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gittacoaker.bsky.social
Gitta Coaker
@gittacoaker.bsky.social
2K followers 1.1K following 350 posts
Professor at UC Davis, studying plant immunity and bacterial pathogens. Loves weightlifting, running, and the outdoors.
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gittacoaker.bsky.social
Gitta Coaker @gittacoaker.bsky.social · Jul 29
Excited this paper is finally published! We focused on the inner concave surface of LRR RKs to expand bacterial flagellin perception in plants. Selection indicates expanded perception is more common than previously thought. Experiments led by @jerrytli.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Unlocking expanded flagellin perception through rational receptor engineering - Nature Plants
Receptor kinase FLS2 detects the flg22 epitope of bacterial flagellin. Here the authors identify key residues on FLS2’s concave surface that enable expanded perception of flg22 variants, allowing the ...
www.nature.com
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Reposted by Gitta Coaker
maddyseale.bsky.social
Maddy Seale @maddyseale.bsky.social · 1d
Out First Release in @science.org this week:
The development of a directed evolution strategy with proof of concept in plant immune protein engineering.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Engineered geminivirus replicons enable rapid in planta directed evolution
Directed evolution can rapidly generate genetic variants with new and enhanced properties, yet efficient platforms for performing such evolution directly in plant cells have been lacking. We developed...
www.science.org
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Reposted by Gitta Coaker
edelplopez.bsky.social
Edel Pérez-López 🇨🇦 @edelplopez.bsky.social · 1d
Our @elife.bsky.social Version of Record is now out 🎉 : elifesciences.org/articles/105...

Congratulations to @sohambio.bsky.social , @asimjaved.bsky.social , and @jiaxuwu.bsky.social on this beautiful work. We also wrote an easy-to-read eLife Digest for a general audience 👏
image promoting the paper representing a field, the pathogen and computer predicting proteins
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Reposted by Gitta Coaker
noahfahlgren.bsky.social
Noah Fahlgren @noahfahlgren.bsky.social · 2d
Deadline for our 2nd cohort of the Pivot to Plants program at the Danforth Center is Oct 15th. Excited to identify 5 participants for a 1-year NSF-funded internship. Hands-on research experience in cutting-edge #plantscience, #imaging, #datascience, and more! www.danforthcenter.org/our-work/edu...
Pivot to Plants: Training Program for Plant and Data Science | Danforth Plant Science Center
The Pivot2Plants Fellows Program is a 1-year training program for people interested in pivoting to a career in plant science or data science but have limited research experience.
www.danforthcenter.org
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gittacoaker.bsky.social
Gitta Coaker @gittacoaker.bsky.social · 2d
UNC Chapel Hill is hiring an Assistant Professor in Plant Molecular Biology. Per Jeff
Dangl MPMI candidates are also highly desired in the search. unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/307...
Assistant Professor
The Department of Biology at UNC Chapel Hill (https://bio.unc.edu/) is searching to hire a tenure track Assistant Professor to study critical questions in Plant Molecular Biology.We seek candidates wh...
unc.peopleadmin.com
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Reposted by Gitta Coaker
erinrgreen.bsky.social
Erin Green @erinrgreen.bsky.social · 4d
Job alert ‼️ UChicago Micro is hiring! Open to tenured/tenure track faculty at all levels in any area of microbiology. Come join our amazing and growing department. apply.interfolio.com/174404
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gittacoaker.bsky.social
Gitta Coaker @gittacoaker.bsky.social · 3d
Consider donating to your local food bank. The cost of groceries has increased a lot and many families are in need. The lines for food distribution are much longer than this time last year. www.sacramentofoodbank.org
Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services
www.sacramentofoodbank.org
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Reposted by Gitta Coaker
talbotlabtsl.bsky.social
Nick Talbot @talbotlabtsl.bsky.social · 4d
Great to be in Kansas State for a celebration of Barbara Valent’s career- what an impacts she’s had on rice blast research
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Reposted by Gitta Coaker
nikogeldner.bsky.social
nikogeldner.bsky.social @nikogeldner.bsky.social · 5d
A long road to the Cover of 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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gittacoaker.bsky.social
Gitta Coaker @gittacoaker.bsky.social · 6d
Sleepy kitten
Orange sleepy kitten on a blanket
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Reposted by Gitta Coaker
keikoutorii.bsky.social
Prof. Keiko Torii @keikoutorii.bsky.social · 7d
🌱Tenure-track Assistant Professor Position OPEN🌱
-Plant Interkingdom/Environment Interactions & Plant Immunity- at The Univ. Texas at Austin, Molecular BioSciences.
Deadline Nov 1st. Please spread the words and APPLY! Contact me if you have any questions.
apply.interfolio.com/175001
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Reposted by Gitta Coaker
benmorehouse.bsky.social
Ben Morehouse @benmorehouse.bsky.social · 7d
Our story describing the Panoptes bacterial immune defense system is now finally peer-reviewed and published today! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The Panoptes system uses decoy cyclic nucleotides to defend against phage - Nature
The Panoptes antiphage system defends bacteria by detecting phage-encoded counter-defences that sequester cyclic nucleotide signals, triggering membrane disruption and highlighting a broader strategy of sensing immune evasion through second-messenger surveillance.
www.nature.com
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Reposted by Gitta Coaker
gabmrojas.bsky.social
Gabriel Mendoza-Rojas @gabmrojas.bsky.social · 8d
🧵How does a pathogen know it has entered its host?

