Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Michael Webster @michaelwebster.bsky.social · 5d

Start independent research at the JIC with us 👇.

Really interested in finding those with an interest in structural biology and biochemistry of plants and microbes.

Please do get in touch by email if you'd like to know more 👍

John Innes Centre @johninnescentre.bsky.social · 5d

VACANCY - Independent research fellowships leading to tenured positions

We’re inviting applications from outstanding researchers who either hold, or wish to apply for, Independent Research Fellowships.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: 10 November 2025

Click here to apply: jic.link/Fellows

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Reposted by Michael Webster

Trevor Lithgow @trevor-lithgow.bsky.social · 25d

@UniBasel is setting up a new endowed professorship at the Biozentrum to make fundamental discoveries at the interface between biophysics and climate-relevant environmental biology
www.biozentrum.unibas.ch/news/detail/...

New endowed professorship strengthens climate research at the University of Basel

The University of Basel is setting up a new endowed professorship at the Biozentrum to make fundamental discoveries at the interface between biophysics and climate-relevant environmental biology. This...

www.biozentrum.unibas.ch

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Michael Webster @michaelwebster.bsky.social · 25d

Brilliant insight on something that takes a lot of patience to discover, thanks for sharing Oli.

Oli Clarke @olibclarke.bsky.social · 26d

This one is a bit of a departure from the usual and definitely a work in progress!

We found that by using ab initio reconstruction at very high res, in very small steps, we could crack some small structures that had eluded us - e.g. 39kDa iPKAc (EMPIAR-10252), below.

Read on for details... 1/x

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John Innes Centre @johninnescentre.bsky.social · 29d

NEWS - Talented early-career researcher receives major @wellcometrust.bsky.social funding

The innovative research project of JIC early-career plant scientist, Dr @miguelmontez.bsky.social, has attracted a prestigious funding award from a global health charity.

www.jic.ac.uk/news/talente...

Talented early-career researcher receives major Wellcome Trust funding | John Innes Centre

The innovative research project of an early-career plant scientist at the John Innes Centre has attracted a prestigious funding award from a global health charity…

www.jic.ac.uk

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Oli Clarke @olibclarke.bsky.social · Aug 30

Happy to share a new preprint from the Clarke & Vallese (@fravallese.bsky.social) labs reporting #cryoem structures of two RBC stomatin complexes – with AQP1 & UT-B - continuing the SPFH theme from our recent vault preprint! This was a fun one and has been cooking for a while - read on for more! ⬇️

Upper - cryo-EM reconstruction of stomatin AQP1 complex. Lower - reconstruction of stomatin-UT-B complex.

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Lars Østergaard @larsostergaard.bsky.social · Aug 25

👉 my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
Join us and be part of shaping the future of #plantscience at Oxford as we move to the new Life and Mind Building lifeandmind.web.ox.ac.uk/home (recognised for its potential to change the World edition.cnn.com/2025/01/01/s...) @biology.ox.ac.uk www.biology.ox.ac.uk

'

my.corehr.com

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John Innes Centre @johninnescentre.bsky.social · Aug 21

VACANCY - We’re currently hiring into two new senior roles:

Group Leader in Discovery Plant Sciences: okt.to/tqoasR
🗓️ Closing date: 25 August 2025

·An Independent Fellowship in Plant-Associated Microbial Interactions: okt.to/fDV0ha
🗓️ Closing date: 5 September 2025

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John Innes Centre @johninnescentre.bsky.social · Aug 20

VACANCY - We're looking for a Research Software Engineer to join the Informatics Platform, to solve novel challenges and provide support in bioinformatics and scientific computing.

okt.to/gZ487w

Closing date - 8 September 2025
Salary - £37,500 to £45,350
Contract - Full-time until 30 March 2027

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John Innes Centre @johninnescentre.bsky.social · Aug 9

VACANCY - We’re recruiting for a visionary group leader to lead fundamental research on Discovery Plant Science as part of our vibrant research community

Successful candidate will be offered a six-year tenure-track position with the opportunity to apply for tenure:

www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/gr...

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John Innes Centre @johninnescentre.bsky.social · Jul 18

PRESS RELEASE - Major funding boost to bring world leading researchers to the John Innes Centre

We have been awarded an equal share of the new £54 million Global Talent Fund, to attract and support leading researchers and their teams to relocate to the UK:

www.jic.ac.uk/press-releas...

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John Innes Centre @johninnescentre.bsky.social · Jul 15

VACANCY - We’re seeking an Optical Microscopy Support Specialist to join our Bioimaging Platform, to help train users on light microscopes, collaborate on imaging projects and provide technical support.

www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/op...

Closing date - 11 August 2025
Contract - Full time, indefinite

Optical Microscopy Support Specialist | John Innes Centre

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an Optical Microscopy Support Specialist to join the Bioimaging Platform at the John Innes Centre.

www.jic.ac.uk

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Reposted by Michael Webster

John Innes Centre @johninnescentre.bsky.social · Jul 17

We’re pleased to announce two new vacancies for senior roles at our institute:

Group Leader in Discovery Plant Sciences: www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/gr...

🗓️ Closes 25 August

Independent Fellowship in Plant-Associated Microbial Interactions: www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/in...

