Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Laura Lorenzo Orts

SEBD @sebioldev.bsky.social · 2d

We are very pleased to announce our joint meeting with the German @gfeev.bsky.social and the Dutch Developmental Biology Societies, which will take place in Potsdam from the 10-13th of March 2026. Registration is now open! www.uni-potsdam.de/en/gfe-meeti...

2 28 46

Reposted by Laura Lorenzo Orts

Pauli Group (posts by Andi Pauli) @pauligroup.bsky.social · 2d

Congratulations to @vdeneke.bsky.social & Andreas Blaha @impvienna.bsky.social for their research on vertebrate fertilization, which was awarded this year's ÖGMBT Life Science Research Award in Austria for basic research!

IMP @impvienna.bsky.social · 12d

🎉Congrats to our @vdeneke.bsky.social, postdoc in the @pauligroup.bsky.social, who has received the 2025 Life Sciences Research Award Austria from the ÖGMBT!

She's recognised for her groundbreaking work on the molecular mechanisms of fertilisation: www.imp.ac.at/news/article...

2 6 33

Reposted by Laura Lorenzo Orts

Harvard Med Cell Biology @harvardcellbio.bsky.social · 6d

Historically, viruses were thought to primarily use host cell's translational machinery. New work from @harvardcellbio.bsky.social faculty Amy Lee reveals that a giant DNA virus encodes its own IF4F initiation complex, suggesting an unexpected evolutionary innovation. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Giant DNA viruses encode a hallmark translation initiation complex of eukaryotic life

In contrast to living organisms, viruses were long thought to lack protein synthesis machinery and instead depend on host factors to translate viral transcripts. Here, we discover that giant DNA virus...

www.biorxiv.org

39 92

Reposted by Laura Lorenzo Orts

Michael Hothorn @structplantbio.bsky.social · 8d

Amazing work by the Santiago lab @unil.bsky.social. The malectin-LRR receptor kinase IGP1 senses cello-oligomers to alert the plant immune system & enhance disease resistance. Very nice discovery & mechanism.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

25 37

Reposted by Laura Lorenzo Orts

Teresa Rayon @trayon.bsky.social · 10d

We've updated our first #preprint from the lab! A collaboration with @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social

🔥 now including in vivo 🐭&👤 embryo data

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

1 10 39

Reposted by Laura Lorenzo Orts

Markus Hafner @markushafnerrna.bsky.social · 11d

The specific motif built up by these two RBPs cannot be identified by studying each of them in isolation, so one important question we would like to raise is: How many RBPs form heteromultimeric complexes with specificity other than the sum of the individual RBPs?

Markus Hafner @markushafnerrna.bsky.social · 11d

This work was spearheaded by Masataka Suzawa in my (NIAMS) and Chen Qiu in Traci Hall’s lab (NIEHS IRP) and initiated together with Masashi Yamaji’s group at Cincinnati Children’s. Wonderful collaboration with @eugenevalkov.bsky.social and Vittorio Sartorelli.

Markus Hafner @markushafnerrna.bsky.social · 11d

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Delighted to share the story of two germline RBPs - one with little (DND1) and one with no (NANOS3) intrinsic sequence-specificity - that together build a continuous RNA binding surface recognizing a 7-mer (AUGAAUU) in target mRNA 3’UTRs, leading to deadenylation.

3 9

Reposted by Laura Lorenzo Orts

Markus Hafner @markushafnerrna.bsky.social · 11d

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Delighted to share the story of two germline RBPs - one with little (DND1) and one with no (NANOS3) intrinsic sequence-specificity - that together build a continuous RNA binding surface recognizing a 7-mer (AUGAAUU) in target mRNA 3’UTRs, leading to deadenylation.

