🚨Job alert: We are looking for a #phd student to join us @unil.bsky.social to study the evolution & function of gene regulatory sequences in the context of crop domestication using genomics, genome editing and imaging 🌱🍅🧬. #plantscience #scijobs #plantscijobs. Apply here: tinyurl.com/3u73csma

Our former PhD student Xin Cheng was highlighted by New Phytologist.
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

She won the poster prize at the 46th New Phytologist Symposium (Kaifeng, China, 2024) and just recently published her main work!
doi.org/10.1126/scia...

Congrats, Xin, we miss you!

🌱 CRAG launches an international call for early‑career researchers!
We invite young scientists interested in starting their independent research group at CRAG

📅 Deadline - April 26

Apply now 👉 https://f.mtr.cool/jdwzombrbd

MUTE drives asymmetric divisions to form stomatal subsidiary cells in Crassulaceae succulents Crassulaceae MUTE guides asymmetric divisions to form stomatal subsidiary cells in succulents.

Many thanks to @michaelraissig.bsky.social @heikelindner.bsky.social for this brilliant collaboration. They did the elegant and innovative developmental biology and we provided resources and training for the Kalanchoë laxiflora diploid model species: Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Succulents as role models: How they balance photosynthesis and water loss so efficiently A research team led by the University of Bern has decoded a mechanism by which an inconspicuous succulent regulates the uptake of carbon dioxide via the leaf surface so finely that it receives enough ...

Nice to see the story about Kalanchoë laxiflora MUTE regulating stomatal subsidiary cell development from the labs of @heikelindner.bsky.social @michaelraissig.bsky.social being picked up by wider news outlets: phys.org/news/2026-03...

Comparative proteomic profiling of receptor kinase signaling reveals key trafficking components enforcing plant stomatal development Proteomic mapping uncovers endocytosis adaptors that drive receptor internalization for robust stomatal development.

Published! From a proteomic atlas of the ERECTA signaling network, we show that receptor kinase endocytosis is essential for proper stomatal patterning. Congrats, Pengfei, @edwardmarcotte.bsky.social, @hhmi-science.bsky.social, @texasscience.bsky.social & co-authors!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Interested in signaling? Evolution? Microfluidics? Phosphoproteomics? Imaging? Green organisms? Consider joining the awesome Jan De Vries team for this 5-year (!) post-doc and come collaborate with Joris Sprakel and me!

Our first study on how the leaf succulent Kalanchoë laxiflora makes stomatal subsidiary cells is finally peer-reviewed & out - and it made the cover! 🌵 🧬 🔬
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
Despite 150 years of evolution, grasses and Crassulacean succulents use the SAME gene to make subsidiary cells! 🤯

Our Review "Development, Anatomy and Integrated Function of Grass Leaf Veins and Graminoid Stomata" is out doi.org/10.1146/annu...

Alec Baird and I discuss the development and function of the anatomical structures that regulate water supply (leaf veins) and water demand (stomata) in the grass leaf.

Phylogeny of the 284 species of plants included in Conservatory data set. Conservatory uncovered ~2.3 million conserved non-coding DNA sequences across 284 plant species from 72 families including eudicots, monocots, gymnosperms, and algae. Illustrations by Professor Madelaine Bartlett.

Hiding in plain sight! 2.3M conserved non-coding sequences traced back 300M years across 284 plant species
Ground-breaking study out in First Release @science.org from labs of @madelaineb.bsky.social, @idane.bsky.social & Zach Lippman
▶️ doi.org/10.1126/scie...
▶️ www.slcu.cam.ac.uk/news/hiding-...

Registration for the 13th PhD School on Plant Development is open! 🌾 🔬 🌺 🧬 🌵 🧪

Deadline: June 30, 2026
Link to registration form forms.gle/tbmUxaw2vmEn...
Cost: €350.- (incl. board, lodging and social event)
For details re payment and abstracts see form or homepage raissiglab.org/plantdevosch...

Congratulations Dr. @lbmountain.bsky.social! The past 6 years with you in the lab were a joy! Starting as a rotation student, MSc student and PhD student, moving with us from Heidelberg to Bern, sharing so many memories. You will be missed is the understatement of the year. Thank you for everything!

Congratulations Dr. @lbmountain.bsky.social I could not be prouder of your achievements and the scientist you have grown into.

Your output, your calm demeanour, your focus, your enthusiasm and your community-oriented mindset make you a fantastic scientist, team member, person and role model.

🔬 MSc/PhD/postdoc position available - An exciting and innovative research opportunity! 🌱

Our lab at the Institute of Plant Sciences, Volcani Institute (ARO), is seeking an outstanding MSc, PhD, or Postdoc to join a cutting-edge research project on plant development and environmental responses.

Very proud of our stellar postdoc @charlotte-dlslle.bsky.social to have secured a MSCA postdoc fellowship! Very happy to have you an extra two years in the lab and accompany you on your journey to become a scientific leader and role model!

