A short review from us on the easiest way to make an allopolyploid. It was a lot of fun writing with these two. We hope you will enjoy the Pac-Man inspired allopolyploidy maze!

🚨 Why can’t mammals regenerate limbs like frog tadpoles or salamanders?
In our new paper in @science.org , we show that species-specific oxygen sensing acts as a gatekeeper for initiating limb regeneration 🐭🐸
🔗 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... #EvoDevo

New #preprint 😍‼️ led by 2 incredible postdocs @ninizhani.bsky.social & Ranj Papareddy: transforming #UFMylation from a local ribosome rescue pathway to systems level regulator of mRNA splicing www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... A short 🧵

What brown algae taught me about the importance of jumping genes for genome evolution

Behind the scenes!
go.nature.com/4bYY8BM

Yes it’s really peculiar, but equally cool that H3K79me seems to have popped up to take over the reins, with DOT1 enzymes expanding across the lineage.

Our work on chromatin evolution in brown algae is finally out!

This is also my first "co-first author" paper!! I’m excited to share what we found 👇

This work stemmed from a fruitful collaboration with Susana Coelho @mpi-bio-fml.bsky.social. Big thanks to all authors particularly Jeromine Vigneau and @sodail.bsky.social.

Loss of canonical epigenetic silencing reveals distinct chromatin evolution in brown algae - Nature Ecology & Evolution Brown algae independently evolved complex multicellularity with an atypical chromatin toolkit, including early loss of DNA methylation and PRC2-mediated gene silencing. By profiling histone modificati...

The work is summarised in a Research Briefing accompanying the article here: www.nature.com/articles/s41.... In a nutshell, brown algae lost DNAme, H3K9me and H3K27me3 early in evolution but repurposed H3K79me (an active mark in animals and yeast) as a repressive histone mark. Seaweeds FTW!!! 🪸

Undaria pinnatifida gametophyte

Our work on chromatin evolution in brown algae is now published in @natecoevo.nature.com! We show that developmentally complex brown algae evolved without epigenetic silencing pathways long thought universal, underscoring why non-model lineages are important to study. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Congrats Thorsten!!

I am very grateful to be featured discussing my work on transcription associated proteins and TAPscan @rensingstefan.bsky.social
Many thanks to @theplantjournal.bsky.social for the opportunity and recognition!

I'm very happy to have been selected as a JGI New Investigator! It's exciting to know we will work closely with their fantastic team and help generate new genomic data for the wider community 🪸

1/11 🔥 New preprint alert 🔥
We wanted to know what plants in the wild really care about. So we asked them 🎤.
Here is what we learned: “Biotic-response networks are an important organizer of the transcriptome in wild Arabidopsis thaliana populations”
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Turn your study species into detailed drawings. Get in touch: lazaroillustration@gmail.com

Does hidden protein biology live in the suboptimal alignment space?

When we align two divergent proteins, we usually trust a single optimal alignment. 🧬

But what if the real structural signal lies in the space of near-optimal solutions?

With EMERALD-UI you can unfold this perspective.

A golden blade of sugar kelp is floating against a background of clear blue water and sandy sediment. (C) Sarina Niedzwiedz

🚨We are hiring!🚨

The #ROVKA project focuses on the productivity and vulnerability of Baltic brown algae populations. Join us as a scientist (2 years, 100% salary) for population genomic analyses and mesocosm experiments @geomarkiel.bsky.social @bfn-de.bsky.social

See
www.geomar.de/en/karriere/...

Josué Barrera Redondo (CINVESTAV Irapuato)

Josué Barrera Redondo (CINVESTAV Irapuato), expert in molecular evolution, comparative genomics,
de novo genes, plant domestication, and brown algae genomics, joins the GBE editorial board.

#societyjournal

Long-distance transport of siRNAs with functional roles in pollen development - Nature Plants This study shows that many small RNAs in Capsella rubella pollen originate from maternal tissues. These mobile small RNAs support proper pollen development, revealing that non-cell-autonomous small RN...

