iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 21h

Congrats to the all-female team (apart from me). 1st author @ncyberwitch.bsky.social for bringing it all together; @kimjanssen.bsky.social for pushing this during her MSc; @danzhanghappyone.bsky.social , my first PhD student, who started it all. Thanks to @snsf.ch for funding fundamental science!

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Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 21h

Our preprint now peer-reviewed and published 🌾🔬🧬 Grasses have a signature short-long leaf epidermal pattern: small stomata & hair cells spaced by long pavement cells, but how is it built? Premitotic BdPL1 sets cell-size asymmetry; postmitotic BdBRX-solo/BdYDA1 enforces fate. doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...

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Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

And the best talk award went to Nastia @ncyberwitch.bsky.social ! 🏆 Congrats & #GoBrachy! (And no, I didn't get a vote 😉) Huge thanks to speakers and sponsors. And a big thank you to the students for speaking, presenting posters, chairing and showing us that the future of plant biology is bright!

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Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Just wrapped the 13th PhD School on Plant Development in Neustadt! 🌱🌾 I went to this meeting as a 1st-year PhD student, so it was an honor to bring it back to life with @moritznowack.bsky.social . Amazing talks, a fantastic community, and a wine-tasting dinner at a local winery 🍷

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Ulrich Hammes @uhammes.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

We’re looking for a new colleague in Würzburg! 🌱 W3 Professorship in Plant Metabolism 💊 Chair of Pharmaceutical Biology 🧪 Head of the Metabolomics Core Unit jobs.zeit.de/jobs/univers... Please spread the word! Questions? Feel free to contact me. www.biologie.uni-wuerzburg.de/en/about-the...

biologie.uni-wuerzburg.de

W3_Pflanzenmetabolismus - FACULTY OF BIOLOGY

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Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

🌾 Save the date! International Brachypodium Research Conference 2027 📍 Liège, Belgium 📅 28 June–2 July 2027 After an unforgettable 2025 edition at Monte Verità, I can't wait to see our community come together again. Registration opens on 15 Dec 2026 → brachypodium2027.com #GoBrachy

brachypodium2027.com

IBRC2027

Website of the Internatrional Brachypodium Research Conference 2027

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Dolf Weijers @dolfweijers.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

It took some time, but we are thrilled to present the first major outcome of our @erc.europa.eu ERC DIRNDL AdG project: Evgeniya Pukhovaya @epukh.bsky.social and others in our team describe the discovery of a mechanism for polar protein targeting in plants (1/13) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.org

Systematic proteomics identifies a conserved mechanism for polar targeting of plant cortical proteins

Multicellular development is tightly coupled to the polarization of individual cells, which partitions polar proteins along the cell cortex and can control asymmetric cell division, anisotropic growth...

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Anja Geitmann @geitmannlab.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Postdoc Opportunity at McGill University, Montreal, Canada You have worked with Arabidopsis / other plant model systems & are trained in high-end imaging? Details: www.plantbiomechanics.net/joining-the-... #plants, #Arabidopsis, #postdoc, #jobs, #microscopy, #confocal, #molecularbiology

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Dominique Bergmann @stanfordstomata.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Super cool exploration of stomatal bHLH gene evolution in ferns and gymnosperms. A decade ago Anne Vatén @stomagenesis.bsky.social already knew these plants were critical missing links -- now her group has functional studies in spruce! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

🌾 We're hiring a postdoc! Join the Stomatal Biology group in beautiful Bern @unibe.ch How do grass leaves spatially coordinate development of veins & stomatal rows? 2 years (plus possible extension), funded by @snsf.ch @dfg.de within @cerealcell.bsky.social RU5325 jobs.unibe.ch/job-vacancie...

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Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Our single-cell atlas paper made the cover 🎉 image by @lbmountain.bsky.social, showing the mature Brachy epidermis in all its beauty. #GoBrachy: yellow is lignin, and blue is cell wall autofluorescence.

