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Nikolas Chaves

@nikolaschaves.bsky.social
162 followers 313 following 94 posts

karaoke singer and 🇧🇷 Brazilian plant pathologist. molecular plant-bacteria interactions

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Reposted by Nikolas Chaves
The Lolgic @thelolgic.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Brazil is prepping sweet potatoes and chickpeas for the Moon and Mars to feed astronauts and help Earth adapt to climate change. Scientists expose seeds to gamma rays to screen random mutations. Both flew on a Blue Origin rocket! #TheLolgic #SpaceFarming #Agronomy
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Reposted by Nikolas Chaves
Joint Genome Institute @jgi.doe.gov · 03/08/2026
Interested in working with the JGI and never led a proposal with us? Now is your chance! We are accepting submissions to our New Investigator call for first-time PIs. Deadline to submit is Sept. 9. jointgeno.me/CSPnewPI @berkeleylab.lbl.gov @biosci.lbl.gov
jointgeno.me
CSP New Investigator Call | Joint Genome Institute
The CSP New Investigator Call is for investigators and research initiatives new to the JGI. Projects must be independent of ongoing JGI proposals, and lead PIs cannot have been lead PI on any previous...
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Reposted by Nikolas Chaves
Phytopathology® @phytopathology.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Wheat blast is a major threat to wheat production in tropical and subtropical regions of Brazil. Monalisa C. De Cól et al. investigated the genetic structure and spatiotemporal dynamics of #Pyricularia oryzae Triticum in Minas Gerais, Brazil: doi.org/10.1094/PHYTO-12-25-0383-R
Fig. 1. Locations of 12 sampled wheat fields across municipalities (dots) in the South-Central and Triângulo Mineiro regions of Minas Gerais State, Brazil, collected in 2019 by Ascari et al. (2024).
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Reposted by Nikolas Chaves
International Society for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions @ismpmi.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Important news! The new ISMPMI website is live! Visit the site to get society news, watch posted videos, listen to our podcasts, become or manage your membership and more. ismpmi.org
ismpmi.org
IS-MPMI - International Society for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions
Diverse Backgrounds Common Interests Connecting leading scientists and researchers around the world in microbiology, nematology, plant pathology, developmental biology, genetics, genomics, proteomics,...
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Definitely 💚💛! However, given Brazil performance, it would have been better to have listened to Dr Innes
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Reposted by Nikolas Chaves
T3SS @t3sss.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Flagellar system translocates T3SS effectors critical for Salmonella infection www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Flagellar system translocates T3SS effectors critical for Salmonella infection
Type 3 secretion system (T3SS) injectisomes, the essential virulence factors of many bacterial pathogens, are thought to have evolved from the flagellar T3SS. Despite their high degree of structural s...
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
This brochure is, undoubtedly, a memento of one of the most beautiful moments I’ve had so far in my professional life 🥲. It was created by students of a small school in Pará state, Brazil. High school students shared with familiars (small farmers) what they learned about the cassava 'witches broom'.
Translating from Portuguese to English:

"DO YOU ALREADY HEARD ABOUT THE CASSAVA WITCHES' BROOM DISEASE?

