he/him)

Mary Williams @PlantTeaching @plantteaching.bsky.social · 1d

#nbiast2025 We are getting started! It's great to see how well these institutes support equity and inclusion 🏳️‍🌈.

The chair of the LGBTQ + group in front of her stand.

The Race, Ethnicity, Equality and Diversity stand and the host.

3 9

Reposted by Andrea Paterlini (he/him)

New Phytologist @newphyt.bsky.social · 2d

Did you miss our webinar with 2024 New Phytologist Tansley Medal winner Matthew Naish?

We've got you! Watch the webinar for free here: doi.org/10.52843/cas...

Q&A is open until 10 October - a great opportunity for asking Matthew about his #TansleyMedal-winning research!

#PlantScience

6 10

Reposted by Andrea Paterlini (he/him)

Bethany Brookshire @beebrookshire.bsky.social · 2d

Some good advice in here but one critical piece I always give is this:

Get a hobby. Preferably a mildly social one. One that has NOTHING TO DO WITH SCIENCE. NOTHING.

You need friends. Not colleagues. FRIENDS. Friends who will love you no matter your research prospects...

Nature @nature.com · 2d

What's one piece of advice you'd give to someone considering a PhD?

We asked 3785 doctoral candidates across 107 countries for their hard-won wisdom
go.nature.com/4nDjJ7t

27 things we wish we’d known when we started our PhDs

Nature’s survey of PhD candidates reveals hard-won wisdom on choosing supervisors, managing mental health and surviving academic culture.

go.nature.com

2 24 83

Reposted by Andrea Paterlini (he/him)

Kris Stern @goldenzgirl.bsky.social · 3d

This is actually her final interview, recorded in September by Wall Street Journal podcast. More once point without the nonsense. May she rest in peace and may her legacy endure: youtu.be/4oshFOK9-sk?...

JANE GOODALL'S LAST INTERVIEW Recorded on 9/23/25

YouTube video by dreamlion

youtu.be

8 56 200

Reposted by Andrea Paterlini (he/him)

KOJAMF🤘🖤🤘 @kojamf.bsky.social · 3d

Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.

800 17K 37K

Reposted by Andrea Paterlini (he/him)

闵娅(Min Ya; Minya) PhD @minyaaa.bsky.social · 4d

And look at this graphic abstract….. 😱🤯

7 58 190

Reposted by Andrea Paterlini (he/him)

Gatsby Plant Science Education Programme @gpsep.bsky.social · 5d

Next year's Sainsbury PhD studentships have now gone live! 📢
Find out the details about each of the eight exciting opportunities:
www.findaphd.com/phds/program...

FindAPhD : Prestigious Sainsbury PhD Studentships in plant sciences at Gatsby Charitable Foundation

Apply for a PhD: Prestigious Sainsbury PhD Studentships in plant sciences at Gatsby Charitable Foundation

www.findaphd.com

2 3

Reposted by Andrea Paterlini (he/him)

Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 5d

These people are heroes. www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

‘We called ourselves the lifeboat crew’: how fired USAID workers launched a rescue project ‘to save as many babies as we can’

After the Trump administration closed the organisation down, a group of former staff secured new funding for almost 80 programmes, benefiting an estimated 40 million people

www.theguardian.com

3 70 160

Reposted by Andrea Paterlini (he/him)

Journal of Experimental Botany @jxbotany.bsky.social · 19d

🌱 Toby Coombe-Tennant (@instmolplantsci.bsky.social) presenting “Investigating the potential role of riboregulation in paclitaxel biosynthesis” 🌿

Toby recently published a review on paclitaxel synthesis in our Medicinal Plants special issue:
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erae240

#JXB75 #PlantScience 🧪

Toby Coombe-Tennant (University of Edinburgh, UK) presenting his talk, “Investigating the potential role of riboregulation in paclitaxel biosynthesis,” with slides projected behind him at the JXB 75th Anniversary Conference. He recently published a review on paclitaxel synthesis in the JXB Medicinal Plants special issue (doi: 10.1093/jxb/erae240).

