Reposted by alison scottbioRxivpreprint @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Killer meiotic driver prevents chromosome loss and enhances fitness in a fungal pathogen www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/20… 042
Reposted by alison scottDr. Sarah Carey @scarey.bsky.social · 29/09/2026I am thrilled to share our pre-print for CBS-tools: a k-mer based analysis that utilizes whole-genome sequencing of a few sex-identified isolates to guide users from the discovery of the heterogametic sex through identifying the sex-determination region www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...biorxiv.orgIdentifying, phasing, and structurally annotating sex chromosomes for genome assemblies using CBS-toolsA complete reference genome for species with chromosomally-determined separate sexes should contain scaffolds for all sex chromosome homologs. However, sex chromosomes present distinct computational c... 12012
Reposted by alison scottGenetics Society of America @genetics-gsa.bsky.social · 24/09/2026A comparative genomic analysis in #G3journal identifies the relationships between species traits, such as dominant reproductive mode, distribution size, and generation length, and the abundance and spatial distribution of transposable elements in lichenized fungi. 🍄 🔗 buff.ly/jL3wCt0 022
Reposted by alison scottFemke de Jong @plantenzo.bsky.social · 22/09/2026In this week’s Plant & Zo weekly roundup I also talk about what thigmotropism is and this week’s scientific articles and plant science in the media. plantenzo.substack.com/p/new-clues-... 🧪 #PlantScienceplantenzo.substack.comNew clues on Norway spruce reproductionIn weekly roundup #38-2026 I also talk about what thigmotropism is and this week’s scientific articles and plant science in the media 012
Reposted by alison scottJosé Cerca @naturalselection.bsky.social · 22/09/2026V happy about this one (@brentcemerson.bsky.social @biodiversitysmns.bsky.social @hernmoral.bsky.social)et al Species have survived on oceanic islands for Mya despite occupying small geographic areas, facing environmental calamities and having low Ne. We discuss this w/ a focus on conservation. 1/2 27233
Reposted by alison scottYuan He @yuanhejhu.bsky.social · 22/09/2026A big week for the lab! Two new papers on how cells repair DNA double-strand breaks: one on getting NHEJ started in chromatin, one on processing the ends before ligation. Years of work by a fantastic team. 410940
Reposted by alison scottMax Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research @mpipz.bsky.social · 17/09/2026📣📣Paper Alert! New paper @nature.com from the Marques group @amarques.bsky.social and colleagues on Rhynchospora tenuis - 🌿a plant that reproduces sexually but has completely lost the reshuffling of DNA🧬 Congratulations! 👏 🥳 Read more👉 www.mpipz.mpg.de/pr-marques-2... www.nature.com/articles/s41...nature.comSex without crossovers mimics clonal reproduction in Rhynchospora tenuis - NatureRhynchospora tenuis undergoes obligate, genome-wide achiasmy in both male and female meiosis. 04319
Reposted by alison scottSoni Lacefield @lacefieldlab.bsky.social · 21/08/2026Excited to share this review that @needhibhalla.bsky.social and I wrote on meiotic checkpoints! www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...annualreviews.orgTuning Meiotic Checkpoints: Evolutionary Costs and Mechanistic Trade-OffsIn this review, we discuss three meiotic checkpoints—the DNA damage response, the pachytene checkpoint, and the spindle checkpoint—and highlight their similarities and differences across diverse syste... 03220
Reposted by alison scottSarah Jose (JoseSci) @sarahjose.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Wild crop relatives are such an amazing genetic resource! These @plosone.org authors report post-domestication hybridising between cultivated bananas and wild relatives, which might help crops adapt to local conditions 🍌🌿🔬 #plantsci #agriculture #plantscience doi.org/10.1371/jour...doi.orgBeyond domestication: The unexpected contribution of native Musa wild relatives to cultivated banana diversity in Mainland Southeast AsiaThe diversity of cultivated bananas remains partially unknown, whereas cultivars with suitable adaptive traits could address the drastically increasing biotic and abiotic constraints on banana product... 058
Reposted by alison scottGenetics Society of America @genetics-gsa.bsky.social · 17/09/2026🧬🌱 Using QTL mapping, a new study characterizes #Sorghum diploid and tetraploid interspecific families to understand how polyploid-derived chromosomes behave when returned to diploidy. Find out more in the September issue of #G3journal 🔗 buff.ly/BpWEuP8 022
Reposted by alison scottAnnaliese Mason @annaliesemason.bsky.social · 17/09/2026My faculty is advertising a tenured open-call #cropscience / #plantscience professorship linked to the PhenoRob Excellence Cluster at Uni Bonn, Germany - apply until 30th Sep :) www.uni-bonn.de/de/universit...uni-bonn.deW2 Professorship within the Cluster of Excellence PhenoRobW2 Professorship 0611