A fungus from Asia destroyed cassava plantations in the Brazilian North region."
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
What catches me most is the fact that this behaviour is so widespread that punitive measures are necessary...
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
[6/6] How much data are we missing by relying on symptom-based diagnostics? Lesson learned: not every yellow phytopathogenic bacterium is Xanthomonas. 🧐 Now, every time I see a spotted mango leaf on the ground, I wonder who’s really living there?
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
[5/6] Giving up on our Xanthomonas bias paid off. We identified Burkholderia contaminans and two potentially new species of Sphingomonas and Microbacterium 🦠✨! Nature is much more diverse than our presumptions suggest.
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
[4/6] We tested pathogenicity before identification. All strains were HR-positive in tobacco and reproduced field symptoms in 'Ubá' leaves! 🤯 Three new Xanthomonas lineages? No! 16S confirmed: Burkholderia, Sphingomonas, and Microbacterium. The Xanthomonas lookalike club.
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
[3/6] 16S sequencing pointed to Burkholderia. Our first thought? "That’s wrong. Where are the Xanthomonas?🤡" We re-isolated everything in the old and new field samples. Different samples, same result: three groups of yellowish colonies, none of them was what we expected.
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
[2/6] We received 'Ubá' mango leaves with black spots identical to those caused by #Xanthomonas. Odd, since 'Ubá' mango is known to be resistant. We isolated yellowish colonies, but PCR tests for Xanthomonas came back... empty. No amplification. 🤨
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Mango foliar black spots: how three bacteria fooled plant bacteriologists? 🌱🦠🧪 A "detective story" from our recent work at Badel’s lab. Spoiler: appearances can be very deceiving. Open Access: doi.org/10.1111/jph.... [1/6] 🧵
doi.org
Three Distinct Species Cause Bacterial Leaf Spots in ‘Ubá’ Mango in Zona da Mata, Minas Gerais, Brazil
‘Ubá’ mango is a fruit crop of great value for farmers in the Zona da Mata region of Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Organic farmers from this region recently reported a severe outbreak of foliar black s...
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Cacao trees planted in fields infested with Cassava Witches' Broom Disease can exhibit similar symptoms. Supposedly, Rhizoctonia theobromae from cassava may also be a causal agent of disease in South American cacao.
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Scientific colonialism. The same applies to molecular studies on Amazonian species. Most authors are from institutions in São Paulo, or even Europe and North America.
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Malleus Maleficarum 🔨: seeking witches' brooms on cupuassu. Mushrooms come around April-March. This is my in situ lab.
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Reposted by Nikolas Chaves
Zach Hansen @plantdiseaseguy.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Hello friends of science! I’m migrating over here from X. There, I had 3,000 followers enjoying plant pathology content! Please help me rebuild. I’ll post plant disease photos, management info, science & nature content. Kicking off with some tomato late blight caused by Phytophthora infestans.
Tomato leaves with late blight caused by Phytophthora infestans
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
What a difference! I did used SEM years ago looking at the effect of essential oils on plant pathogenic bacteria biofilms. I always worried about sample integrity. Despite my effort, so much of the biofilm was washed away during prep.
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Reposted by Nikolas Chaves
Sebastian Schornack @dromius.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
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
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
I'm always arguing that singing karaoke has helped me with my science. Colleagues just laugh... 😅🤷‍♂️
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Reposted by Nikolas Chaves
Mohammad Hosseini @mhmdhsini.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
Iranians are experiencing a collective trauma. Thousands have been killed/injured in recent events, the economy is crippled & the threat of a wider conflict is real. This is especially difficult for those living in Iran, as many have lost (or fear losing) loved ones. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
This work provides a roadmap of the CBB-associated Xanthomonas effector repertoire, raising new questions about host-pathogen interactions. Read the full Open Access paper (free until March 14): authors.elsevier.com/a/1mUpV39MrQ... I'm open to discussion! What are your thoughts? 💭
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
The conserved effectors likely point to a convergence in how these bacteria adapted to the common bean. However, the exclusive T3SEs we identified may explain the divergent phenotypes observed in our model strains.
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
We performed the first comprehensive mining of T3SE genes in CBB pathogens. Surprisingly, we found a high number of conserved T3SE families across both species, suggesting a significant overlap in their molecular toolkit.
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
The core genome phylogeny showed no geographical clustering. This confirms that CBB dissemination is likely driven by the international trade of contaminated seeds rather than local evolution.
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Our pangenomic analysis revealed higher diversity in Xpp (b) compared to Xcf (a). This aligns with Xpp's known higher aggressiveness and virulence variability.
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Common Bacterial Blight (CBB) is caused by two distinct species: X. citri pv. fuscans (Xcf) and X. phaseoli pv. phaseoli (Xpp). Despite the same disease, we demonstrate that they interact differently with host genes. So, we set out to map their genomic similarities and differences.
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Just published: "Pangenomic and type III secretion effector repertoire differences and commonalities between Xanthomonas that cause common bacterial blight in common bean." A deep dive into the genomic diversity of two key Xanthomonas species. 🧵 #PlantPathology #Xanthomonas 🧪🌱🦠