1 2 4

Reposted by Andrea Paterlini (he/him)

Mary Williams @PlantTeaching @plantteaching.bsky.social · 8d

Excellent!
"We must focus on process over product. We must explore the complex, intricate, dynamic connection between the writing process and the thinking process and reflect on what it means and what it feels like when we outsource these processes."

North West Bylines @northwestbylines.co.uk · 8d

Writing lecturers will not reach students by simply talking down AI, but we might reach them by embracing our expertise and engaging in the politics of resistance
northwestbylines.co.uk/news/educati...

The craft and politics of academic writing in the AI universe

Writing lecturers will not reach students by simply talking down AI, but we might reach them by embracing our expertise and engaging in the politics of resistance

northwestbylines.co.uk

1 5 8

Reposted by Andrea Paterlini (he/him)

North American Arabidopsis Steering Committee @naascarabidopsis.bsky.social · 10d

this year's applicants - now limited to 1st YEAR GRAD STUDENTS- “will have just over 6 weeks—& that’s only after earlier this week the agency extended the posted deadlines by about 2 weeks, from late October to early November, with no announcement or explanation.”
www.science.org/content/arti...

‘Completely shattered.’ Changes to NSF’s graduate student fellowship spur outcry

The announcement comes months later than usual, leaving many would-be applicants stranded

www.science.org

1 4 3

Reposted by Andrea Paterlini (he/him)

Dr. Jennifer Glass (she/her) @methanojen.bsky.social · 11d

A reminder to please support non-profit publishers.

It’s good for science and scientists.

It’s a responsible use of taxpayer dollars.

It requires resisting peer pressure to submit to Nature journals.

Thanks @bacteriality.bsky.social for this helpful slide for microbiology journals.

Slide with text “Support Society Journals:
Society-based journals help build and advocate for our scientific communities” showing the logos for non profit publishers ASM, ACS, ASBMB. microbiology society, Science, and ISME. Underneath “for-profit journals do not” showing logos for Nature, Elsevier, Frontiers, CellPress, and MDPI.

3 27 91

Reposted by Andrea Paterlini (he/him)

Nature Biotechnology @natbiotech.nature.com · 12d

A tiny white-petalled weed beloved of plant biologists has received a CRISPR-fueled makeover, turning it into a supersized ruby-colored bloom www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Blooms supersized - Nature Biotechnology

Nature Biotechnology - Blooms supersized

www.nature.com

18 36

Reposted by Andrea Paterlini (he/him)

Loic Lepiniec @lepiniec.bsky.social · 23d

Arabidospis ... the last annual MASC (Multinational Arabidopsis Steering Committee) report (2024-2025) is available ! – Arabidopsis, arabidopsisresearch.org/masc-publica...

11 13

Reposted by Andrea Paterlini (he/him)

Mary Williams @PlantTeaching @plantteaching.bsky.social · 12d

I can't help it, I just think they are so cute.
Living in Scotland means I'm constantly lagging behind on our walks as I stop to get a closer look.
Does everyone react that way when they see a bryophyte? 💚
Nice work here 👇
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Bryophyte gene family space

8 33

Reposted by Andrea Paterlini (he/him)

Zoe Nahas @zoenahas.bsky.social · 12d

Happy to share slightly late that the main work of my PhD is now published! How do plants regulate the number + location of growing branches 🌳🌲? We used experiments and mathematical modelling to study how local and systemic signals are integrated during shoot branching regulation. A thread:

PLOS Biology @plosbiology.org · 22d

How do #plants dynamically modulate their shoot branching for optimal returns? ‪@zoenahas.bsky.social‬ &co show that BRC1 modulates bud competitiveness by reducing #auxin efflux, integrating hormonal cues to fine-tune branching patterns @plosbiology.org @slcuplants.bsky.social 🧪 plos.io/4pnrwY2

