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mollybergum.bsky.social
Molly Bergum
@mollybergum.bsky.social
88 followers 95 following 9 posts
Postdoc at Imperial College investigating antimicrobial resistance in bacteria | PhD from The Sainsbury Laboratory | admirer of plants and microbes 🌾🦠🍄🧬
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Reposted by Molly Bergum
helenbrabs.bsky.social
Helen Brabham @helenbrabs.bsky.social · 9d
Super excited to see our work on the NLRseek program finally published 🥳 Here we identify new NLRs against major wheat pathogens and present a pipeline for NLR identification. Huge thank you to all of the co-authors for bringing this work together! @matthewmoscou.bsky.social rdcu.be/eIGvv
Discovery of functional NLRs using expression level, high-throughput transformation and large-scale phenotyping
Nature Plants - Rapid discovery of functional resistance genes is enabled by a high-expression signature and high-throughput transformation. This approach identified 31 new resistance genes for...
rdcu.be
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Reposted by Molly Bergum
joshwbennett.bsky.social
Josh Bennett @joshwbennett.bsky.social · Jul 14
Excited to attend my 1st ISMPMI conference, and present our work on a paired wheat CNL/MLKL receptor mechanism! 🌾

Come chat to me at my poster on Tuesday, P-050! 📜

If you miss my poster session, I will be talking in: Crop resistance genetics and genomics on Wednesday - 16:25-16:35!
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Reposted by Molly Bergum
simonsnoeck.bsky.social
Simon Snoeck @simonsnoeck.bsky.social · Jul 9
Shedding light on the structure-function mechanisms of LRR-RPs. Our research merges #AlphaFold3, years of literature and functional validation to reveal diverse ligand-binding mechanisms and a conserved co-receptor association mechanism. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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Reposted by Molly Bergum
earlhaminst.bsky.social
Earlham Institute @earlhaminst.bsky.social · Jul 4
Congratulations to @rvalenciaaz.bsky.social and his teammates who won the #AI track at @nucleate.bsky.social UK PlantHack with @aria-research.bsky.social. The 2-day hackathon brough together scientists from across the UK to reimagine UK agriculture with AI & synthetic biology.
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Reposted by Molly Bergum
neftalycm.bsky.social
Neftaly Cruz Mireles @neftalycm.bsky.social · Jun 1
Hi everyone! I’m new to Bluesky. At the beginning of the year, I moved to Zurich @UZH_en to start a postdoc with #CyrilZipfel and @pedrobeltrao.bsky.social, investigating protein phosphorylation in plants 🌱

If you’re nearby or working on something similar, let’s connect 😀
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Reposted by Molly Bergum
simonmoore505.bsky.social
simonmoore505.bsky.social @simonmoore505.bsky.social · May 17
Next London Cell-free Biological Product Meeting:

🗓️ Monday, 16th June 2025 (1-5 pm)
📍 Imperial College London, South Kensington
✨ Keynote: Prof. Keith Pardee (Toronto)

Limited talk slots available

📝 Register: forms.office.com/e/dbW6hJacmS

#Cell-free #Biotech #ImperialCollege #UCL
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Reposted by Molly Bergum
gene-boy.bsky.social
Yori Dola @gene-boy.bsky.social · May 7
Last night, the House of Lords debated Gene Edited plants.

Green party members spoke much nonsense, including likening GE to "a child dismantling a clock and throwing the pieces into a microwave to see what happens."

You can find a debate transcript here: www.theyworkforyou.com/lords/?id=20...
Amendment to the Motion
Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Regulations 2025 - <i>Motion to Approve</i> &ndash; in the House of Lords at 7:45 pm 6 May 2025
www.theyworkforyou.com
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Reposted by Molly Bergum
simonmoore505.bsky.social
simonmoore505.bsky.social @simonmoore505.bsky.social · Mar 22
My group has newly joined Imperial, and I have a great team: Dr Molly Bergum, Charlotte Woolley, and Alexandra Butulan. We focus on the biosynthesis of natural products for the antimicrobials and resistance area, using both engineered microbes and cell-free systems @mollybergum.bsky.social
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Reposted by Molly Bergum
samwalds.bsky.social
Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · Mar 21
It is real! 🤩
I can touch it (after I printed it).
Huge Congrats to everyone involved! 😀
A photo of a print version of a science paper https://www.science.org/doi/epdf/10.1126/science.ado8680
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Reposted by Molly Bergum
pdchristine.bsky.social
Christine Faulkner @pdchristine.bsky.social · Mar 11
We're looking for a postdoc to join the lab to work on cell-to-cell communication via the apoplast. Candidate must be brave, as they will have to lead us (me) away from the plasmodesmata-lands we've inhabited for so long!

www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/po...
Postdoctoral Researcher (Faulkner Group) | John Innes Centre
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Postdoctoral Researcher to join the Faulkner Group at the John Innes Centre, working on cutting-edge science in the field of Cell & Developmental Biology.
www.jic.ac.uk
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Reposted by Molly Bergum
adamrbentham.bsky.social
Adam Bentham @adamrbentham.bsky.social · Feb 28
Pls repost 🚨I'm looking for someone excited about #proteindesign and #synbio to join my lab @Durham_Uni
at the CPBM @cpbm-heddlelab.bsky.social
to undertake a PhD using #synthetic knottins as novel #bioinsecticides. If you're interested please get in touch and check out the advert below 👇
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Reposted by Molly Bergum
tatsuyanobori.bsky.social
Tatsuya Nobori @tatsuyanobori.bsky.social · Feb 12
Big shoutout to the incredible women in our lab—you inspire us every day 💪

