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Michael Prigge

@mjprigge.bsky.social
2.2K followers 1.5K following 303 posts

Scientist at Living Sensors in Riverside, California. Formerly, Estelle lab/UCSD (how auxin regulates transcription across land plants, from receptors to pol II). Moss⬌Arabidopsis. Grew up in Minnesota, attended/worked at UMinn, UO, UM, IU, and UCSD

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Michael Prigge @mjprigge.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Learning Safari's "Open in News" trick may have prevented me from getting frustrated and giving up on Apple News for like the 5th time.
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The Associated Press @apnews.com · 18/09/2026
For years, scientists have explored ways to remove carbon from the atmosphere. Now, researchers are testing whether deeper root systems could become another tool to absorb more carbon.
bit.ly
Scientists hope deeper-rooted soybeans can withstand climate extremes and store more carbon
For years, scientists have explored ways to remove carbon from the atmosphere, including through direct air capture, changes to ocean chemistry so seawater can absorb more carbon and reforestation.
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Michael Prigge @mjprigge.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
After ~30 years of transforming Agro with the freeze-thaw method, I finally directly compared resuspending in CaCl2 versus LB. LB aliquots gave ~3x as many colonies.
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Plant Physiology @plantphys.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
A conserved role of EIN3 in the development of rooting structures in land plants (Dongdong Kong , Jie Meng , Yidong Wang , Jiao Liu , Wenxiu Cui , Legong Li , Chuanli Ju) doi.org/10.1093/plph... #PlantScience @aspbofficial
doi.org
A conserved role of EIN3 in the development of rooting structures in land plants
The ethylene signaling transcription factor EIN3 regulates rooting structure development in a conserved manner in land plants.
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Michael Prigge @mjprigge.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
ApE users: Does anyone know a work-around for opening the .ab1 files from some whole-plasmid sequencers? ApE can open files from @plasmidsaurus.bsky.social but not two others. (Other apps can open them all, but can't align them like ApE.)
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Michael Prigge @mjprigge.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
When Roombas are outlawed, only outlaws will have Roombas.
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Mo Khalil @mokhalil.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
🌱🚨 Very proud and excited to share our PREPRINT, unveiling an advance for plant science, biotech, & synthetic biology in the first (of many) Khalil <> Gehring collaborations! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Rational design of T-DNA vectors enables predictable, single-copy integration in Arabidopsis thaliana
Agrobacterium -mediated transformation is the dominant method for plant transgenesis, yet it frequently produces multi-copy, structurally complex T-DNA insertions associated with transgene silencing, ...
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bioRxiv Plant Bio @biorxiv-plants.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
Hormone-dependent receptor docking controls calcium channel activity in plants www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/20…
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Michael Prigge @mjprigge.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Czechia has been pronounced as “Chechnya” by three people at NBC4-LA in their sports coverage. I’m thinking the last guy was finally corrected as he said “Czech Republic” when they returned to him. Ooof.
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George R. L. Greiff @ilichenmoss2.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Happy to announce our study that has just been published from work done during my PhD at the University of Bristol working in Prof. Jill Harrison's lab. It's about WOX genes and sporophyte development in the model moss, Physcomitrium patens. Take a look 🧵👇
A wild-type shoot with a single apical sporophyte (left) beside a Ppwox13lc mutant with three sporophytes on the same shoot (right).
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Current Biology @currentbiology.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Here is some weekend reading for you 👉 www.cell.com/current-biol... Our special green issue, chokeful of reviews and short-format introductory pieces on plant #evolution! 🌱🌿🌵🍃 #Plants
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bioRxiv Plant Bio @biorxiv-plants.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Rational design of T-DNA vectors enables predictable, single-copy integration in Arabidopsis thaliana www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/20…
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Wolfgang Busch @rootstrapping.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
We know a lot about how roots grow but far less about why they stop, decline and die. In our recent @theplantcell.bsky.social review, Feng Qin connects the biology of root growth and root aging, highlighting opportunities to extend root function, enhance crop productivity, and increase soil carbon.
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Michael Prigge @mjprigge.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Zhaonan's Arabidopsis follow-up to our previous paper on moss and maize Class B ARFs is out! She focused on AtARF2 and ETTIN/AtARF3. Mutational analyses of an instability domain reveal its conserved role in the regulation of class-B ARF levels in Arabidopsis | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
pnas.org
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
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Michael Prigge @mjprigge.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
I can’t wait for this election to be over. A local candidate for the state senate spent a lot of money running an extremely disturbing TV ad consisting of bodycam audio of him (a former cop) calmly shooting a guy.
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Michael Prigge @mjprigge.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
FYI: The bpm single/double/triple mutants, BPMx-GFP lines, and degron reporter lines are now available at ABRC
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Michael Prigge @mjprigge.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Wow, a story on plant genome duplications made it into NPR's 5 minute News Now summary! It even includes a sound bite from a plant biologist, @yvdp.bsky.social! (7PM EDT episode) www.npr.org/podcasts/500...
