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Steven Burgess

@sjb287.bsky.social
1.7K followers 429 following 141 posts

Assistant Professor UIUC, plant biology, evolution #synbio #photosynthesis #plantscience

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Steven Burgess @sjb287.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
New paper from the Hanson lab - KO of all 11 rbcS genes (!!) in tobacco to create a null line for rubisco engineering, plus resurrection of ancestral forms 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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Steven Burgess @sjb287.bsky.social · 02/01/2026
An interesting and provocative preprint by the Johnson group that challenges the decades old hypothesis that PGR5-cyclic electron flow is required to balance ATP/NADPH requirements for carbon fixation @biorxiv-plants.bsky.social worth a read doi.org/10.1101/2025... #photosynthesis
doi.org
Disequilibrium between chloroplast proton motive force and ATP levels in Arabidopsis
Current dogma holds that CO2 fixation by photosynthesis requires additional ATP production via PGR5-dependent cyclic electron transfer (PGR5-CET) to augment the NADPH and ATP produced by linear electr...
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Steven Burgess @sjb287.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
Nice paper characterizing rubisco mutants www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
The fitness landscape of a Form II rubisco in a photosynthetic bacterium guides engineering of oxygen tolerance
Rubisco is an important but challenging protein engineering target. Fast and selective rubiscos could enhance photosynthesis in plants and accelerate biobased production processes. To facilitate engin...
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Steven Burgess @sjb287.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
#plantsynbio peeps, has anyone played around with cell penetrating peptides? some of the papers look fairly convincing for delivery of DNA e.g. 10.1021/acs.biomac.8b00323. but am curious why not used more widely. Viruses and agro are just easier for most applications?
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noam @prywes.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
🌱🚨 Funded PhD for UK students 🇬🇧🌿 Take a look at this Plant BioDesign Doctoral Training Program. Come work with me and @michaelwebster.bsky.social to study plant rubiscos. High throughput biochem at Cambridge and Cryo-EM techniques at the John Innes Centre. www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
findaphd.com
Engineering plant rubisco enzymes through high-throughput enzyme assays and cryo-EM (Plant BioDesign Cambridge project) at University of York on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - Engineering plant rubisco enzymes through high-throughput enzyme assays and cryo-EM (Plant BioDesign Cambridge project) at University of York, listed on FindAPhD.com
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René Inckemann @reneinckemann.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
Very excited to finally share my PhD paper, about advancing #chloroplast #synbio through high-throughput plastome engineering of #Chlamydomonas. Huge thanks to the whole team! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
A modular high-throughput approach for advancing synthetic biology in the chloroplast of Chlamydomonas - Nature Plants
This study reports a modular-cloning-based platform for high-throughput chloroplast engineering in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii that allows large-scale characterization of genetic parts and prototyping o...
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Matthew Terry @mjtplantbiology.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
I have a PhD studentship available to work on PIF proteins in wheat with Stephen Pearce @rothamsted.bsky.social and @colleendrapek.bsky.social at Phytoform labs. Any reposts greatly appreciated.
Advert for PhD studentship on PIF protein in wheat with Matthew Terry, University of Southampton
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闵娅(Min Ya; Minya) PhD @minyaaa.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
Very happy to share that this paper is now online on @currentbiology.bsky.social !! 🥳🧪 Check out the final published verion here: www.cell.com/current-biol... #mimuluspropaganda
cell.com
Spatiotemporal dynamics of CYCLOIDEA expression during early floral development in monkeyflower
Bilateral floral symmetry is a repeated evolutionary innovation governed by the CYCLOIDEA-dependent program, yet how the dorsal-specific CYC expression is initiated and maintained remains elusive. Min...
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Steven Burgess @sjb287.bsky.social · 23/11/2025
New preprint - it has been my sad duty to help get this out after the passing of Steve Long and Amy Marshall-Colon. Testing combined effects of VPZ phenotype and eCO2 in soy (attempt to mimic improving both light use efficiency and CO2 assimilation). What exactly VPZ is doing remains unclear 1/n
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Steven Burgess @sjb287.bsky.social · 23/11/2025
Work started by Don Ort's lab. How is rubisco activase regulated? There are suggestions that phosphorylation acts redundantly with redox to control activity. This paper shows if it does, this is likely limited to Arabidopsis. The role of PTMs (if any) in regulating Rca is still unclear #plantsci
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Steven Burgess @sjb287.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
Pls help: I've read in several papers about use of kits from "Genmed Scientifics" which is quoted as a US based company, although the city quoted varies. No amount of Google searching can actually find this company, or the kits. Does anyone know what this is? I don't think it's fraud, but its weird
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Greg Copenhaver @copenhaverlab.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
The @uncchapelhill.bsky.social Department of Biology is searching for tenure-track Assistant Professor in Plant Molecular Biology. Chapel Hill is a wonderful place and Biology is an amazing group of people. To apply, see: unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/307...
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Ben R Lee, PhD @benrlee.com · 03/10/2025