2-node explants capture key properties of bud regulation. Top left: A stem segment with two axillary buds illustrates two regulatory hubs controlling shoot branching (i) local expression of the transcription factor BRC1, a repressor of bud activation, and (ii) systemic regulation of the auxin transport network. A canalization-based model of shoot branching postulates that bud activation requires the establishment of canalized auxin transport from the bud into the main stem, the dynamics of which is influenced by autocatalytic feedback in auxin flow between the bud and the stem, and the relative auxin source and sink strengths of the bud and stem, respectively. The relationship between BRC1- and auxin-transport-mediated regulation is not known. Bottom left: Arabidopsis bud activation occurs in at least two phases: a slow-growing lag phase, then a switch to rapid outgrowth. Typical timescale 10–12 days. Right: Diagram illustrating the four possible growth outcomes for bud activation on 2-node explants, and their representation in a Mitchison plot. Mitchison plots present the length of the top bud versus that of the bottom bud over time in each explant. Explants where at least one bud grows are termed active, otherwise, they are inactive. Within active explants, there are three possible outcomes: both buds grow, or only either the top or the bottom bud activates.

4 11 33

Reposted by Andrea Paterlini (he/him)

Laura Turchi (she/her) @turchil.bsky.social · 14d

Yesterday, @vgeshkovski.bsky.social and I were thrilled to officially introduce ourselves to @thesainsburylab.bsky.social 😎🔥

Food pictures were a highlight as usual 🍽️🍝

Vangeli on the stage as he started his personal introduction

Laura on the stage with pictures of typical food from Bologna, Italy, on the badkground. Depicted food included ragù alla bolognese, lasagne, tortellini and mortadella

1 6 15

Reposted by Andrea Paterlini (he/him)

Charissa de Bekker PhD (she/her) @zombieantdoc.bsky.social · 15d

Which fungal 🍄 molecules cause zombie 🧟‍♀️ ant 🐜 behaviors? @williamycete.bsky.social has begun to answer this question! He found a peptide that binds to scramblase and affects important odor-dependent behaviors in ants. Spoiler: worms 🪱 played a key role in this research 🧐 doi.org/10.1101/2025...

The First of Us: Ophiocordyceps use a novel scramblase-binding peptide to manipulate zombie ants

Parasite-adaptive manipulation of behavior is a widespread natural phenomenon. While Ophiocordyceps zombie fungi are well-known for hijacking ant behavior to increase their fitness, functionally chara...

doi.org

2 14 26

Reposted by Andrea Paterlini (he/him)

Sandy Hetherington @sandyheth.bsky.social · 17d

Excited to share our recent paper @newphyt.bsky.social where we describe evidence of a Jurassic nurse log from Scotland! Great work led by @anajusagasti.bsky.social Sophie Burne and @jeremywyman.bsky.social @instmolplantsci.bsky.social
🧵 👇 1/6
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Decay stages of Jurassic wood debris from Scotland: evidence for the coevolution of fungal rot, arthropods and the nurse log strategy

A key feature of extant conifer forests is the high percentage of seeds that germinate and establish on dead wood; in some forests, this can exceed 90%. This deadwood can act as an ideal nursery for...

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

2 30 69

Reposted by Andrea Paterlini (he/him)

Sandy Hetherington @sandyheth.bsky.social · 17d

Our recent paper @newphyt.bsky.social @anajusagasti.bsky.social @instmolplantsci.bsky.social is featured today in the Sunday Post!
Thanks Sally McDonald for your piece helping to promote and communicate Scotland’s rich fossil heritage
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Page 11 of the Sunday Post. With story 'Fossil find is modern-day Jurassic spark'. The title image is of dinosaurs and below is an image of fossil wood, and a photograph of Anajú Sagasti and Sandy Hetherington

1 17 42