New preprint!🎉It’s a pleasure to share my first first-author preprint from my PhD journey!
We uncover a novel co-evolved peptide–GPCR system in the fungus Ustilago maydis that senses host entry and triggers infection (doi.org/10.1101/2025...)
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biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social
bioRxiv Microbiology @biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social · 11d
A co-evolved peptide-GPCR system senses host entry to drive fungal infection https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.26.678928v1
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Reposted by Gitta Coaker
plantdisease.bsky.social
American Phytopathological Society (APS) @plantdisease.bsky.social · 7d
#ICYMI Applications are open! The OIP International Research Achievement Award honors APS members advancing plant pathology. The award includes a Certificate of Achievement + a $500 award.

Apply by December 5: https://bit.ly/42mc9p7

#plantdisease #plantpathology #research
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Reposted by Gitta Coaker
jeffdean-uga.bsky.social
Jeffrey Dean @jeffdean-uga.bsky.social · 8d
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
MSL10 is a high-sensitivity mechanosensor in the tactile sense of the Venus flytrap - Nature Communications
The Venus flytrap, a carnivorous plant, catches prey by sensing touch. Here, the authors show that DmMSL10 functions as a high-sensitivity mechanosensor in sensory hairs, initiating long-range calcium and electrical signals required for trap closure.
www.nature.com
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gittacoaker.bsky.social
Gitta Coaker @gittacoaker.bsky.social · 8d
So embarrassing and incompetent. My husband served for 8 yrs and encountered some truly difficult situations that test your humanity and still impact him today. International and customary laws governing the conduct of warfare and armed conflict are there for a reason.
atrupar.com
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 8d
Hegseth: "We unleash overwhelming and punishing violence on the enemy. We also don't fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt, and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement."
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Reposted by Gitta Coaker
omfishient.bsky.social
Lauren Kuehne @omfishient.bsky.social · 9d
🧪 Were you one of the many thousands of STEM students (and mentors) impacted by the sudden change in #NSF #GRFP eligibility last week?

We created a petition to NSF leadership and Congress to reverse the changes - please sign and share your stories here!!

laurenkuehne.github.io/grfpChanges/
Petition to NSF to Restore Eligibility for the 2026 Graduate Research Fellowship Program Competition
laurenkuehne.github.io
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Reposted by Gitta Coaker
asaflevylab.bsky.social
Asaf Levy @asaflevylab.bsky.social · 15d
A recent cool preprint by John Whitney's lab on a new family of antibacterial proteins secreted by Gram-positive bacteria that enter and kill a broad spectrum of bacteria. Cell entry is receptor-independent and relies on cleavage by a co-secreted protease and the PMF.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Proteolytically activated antibacterial toxins inhibit the growth of diverse Gram-positive bacteria
Many species of bacteria produce small-molecule antibiotics that enter and kill a wide range of competitor microbes. However, diffusible antibacterial proteins that share this broad-spectrum activity ...
www.biorxiv.org
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Reposted by Gitta Coaker
pierremarcdelaux.bsky.social
PM Delaux @pierremarcdelaux.bsky.social · 16d
A milestone for plant genomics just out @natgenet.nature.com

130 bryophyte genomes!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Bryophytes hold a larger gene family space than vascular plants - Nature Genetics
A super-pangenome analysis incorporating 123 newly sequenced bryophyte genomes reveals that bryophytes exhibit a larger number of unique and lineage-specific gene families than vascular plants.
www.nature.com
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gittacoaker.bsky.social
Gitta Coaker @gittacoaker.bsky.social · 16d
Tylenol doesn’t cause autism. It just treats the headache I get listening to this nonsense. And today, there isn’t enough Tylenol.
atrupar.com
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 16d
what the hell did Tylenol ever do to this guy?
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gittacoaker.bsky.social
Gitta Coaker @gittacoaker.bsky.social · 16d
Congratulations! Glad to see this out.
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Reposted by Gitta Coaker
volkerlipka.bsky.social
Volker Lipka @volkerlipka.bsky.social · 16d
We proudly present a new preprint by Leon Pierdzig et al: Wall teichoic acids, glycopolymers specific to Gram-positive bacteria, trigger defense and cell death in Arabidopsis. Cysteine-rich RLKs act as key components in their perception. doi.org/10.1101/2025...
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gittacoaker.bsky.social
Gitta Coaker @gittacoaker.bsky.social · 16d
My department at UC Davis is hiring a mycologist, broadly interpreted. Please repost, share, and consider applying. recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07339
Assistant Professor of Plant Pathology
University of California, Davis is hiring. Apply now!
recruit.ucdavis.edu
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gittacoaker.bsky.social
Gitta Coaker @gittacoaker.bsky.social · 16d
Gram-positive bacterial MAMP sensed by a plant cysteine rich receptor kinase. I've been waiting for this preprint to drop. Nice story!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Cysteine-rich receptor-like kinases mediate Wall Teichoic Acid perception in Arabidopsis
Plants and animals detect microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) to initiate defense responses. Both lineages employ pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), yet plant mechanisms for sensing Gram-...
www.biorxiv.org
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Reposted by Gitta Coaker
morgancarterphd.bsky.social
Morgan Carter @morgancarterphd.bsky.social · 20d
"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 Gitta Coaker
kseniakrasileva.bsky.social
Ksenia Krasileva @kseniakrasileva.bsky.social · 21d
New: ‘Kronos’ #wheat genome preprint
• PacBio+Hi-C; 99.9% BUSCO
• 2.3k curated NLR loci (1,089 high conf)
• 3k EMS datasets re-mapped; 📈 new mutations
• Curated smallRNA atlas
🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
zenodo.org/records/1021...
#genomics #openscience
team effort led by Dr Kyungyong Seong 💫
The Annotated Blueprint: Integrated Functional Genomic Resources for a Model Tetraploid Wheat Triticum turgidum cv. Kronos
Triticum turgidum cv. Kronos is a tetraploid wheat cultivar that underpins one of the richest community platforms for functional genomics. Over the past decade, about 3,000 exome- and promoter-capture...
www.biorxiv.org
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