🗓️ Closes 5 September

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Jogi Madhuprakash @jmadhuprakash.bsky.social · Jul 16

🚨 New @biorxivpreprint alert! 🚨
We are thrilled to share our latest findings—building on our earlier work on suppressors of helper NLRs of the NRC family—a Phytophthora infestans L-shaped effector captures resistosome assembly intermediates of tomato NRC3!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
1/10

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Reposted by Michael Webster

Christine Faulkner @pdchristine.bsky.social · Jul 16

GROUP LEADER VACANCY

JIC is recruiting a Group Leader in Discovery Plant Sciences.

If you think your research would synergise and thrive at JIC, please apply.

www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/gr...

Group Leader in Discovery Plant Sciences | John Innes Centre

The John Innes Centre (JIC) seeks a visionary Group Leader to lead research on Discovery Plant Science.

www.jic.ac.uk

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Michael Webster @michaelwebster.bsky.social · May 10

Norwich has a great structural biology community, join us :)

Sophien Kamoun @kamounlab.bsky.social · May 9

Tweeps, please spread the word. We're still looking at recruiting a structural biologist (any level) to study plant-pathogen protein complexes especially in the context of coevolution. Direct inquiries welcome.

Please include a cover letter.

Applicant from US welcome? medium.com/@kamounlab/2...

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Reposted by Michael Webster

Lori Passmore @lapassmore.bsky.social · May 2

New work from Matti Turtola showing that mRNA poly(A) tail length is controlled by a kinetic ruler. A real pleasure to work with him!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

A kinetic ruler controls mRNA poly(A) tail length

Poly(A) tails of newly synthesized mRNAs have uniform lengths, arising through cooperation between the cleavage and polyadenylation complex (CPAC) and poly(A) binding proteins (PABPs). In the budding ...

www.biorxiv.org

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Ben Engel @cellarchlab.com · Apr 3

That's a fancy video. I was certainly surprised to see the Very Important Protein in Plants discovered in a tropical jungle🌴😅. It's pure marketing ofc (The Krios: Now in Black), but I do like the messaging about discovering the molecular world all around us-- including plants and cyanobacteria🧪🧶🧬🔬🌾🌊

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Chris H. Hill @chillzaa.bsky.social · Mar 21

New cryo-EM/ET story - a brilliant collaboration with Sergey Melnikov's lab in Newcastle @sergeymelnikov.bsky.social and Stefan Pfeffer's lab in Heidelberg @pfeffercryolab.bsky.social. Great work in particular by Karla Helena-Bueno and @sophiekopetschke.bsky.social

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Structurally heterogeneous ribosomes cooperate in protein synthesis in bacterial cells - Nature Communications

Cells can simultaneously produce structurally dissimilar ribosomes, suggesting functional specialization of distinct ribosome populations. Here, the authors show that distinct ribosomes cooperate rath...

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Michael Webster

Florent Waltz @florentwaltz.bsky.social · Mar 20

The final version of our work on the in-cell architecture of the mitochondrial respiratory chain is now online in @science.org 🎉
You can find the full story here www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
@verenaresch.bsky.social did a wonderful job on the cover and animation, she really brought it to life 👩‍🎨

Science Magazine @science.org · Mar 20

In a new Science study, cryo–electron tomography captures the in-cell architecture of the mitochondrial respiratory chain, illuminating how the coordinated action of molecular machines drives life’s fundamental energy conversion.

Learn more in this week's issue: scim.ag/3FA3Ygq

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Bird account @dialecticbio.bsky.social · Mar 3

Been thinking about creating a collection of good protein structure figures, as inspiration for my own work.

#1 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Michael Webster @michaelwebster.bsky.social · Feb 13

@kamounlab.bsky.social

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Bird account @dialecticbio.bsky.social · Mar 3

#2 doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...

Nice comparison of structures within the context of a larger complex

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Michael Webster @michaelwebster.bsky.social · Feb 13

Thank you for this whole thread!🙏 I occasionally worry I invest too much time making figures, but this one post makes 100s of hours seem worth it!

Bird account @dialecticbio.bsky.social · Jun 22

#14 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Beautiful and clean. No clutter. Possibly the overall best structural figures I've seen yet

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John Innes Centre @johninnescentre.bsky.social · Feb 13

PRESS RELEASE - Professor Uauy appointed as Director of the John Innes Centre

Following an international search, we are delighted to announce that Professor @cristobaluauy.bsky.social has been appointed as the next Director of the John Innes Centre.

www.jic.ac.uk/press-releas...

@ukri.org

Professor Uauy appointed as Director of the John Innes Centre | John Innes Centre

Following an international search, Professor Cristóbal Uauy has been appointed as the next Director of the John Innes Centre. Professor Uauy is internationally recognised for his significant…

www.jic.ac.uk

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Michael Webster @michaelwebster.bsky.social · Jan 8

Amazing!

Cristobal Uauy @cristobaluauy.bsky.social · Jan 7

1/10 We are thrilled to share our preprint on spatial transcriptomics in wheat spikes led by the amazing @katielong.bsky.social and Ashleigh Lister. We resolved expression of 200 genes to cellular resolution. Pre-print👉 tinyurl.com/c7t3kncf., @johninnescentre.bsky.social @earlhaminst.bsky.social

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