Leo Castanedo

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-...

Just discovered this wonderful adaptation of our maize moving map (figshare.com/articles/fig...) by @andikur.bsky.social .

Fungal symbioses: A multiplicity of fungi in the lichen union Increasing evidence suggests that lichens are not just a partnership between one fungus and one alga or cyanobacterium but may contain multiple intera…

Thrilled to see this published! 😄
Our dispatch examines potential additional fungal symbionts in lichen partnerships and the key challenges in unraveling their biology.

Thanks for involving me in this @talbotlabtsl.bsky.social

@currentbiology.bsky.social

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

Please check the latest from our lab! Root-fungus senses host nutrient status, determining its infection strategies!

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/...

I am happy to announce the launch of a new Arabidopsis genomics resource! Check out arabidopsislyrata.org Now you can easily look at the natural genetic variation across the entire species range of A. lyrata and A. arenosa.

Role of molecular “gatekeeper” uncovered, allowing nitrogen-fixing bacteria to enter plant roots | ENSA A new publication from ENSA researchers and international collaborators has uncovered role of SYFO2 protein that helps plants initiate partnerships with beneficial soil microbes.

🔬 ENSA research uncovers SYFO2, a molecular gatekeeper that reorganizes actin in legume root hairs to allow rhizobial entry. The team showed that tomato can activate its own SYFO2 pathway, revealing deep evolutionary roots of symbiosis @science.org @ottlab.bsky.social @pierremarcdelaux.bsky.social

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/...

Quit ChatGPT: right now! Your subscription is bankrolling authoritarianism | Rutger Bregman As a historian, I’ve studied the major consumer boycotts of history. We can take down ChatGPT and send a powerful signal to Silicon Valley, says author and historian Rutger Bregman

Very convincing call to cancel your ChatGTP subscription if you have one. There are very good reasons, it's painless as there are alternatives, and it may form part of an effective boycott!

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Fungal genome sequencing for free! 👇🏼 #GGFungi2026

Be part of OMGN! Open to all researchers with an interest in oomycetes, from molecular genetics & genomics to biology, population biology, and ecology, at either an experimental or a computational level. Investigators new to the field are always welcome oomycetes.com

@thaisdalsasso.bsky.social is applying new tools to address the evolution and functional diversification of secreted proteins of fungal plant pathogen. Preprint here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Poplar CLE peptides promoting ectomycorrhizal symbiosis identified through genome-wide analysis of responsive small secreted peptides Trees use CLAVATA3/EMBRYO SURROUNDING REGION-related (CLE) peptides to promote ectomycorrhizal symbiosis, revealing an additional regulatory layer in tree–

🧵 New paper out in @PlantPhysiology! We asked: how do trees talk to their fungal partners during ectomycorrhizal symbiosis? Turns out, tiny secreted peptides play a big role. 1/

Read the full paper here 👇
academic.oup.com/plphys/advan...

🚨Job Alert – Please RT!
We’re looking for bright minds to join our community!
We are looking for 12 postdocs and 7 PhD students!
Details on all projects and application: www.ceplas.eu/en/training-...
@leibnizipk.bsky.social @mpipz.bsky.social @hhu.de @fz-juelich.de @unicologne.bsky.social

Announcing the publication of TAIR12: Consult the fully reannotated genome on the European Nucleotide Archive - Phoenix Bioinformatics TAIR (The Arabidopsis Information Resource), together with our nonprofit host Phoenix Bioinformatics, is pleased to announce the public release of TAIR12

🎉📣 #TAIR12, the latest reannotation of the Arabidopsis thaliana genome, is now available under accession number PRJEB100887 on ENA and NCBI!

Thank you all the volunteer researchers whose hard work has made this possible!

#plantscience #plantbiology 🧪

bit.ly/3ZHtneT

📣 12 open postdoc positions in @ceplas.bsky.social !! www.ceplas.eu/en/training-...

We @teamthomma.bsky.social look for a postdoc on The Secret Lives of Soil-Borne Fungal Pathogens: Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Intermicrobial Interactions in Soils (see project 4)

How specific are heritable symbioses?

