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Mauricio Contreras

@mpcontreras.bsky.social
1K followers 369 following 78 posts

Group Leader at @zmbp-tuebingen.bsky.social NLR and effector biology Board Member @ISMPMI.bsky.social 🇦🇷🇮🇹🇨🇺

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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
bioRxiv Plant Bio @biorxiv-plants.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Convergent recognition of tobamovirus movement proteins by phylogenetically distinct NLR immune receptors www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/20…
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
Sophien Kamoun @kamounlab.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
This Is What 20 Years of Science Looks Like | Kamoun Lab Tribute Twenty years. More than a hundred people. One long-running obsession: how plants and their pathogens fight it out. #KamounLab #PlantPathology #PlantScience #OpenScience #TSL #Norwich #LabLife youtu.be/ZJtN6OBqA6Y?...
youtu.be
This Is What 20 Years of Science Looks Like | Kamoun Lab Tribute
YouTube video by KamounLab
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
International Society for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions @ismpmi.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Plant Microbe Enthusiasts! Register for our next FREE Road to Jeju Legends in IS-MPMI Webinar featuring Eva Kondorosi, happening October 28, 2026: uchicago.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
Giuliana Hessler @giurassicpark.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
🌱New preprint 🎉 I am happy to share this last work of my PhD research! We uncover a novel role of cysteine protease RD19 in immunity. RD19 regulates RBOHD-generated ROS and is required for induced resistance responses. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... More details in the thread below! 🧵
biorxiv.org
Arabidopsis cysteine protease RD19 limits RBOHD-generated ROS production in pattern triggered immunity
Plants perceive pathogenic threats through receptors localized at the plasma membrane and inside cells to initiate pattern-triggered immunity (PTI) and effector-triggered immunity (ETI), respectively....
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
bioRxiv Plant Bio @biorxiv-plants.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Effector-host networks in the barley powdery mildew pathosystem reveal significant targeting of ubiquitin-associated proteins and transcriptional regulators www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/20…
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
Yasin Dagdas @plantophagy.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
#plantsci Assistant Professor position in Canada🇨🇦 www.academicwork.ca/jobs/tenure-... Heard from a colleague that it is a very supportive department!
academicwork.ca
Tenure-Track Assistant Professor in Plant Biology
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
Isabel saur @izzysaurlab.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Great to present a major update to our manuscript: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... In collaboration with @grandpahiro.bsky.social, @sara-stolze.bsky.social, Matthieu Platre & the teams of Götz Hensel & Gunther Döhlemann we demonstrate that….. (1/x)
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
Kranzusch Lab @kranzuschlab.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Our story with @hobbslabutah.bsky.social discovering CBASS sensing of phage proteases out now in @science.org New data include CBASS recognition of diverse proteases beyond T4, and verifying CD-NTase activation loop cleavage as the trigger for defense in vivo www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
Phage proteases activate CBASS antiphage immunity
Cyclic oligonucleotide–based antiphage signaling systems (CBASS) are bacterial immune pathways evolutionarily related to cGAS-STING (cyclic GMP-AMP synthase–stimulator of interferon genes) in humans. ...
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
bioRxiv Plant Bio @biorxiv-plants.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Rice blast fungus hijacks a rice RALF peptide to initiate infection www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/20…
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
Fantin Mesny @mesny.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
5 years ago, @hacquardst.bsky.social and I became very interested in 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑠𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑎 𝑐𝑢𝑐𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑎, an emerging fungal pathogen that colonizes the roots of many plants 🌱 🍅 🌾 🆕📝 Final result of a huge team effort to uncover the bases of its multi-host compatibility👇 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Carbohydrate-active enzymes from a core root mycobiota member enable infection of multiple plant hosts - Nature Microbiology
Host-induced fungal CAZymes act as disease determinants and drive multihost compatibility.