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Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

🌾 Grass leaves are the photosynthetic powerhouses of human civilisation. @lbmountain.bsky.social's transcriptomic atlas of nearly 70,000 cells from shoot apex to mature leaf follows the genetic programs that form a grass leaf 🧬 paper doi.org/10.1093/plce... expression browser shiny.ips.unibe.ch

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Yasin Dagdas @plantophagy.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Took me a while, but we finally have a new lab website: ydagdas-lab.github.io/Lab-Website/ I will do my best to keep this one up to date.

ydagdas-lab.github.io

Dagdas Lab — Evolutionary Cell Biology

How cells clean house across the eukaryotic tree of life. Autophagy & cellular quality control at Heidelberg University.

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Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Huge congrats to @ncyberwitch.bsky.social, @kimjanssen.bsky.social & @danzhanghappyone.bsky.social for beautiful microscopy, through analysis & a fantastic story, to Paola Ruiz Duarte & Barbara Jesenofsky for the many transgenics, my co-PI @heikelindner.bsky.social, and @snsf.ch for funding 💚 11/11

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Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

This is curiosity-driven, fundamental science. But it reveals the molecular basis of a defining leaf feature of grasses — the plant family that feeds human civilization. Understanding how a leaf is built is beautiful and can matter down the line. 10/11

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Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Grasses appear to run a division of labour: a pre-mitotic module (BdPL1) builds physical asymmetry, handing off to a post-mitotic module (BdBRX-solo/BdYDA1) that enforces cell fate. Two independent relay runners producing one robust pattern. 9/11

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Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

So who takes over after division? A second, independent polarity module with the known players BdBRX-solo and BdYDA1. They polarize only after division, at the base of the new large cell, to lock in the correct cell identity. 8/11

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Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Location is the message. And it's tightly choreographed: BdPL1 only polarizes in a narrow pre-division window. The moment the cell divides, it disappears from that spot entirely. 7/11

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Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Polarization itself — not just the protein's presence — is what matters. When we forced BdPL1 to spread evenly around the cell instead of clustering on one side, the protein was still there, but the pattern broke down anyway. 6/11

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Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

That polarized spot marks the future division plane and sets up the size difference between the two daughter cells before they even split. 5/11

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Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

We found a single protein, BdPOLAR-LIKE1 (BdPL1), is key. Right before a cell divides, BdPL1 accumulates at the bottom of the cell, like a compass needle pointing to where the small and large daughter cells will form. 4/11

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Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

This long-short pattern is a defining family trait, inherited from the common ancestor of all grasses. We asked: which molecular program actually builds this pattern, cell by cell? 3/11

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Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Look at a grass leaf's surface — wheat, rice, maize, barley, or our model grass Brachypodium — and you'll see one small specialised cell (stomata or hair cell) next to a much larger pavement cell, repeated throughout the leaf. 2/11

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Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

🌾 Every grass leaf shares the same repeating short-long cell pattern in its epidermis. Our new #preprint identifies the protein that builds it. 🔬🧬 📄 preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 🧵⬇️ 1/11

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cerealcell.bsky.social @cerealcell.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

A new publication by our RU members Michael Raissig and Lea Berg from Switzerland 🇨🇭 has been published online. 🌾Congratulations! 👏

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cerealcell.bsky.social @cerealcell.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Hurrah, it’s now official: the RU CSCS is moving into its second funding phase! 🥂 Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this success.🎉

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Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Might be time for a revival 15 years later 🤩

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Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Congratulations Michael! Fantastic news 🥳

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Isabel Monte @isabelmonte.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Are you attending the #SEBconference in person? Come join @katherinedenby.bsky.social, @thepallavisingh.bsky.social and myself for @theplantjournal.bsky.social fellows session. We will discuss about career development, postdoc-to-PI transition and publishing! Today at 13:00 in the Onice room 🌱👩‍🎓👩‍🔬👩‍💻

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Penelope Lindsay @penlindsay.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

I had a blast talking to @aribidopsis.bsky.social about my recent @newphyt.bsky.social paper! If you're eating corn this fourth of July weekend and having deep thoughts about how it grows, give our discussion a listen!

