Mammalian-like steroidogenesis in plants gives rise to endocrine-mimetic cardenolides Plants carry out mammalian-like steroidogenesis that generates endocrine-mimetic cardenolides.

Mammalian-like steroidogenesis in plants gives rise to endocrine-mimetic cardenolides

#PlantScience #SecMet
From: www.science.org/doi/full/10....

Congrats @sheilaroitman.bsky.social et al!

Head of Department, Department of Biology

jobportal.ku.dk/administrati...

We are soon to be headless....

So come be our new boss in lovely Copenhagen and lead a department with research interests
from genes to ecosystems, and everything alive in between.

Preprint alert 🚨 (1/10) 🧵

𝘈𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘨𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘹 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺:
It can promote resistance, susceptibility, or restrict cell death 🤯

So what is its actual role?

We show it acts as a spatial organizer of immunity across cell types 🌱🦠 #proteostasis

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

This tiny, newborn caterpillar buzzes to defend its territory.

The 2-millimeter-long bug is among the smallest animals ever observed performing territorial displays.

Learn more: https://scim.ag/4twrFtr #ScienceMagArchives

Ping is hiring for her new lab.

I'd like to believe this won't affect my personality
#Reviewer2

Ubiquitin ligases in plant immunity: structural mechanisms and signaling The ubiquitin system is a central regulator of plant immunity, with E3 ligases conferring substrate specificity across diverse signaling pathways. This review synthesizes structural and mechanistic i...

Excited to share our latest review on ubiquitin ligases in plant immunity

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

The ribosome-associated N-terminal acetyltransferase B coordinates global proteostasis and autophagy in plants by creating Ac/N-degrons - Nature Communications Protein N-terminal acetylation profoundly influences protein fate. Here, the authors establish NatB as a central regulator of the interplay between ubiquitin–proteasome system and autophagy, and highl...

New publication from Markus Wirtz and colleagues on N-terminal protein acetylation: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🔬🍀🎉

I am happy and excited to share that graduate student, @ohazel.bsky.social Olivia's first author research article is published now @newphyt.bsky.social

We are grateful to editor, reviewers, and @newphyt.bsky.social to help us to improve the story

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Complete biosynthesis of psychedelic tryptamines from three kingdoms in plants Tryptamine psychedelics from plants, fungi, and toads are produced in planta through cross-kingdom pathway reconstruction.

Researchers in #ScienceAdvances have reconstructed the full biosynthetic pathways of five natural psychedelics in one plant system. https://scim.ag/3PLLIFP

It’s incredibly hard to study lipids in biological membranes on the nanoscale. You need near-perfect information on both membrane ultrastructure and lipid density. Lipid-CLEM, now out in @natcellbio.nature.com brought to you by @mathilda95.bsky.social changes that:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Visualizing suborganellar lipid distribution using correlative light and electron microscopy - Nature Cell Biology Lennartz et al. introduce a correlative light and electron microscopy workflow, Lipid-CLEM, combining near-native lipid probes and on-section labelling via click chemistry. Lipid-CLEM quantitatively a...

I am extremely excited that my first first-author paper from my PhD is finally out 😆!! We developed a new CLEM workflow to measure lipid densities at the nanoscale. So if you are into lipids and super-resolution imaging approaches, this one is for you: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

With everything going on, I can always count on grant writing to serve as an island of stability...

Roots and the Meaning of Life They are so far out of sight for us, creatures of the upper world, that we don’t readily think of them. But as soon as we do, as soon as we plunge the mind into the cold dark hummus to which …

Roots and the Meaning of Life www.themarginalian.org/2026/03/15/r...

An unconventional Rubisco small subunit underpins the CO2-concentrating organelle in land plants In many algae, photosynthesis is boosted by biophysical CO2-concentrating mechanisms, which pack the CO2-fixing enzyme Rubisco into liquid-like organelles called pyrenoids. Engineering C3 crops with a...

Our work on #hornwort #pyrenoids is finally out in @science.org! 🎉 We uncovered how hornworts pack their Rubisco into pyrenoids and successfully recreated them in Arabidopsis. A key step toward engineering more efficient photosynthesis in crops @btiscience.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Considering my book "The Tree of Life" for introductory evolution class? I have a few complimentary copies to evaluate. Please DM me. And please repost.

Review in Science described it as "..a fantastic informal introduction to a course on evolution.. recommended it to my first-year students".

Structural remodeling of the mitochondrial protein biogenesis machinery under proteostatic stress Cryo–electron tomography reveals how mitochondria reorganize their translation and folding systems under proteostatic stress.

Structural remodeling of the mitochondrial protein biogenesis machinery under proteostatic stress

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Nanodomain-localized formin gates symbiotic microbial entry in legume and solanaceous plants Colonization of plant roots by symbionts requires substantial morphodynamic reorganization. Examples are actin-scaffolded microcompartments called infection pockets formed during root nodule symbiosis...

Happy to share our latest work in collaboration with the lab of @pengbo10.bsky.social. Here, we describe that a formin protein mediates the polarity switch from root hair to infection thread growth during symbiotic interactions.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Congrats Alibek, Yasin et al

Something tells me I should go to the membrane contact sites session...

Sun 🔆 is rising over the bay of Eilat/Aqaba and the 2nd day of ILANIT 2026 is coming up.

We had a fab lab trip last week 🌻

Long in the making, but happy to present the Chlamydomonas chlororibosome!
Cryo-ET🔬reveals a large new domain on the small subunit, built from multiple extensions in conserved ribosomal proteins.
bioRxiv 📖: shorturl.at/q44tG
This suggests greater chlororibosome diversity than expected!
1/n 🧵

#transgenerational transmission of a core #microbiome that protects against downy mildew from soil to #phyllosphere

Fantastic and important study by @jellespooren.bsky.social @rlberendsen.bsky.social
@cornepieterse.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc...
#plantscience

New review from P Genschik’s team in
@jxbotany.bsky.social 🧬 A fresh look at the huge diversity and functions of plant F-box proteins.
👉 Open questions & new perspectives for 🌱 biology.
▶️academic.oup.com/jxb/advance-article-abst...

"The most uncomfortable part for me is that I no longer think that scientific research will resolve the crises that we face."

"I keep doing research not because I think it will save us, but because it would be a form of surrender to stop seeking understanding."

Beautiful #preprint on a novel regulator of plant #autophagy from the @cnaumann123.bsky.social lab. How do plants regulate #autophagosome size??? ER-PM contact sites and Can1 seem to be key! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Our own ‏Dorothy Matiki‏ presented her research (on autophagy in 🍅 ripening) impressively and earned her M.Sc. title! 🎉🍾

Soon Dorothy will meet the @weizmanninstitute.bsky.social Doctoral studies committee to (hopefully) approve her joining the lab of Prof. ‏Michal Sharon‏.
All the best Dorothy!

Recruitment of bifunctional regulator thermospermine to methylated ribosomes directs xylem fate Polyamines are often associated with ribosomes and are thought to stabilize their integrity. In Arabidopsis, the polyamine thermospermine (tSpm) affects xylem cell fate. tSpm induces translation of SU...

In @science.org this week, thermospermine affects ribosome methylation, which in turn regulates translation of xylem development proteins www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

#plantscience