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
Eirik Lågeide @eiriklag.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Very excited to share the first preprint from my PhD with the community! This is also the first paper from the Plant Immunogenomics group with @galofir.bsky.social, so stay tuned for more! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 1/n 🧵
biorxiv.org
NO VEIN is an ancestral immunity protein involved in plant-virus interaction
The conservation of immune systems from prokaryotes to eukaryotes can guide discovery of immunity genes across the tree of life. Most studies to date have focused on metazoan systems, while the extent...
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
International Society for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions @ismpmi.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Exciting News! Sophien Kamoun to give the Opening Keynote Lecture at the 2027 IS-MPMI Congress in Jeju Korea (18-22 July 2027). ismpmi.org/events/2027-...
ismpmi.org
2027 IS-MPMI Congress - IS-MPMI
Sophien Kamoun to give the opening keynote talk:                AI-Guided Studies of Plant Immunity Save the Date Sunday, 18 July – Thursday, 22 July Jeju, South Korea The 22nd International Congress ...
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
International Society for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions @ismpmi.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Did you miss yesterday's fantastic Legends of IS-MPMI webinar with @jonathandgjones.bsky.social? You can watch the whole thing on our YouTube channel! 👇 youtu.be/yynU5Bu8BRM?...
youtu.be
Road to Jeju Webinar by Jonathan Jones. Recognizability and Recognize-ability...
YouTube video by IS-MPMI
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
GeminiTeamLab @geminiteamlab.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Now out! Together with Kenneth Berendzen, Yu Zhou et al., in a commendable team effort, set up a FANS-FAPS protocol for the isolation of plant Cajal bodies @zmbp-tuebingen.bsky.social — revealing kingdom-specific protein composition: academic.oup.com/nar/article/...
academic.oup.com
Proteome profiling of plant Cajal bodies uncovers kingdom-specific components
Abstract. Membraneless organelles (MLOs) in eukaryotic cells, such as the nuclear Cajal body (CB), have been notoriously difficult to biochemically isolate
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
Development @dev-journal.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Pathway to Independence – an interview with Josep Mercadal In this interview, @josepmercadal.bsky.social talks about the importance of interdisciplinary diversity for developmental biology, as well as his hopes and plans for his future lab. doi.org/10.1242/dev....
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
Adam Bentham @adamrbentham.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
🚨 Please share! 🚨 I'm recruiting a fully funded 4-year Gatsby Sainsbury PhD studentship at Durham! 🌱🤖 Designing plant immune receptors from scratch, combining AI protein design with structural biology and plant immunity. If you're interested please get in touch! benthamlab.org shorturl.at/U2PdV
benthamlab.org
Bentham Lab — Durham University
Bentham Lab, Centre for Programmable Biological Matter, Durham University. Structural biology and de novo protein design applied to host-pathogen interactions, plant immunity, and neglected tropical d...
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
Mariana Schuster @marischuster.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
9 researchers from Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), including 4 Colombians awarded #ERCStg2026. euraxess.ec.europa.eu/worldwide/la... and if I get this right, 97 LAC in total have been awarded ERC grants: euraxess.ec.europa.eu/worldwide/la...
euraxess.ec.europa.eu
Nine researchers from LAC awarded ERC Starting Grants 2026
Congratulations to the nine researchers from Brazil (4), Colombia (4), and Mexico (1), who have just been awarded an ERC Starting Grant.
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
International Society for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions @ismpmi.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
🚨Reminder: Our next Legends of IS-MPMI webinar with @jonathandgjones.bsky.social is TOMORROW! The webinar is completely free and open to the public. Register using the link below👇, don't miss out!
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
International Society for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions @ismpmi.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Nominations are open for IS-MPMI’s 2027 Early Career Achievement Award​​ and the Outstanding Achievement Award. These awards recognize the outstanding science, teaching, mentoring, outreach, and service to the community of our members​. Nominate by 1 Dec, 2026. ismpmi.org/events/congr....
ismpmi.org
Awards - IS-MPMI
Nominations for the 2027 Awards are Open! IS-MPMI’s 2027 awards recognized the outstanding service, scientific innovations, and significant accomplishments of our members​ with the Early Career Achiev...
