Check out this recent @cp-cellreports.bsky.social paper from the Sweeney group and colleagues, demonstrating a multifold increase in spinal inhibitory cell types with the emergence of limb movement during the tadpole-to-frog transformation.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2026.117227
By revealing how calcium and ROS interact, the researchers add another piece to the puzzle of gravitropism, highlighting a key element in balancing tissue flexibility and stiffness to navigate a rough environment.
Using newly developed live-imaging microscopy, the scientists were able to see these flashes, which reinforce cell walls and help roots penetrate dense soil.
The new study, published in @science.org, shows that calcium signals—also involved in the auxin pathway—act in parallel to induce localized bursts of reactive oxygen species (ROS) at the root surface.
This triggers a signaling cascade that accumulates the plant hormone auxin on the lower side of the root, causing the root to bend downward. Step by step, this facilitates the root’s gradual descent into the soil to access nutrients and water.
Gravity in the root is sensed in columella cells in the forefront of the root, where dense, starch-filled organelles known as amyloplasts settle in the direction of gravity.
Now, research conducted at Friml’s group by a current alum and first author, Ivan Kulich, together with colleagues from the University of Würzburg, the @helsinki.fi, the University of South Bohemia, @upcite.bsky.social, and the @uniofnottingham.bsky.social, expands that understanding.
Professor Jiří Friml. © FWF/Luiza Puiu
The Friml group at @istaresearch.bsky.social is trying to gain more insight into that topic using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana.
Arabidopsis thaliana in ISTA’s Plant Facility. © Nadine Poncioni/ISTA
Plants rely on Earth’s gravitational pull to orient their growth, respond to environmental cues, and anchor themselves in the soil. The precise molecular mechanism behind this ability, however, is not fully understood.
High-resolution image of CorM filaments in Anabaena. Green signal corresponds to CorM filaments, purple signal corresponds to cyanobacterial photosynthetic pigments. © Springstein et al./Science
The scientists show that Anabaena, and likely many other multicellular cyanobacteria, have undergone a major evolutionary shift, transforming an ancient DNA segregation system into a new cytoskeleton that controls cell shape.
In the back, from left to right: Roman Hajdu, Martin Loose, Florian Schur. In the front, from left to right: Manjunath Javoor, Benjamin Springstein, Bettina Zens. © ISTA
Working in the group of @nartimsoole.bsky.social, and in collaboration with the @schurlab.bsky.social at ISTA and colleagues from the @ipmontevideo.bsky.social, Kiel University, and the University of Zürich, Springstein and his colleagues now report a surprising discovery in Science.
Benjamin Springstein. © ISTA
Since 2014, @huepfkiesel.bsky.social has been fascinated by Anabaena—a multicellular cyanobacterium.
Fluorescent Anabaena. Fluorescently labelled CorM filaments inside Anabaena. These represent a newly discovered cytoskeleton in multicellular cyanobacteria. © Loose group
Photosynthetic bacteria helped shape Planet Earth. Among them cyanobacteria—microbes that produced the oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere & made complex life possible. They have captivated scientists for decades by offering insights into how life evolved from single cells into multicellular organisms.
Check out this recent bioRxiv preprint, in which the Vicoso group and colleagues show that a single locus carrying modified oogenesis genes underlies the switch to asexuality in Artemia brine shrimp.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.04.06.716654
A recent publication in The Journal of Chemical Physics by ISTA alumni Felix Frey and Miguel Amaral with Professor Anđela Šarić explores how geometry controls archaeal membrane stability and lipid organization.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0325170
Read the paper in @aanda-journal.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1051/0004...
#StellarMagnetism #Asteroseismology #Starquakes #WhiteDwarf #RedGiant #StellarEvolution
By incorporating recent asteroseismic data—measurements of stellar oscillations or “starquakes”—the team revisits the fossil field theory as a possible explanation for stellar magnetism.
Read more bit.ly/3QAEKnj
📸 A white dwarf’s magnetic field can form a shell-like structure (pink field lines), according to the team’s simulations. © Lukas Einramhof
For the first time, a team led by PhD student Lukas Einramhof and Assistant Professor @lisa-bugnet.bsky.social connects evidence of magnetic fields reaching the surface of older white dwarfs to recent findings of magnetism in the cores of their dying progenitors—red giants.
A new bioRxiv preprint by ISTA Professor Alex Bronstein and colleagues explores how statistical signals indicate a dependence between amino acid backbone conformation and the translated synonymous codon.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.04.02.712692
New bioRxiv preprint: Researchers from the Csicsvari group and colleagues investigate representational dynamics in the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex during learning and task mastery.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.03.27.714523
Matthew Robinson promoted to professor! His group explores questions at the intersection of quantitative genetics, applied statistics, epidemiology, and public health—linking human genomics and evolutionary ecology to advance understanding of genetic variation and gene–trait relationships.
This innovative approach is published in
@natphys.nature.com and opens doors to the creation of soft materials and to a novel understanding of bacteria in confined environments.
Together with Tanumoy Dhar, and David Saintillan (@ucsandiego.bsky.social), Jérémie Palacci and ISTA alum Daniel Grober have shown that within this bath, E. coli can even rotate tiny micro discs by generating a torque.
📷 Daniel Grober. © ISTA
When placed in water, their long flagella create a so-called active bath. This dynamic environment helps form gel-like aggregates, as it acts like a small fire, raising the ‘temperature’ up to an equivalent of 2000 °C, similar to the one the blacksmith needs to craft metals.
📷 Jérémie Palacci. © ISTA
At ISTA, Jérémie Palacci’s research group is venturing into metallurgy—with a twist. Instead of traditional tools, they are employing E. coli bacteria.
New bioRxiv preprint from the Hannezo group in collaboration with ISTA alumna Diana Pinheiro about the logic of optimal collective migration in heterogeneous tissues.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.03.19.712843
Check out this video on @nature.com’s YouTube channel featuring ISTA Assistant Prof Scott Waitukaitis & alum Galien Grosjean. They share insights about how they explained static electricity in the most abundant solid insulators in their recent publication.
🔗 https://bit.ly/4bULSSz