Participants of the Rigi Workshop 2026

🌄 The #RigiWorkshop 2026 is in full swing - once again bringing together early-career #researchers! 🧪 A big thank you to the organisers @caroreymond.bsky.social, @dudinlab.bsky.social & @michaelraissig.bsky.social 🙏

What a fun meeting! The future of Swiss science is bright ⭐️

Thanks @dudinlab.bsky.social @michaelraissig.bsky.social for the invite!

Wonderful to see old friends @annikaguse.bsky.social @lsaunders.bsky.social @jandevries.bsky.social and new

Today is the last day of the Rigi Workshop 2026 organised by @dudinlab.bsky.social @michaelraissig.bsky.social and @scnat.ch.Thanks to the participants and the fantastic speakers: Gautam Dey, Edwige Moyroud, Annika Guse, Susana Coelho, Lauren Saunders and Jan deVries. #SwissSocietyofPlantBiology

Four Images: A scientist in a lab looking at a pipetting robot, a greenhouse with lots of pots containing plants, a scientist with drones and other euipment in a field, and a tractor driver with lots of high-tech equipment in the cockpit. The text is: TalentCampus@KWS May 29, 2026 A look behind the scenes: All KWS research and development departments open their doors

The headline and text says: May 29, 2026 in Einbeck, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Seeding the future – breeding combines sciences and talents The image is a wheel showing all the R&D contributions to plant breeding, incl. Molecular Biology Experimental Fields Cell Biology Breeding Phytopathology Chemical Analytics Greenhouse Phenotyping Digitalization

Highlights of the program Information stands Breeders of our main crops explain their work From sowing to harvesting: all the special machines of a breeding station Digital tools for field trialing Root phenotyping: how roots grow in the soil Phenotyping with drones: multispectral from a bird's eye view Phytopathology: insects, fungi, nematodes and other pathogens Chemical Analytics and process analysis Catch crops - concepts for agriculture, soil health, CO2 balance Biological seed treatment Breeding technologies – data and genomics specialists support breeding Genome Editing: new breeding technologies and their application at KWS Regulatory Affairs: paving the way to approval From lab to market: how KWS protects intellectual property Marker lab: examine the DNA The art of engineering for seed production Career opportunities at KWS Hands-on activities The start of a new generation of varieties: crossing plants by hand Tissue culture: placing plant parts on a special diet in vitro Leaf harvest for the marker lab Live view of root growth: navigate a camera through the soil

If you're interested in #PlantScience R&D work at a plant breeding company: @kwsgroup.bsky.social is hosting its annual R&D TalentCampus here in Einbeck on May 29th.

More info here:
www.kws.com/corp/en/care...

10 more days to apply - wonderful place and wonderful people (even though I might be slightly biased...)

Save the date: Plant Development PhD school (i.e. Retzbach 2.0) in Neustadt, Germany.

Sept 23rd-25th, 2026
~€350 all inclusive

Excellent speakers and a relaxed atmosphere for early-career researchers (PhDs & postdocs). Registration opens soon.

For more info, see
raissiglab.org/plantdevosch...

Imputation integrates single-cell and spatial gene expression data to resolve transcriptional networks in barley shoot meristem development - Nature Plants Spatially resolved gene expression during barley development was done by integrating an scRNA-seq dataset from cells with unknown position with spatial transcriptomics. This dataset is publicly availa...

paper is out now in Nature Plants, here is a link: Imputation integrates single-cell and spatial gene expression data to resolve transcriptional networks in barley shoot meristem development. Nat. Plants (2026). doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Interested in learning about the latest and greatest research in how plants respond to excess salt, too little or too much water? Come to the GRC in Salt and Water Stress in Switzerland. Lots of opportunities for all career levels. www.grc.org/salt-and-wat.... Please repost!

Look at this remarkable preprint by @lbmountain.bsky.social, presenting a single-cell RNA-seq atlas of the developing Brachypodium distachyon leaf.
What a joy it was to watch Lea progress during the analysis and to continuously find more and more exciting facts about the developing leaf 🌾

Thanks so much for the shoutout Dominique! Indeed, a good day for American democracy and thus democracy worldwide

🙏 Anybody knows from where I can download a raster map with the different ecoregion of Europe?

A wonderful collaboration with our colleagues from Düsseldorf within the @cerealcell.bsky.social consortium. @isaiavardanega.bsky.social @simonrdg.bsky.social Jan Maika.
Thanks to the sequencing facilities at Uni Heidelberg and Uni Bern, and past and present team members for this "tour de force"

7/ Finally—our community tool 🌾
shiny.ips.unibe.ch
The B. distachyon Leaf Gene Expression Viewer allows visualization of any gene across the whole leaf, epidermal, or stomatal subsets.
Interactive UMAPs and ggPlantmap provide an eFP-browser-like experience for grass developmental biology.

6/ As a proof of concept we functionally analyzed two novel marker genes, one that is expressed in dividing leaf cells and another one that is expressed in the developing stomatal lineages.

5/ Gene regulatory network analysis of the stomatal clusters identifies top transcription factors per clusters and could distinguish the targetome of co-expressed yet functionally distinct stomatal transcription factors BdMUTE and BdFAMA