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
Juliet Coates @julietccoates.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
We are crowdfunding for a bench in a peaceful spot at Winterbourne Botanic Garden in Birmingham in memory of Philippa Borrill. Please share widely. Please email me or @drelunadiez.bsky.social for more details. 💚🌾🌿🌳 If you would like to contribute, the link is below ⬇️.
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
Katharina Melkonian @katharinamel1.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Our story on DELLA in Marchantia paleacea is now published (including few updates): doi.org/10.1111/nph.... Thanks again to all co-authors!! #PlantScience
doi.org
Stepwise evolution of the developmental and symbiotic functions of <fc>DELLA</fc> in land plants
Proposed model for the stepwise evolution of DELLA functions in the green lineage.
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
parkergroup.bsky.social @parkergroup.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Our interdisciplinary collaboration with Stephanie Kath-Schorr group characterizes Thio-pRib-AMP, an enhanced derivative of a natural plant nucleotide immune second messenger. Thio-pRib-AMP leaf spray increases plant disease resistance. Check it out: doi.org/10.21203/rs....
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
Greg Vert @plantubiquitin.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Synthetic FLS2 receptor oligomer boosts plant innate immunity | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
Synthetic FLS2 receptor oligomer boosts plant innate immunity
The gradual assembly and oligomerization of cell surface receptors are critical for regulating immune activation and turnover. Yet, how dynamic, spatiotemporally regulated assembly enables rapid and s...
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
Tonni Andersen @tonnigrubeandersen.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Check out our new preprint: a very cool fluorescence tool developed by @samwalds.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Intronised fluorophores improve reporter output and biosensor expression in plants
Genetically encoded biosensors are central to plant cell biology, but low reporter signal can limit their use. Here, we developed modular intronised fluorophores to improve reporter output in transien...
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
Sophien Kamoun @kamounlab.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Two seemingly unrelated sides of our lab collided today in the AWESOME new Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system poster: flowers 🌸 and phylogenomics 🧬 Need a new genome? Just pick up the phone and “dial-a-genome” 📞🧬 @getgenome.bsky.social www.tudelft.nl/en/hortus-bo...
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
David Hoey @davidjhoey.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
For actually constructing phylogenetic trees, I have compiled this separate repository which I have written over several years with advice and best practices for constructing phylogenetic trees. Any feedback on this is also welcome! github.com/davidjhoey/p...
github.com
GitHub - davidjhoey/plantphylo: Molecular phylogenetics guide for the assembly of gene trees. A guide to identifying homologous genes and constructing trees with command line tools. Intended as a prac...
Molecular phylogenetics guide for the assembly of gene trees. A guide to identifying homologous genes and constructing trees with command line tools. Intended as a practical guide and a teaching re...
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
beckybart.bsky.social @beckybart.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
The Department of Plant and Microbial Biology at UC Berkeley currently has two open Assistant Professor positions (aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05382 & aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05522). Interested individuals are welcome to apply to one or both searches.
aprecruit.berkeley.edu
Assistant Professor - Plant Responses to Environmental Changes - Department of Plant and Microbial Biology
University of California, Berkeley is hiring. Apply now!
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
Martin Pacesa @martinpacesa.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
ʙɪɴᴅᴄʀᴀꜰᴛ2 is out, and we're not waiting for the paper. The full code drops today, free for academic and industry use. We're releasing it early so you can start designing right now, and bring its full power to the current Adaptyv competition. github.com/PacesaLab/Bi...