The DND1-NANOS3 complex shapes the primordial germ cell transcriptome via a heptanucleotide sequence in mRNA 3'UTRs

The RNA-binding proteins DND1 and NANOS3 are essential for primordial germ cell survival. Their co-immunoprecipitation and overlapping loss-of-function phenotypes suggest joint function, yet how they ...

www.biorxiv.org

11 22

Laura Lorenzo Orts @lorenzoorts.bsky.social · 11d

I'll think about this book the next time I get stuck on a Deutsche Bahn train! 😅

7

Reposted by Laura Lorenzo Orts

Ulrich Hohmann @hohmannulrich.bsky.social · 15d

How are RNAs sorted for export vs. degradation in the nucleus? In collaboration with @heick.bsky.social’s lab we (@clemensplaschka.bsky.social and @juliusbrennecke.bsky.social labs) discovered a direct mechanistic link between the export and decay machineries: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... (1/x)

Molecular basis of polyadenylated RNA fate determination in the nucleus

Eukaryotic genomes generate a plethora of polyadenylated (pA+) RNAs[1][1],[2][2], that are packaged into ribonucleoprotein particles (RNPs). To ensure faithful gene expression, functional pA+ RNPs, in...

www.biorxiv.org

2 42 82

Reposted by Laura Lorenzo Orts

Sara Wickstrom @sarawickstrom.bsky.social · 26d

My lab @mpi-muenster.bsky.social is looking for a computational biologist with a passion for imaging and spatial biology. A staff scientist position with long-term perspective! Apply and spread the word 🙏 jobs.mpi-muenster.mpg.de/jobposting/0...

Computational image analyst (m/f/d)

The Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine in Münster, Germany, has an opening for a

jobs.mpi-muenster.mpg.de

1 86 87

Laura Lorenzo Orts @lorenzoorts.bsky.social · 18d

Thank you so much, Yasin! 🙂

1

Reposted by Laura Lorenzo Orts

Julius Brennecke @juliusbrennecke.bsky.social · 20d

Love RNA biology?

Join us to explore the piRNA pathway with structural and genetic approaches (see 👇👇).

PhD student/postdoc position co-supervised by Clemens Plaschka & myself.

DM or email us if you’d like to know more!

@vbcscitraining.bsky.social @imbavienna.bsky.social @impvienna.bsky.social

Julius Brennecke @juliusbrennecke.bsky.social · 21d

PIWI clade Argonautes are essential for transposon silencing. Without them, animals are sterile due to massive transposon activity.

But how does piRNA-guided target interaction translate into silencing?

PhD student Júlia Portell Montserrat has an intriguing answer

www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

20 17

Reposted by Laura Lorenzo Orts

Julius Brennecke @juliusbrennecke.bsky.social · 21d

PIWI clade Argonautes are essential for transposon silencing. Without them, animals are sterile due to massive transposon activity.

But how does piRNA-guided target interaction translate into silencing?

PhD student Júlia Portell Montserrat has an intriguing answer

www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

2 41 89

Reposted by Laura Lorenzo Orts

Jack Bravo @jpkbravo.bsky.social · 23d

Join us for the Austrian Cryo-EM Symposium Nov 11–12 at @istaresearch.bsky.social!

Top speakers, cutting-edge cryo-EM, and a chance to explore Vienna & the ISTA campus.

Register now 👉 cryoem-symposium.pages.ist.ac.at #cryoEM #teamtomo

17 41

Reposted by Laura Lorenzo Orts

Paul & Virginie - Centriole Lab @centriolelab.bsky.social · 23d

Be our new colleague! 🎉
The Dept of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Geneva is hiring an Assistant Professor or Associate Professor.

👉 More details here: lnkd.in/e8Z9eAm4
👉 Our department: mocel.unige.ch

Please feel free to share this opportunity with your network.

47 42

Laura Lorenzo Orts @lorenzoorts.bsky.social · 23d

I am excited to announce that I will be moving to IMB Mainz next year! The Winter call for the IPP PhD program is now open; if you are interested in maternal #mRNA regulation and #translation in early vertebrate development, please apply! Deadline: 16 October.

