Emily Flashman

Hydrogen sulfide modulates plant hypoxic responses through the persulfidation of Plant Cysteine Oxidases Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) is a gaseous molecule historically regarded as toxic. Nevertheless, increasing evidence has brought to light important physiological roles in both animals and plants. In plants,...

Happy to share the key part of my PhD! In our latest preprint with Salma Akter, @emilyflashman.bsky.social & @beagiuntoli.bsky.social, we show that H₂S is involved in oxygen sensing in plants!
How? Check it out!🌱✨

Many thanks to all the authors involved!

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

Thrilled to make my first post here 🌱 Right after presenting at #ISPLORE2025JP, where I shared our work on how anatomy & habitat shaped the oxygen-sensing machinery of angiosperms. Please check out our new preprint www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Engineering Plant Cysteine Oxidases for Improved Submergence Tolerance at Gatsby Charitable Foundation on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - Engineering Plant Cysteine Oxidases for Improved Submergence Tolerance at Gatsby Charitable Foundation, listed on FindAPhD.com

I'm looking for excellent and highly motivated PhD candidates to apply for a potential Gatsby-funded studentship working with us in Oxford on engineering Plant Cysteine Oxidases to improve plant flood resilience. More details here: www.findaphd.com/phds/project.... Early deadline: 14th November!

Evidence of an activity-enhancing conformational shift in Arabidopsis thaliana Plant Cysteine Oxidase 4 induced by binding of substrate or substrate-mimics Plant cysteine oxidases (PCOs) are a family of O2-dependent, thiol dioxygenase enzymes that help to coordinate plant responses to flooding by determining the stability of hypoxia-related transcription...

Did you know that if a Plant Cysteine Oxidase binds to an ERFVII peptide without oxygen for a bit, it moves into a conformation that is more active when oxygen returns? See Rebecca's paper in JBC www.jbc.org/article/S002..., collaboration with Benesch and Mecinovic labs from Oxford and SU Denmark!

Nitric oxide promotes cysteine N-degron proteolysis through control of oxygen availability | PNAS Selected proteins containing an N-terminal cysteine (Nt-Cys) are subjected to rapid, O2-dependent proteolysis via the Cys/Arg-branch of the N-degro...

Nitric oxide promotes cysteine N-degron proteolysis through control of oxygen availability | Important finding by Kim, Tian, Ratcliffe and Keeley @ox.ac.uk @ispt-proteinterm.bsky.social #N-degron www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Manipulating plant oxygen sensing through NCO substitution reveals trade-offs between growth and flooding tolerance The oxygen-dependent degradation of Ethylene Response Factors VII (ERFVIIs) through the N-degron pathway is central to regulating the transcriptional responses to hypoxia in vascular plants. Plant Cys...

Can we modulate plant oxygen sensing to enhance flood resilience?🌿🔧

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

This is one of two preprints out this week from the @syno2xis.bsky.social and @emilyflashman.bsky.social labs, two angles on how PCOs shape plant flood resilience. Don’t miss the full story!

Engineering reduced activity in the oxygen-sensing Arabidopsis thaliana plant cysteine oxidase 4 enzyme results in improved flood resilience Plant cysteine oxidases (PCOs) are oxygen-sensing enzymes that play an important role in plant responses to low oxygen (hypoxia). PCO-catalysed dioxygenation of the N-terminal Cys of substrates, inclu...

Engineered mutations in the AtPCO4 active site reduce its activity and improve plant submergence resilience! Our new preprint: tinyurl.com/2ydj7qx5, 1 of 2 preprints out this week from the @emilyflashman.bsky.social and @syno2xis.bsky.social labs to link PCO function in plants with flood tolerance!

RePOWER: Returning to Postgraduate Study in the Life and Environmental Sciences

Considering a return to study in the life/environmental sciences at Masters/PhD level after time away? Working and wondering if full/part-time study is the next step for your career? Our RePOWER workshop on 13th June in Oxford/online will provide advice and support. iles.web.ox.ac.uk/repower-retu...

Hypoxia‐activated fluorescent probes as markers of oxygen levels in plant cells and tissues Low oxygen signalling in plants is important in development and stress responses. Measurement of oxygen levels in plant cells and tissues is hampered by a lack of chemical tools with which to reliab...

And now formally published, a chemical probe that can detect hypoxia in plants - congratulations to all authors! nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Measuring plant cysteine oxidase interactions with substrates using intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence Scientific Reports - Measuring plant cysteine oxidase interactions with substrates using intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence

Niche post, but if you're interested in measuring interactions between Plant Cysteine Oxidases and their substrates, Dona and Daisy developed a fluorescence-based method, published today: rdcu.be/d5g9R. Strongest interactions with ERF-VIIs. Happy New Year folks!