Reposted by alison scottPolina Novikova @pnovik.bsky.social · 16/09/2026I am happy to present our work @liverworks.bsky.social @robinburns.bsky.social @alisondawnscott.bsky.social on centromeric repeat turnovers, of which we counted three in the Arabidopsis genus:biorxiv.orgThe Nature of Centromeric Repeat Turnovers in the genus ArabidopsisCentromeres are critical for accurate segregation of chromosomes and are often composed of megabases of tandemly arranged satellite repeats. Yet, despite their conserved function, the DNA sequence of ... 22821
Reposted by alison scottRobin Burns @robinburns.bsky.social · 16/09/2026It was a lot of fun working together on centromere evolution across the entire Arabidopsis genus. Turnovers, demographic history, centromere drive and repeat invasion in hybrid polyploids—there’s plenty to sink your teeth into! 063
Reposted by alison scottEvolution Letters @evolletters.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Recombination helps evolution—but it can also cause mutations. New theory shows that even small increases in mutation near crossovers can oppose the evolution of higher recombination rates. By @sarperotto.bsky.social and Bret Payseur academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...academic.oup.comElevated mutation near crossovers inhibits the evolution of recombinationAbstract. Recombination diversifies offspring genomes and helps ensure chromosome segregation during meiosis. Mutation rates are elevated near crossovers d 05432
Reposted by alison scottMEPGT @mepgt.bsky.social · 30/08/2026Very important paper by @phylogenetrips.bsky.social "Genes and sites under adaptation at the phylogenetic scale also exhibit adaptation at the population-genetic scale" | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...pnas.orgGenes and sites under adaptation at the phylogenetic scale also exhibit adaptation at the population-genetic scale | PNASAdaptation in protein-coding sequences can be detected from multiple sequence alignments across species or alternatively by leveraging polymorphism... 14323
Reposted by alison scottMax Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research @mpipz.bsky.social · 18/08/2026🔬Big news🥳 We’re excited to welcome Prof. Dr. Rosa Lozano-Durán as new Director and head of the Department of Plant Virology @mpipz.bsky.social Her research focuses on how plant viruses interact with their hosts. 🎉Welcome to MPIPZ, Rosa 🌿🌱 www.mpipz.mpg.de/5842514/loza...mpipz.mpg.deThe Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research welcomes Prof. Dr. Rosa Lozano-Durán as new director 620868
Reposted by alison scottColin Carlson @colincarlson.bsky.social · 10/08/2026I wrote about a reason not to use generative AI in your writing that I haven't seen anyone talking about. Once I realized this, banning GenAI in our lab's writing became a no-brainer. Feel free to share, I think this is probably useful especially for trainees: www.carlsonlab.bio/thoughts/the...carlsonlab.bioThe only reason you’ll ever need not to write with AI — The Carlson LabOver the last year, our lab has been developing a policy on AI use. To do this, we did three main things: We read a lot of academic publications and tech news. We set up an #ai channel on our la... 351564633
Reposted by alison scottChris Fiscus @fiscuscj.bsky.social · 06/08/2026New paper out in PNAS! 🍇🧬 Vitis phylogenomics is a tangled vine. Highlights: • ~14% of the average grape genome comes from introgression • Two classic “hybrid species” are better described as hybrid swarms • Repeated adaptation is fueled by introgression and standing genetic variationpnas.orgThe dynamics of introgression and parallel adaptation across North American Vitis species | PNASHybridization between species can contribute to parallel adaptive events. However, the prevalence of introgression is rarely measured across multip... 14220
Reposted by alison scottLeibniz IPK @leibnizipk.bsky.social · 05/08/2026We are delighted to announce the upcoming Gatersleben Research Conference “Genes, Chromosomes, and Genomes in Plants”, organized in partnership with the GPZ groups ‘Cytogenetics’ and ‘Genome Analysis’. When? November 3–5, 2027 Where? @leibnizipk.bsky.social, Germany Stay tuned for further updates! 087
Reposted by alison scottAna Bedoya @botana-bedoya.bsky.social · 04/08/2026If you are planning for #Botany2027 and did or did not attend #Botany2026, fill out this form if you need childcare!! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... please!! This year there was no childcare and the nursing room is more a custodian closet without a lock, AC, water/sink+light goes off very 5 mins 22117
Reposted by alison scottChristian Landry @christianlandry.bsky.social · 04/08/2026Our latest contribution on #regulatoryevolution in which we show that the shape of fitness functions and the distribution of mutational effect sizes jointly limit adaptation by regulatory mutations. Led by @simonaube.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...nature.comThe shape of fitness functions and the distribution of mutational effect sizes jointly limit adaptation by regulatory mutations - Nature Ecology & EvolutionSaturation mutagenesis of the FCY1 promoter in budding yeast shows that adaptation to 5-fluorocytosine is not accessible through single cis-regulatory mutations, despite large mutational effects on pr... 14822
