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Reposted by Ralf Jansen

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

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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

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Reposted by Ralf Jansen

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...

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Reposted by Ralf Jansen

Júlia Portell Montserrat @julsportell.bsky.social · 21d

My first first-author paper is out!🎉
Here we propose a model where a silencing complex, PIWI*, assembles on target RNAs to recruit effectors and shut down transposon activity.
Huge thanks to the Brennecke and Plaschka labs, especially Julius and Clemens, and all co-authors!

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...

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Reposted by Ralf Jansen

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...

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Reposted by Ralf Jansen

Julius Brennecke @juliusbrennecke.bsky.social · 29d

Close inter-lab collaborations with shared PhD students and postdocs are the future!
Julia is the hero of this work, she is currently looking for postdoc labs …

Institute of Molecular Biotechnology @imbavienna.bsky.social · 29d

📰 New paper alert!

In a collaborative project with the lab of Clemens Plaschka at the IMP, the lab of Julius Brennecke has revealed how PIWI proteins kickstart transposon silencing in reproductive cells.

The findings are published in Molecular Cell: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Vienna BioCenter @viennabiocenter.bsky.social · Sep 8

How cells lock down “jumping genes”:
Researchers from IMBA and IMP identify the first protein interactions that trigger PIWI–piRNA–mediated transposon silencing, using AlphaFold predictions, genetics, biochemistry and cell biology.
Read more: www.viennabiocenter.org/about/news/t...

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Molecular Cell @cp-molcell.bsky.social · Sep 8

Target RNA recognition drives PIWI∗ complex assembly for transposon silencing

Portell-Montserrat et al. reveal that target RNA recognition by PIWI-piRNA complexes triggers the assembly of conserved PIWI∗ complexes, molecular platforms that recruit silencing effectors in both the nucleus and cytoplasm. This mechanism, conserved across animals, explains how piRNA pathways couple target recognition to transposon silencing.

dlvr.it

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IMP @impvienna.bsky.social · Sep 8

New paper by our Plaschka lab with Brennecke’s lab at IMBA!

Researchers at the Vienna BioCenter have solved a 20-year-old mystery in genome biology, revealing how PIWI proteins engage partner molecules to silence “jumping genes” that threaten genetic stability.

Vienna BioCenter @viennabiocenter.bsky.social · Sep 8

How cells lock down “jumping genes”:
Researchers from IMBA and IMP identify the first protein interactions that trigger PIWI–piRNA–mediated transposon silencing, using AlphaFold predictions, genetics, biochemistry and cell biology.
Read more: www.viennabiocenter.org/about/news/t...

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Ralf Jansen @ralfjansen.bsky.social · Sep 3

So happy to see the PhD work of Emilio Santillán published—what an amazingly elegant piece of work!!
Working with him and Luisa at the IMP was a great and formative experience.

Luisa Cochella @lcochella.bsky.social · Sep 3

Our work on the function of miR-51/miR-100 is out! miR-100 is widely conserved across eumetazoans but its function has been mysterious. Emilio Santillán found in worms it regulates signaling and extracellular matrix genes, some of which seem to be conserved targets! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

An ancient and essential miRNA family controls cellular interaction pathways in C. elegans

A microRNA that arose at the origin of eumetazoans regulates cell adhesion and signaling in C. elegans through conserved targets.

www.science.org

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Baptiste Rafanel @baptisterafanel.bsky.social · Aug 14

1/ How do animals develop immunity against a newly encountered transposable element from scratch? Our study reveals that the mobility of TEs is their Achilles heel, allowing hosts to develop a powerful small RNA-mediated silencing response.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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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

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Reposted by Ralf Jansen

Julius Brennecke @juliusbrennecke.bsky.social · Jul 16

Pls. share widely

Calling all transposon fans & lovers of genetic innovation

MOBILE GENOME welcomes you in Heidelberg, Nov. 4–7 2025

→ Vibrant & friendly community
→ Cutting-edge talks from mechanisms to physiology
→ Plenty of surprises (TEs never stop innovating)

submit abstract by July 29

EMBL Events @events.embl.org · Jun 18

⏰ Abstract deadline for 'The mobile genome' is 29 July!

👉 https://s.embl.org/mge25-01-bl

Join us 4–7 Nov 2025 at EMBL Heidelberg (or online) to explore the impact of TEs across biology. 🧬🔍

⭐🧑🏼‍🔬 24 talks + 15 flash talks from posters – don't miss out!

#EMBOMobileGenome

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Anton Goloborodko @golobor.bsky.social · Jul 15

We found a new asymmetry in the large-scale chromosome structure: sister chromatids are systematically shifted by hundreds of kb in the 5′→3′ direction of their inherited strands! The work was led by Flavia Corsi, in close collaboration with the Daniel Gerlich lab.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
1/

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Jakob Schnabl @jakobschnabl.bsky.social · Jul 3

📖 Happy to share our recent preprint! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... We discovered how SINEs are kept silent: the ChAHP protein complex acts as a molecular brake on POL III transcription retrotransposons. A 🧵:

ChAHP Silences SINE Retrotransposons by Inhibiting TFIIIB Recruitment

Short interspersed nuclear elements (SINEs) are abundant non-autonomous transposable elements derived from RNA polymerase III (POL III)-transcribed short non-coding RNAs. SINEs retain sequence feature...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Ralf Jansen

Julius Brennecke @juliusbrennecke.bsky.social · Jun 17

The fascinating work spearheaded by Kirsten Senti on the diversification and adaptation of endogenous retroviruses in the host gonad 'ecosystem'' is officially published.