New paper in @natplants.nature.com finds that #siRNAs can act as long-distance communication signals from maternal to male tissue in #Capsella with functional role in #pollen development.

Read here: nature.com/articles/s41477-026-02219-6

@claudiakohler11.bsky.social @jiali024.bsky.social

The (Yoav) Voichek lab has opened its gates at the Weizmann Institute, and is actively recruiting students and researchers at all levels - come explore gene regulation and computational genomics in a fun, friendly sprouting lab 🤗🥼⚗️🧪
www.weizmann.ac.il/plants/voichek

Can we tune a plant’s epigenetic toolkit to disrupt plant homeostasis in ways that enable phenotypic innovation?

🌱Check out our new Opinion Paper with @thanvisrikant.bsky.social discussing this topic in @cp-trendsplantsci.bsky.social!

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

AGO5 restricts virus vertical transmission in plant gametophytes The propagation of a viral infection from a host parent to its progeny is known as vertical transmission, or seed transmission in plants. It allows viral infections to rapidly spread locally via polle...

Preprint alert! It is my great pleasure to announce the first manuscript from the lab, a story that started @gmivienna.bsky.social and was mainly accomplished by the intrepid @gesahoffmann.bsky.social at @mpi-mp-potsdam.bsky.social. A brief thread with our findings
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Targeted genetic manipulation and yeast-like evolutionary genomics in the green alga Auxenochlorella Auxenochlorella, green algae shaped by evolutionary forces acting on vegetative diploids, are amenable to discovery research and bioengineering via efficie

Excited to introduce Auxenochlorella as a new algal reference organism for fundamental plant science and bioengineering. A paper in two parts: a genetic toolkit for site-specific genomic manipulation, paired with the most unusual genome I’ve ever worked on

academic.oup.com/plcell/artic...

We are happy to share our latest work in @nature.com . We study the genomic and cellular basis of facultative symbiosis in Oculina patagonica - a Mediterranean coral remarkable for its ability to survive long periods without algal symbionts. Led by Shani Levy and @xgrau.bsky.social
rdcu.be/eLbaZ

Thrilled to share what we learned from re-annotating the mobilome of the brown algae model [Ectocarpus] 🌊🌿🏖️

genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

A wonderful collaboration with @ericadinatale.bsky.social, @cssmartinho.bsky.social, @rorycraig.bsky.social, and Susana Coelho! 🎉

So happy to see my first first-author paper published! 🎈
A short thread on how Ectocarpus and its TE secrets have kept me busy lately:

rdcu.be/eITQH

Please share! I'm looking for a postdoc. The position is to lead one of the following projects: 1) regulation of plant specialized metabolism by cell fate, or 2) foliar embryogenesis in the succulent plant Kalanchoe.

Learn more abt projects: cxli233.github.io/cxLi_lab/res...

The Tübingen & Amsterdam crews have landed in Barcelona for #ESEB2025! Cooling off with helados before the science (and festivities) begin🍦

So excited to be at #ESEB2025 presenting poster 221 today!☀️

Check out our chromosome-level genome of Bostrychia, a red alga from the complex Ceramiales order, revealing massive genome expansion by giant Plavaka DNA transposons, the evolution of expanded gene families and UV sex chromosomes!

Transposable elements in brown algae? 🌊
Yes, they’re full of surprises ✨
Come meet Ectocarpus at #ESEB2025!

📍Room 113 - S28.03
🗓️ Thursday, 2:30pm

Rewinding the tape: historical contingency and functional constraints have shaped the evolution of APikL virulence effectors in the blast fungus Protein evolution is influenced by historical contingencies and functional constraints, but their combined impact on rapidly diversifying pathogen virulence effectors remains poorly understood. Here, ...

We’re excited to share our latest work on plant pathogen effector protein evolution @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social. With @kamounlab.bsky.social and Abbas Maqbool.

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