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
Şuayb Üstün @suaybuestuen.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Think the proteasome & its regulation is highly conserved? Think again🔄 Our new preprint (🧵 by lead author @glangin.bsky.social 👇) reveals how gene expansion, regulatory diversification & stress-responsive specialization shaped the evolution of the proteasome in 🌱 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Gene repertoire expansion and cis-regulatory diversification shaped 26S proteasome evolution within a proteostasis-centered network
The 26S proteasome is essential for proteostasis and constitutes one of the most conserved molecular machineries in eukaryotes. Its homeostasis is maintained by a mechanistically conserved feedback lo...
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
Janani Durairaj (Jay) @ninjani.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The PhD and Postdoc application links are now live! Come join me at UNIL to work on deep learning for protein structure, interactions & design. pickybinders.org#open-positions
career5.successfactors.eu
Career Opportunities: PhD student position in deep learning for enzyme structure & catalysis (22980)
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
Sergey Ovchinnikov @sokrypton.org · 14/09/2026
Finally a more intuitaive way to learn pLDDT/pAE? 😎 sokrypton.github.io/protein_figh... (Character idea from @hannes-stark.bsky.social & Alex Waldherr)
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
Sophien Kamoun @kamounlab.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
6 years later, he has an ERC... @delaconcepcionjc.bsky.social uni-tuebingen.de/universitaet...
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
Camilla Molinari @camilla-moli.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Excited to share this pre-print from my PhD work! We explore a Pmk1-Mst12-Bip1 network required for appressorium-mediated infection by the blast fungus 🌾 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Thread 👇
biorxiv.org
A Pmk1-Regulated Mst12-Bip1 Network Coordinates Appressorium Function, Effector Deployment, and Invasive Growth by Magnaporthe oryzae
To cause rice blast disease, the filamentous fungus Magnaporthe oryzae develops a specialised infection cell called an appressorium, which generates enormous turgor to breach the rice leaf cuticle. Al...
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
Martin Steinegger 🇺🇦 @martinsteinegger.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Fold Spacer lets you fly through protein structures (Weekend project #2). It’s my first game: I originally set out to build a racer with structures as the tracks, but was a little too crazy. So it became this instead. You can upload your own structures. 🌐 martin-steinegger.github.io/Fold-Spacer/
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Andy Posbe @adnroide.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
No one remembers authorising this firmware update
Five researchers hold freshly printed immune receptor structures while the office Ricoh continues production, despite nobody remembering authorising this feature.
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Sophien Kamoun @kamounlab.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
And now The J. Colhoun Poster Award Winner!
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Andy Posbe @adnroide.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Excited to share Fold on Tight! 🎉 We distil recent advances in plant immunity into 10 lessons for using AI structure prediction critically and effectively, in plants and beyond. 📝 zenodo.org/records/2210...
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Sophien Kamoun @kamounlab.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
You saw the poster—now hear the talk! Mauricio Contreras @mpcontreras.bsky.social with Maian @maigarro.bsky.social and AmirAli @amiralito.bsky.social reveal the hidden handshake between sensors and helpers in the NRC network 🤝🌱 #BSPP26 #PPATH2026
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Nick Talbot @talbotlabtsl.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Fascinating structure-guided analysis of NRC network activation dynamics and how sensor-helper NLR interactions lead to resistosome formation in plant immunity @mpcontreras.bsky.social #PPATH2026
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Beautiful gene silencing going on in this Tobacco leaf transformed with 35S:RUBY 🧬 Looks a bit like nightsky @jasongardneresq.bsky.social
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Arvid Herrmann 🍃 @arvidhema.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Very happy to see this work out as a preprint! 🌽🌱 How are shoot stem cells specified in the maize embryo? We uncover a small RNA-driven morphogenic circuit linking positional information with auxin, cell wall mechanics & cell division patterning. Check it out 👇 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Specification of embryonic shoot stem cells via a small RNA-driven morphogenic circuit
The specification of embryonic stem cells capable of self-renewing and differentiation into virtually any cell type, is one of the most consequential events in the development of a multicellular organ...