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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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bioRxiv Plant Bio @biorxiv-plants.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
REVOLUTA regulates cell fate and wall patterning in the fruit endocarp www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/20…
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Michael Prigge @mjprigge.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
I hope none of the former Estelle lab members wanted to rescue their old boxes of seeds and plasmids! Also, I learned today that metal paper clips cannot go in biohazard waste, so I'm slightly annoyed with the many large boxes in which every envelope was paper clipped. Luckily, have help.
Picture of 55-gallon biohazard bin filled with packets of seeds with a gallon of paper clips that were removed perched on top.
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Michael Prigge @mjprigge.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
My mom worked at the bubble school in the upper right!
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Daniel Kierzkowski @kierzkowskilab.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Do you want to know how to build an organ from a single cell? Check out our paper about phyllid development in moss by Weney Lin @irbv.bsky.social Colaboration with Yoan Couder @ensdelyon.bsky.social and and Richard Smith @johninnescentre.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
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Sergey Kryazhimskiy @skryazhi.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
It looks like there will be an open postdoc position in my lab soon. I'll be looking for someone with substantial wet-lab experience in microbiology / microbial ecology / evolution / physiology. If everything goes well, an ad will be coming. But if you know someone, ask them to reach out already.
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Michael Prigge @mjprigge.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
The last gel in the long history of the Estelle lab just became the penultimate gel when I got distracted and ran it too far.
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Belén Borniego @belenborniego.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
🚨📢 Excited to share our back-to-back publications in @natcomms.nature.com! 🧬🌡️ In a fantastic collaboration between @casallab.bsky.social and @luciastrader.bsky.social, we’ve showed how plants "re-tune" the auxin pathway to regulate growth in response to warmth. 🌡️🌱 🧵 rdcu.be/fayYC, rdcu.be/fay0X
rdcu.be
Thermosensory reconfiguration of the auxin transcriptional pathway to drive root cell growth
Nature Communications - While auxin typically inhibits root cell growth, elevated temperatures reconfigure the auxin transcriptional pathway to promote elongation. This study reveals how plants...
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The Onion @theonion.com · 24/03/2026
Leaf That Came Out Too Early Cold As Shit
Leaf That Came Out Too Early Cold As Shit
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Dolf Weijers @dolfweijers.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
Previously on @biorxiv-plants.bsky.social now in final published version: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Diversification of functional requirements for proteolysis of auxin response factors - Nature Communications
Auxin-dependent ARF transcription factors are subject to proteolytic degradation. Using the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha, de Roij et al. show that this degradation evolved early in the ARF family, ...
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Michael Prigge @mjprigge.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
I'm going through and updating my moss genes' GeneIDs to the Ppv7 annotations. After all of the gaps in v3 and the occasional sequence jumbles in v6, v7 is perfect as far as I can tell! I only wish it was more easily available.
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PM Delaux @pierremarcdelaux.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
⚠️⚠️ @jacquet-chris.bsky.social and I are organizing the 2nd "non seed plant" French meeting. As for the one in 2025, the goal is to better structure our emerging community across French institutes. It will take place in Toulouse, June 24th-25th. Registration 🔽 nonseedplants26.sciencesconf.org
nonseedplants26.sciencesconf.org
Annual non-seed plant meeting 2026 - Sciencesconf.org
Siencesconf.org
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bioRxiv Plant Bio @biorxiv-plants.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Near-equiprobable binary branching decisions underlie filament patterning in the moss Physcomitrium patens www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/20…
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Michael Prigge @mjprigge.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Ugh, whole-plasmid sequencing was supposed to SAVE time. We've been burned by an oddly optimistic base caller. Almost two-thirds of the reads had a GGA → TGA nonsense mutation, but it called it GGA. Of course, we did our experiment with a TGA colony. @genewiz.bsky.social
Chromatogram from Azenta whole-plasmid sequencing showing a position with 63% "T" and 37% "G" reads but called "G"
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Michael Prigge @mjprigge.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
I was saddened to belatedly learn last week of the passing of another moss great last year. Neil Ashton was the original moss auxin-mutant guy, and I am heavily indebted to his generosity and correspondence for the last two decades. leaderpost.remembering.ca/obituary/nei...
leaderpost.remembering.ca
Neil William Ashton Obituary | 2025 - 2025 | Regina Leader Post Remembering
View Neil William Ashton's complete obituary, share memories, and explore 6 tribute posts from the community.
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Michael Prigge @mjprigge.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Bittersweet milestone: I think I wrapped up my last ever set of moss DNA preps/genotyping PCR. Nice note to end on; I got a great efficiency—44% of the transformants appear to have clean deletions of the entire gene that was targeted (5.9 & 6.8 kb deletions).