#WomenInScience #WomenInSTEM
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Reposted by Molly Bergum
shaniakeh.bsky.social
Shania Keh (Nani) @shaniakeh.bsky.social · Feb 12
I had great fun hosting this!
Huge thanks to the attendees for the really engaging session, everyone chipped in their effort and time (on a rainy evening). We can’t wait for the page we worked on to be out soon!
thesainsburylab.bsky.social
The Sainsbury Laboratory @thesainsburylab.bsky.social · Feb 12
To celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science @shaniakeh.bsky.social organised a Wikipedia Editathon at TSL- dedicated to creating pages for incredible women scientists and spotlighting their contributions to the advancement of plant science 🌱 🌍👩‍🔬
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Reposted by Molly Bergum
talbotlabtsl.bsky.social
Nick Talbot @talbotlabtsl.bsky.social · Jan 10
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

See our new review in Cell Death and Differentiation led by Matthew Wengler on regulated cell death in Magnaporthe @thesainsburylab.bsky.social
Mechanisms of regulated cell death during plant infection by the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae - Cell Death & Differentiation
Cell Death & Differentiation - Mechanisms of regulated cell death during plant infection by the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae
www.nature.com
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Reposted by Molly Bergum
talbotlabtsl.bsky.social
Nick Talbot @talbotlabtsl.bsky.social · Jan 11
New review from ⁦‪Berlaine Quime ⁦‪and Lauren Ryder‬⁩ highlighting live cell imaging of plant infection. ⁦ ‬⁩ onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Live cell imaging of plant infection provides new insight into the biology of pathogenesis by the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae
Plant diseases claim about 30% of the global harvest of all crops. Controlling plant diseases in a sustainable manner is therefore vital to ensure global food security. Recent advances in live cell i...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
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Reposted by Molly Bergum
gene-boy.bsky.social
Yori Dola @gene-boy.bsky.social · Jan 11
Some wonderful news for the UK bioeconomy!

UK presses ahead with gene editing plans despite EU warnings - on.ft.com/4gOyKQb via @FT

#plantgene
UK presses ahead with gene editing plans despite EU warnings
Environment secretary tells FT that moves to adopt technology are ‘the right thing to do’
on.ft.com
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mollybergum.bsky.social
Molly Bergum @mollybergum.bsky.social · Dec 18
Thank you, Basti! ☺️ Grateful for your help!
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mollybergum.bsky.social
Molly Bergum @mollybergum.bsky.social · Dec 18
Thank you to all collaborators — I'm really grateful for all the expertise, guidance, and hard work! A special thanks to @matthewmoscou.bsky.social, @pdchristine.bsky.social, @jackrhodes.bsky.social, @samwalds.bsky.social, Jan Sklenar, Hyeran Moon, and Cyril Zipfel. (8/8)
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mollybergum.bsky.social
Molly Bergum @mollybergum.bsky.social · Dec 18
We predict that the EXO70FX clade has largely lost exocyst association and represents a novel acquisition that emerged during Poales diversification for immunity 🌾🦠🍄. (7/8)
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mollybergum.bsky.social
Molly Bergum @mollybergum.bsky.social · Dec 18
We found that in addition to lacking structural requirements for exocyst complex formation, EXO70FX12 lacks exocyst subunit associations in yeast, Nicotiana benthamiana, and barley. (6/8)
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mollybergum.bsky.social
Molly Bergum @mollybergum.bsky.social · Dec 18
We next used structural predictions to identify an unusual pattern in EXO70FX members. The N-terminal regions are highly divergent and often truncated compared to yeast EXO70 and other EXO70s shown to interact with the exocyst! (5/8)
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mollybergum.bsky.social
Molly Bergum @mollybergum.bsky.social · Dec 18
EXO70FX12 belongs to the EXO70FX clade, which is found only in Poales, an order of monocots that includes all agriculturally important cereals 🌽🌾. EXO70FX has several striking features, including the most extreme degree of expansion and greatest intra-clade divergence. (4/8)
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mollybergum.bsky.social
Molly Bergum @mollybergum.bsky.social · Dec 18
EXO70s are conserved across eukaryotes and generally serve as subunits within the exocyst, an octameric protein complex integral to vesicle trafficking. Unlike yeast and animals, plants carry many copies of diverse EXO70s, which experience lineage-specific expansions. (3/8)
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mollybergum.bsky.social
Molly Bergum @mollybergum.bsky.social · Dec 18
We previously discovered that EXO70FX12 confers immunity to wheat stripe rust in conjunction with a leucine-rich repeat receptor kinase (PUR1) in barley (science.org/doi/10.1126/...). Surprisingly, EXO70FX12 has a novel role in immunity independent of the exocyst complex. (2/8)
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mollybergum.bsky.social
Molly Bergum @mollybergum.bsky.social · Dec 18
Thrilled to share our work on an unusual EXO70 clade unique to grasses and grass-like species 🌾! (1/8)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

@thesainsburylab.bsky.social
Putative neofunctionalization of a Poales-specific EXO70 clade
EXO70s are uniquely expanded in land plants compared to all other eukaryotic lineages. The functional implications of this expansion and diversification on the conserved role of EXO70 as a subunit of ...
www.biorxiv.org
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