Institute of Molecular Biotechnology @imbavienna.bsky.social · Jun 16

🚨📢 New paper alert!
A study led by Kirsten Senti and Julius Brennecke offers new insights into how ancient endogenous retroviruses diversified to exploit different cell “niches” in the fruit fly ovary, and how the host’s defenses adapted in return. https://imba.science/Brennecke_EMBOJ

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Justin Blumenstiel @bdelloid.bsky.social · Jun 19

I freaking 😍 this paper. The ecology of the genome is one thing. The ecology of the Drosophila ovary another.

Julius Brennecke @juliusbrennecke.bsky.social · Jun 17

The fascinating work spearheaded by Kirsten Senti on the diversification and adaptation of endogenous retroviruses in the host gonad 'ecosystem'' is officially published.

Institute of Molecular Biotechnology @imbavienna.bsky.social · Jun 16

🚨📢 New paper alert!
A study led by Kirsten Senti and Julius Brennecke offers new insights into how ancient endogenous retroviruses diversified to exploit different cell “niches” in the fruit fly ovary, and how the host’s defenses adapted in return. https://imba.science/Brennecke_EMBOJ

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Reposted by Ralf Jansen

Institute of Molecular Biotechnology @imbavienna.bsky.social · Jun 16

🚨📢 New paper alert!
A study led by Kirsten Senti and Julius Brennecke offers new insights into how ancient endogenous retroviruses diversified to exploit different cell “niches” in the fruit fly ovary, and how the host’s defenses adapted in return. https://imba.science/Brennecke_EMBOJ

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Reposted by Ralf Jansen

The EMBO Journal @embojournal.org · Jun 6

REFEREE 1: “I conclude with a simple, direct statement - this is the best paper I have read all year!”
#TransparentPeerReview

Co-evolving infectivity and expression patterns drive the diversification of endogenous retroviruses
@juliusbrennecke.bsky.social et al

www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

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Vienna BioCenter Scientific Training @vbcscitraining.bsky.social · Jun 2

The @viennabiocenter.bsky.social PostDoc Program call is now open! We have 16 fully-funded positions for scientists with a PhD in biology, chemistry, physics, bioinformatics etc.

Apply here: training.vbc.ac.at/post-docs/vi...

#VBCPostDoc

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Ralf Jansen @ralfjansen.bsky.social · Apr 25

Link to Peter‘s thread:
bsky.app/profile/germ...

Peter Andersen @germline.bsky.social · Oct 30

🧬 New PAN Lab Preprint Alert! 🧬

1/ Genome defence pathway genes are crucial for animal fertility yet often evolve rapidly. We investigated the molecular basis of such rapid evolution in the fly piRNA pathway

TL;DR: protein-protein interaction innovation 💡🤝

🧵👇

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

Recurrent innovation of protein-protein interactions in the Drosophila piRNA pathway

Despite being essential for fertility, genome defence pathway genes often evolve rapidly. However, little is known about the molecular basis of this adaptation. Here, we characterize the evolution of ...

www.biorxiv.org

Ralf Jansen @ralfjansen.bsky.social · Apr 25

Highly interesting work from Riedelbauch et al. from Peter Andersen‘s Lab @germline.bsky.social

The EMBO Journal @embojournal.org · Apr 25

Comprehensive mapping of protein-protein interactions in the Drosophila piRNA pathway reveals how adaptive evolution contributes to rapid diversification of this genome-defense mechanism
Peter Andersen @germline.bsky.social and collaborators
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

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Anton Goloborodko @golobor.bsky.social · Apr 11

Earnshaw, Goloborodko, Dekker & Mirny labs are excited to present our latest work, "Rules of engagement for condensins and cohesins guide mitotic chromosome formation" - now accepted!!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
A short clip describing the key results:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmvO...

Rules of Engagement

YouTube video by Johan Gibcus

www.youtube.com

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Joe Peters Lab @joepeterslab.bsky.social · Mar 27

A thread from the Postdoc who led the work on bacterial Telomeric transposons. A wonderful collaboration with the Barabas lab. Officially out in the journal today!

popomicro.bsky.social @popomicro.bsky.social · Mar 27

In eukaryotes, some transposons target telomeres; in Drosophila, they even replace them. Peters lab and Barabas group show that bacteria with linear genomes also harbor diverse telomeric transposons.
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
@joepeterslab.bsky.social

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Reposted by Ralf Jansen

Institute of Molecular Biotechnology @imbavienna.bsky.social · Mar 28

IMBA is recruiting a Junior Group Leader! Are you interested in starting your own lab, pursuing curiosity-driven basic research in the life sciences? Apply now to our group leader position. The deadline is May 28. Link is below.

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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · Mar 19

1. For the past thirty years I've had the best job in the world.

 I've had the opportunity to follow my curiosity; explore the workings of nature and society; mentor students and junior colleagues in the same process; and teach generations of students about it all.

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