PCR genotyping gel for 16 CRISPR'd moss transformants showing bands indicating ~5900 bp deletions (top comb) and bands indicating a still-intact gene (bottom comb). 7 of 16 plants appear to have clean full-gene deletions.
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Eugene Plavskin @mossomest.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
I cold-emailed Ralph as a second-year grad student: I wanted to work on moss but had no idea what I was doing. He invited me to spend weeks in his lab, joined my committee, and supported me throughout my PhD - my thesis project would 100% not have been possible without his generosity and kindness
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Michael Prigge @mjprigge.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Ralph was incredibly generous when I wanted to start working on moss. He invited me to visit his lab for a day and talk to/shadow people in his lab.
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Michael Prigge @mjprigge.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Tuned in to the Czechia v Korea baseball game from the Tokyodome, and saw a UCSD grad hit a home run.
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Katharina Melkonian @katharinamel1.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
1/ ✨ New preprint alert ✨ It is my pleasure to share: "Stepwise evolution of the developmental and symbiotic functions of DELLA in land plants" Here we investigated the role of the single GRAS transcription factor DELLA in #MyMarchantia doi.org/10.64898/202... #PlantScience A thread...
doi.org
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Rhododendron @heyrhododendron.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
One of THE BEST rhododendron songs, in my opinion, and this live version is - chefs kiss 😘 - outta sight! The lyrics speak to the big mysteries of rhododendron and give a sense as to why the plants have been so special to humans for millennia Im delighted they chose it for their live album!
youtu.be
Hurray for the Riff Raff - Rhododendron (Live at Old Town School of Folk Music)
YouTube video by Hurray for the Riff Raff
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Yuki Yamashita @ydymst.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
How should I keep spores of Marchantia polymorpha subsp. ruderalis? Although I have kept them at -30˚C for 1-2 months, they don't germinate so far.
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Ralf Reski @reskilab.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Please check out: Functional characterisation of Target of Rapamycin (TOR) signalling in #Physcomitrella We found a remarkable evolutionary conservation of this central #signalling hub, but also specific differences, esp. in RAPTOR. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
Functional characterisation of Target of Rapamycin (TOR) signalling in Physcomitrella - Plant Cell Reports
Key message The evolutionary conserved TOR kinase positively controls growth and development of the moss Physcomitrella, development and function of its chloroplasts, its protein synthesis, and cell-c...
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Ralf Reski @reskilab.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
Great method development! tRNA-based polycistronic CRISPR/Cas9 system boosts efficiency of multi-gene deletion in the #moss #Physcomitrella link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
tRNA-based polycistronic CRISPR/Cas9 system boosts efficiency of multi-gene deletion in the moss Physcomitrella - Plant Methods
CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing in the model bryophyte Physcomitrium patens (commonly known as Physcomitrella) is widely used for gene knockout via small insertions or deletions (indels). In this stu...
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Ralf Reski @reskilab.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
Insightful new papers on #auxin, brilliantly compiled by @jillharrison.bsky.social. Evolution and development: What makes a merry stem? www.cell.com/current-biol...
cell.com
Evolution and development: What makes a merry stem?
From tiny mosses to giant redwoods, around 450,000 species of land plants show a huge variety of forms, yet all land plants develop from stem cells in proliferative meristems. What makes a meristem? T...
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microPublication Biology @micropub7n.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
Cytokinin signaling mediated by KMD2 promotes Arabidopsis hypocotyl grafting success #micropublication #biology #data #caltechlibrary #Arabidopsis #Methods #UndergraduateResearchExperience #NewFinding micropublication.org/journals/biolo…
Figure 1
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New Phytologist @newphyt.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
B‐GATA factors are required for nitrogen‐responsive growth in Physcomitrium patens and Arabidopsis thaliana Zappone et al. nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Characterization of Physcomitium patens Ppb-gata mutant phenotypes.
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Michael Prigge @mjprigge.bsky.social · 11/01/2026
Hmmm, in the same week one company posted their fastest turnaround on my whole-plasmid sequencing (4h 33m), a local company started offering it for one-third their price ($4.99/plasmid ≤10kb).
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Sophien Kamoun @kamounlab.bsky.social · 11/01/2026
An in planta single-cell screen to accelerate functional genetics--very cool application of the TMV vector pTRBO by Elizabeth Sattely’s Lab 😎 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
An in planta single-cell screen to accelerate functional genetics
Genetic screens in whole plants are a powerful tool for functional genetics. However, elucidating gene function in highly redundant genetic programs such as signaling pathways remains challenging in b...
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Juan Alonso-Serra @jalonsos.bsky.social · 11/01/2026
Great project and super nice working environment 👇
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Mike Luckovich @mluckovich.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
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Michael Prigge @mjprigge.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
Made it to my second NFL game
View of US Bank Stadium from the Minnesota Viking’s end zone at the end of the third quarter
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