More info: www.imb.de/students-pos...

Laura Lorenzo Orts

IMB Mainz

www.imb.de

2 24 60

Reposted by Laura Lorenzo Orts

Science Magazine @science.org · Sep 5

“Just when you think you’ve seen it all, social insects reveal another surprise.” https://scim.ag/47sVFyS

Ant queen lays eggs that hatch into two species

Bizarre discovery of interspecies cloning “almost impossible to believe,” biologists say

scim.ag

2 43 110

Laura Lorenzo Orts @lorenzoorts.bsky.social · Sep 4

Super cool, Vinay! Congratulations! 😁🎉

1

Reposted by Laura Lorenzo Orts

Dan Grabarczyk @dangrabarczyk.bsky.social · Aug 27

Happy to share our work on the structure and function of the unusual E3 ligase ZNFX1 @cp-cell.bsky.social. It uses a nucleic acid-activated transthiolation mechanism, ubiquitinating and clustering RNA to protect cells in an immune response. @clausenlab.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

A split-site E3 ligase mechanism enables ZNFX1 to ubiquitinate and cluster single-stranded RNA into ubiquitin-coated nucleoprotein particles

Grabarczyk et al. show the structure and mechanism of a non-canonical ubiquitin ligase, which is activated through nucleic-acid-induced oligomerization and is critical for cell survival during immune ...

www.cell.com

6 40 85

Reposted by Laura Lorenzo Orts

Itai Yanai @itaiyanai.bsky.social · Aug 27

Discovery happens less when you're trying to be the expert and more when you're trying to be the learner.

1 10 27

Reposted by Laura Lorenzo Orts

Sven Klumpe @svenklumpe.bsky.social · Aug 23

If you are thinking about the future of structural biology, we are too! Our two cents (Jürgen Plitzko and I) just got published online here: authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...

2 27 88

Reposted by Laura Lorenzo Orts

Michael Hothorn @structplantbio.bsky.social · Aug 9

Our latest on brassinosteroid signaling: Ligand binding spectrum, specificity & selectivity of all BR receptors in Arabidopsis. By @albertocaregnato.bsky.social , @hmchen93.bsky.social and our great chemistry collaborators Mirek Kvasnica, Jana Oklestkova and Mirek Strnad.

1 29 53

Reposted by Laura Lorenzo Orts

Nicoletta Petridou @nicolettapetridou.bsky.social · Aug 8

We are searching for an enthusiastic scientist to join our team and establish annual killifish as a model system for early developmental biology and biophysics! @embl.org @embldbunit.bsky.social

Apply here:
embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/EMBL/job/Hei...

Please re-post 🙏

2 25 38

Reposted by Laura Lorenzo Orts

DjuranovicLab at Brown University RNA Center @djuranoviclab.bsky.social · Aug 5

Our RAPPL purification of ribosomes and associated material is out. I am really proud of this study in collaboration primary with Pavlovic-Djuranovic lab, as well as Jovanovic and Hashem Labs. This method aims to replace 60 years old purification of ribosomes by sucrose cushions

rdcu.be/ezlhg

A rapid, simple, and economical method for the isolation of ribosomes and translational machinery for structural and functional studies

Nature Communications - Here, the authors present a method to rapidly isolate actively translating ribosomes in a time- and cost-effective manner using poly-lysine. The method is compatible with a...

rdcu.be

1 21 51

Reposted by Laura Lorenzo Orts

Ralf Jansen @ralfjansen.bsky.social · Aug 2

My colleagues Baptise Rafanel et al. investigated how a newly invading transposon can be silenced. They found that not only antisense insertions in piRNA clusters such as flamenco, but also insertions in the 3‘UTR of genes can drive potent silencing.

bioRxiv Genetics @biorxiv-genetic.bsky.social · Aug 1

Antisense transposon insertions into host genes trigger piRNA mediated immunity https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.28.667215v1

9 21