And what can we learn from swapping obligate symbionts across host species?

We address this in our latest, led by @inespons.bsky.social & in our collaboration w/ @microbiome.bsky.social 🦠🪲 Out today in @natcomms.nature.com!

1/n
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#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

📣 Our latest story just dropped on bioRxiv:: A structurally unique effector shared between Verticillium dahliae and Fusarium oxysporum is involved in cotton defoliation and virulence on other hosts www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 🧵

A small polymerase ribozyme that can synthesize itself and its complementary strand The emergence of a chemical system capable of self-replication and evolution is a critical event in the origin of life. RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but their large size and structural ...

How could a simple self-replicating system emerge at the origins of life? RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but existing ones are so large that their self-replication seems impossible. Could they be smaller?

Excited to share our latest work in @science.org on a new small polymerase.
1/n

We’re hiring!

Postdoctoral Researcher / Research Assistant @KamounLab

“Biology and Applications of Plant Immune Receptors” www.tsl.ac.uk/working-at-t...

🌍🍄Host the future of mycorrhizal science
The IMS invites bids to host ICOM15 (2030).

📄 Guidelines 👉 mycorrhizas.org/wp-content/u...

🗓 Proposal deadline: May 29, 2026
📣 Host announced: July 17, 2026

#ICOM15 @mycorrhizaims.bsky.social #Mycorrhiza

And publish in society owned journals like @theplantcell.bsky.social @theplantjournal.bsky.social Plant Biotechnology Journal, @jxbotany.bsky.social @newphyt.bsky.social @plantspeopleplanet.bsky.social and many others!

#ProtistsOnSky
no 'swimming' by 𝘝𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘺𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢, definitively no 'staying still'. just a relaxed walk towards the lunch...

PhD position in biology (m/f/d) (1/2026) Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry (Halle) offers a PhD position in Biology

Please share! We are looking for a PhD student (4 years) starting from 01/05/2026 at @ipbhalle.bsky.social!
If you are interested in plant immunity, receptor biochemistry and evolution, consider applying! Deadline 09/03/2026.

Application portal: ipb-halle.mhm.jobs/10-phd-posit...

1/9 Our latest paper on immunity mechanisms in Marchantia just out @pnas.org ! 🔽

Close collaboration between our former PhD students @karimaelm.bsky.social and @chloe-beaulieu.bsky.social !

and the old gard @jacquet-chris.bsky.social @maximebonhomme.bsky.social

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

The evolutionary potential of symbiosis Abstract. Symbiosis is considered a source of evolutionary innovation. Example innovations that have evolved in symbioses include new organs, morphological

New perspective on the evolutionary potential of symbiotic interactions!

Is there something special about symbiosis that leads to new traits and adaptations? If so, how would we know and how would this work?

academic.oup.com/jeb/advance-...

Priority effects inhibit the repeated evolution of phototrophy - npj Complexity npj Complexity - Priority effects inhibit the repeated evolution of phototrophy

New paper out! Here's a puzzle: phototrophy, the ability to use light for energy, is one of life's great innovations. It evolved early and transformed the biosphere. But it evolved 2x. Why not just once, why not more? Our work suggests the answer is priority effects.

www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Plant Pathogens Moonlighting as Beneficial Insect Symbionts Herbivorous insects can shape the epidemiology of disease in plants by vectoring numerous phytopathogens. While the consequences of infection are often well-characterized in the host plant, the extent...

Can plant pathogens boost vector fitness?

Together with @hassansalem.bsky.social, we review how phytopathogens can spread further by moonlighting as insect symbionts 🪲 More on this nifty lifestyle in @annualreviews.bsky.social!

www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

Holes in the Hologenome: Why Host-Microbe Symbioses Are Not Holobionts | mBio ABSTRACT The advent of relatively inexpensive tools for characterizing microbial communities has led to an explosion of research exploring the diversity, ecology, and evolution of microbe-host systems...

Rereading these two papers:

Holes in the hologenome: why host-microbe symbioses are not holobionts.
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

The Hologenome Concept: Helpful or Hollow?
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

And I still find myself in general agreement with most of the points in them