alison scott @alisondawnscott.bsky.social · 25/07/2026@robinburns.bsky.social has been chopping up thaliana chromosomes… very cool to see this written up! 120
Reposted by alison scottraphmercier.bsky.social @raphmercier.bsky.social · 24/07/2026Hot off the press (so to speak)! Where we described new factors that inhibit meiotic crossovers near centromeres rdcu.be/fvHfe thread👇rdcu.beThe deSUMOylase SPF2 and the cohesin regulators SGO2 and CTF18 suppress crossovers near centromeresNature Plants - Gamboa et al. identified three proteins that restrict meiotic crossovers near centromeres. This finding suggests that cohesion regulation plays a role in this suppression and... 22210
Reposted by alison scottLena Struwe @drgentian.bsky.social · 21/07/2026"Hence our dismal conclusion: rather than finding that LLMs free us to do a better job of what we were doing before they came along, they shift scientific incentives (and the playing field of academic competition) in ways that compel us to do more and more, faster and faster, less and less well." 018491
Reposted by alison scottNew Phytologist @newphyt.bsky.social · 20/07/2026Cretaceous moss–cyanobacteria association reveals trophic interactions in polar forests of Antarctica Walker et al. habitualb.bsky.social nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 02013
Reposted by alison scottDarren J. Parker @darrenjparker.bsky.social · 16/07/2026Our new paper is out! Congrats to all involved. Dosage compensation and meiotic sex chromosome inactivation are maintained under relaxed selection | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...pnas.orgDosage compensation and meiotic sex chromosome inactivation are maintained under relaxed selection | PNASDosage compensation and meiotic sex chromosome inactivation (MSCI) are key mechanisms regulating gene expression from the X chromosome in male-hete... 12917
Reposted by alison scottMario Vallejo-Marin @nicrodemo.bsky.social · 06/07/2026PhD Position at Uppsala University. Sophie Karrenberg’s Lab. the project is about sex chromosome evolution in plants. Come join us! Deadline 22 July. www.uu.se/en/about-uu/...uu.sePhD position in evolutionary genomics - Uppsala UniversityPhD position in evolutionary genomics, Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University 02332
alison scott @alisondawnscott.bsky.social · 04/07/2026an absolute highlight of #SMBE2026 in my book 030
alison scott @alisondawnscott.bsky.social · 02/07/2026Ah, damn! Same for you, usually you aren’t so hard to find… 000
alison scott @alisondawnscott.bsky.social · 02/07/2026Can’t message you directly but are you still around? 100
Reposted by alison scottmoicoll.bsky.social @moicoll.bsky.social · 30/06/2026Interactive schedule (2.0) for SMBE2026! Enjoy the conference #SMBE2026 moicoll.github.io/SMBE2026_sch...moicoll.github.ioSMBE 2026 — Program & Posters 01311
Reposted by alison scottVincent CASTRIC @vincentcastric.bsky.social · 29/04/2026Ever wondered what makes some alleles dominant (A) and others recessive (a) ? In our new paper, we explored how a series of recently discovered "dominance modifiers", genetic elements that have long remained elusive, achieve their regulatory function. journals.plos.org/plosgenetics...journals.plos.orgDominance modifiers at the Arabidopsis self-incompatibility locus retain proto-miRNA features and act through non-canonical pathwaysAuthor summary Many plants avoid self-fertilization through a system of self-incompatibility, which allows them to recognize and reject their own pollen. In plants like those in the Arabidopsis family... 16738
alison scott @alisondawnscott.bsky.social · 29/06/2026enjoying @eleanoreritter.bsky.social’s talk on TEs in selfers at #SMBE2026 and her comment that Mimulus “has kind of a cult following in the US” 081
Reposted by alison scottSaeed Jones @theferocity.bsky.social · 28/06/2026I’m so excited for y’all to listen to my conversation with biologist Beronda Montgomery about her book “When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy”! She’s the absolute best!open.spotify.comThe Trees Saw EverythingVibe Check · Episode 1017032
Reposted by alison scottBotanical Society of America @botsocamerica.bsky.social · 25/06/2026Taxonomic reassessment of #fossil #Sequoia & Protosequoia from the Upper Miocene of Central Honshu, Japan, with implications for leaf morphological variation in extant S. sempervirens New #AJB research by Shun Ikeda & Arata Momohara doi.org/10.1002/ajb2... #botany #paleobotany #drought 042