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
Four months ago, I shared this post. This week, I was at a field day representing Embrapa in a strategic meeting to discuss Cassava Witch's Broom. I continue to advocate for collaborative research that integrates farmers' observations with scientific data to safeguard our crops. 🌱🧪
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
OMG! It's time to go to Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris again! 🌱🦠😅
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
Homework: BLAST the sequences of my 'novel' R genes before publishing.
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Reposted by Nikolas Chaves
Tiffany Lowe-Power stands with Minnesota @tlowepower.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Please repost: Undergraduates (globally) can receive free membership in the professional scientific society for plant pathogens, the American Phytopathological Society (APS). This society provides excellent professional development. www.apsnet.org/members/comm...
apsnet.org
Borlaug’s Army: an undergraduate membership initiative of the American Phytopathology
Borlaug’s Army: an undergraduate membership initiative of APS....Welcome to Borlaug’s Army —a recruitment, engagement, and outreach initiative of the American Phytopathological Society.  Free membersh...
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
🧵 [2/2] 2. Copy the palette HEX codes to davidmathlogic.com/colorblind and observe the palette under different types of colorblindness. Adjust the colors with the cursor to improve distinguishability. 3. You can easily use the color HEX codes in #ggplot. 🧪
davidmathlogic.com
Coloring for Colorblindness
This interactive visual tool lets you see how accessible your color palettes are to viewers who are colorblind.
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
For an easy color choosing for scientific figures 🧪 considering colorblind accessibility: 1. Pick your favorite color at www.figma.com/color-wheel/ and choose a palette scheme (for example, set “Complementary” for 2 colors or “Square” for 4 complementary colors). 🧵 [1/2] #AcademicSky
figma.com
Color Wheel - Complimentary Color Generator | Figma
Figma’s free color wheel tool makes it easy to create professional color palettes. Choose from a variety of color schemes and start designing right away!
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
Wearing this badge with so much pride! I am now a Plant Bacteriology researcher at Embrapa (the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation)! 🥳 This is an important step for me, and I'm looking forward to contributing to my country 🤞. #newPI
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
I believe in the Xanthomonas supremacy in plant bacteriology! 🦠🧎‍♂️
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Reposted by Nikolas Chaves
Sophien Kamoun @kamounlab.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
3 unexpected things we owe to the plant pathogenic bacterium Xanthomonas kamounlab.medium.com/3-unexpected...
kamounlab.medium.com
3 unexpected things we owe to the plant pathogenic bacterium Xanthomonas
I have a special relationship with the bacterium Xanthomonas. As a grad student at UC Davis, I did my thesis research on Xanthomonas…
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
"1 is blue" 🤣. Maybe the first black people will appear in the next slide update
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Wait! So I could be a mermaid 🧜‍♀️ in Copacabana beach right now? Not bad, huh?
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
yes. totally. the philosopher may have had the wrong idea at her first glance, though
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
collecting my last common bean seeds for the common bacterial blight resistance breeding program. This sounds like the ending of my PhD... cause it is
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
This morning reading: The beginner's charm ✨️ in Science 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Want to do disruptive science? Include more rookie researchers
Papers from research teams with a substantial number of beginners are highly disruptive and innovative, study shows.
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
guess the tomato bacterial spot severity note!
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
some philosophers use biological science concepts with mastery; some others do not. I was reviewing a quote suggesting an opposition between symbiosis and Darwinian evolution. do some of you agree with it? 🤔
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
I found this problem with one of them, a Microbacteriaceae. For them, gyrB and recA are reliable for taxonomy. The solution was to consider that trash data as... trash data. I chose to cite it in my discussion; I think that the proper behaviour is to honestly announce the published wrong 🤷‍♂️.
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Nice to read from you, Omid. Thank you for your insights. There, I am referring to a lateral work that I am conducting. In it, I am investigating the etiology of a bacteriosis reported by farmers in Brazil. We find at least three bacteria involved in disease.
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
After this consideration, I still consider this sequence a putative essential enhancer. By the way, it had become a pleasant exercise, something like a tabletop RPG on science concepts. 😅
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 07/09/2025
A modern example of the social impact of plant diseases. There are reports of "improvised" experiments conducted by small farmers by themselves to find solutions. Great to see farmers trusting in science. I hope that we deal with it quickly. 🧪
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Nikolas Chaves @nikolaschaves.bsky.social · 07/09/2025
[Cassava Witches Broom Disease: Fungus threatens cassava and the diet of indigenous people in Amapá, Brazil]. Vassoura-de-bruxa: Fungo ameaça mandioca e alimentação de indígenas no Amapá g1.globo.com/jornal-nacio...
g1.globo.com
Vassoura-de-bruxa: Fungo ameaça mandioca e alimentação de indígenas no Amapá
A extensa fronteira do Brasil com a Guiana Francesa foi a porta de entrada do fungo que já se espalhou por oito dos 16 municípios do Amapá e coloca estado em situação de emergência
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