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Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

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Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Plant microscopy was well represented at the Research Day of the Microscopy Imaging Centre @unibe.ch - fantastic talk by @ncyberwitch.bsky.social and 3rd prize for best MIC image of the year for @charlotte-dlslle.bsky.social Congratulations! I'm very happy to have you both on the team 🔬🌾

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Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Finally, being a plant biologist will pay off big!!

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Heike Lindner @heikelindner.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

#EED2026 in Glasgow was my first but surely not last EED conference.What a welcoming and inspiring crowd combining plant and animal Evo-Devo,I learned so many new things.Our group went strong with great talks by @michaelraissig.bsky.social and @aemonet.bsky.social and Lidia winning the poster prize!

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Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Back from #EED2026 in Glasgow. What a wonderful, curiosity-driven, supportive community. @unibe.ch's plant development and genetics group surely made an impression with wonderful talks by @heikelindner.bsky.social and @aemonet.bsky.social and the poster prize for PhD student Lidia Hoffmann 🧬🌾🔬🌵

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JamesHartwell @jameshartwell.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

Just published in The Plant Journal: dx.doi.org/10.1111/tpj.... Jess Pritchard produced stable transgenic lines of Kalanchoë laxiflora that luminesce with circadian rhythms of luciferase activity, revealing new insights into the circadian clock control of CAM genes.

dx.doi.org

A PROMOTER::LUCIFERASE reporter system reveals key elements of the circadian regulation of Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) in Kalanchoë laxiflora Baker

Circadian rhythms of firefly luciferase in the Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) species Kalanchoë laxiflora were driven by both CAM and non-CAM gene promoters, revealing valuable new insights into ...

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New Phytologist @newphyt.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

On the cover: Maximum projection confocal micrograph of a developing maize ear primordium expressing PIP2-CFP membrane marker (cyan) and developmental receptor BAM1D-YFP (yellow). Image is courtesy of Penelope Lindsay. 📖 See Jackson et al. nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #LatestIssue

On the cover of New Phytologist volume 251, issue 1: Maximum projection confocal micrograph of a developing maize ear primordium expressing PIP2-CFP membrane marker (cyan) and developmental receptor BAM1D-YFP (yellow).

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José Dinneny @josedinneny.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

So proud to share our latest publication @CellCellPress! Yue Rui reveals that the same enzyme that makes the wall, cellulose synthase complex (CESA), also tethers the plasma membrane to the wall during water-deficit stress, providing resilience. sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

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Eva-Sophie Wallner @eswallner.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Happy to announce that I have started my own research group at the MPIPZ and that I am looking for a postdoc who would like to investigate Marchantia prothallus development with me! Please spread the word and/or apply if interested :)

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Jess Foster 🏳️‍🌈 🌱 🧪 she/her @jfplantstuff.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

this is not my ideal way of seeing my lab published in Science magazine, but, here we are. Roger is well known as a devoted life-long plant scientist, but he is also an incredible human being who shows constant kindness and encouragement to everyone around him. this is simply not fair.

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Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Thanks so much for the write-up, Montserrat López-Coria and @plantaeofficial.bsky.social - very much appreciated!! 🌵

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Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

🥳 Happy (belated) 8th Birthday to the Stomatal Biology group @unibe.ch🌾🌵 This is also the first birthday of the "Functional Anatomy of Succulents" group led by my partner-in-crime, best friend and eternal ally @heikelindner.bsky.social. Here's to many more years of adventures and joys together!

Mature leaf epidermis of the model grass Brachypodium distachyon.

Mature leaf epidemis of the model leaf succulent Kalanchoë laxiflora.

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Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Thank you for a wonderful day at @slcuplants.bsky.social - what a fantastic institute and community in a town buzzing with scientific energy both historic and modern. A special shout-out to my amazing host, friend and role model Edwige Moyroud (may the apple fall on our head as well)

Edwige and Michael in front of Newton's apple tree

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Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

This story is truly amazing! What I appreciate most is the raw phenomenon-driven approach to figure out how and why some plants make both underground and aerial fruit. Clearly, now is the time to venture beyond classical model systems 🪷🪻🎋🫛🍁🌳🌵🌱🌴 congratulations @aemonet.bsky.social

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Sebastian Soyk @sebastiansoyk.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

🚨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

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Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

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!

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