Reposted by alison scottKarolina Heyduk @kheyduk.bsky.social · 24/06/2026I'm very excited and so grateful to receive an NSF CAREER award - we'll be testing ideas about how CAM evolves using C3+CAM intermediate species and teaching students how plant physiology and genomics can simultaneously inform our understanding of plant biodiversity. www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/... 1/2nsf.govAward Details - NSF Award SearchFind award details and explore award abstracts and publications. 4223337
Reposted by alison scottBotanical Society of America @botsocamerica.bsky.social · 22/06/2026From the #AppsPlantSci Phylogenetic Networks issue Detecting introgression from phylogenetic invariant site patterns using #MachineLearning (by @patrickmckenzie.bsky.social & @daeaton.bsky.social) doi.org/10.1002/aps3... #botany #plantscience #evolution #neuralnetwork #phylogenetics 0144
Reposted by alison scottAngela Hancock @ahancock.bsky.social · 19/06/2026New paper led by Célia Neto presenting a multiparent intercross population (and trait mapping) from Cape Verde Arabidopsis parents 0127
Reposted by alison scottStefan A. Rensing @rensingstefan.bsky.social · 18/06/2026Updated @theplantjournal.bsky.social guidelines: avoid the use of terms such as “basal”, “early diverging lineage”, “primitive”, “ancestral plant”, “lower and higher plants” [..] recommends the use of specific terms such as “bryophytes”, “vascular plants” [..] onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal... 24220
Reposted by alison scottJournal of Evolutionary Biology @jevbio.bsky.social · 26/05/2026Chromosomal rearrangements: tempo and mode of karyotype evolution in Scarabaeoidea @seanchien.bsky.social & Heath Blackmon @tamu.bsky.social doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...doi.orgChromosomal rearrangements: tempo and mode of karyotype evolution in ScarabaeoideaAbstract. Karyotype evolution, including changes in chromosome number and structure, is a fundamental process that can influence genome organization and sp 095
Reposted by alison scottAnnals of Botany @annbot.bsky.social · 26/05/2026📢 New deadline: submissions for "Gnetales - Controversies of Seed Plant Evolution" Focus Issue are now open until 31 July 2026 We invite studies using Gnetales to address key questions in seed plant evolution & encourage new research on this lineage @steffibohny.bsky.social 🔗 botany.fyi/w59vvp 075
Reposted by alison scottRalf Reski @reskilab.bsky.social · 21/05/2026Good news for moss lovers! There will be a 2nd edition "Mosses of Europe". Pre-orders are possible from July 15 on. Mosses of Europe is one of the most comprehensive works ever made. It shows around 1250 moss taxa of Europe, illustrated by more than 10.000 photos. mossesofeurope.commossesofeurope.comMossesofEuropeMosses of Europe is the most comprehensive reference work on European mosses. This 3 volume set covers identification, taxonomy and detailed descriptions, supported by high quality photographs. 13915
Reposted by alison scottTerezie Mandakova @terimandakova.bsky.social · 18/05/2026New review: Why Boechera? #Boechera is the only apomictic model where apomixis operates at the diploid level - a game changer for understanding and engineering clonal seed reproduction. link.springer.com/protocol/10.... @ceitec.eu @uebscimuni.bsky.social 053
Reposted by alison scottScience Magazine @science.org · 09/05/2026Breaking news: Indiana University plant microbiologist Roger Innes has been locked out of his laboratory by the school in response to a request by one of his federal funders. The move comes after Innes complained about the government’s prosecution of Chinese postdocs. scim.ag/4tsDqRrscim.agAfter USDA request, Indiana plant biologist locked out of lab by schoolMove comes after Roger Innes complained about the government’s prosecution of Chinese postdocs 19739442214
Reposted by alison scottLSU College of Science @lsuscience.bsky.social · 07/05/2026From small white blooms to bold “hot lips,” wild coffee plants keep reinventing their flowers. Across 650+ species, showy blooms have evolved at least 10 times. Dr. Lagomarsino is heading to Colombia as a Fulbright Scholar to find out why. 🔗 lsu.edu/science/news... @lsuresearch.bsky.social 0294
Reposted by alison scottSchnittger Lab @schnittger-lab.bsky.social · 06/05/2026Finally, here it is: after 12 years, and driven by the incredible hard work and innovation of two Ph.D. students, Bingyan Hu and Maria Prusicki, with biomathematical support from Katarina Stahlmann (UKE) — "A cytological framework of female meiosis in Arabidopsis". academic.oup.com/plcell/artic...academic.oup.comA cytological framework of female meiosis in ArabidopsisLive-cell imaging reveals characteristic cytological stages of female meiosis in Arabidopsis and allows an assessment of their durations. 34629
Reposted by alison scottInternational Journal of Plant Sciences @ijpsjournal.bsky.social · 06/05/2026In the May 2026 @ijpsjournal.bsky.social Ploidy does not affect responses to increased soil nutrients and salinity in a perennial geophyte Masingitla P. Mtileni, Kenneth C. Oberlander, Kelsey L. Glennon www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/... #PlantSciencejournals.uchicago.edu 042