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
Arvid Herrmann 🍃 @arvidhema.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
A little late to share this, but very happy to see our review published in JXB! We discuss how plants control which small RNAs move, where they move, and where they act....and the emerging mechanisms that give this mobility remarkable precision. academic.oup.com/jxb/article-...
academic.oup.com
Precision in motion: how plants route and control the mobility of small RNAs
Plants use mobile small RNAs to coordinate development and stress responses. Here, we review recent advances revealing mechanisms shaping the mobile sRNA p
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
Team Thomma @teamthomma.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
📣...and now for something completely different: no plant pathogens, no Verticillium, but lichens! Driven by our lichen king🤴@ciarankelly.bsky.social with help of a.o. @hroevenich.bsky.social @usadellab.bsky.social @vivienrosenthal.bsky.social Watch for more in future! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Decoupled evolution of antimicrobial repertoires in lichen-forming fungi
Lichens are stable multipartite symbioses in which a fungal mycobiont associates with one or more photosynthetic partners while hosting complex microbiomes. Secreted antimicrobial proteins (AMPs) have...
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Reposted by Mauricio Contreras
Sophien Kamoun @kamounlab.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Road to Jeju #MPMI2027 @ismpmi.bsky.social
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François Rousset @francoisrousset.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
🚨 We are excited to share the first preprint of our lab ! We discovered an NADase enzymatic domain in bacterial immunity and in the human protein TEP1. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
A widespread NADase domain links bacterial immunity with human TEP1
Recent discoveries on bacterial immunity have revealed that several protein domains involved in anti-phage defense are conserved in eukaryotes, such as SIRim, TIR, PNP and gasdermin. Bacterial immune ...
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Universität Tübingen @unituebingen.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Herzlichen Glückwunsch! 👏 Dr. Thomas Benfey vom Seminar für Alte Geschichte und Dr. Juan Carlos De la Concepción vom Zentrum für Molekularbiologie der Pflanzen werden jeweils mit einem Starting Grant des @erc.europa.eu ausgezeichnet: 👉 sohub.io/cg5w #ERC #ERCStartingGrant #Forschung
Porträtfotos von Thomas Benfey (links) und Juan Carlos De la Concepción (rechts). Text im Bild: Neue Starting Grants des Europäischen Forschungsrats gehen in die Geschichts- und Pflanzenforschung. Dr. Thomas Benfey (Seminar für Alte Geschichte) und Dr. Juan Carlos De la Concepción (Zentrum für Molekularbiologie der Pflanzen) erhalten eine hochdotierte Projektförderung.
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Fede Aballay 🇦🇷 @fedeaballay.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Thanks to the @ismpmi.bsky.social for this interview on my PhD and my research! 🧡🇦🇷 ismpmi.org/interactions...
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Tatsuya Nobori @tatsuyanobori.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Excited to launch our ERC project ImmuneCellState 🚀 We’ll investigate how individual plant cells respond to pathogens and explore new dimensions of plant immunity research by integrating single-cell/spatial omics, deep learning and genome editing. @thesainsburylab.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu
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Juan Carlos De la Concepcion @delaconcepcionjc.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Super excited of obtaining a ERCstg to support our project MORPHEUS 🎉🎉 Receiving this grant is a pivotal moment for my lab at @zmbp-tuebingen.bsky.social as will allow to extend the scope of our research in cellular reprogramming using ribosome dormancy as entry point 😴🌱❄️🔬 @erc.europa.eu
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KWS Group @kwsgroup.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
📣 We are hiring a Computational Biologist – Genome Editing Trait Discovery in Einbeck, Germany. This is an interesting role for someone with strong analytical skills and a collaborative mindset. #PlantSciJobs #AgSciJobs jobs.kws.com/job/Einbeck-...
jobs.kws.com
Computational Biologist (m/f/d) - Genome Editing Trait Discovery
Computational Biologist (m/f/d) - Genome Editing Trait Discovery
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