🚨 Please repost widely!🚨 I am recruiting a PhD student to join my lab next fall to work on forest and climate change ecology projects in southern Appalachia! Come join me in one of the most beautiful, biodiverse, and understudied parts of North America. Details below and happy to answer questions
An ad for a PhD position to start fall 2026 working with me at ETSU. For more info, please email at LeeBR1@etsu.edu.A close-up picture of dimpled trout lilies active in early spring, still largely surrounded by the previous year's senesced tree leaves.A beautiful vista of the Blue Ridge Mountains from on top of Carver's Gap on the border between North Carolina and Tennessee.
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Steven Burgess @sjb287.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
Interesting read -10.1093/plphys/kiaf465 "Allelic variants of IRKI contribute to photosynthetic efficiency by regulating rubisco activase in Populus" there is a lot we don't know about regulation of photosynthesis here a receptor like kinase interacting protein has a role @plantphys.bsky.social
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Lancaster Plant Biology @lancasterplantbio.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
New #PhD opportunities! NorthWestBio projects now online for 2026! Including a #photosynthesis project w/ @marjorielundgren.bsky.social looking at how photosynthetic diversity may affect future crop nutrient quality. Plant projects and the full set of projects available here: tinyurl.com/529yz4jd
tinyurl.com
FindAPhD : NorthWestBio Fully Funded Doctoral Training Programme Studentship 2026 at University of Glasgow
Apply for a PhD: NorthWestBio Fully Funded Doctoral Training Programme Studentship 2026 at University of Glasgow
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Ben Long @botbml.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
We really enjoyed putting together this Darwin Review for JXB. Fun to think about how carboxysomes work and why plants don't have them. @jxbotany.bsky.social Function, Evolution, and Future of Carboxysomes url: academic.oup.com/jxb/article-...
academic.oup.com
The Function, Evolution, and Future of Carboxysomes
Abstract. Since their discovery as rubisco-containing compartments more than 50 years ago, significant breakthroughs have advanced our understanding of car
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Xinyou Yin @xinyou-yin.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
Just came across this paper "Dual-cycle CO2 fixation enhances growth and lipid synthesis..." www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
Dual-cycle CO2 fixation enhances growth and lipid synthesis in Arabidopsis thaliana
Carbon fixation through the Calvin-Benson-Bassham (CBB) cycle accounts for the majority of carbon dioxide (CO2) uptake from the atmosphere. The CBB cycle generates C3 carbohydrates but is inefficient ...
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Steven Burgess @sjb287.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
I'm deeply saddened. A tireless champion of plant #synbio and man of integrity. His insistence on focusing on real-world problems, calling out BS and bringing together lab and Ag, industry and academia will be sorely missed
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Steven Burgess @sjb287.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
We are hiring! The #PlantBio department at UIUC is looking to recruit an Assistant Professor in Plant-Fungal interactions. Application deadline is October 31st @dallingjim.bsky.social see the link below for more details: illinois.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...
illinois.csod.com
Assistant Professor- Department of Plant Biology
Duties & Responsibilities
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Gozde Demirer @prof-gozde.bsky.social · 26/08/2025
Big news from the Demirer lab: first 4 research papers are preprinted! Check them out, feedback welcomed: eCIS for plant protein delivery: tinyurl.com/mrx4d878 R2 for targeted insertion: tinyurl.com/5n73za6h Transient expression: tinyurl.com/38p2ud6w Chemotaxis assay: tinyurl.com/3nw9haes More ⬇️
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Lars Østergaard @larsostergaard.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
👉 my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru... Join us and be part of shaping the future of #plantscience at Oxford as we move to the new Life and Mind Building lifeandmind.web.ox.ac.uk/home (recognised for its potential to change the World edition.cnn.com/2025/01/01/s...) @biology.ox.ac.uk www.biology.ox.ac.uk
my.corehr.com
'
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Sandy Hetherington @sandyheth.bsky.social · 20/08/2025
A great example of how comparative genomics across the full range of vascular plant lineages can be used as a catalyst for gene discovery! Exciting new single cell datasets for gymnosperms, ferns and lycophytes! The scale of this study is really amazing! www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
cell.com
A unified cell atlas of vascular plants reveals cell-type foundational genes and accelerates gene discovery
A cross-species single-cell atlas highlights a core subset of cell-type foundational genes associated with major vascular plant cell types, enabling the identification of hidden cell types and the dev...
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Steven Burgess @sjb287.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Assembly-dependent translational feedback regulation of photosynthetic proteins in land plants - Nature Plants
Algae fine-tune protein synthesis to assembly demands of photosynthetic complexes. In land plants, this feedback control is conserved in Rubisco and partly in photosystem II, but varies or is absent i...
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Mary Williams @PlantTeaching @plantteaching.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
#PlantScience
media.tenor.com
a small tree in a pot is dancing with its arms outstretched
Alt: a small tree in a pot is dancing with its arms outstretched
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闵娅(Min Ya; Minya) PhD @minyaaa.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
I’m proud to present the main work from my postdoc, 3+ years in making from scratch, my ultimate #MimulusPropaganda up till now: The Moment That Symmetry Breaks. #plantscience #development #imaging #microscopy 🧪🌸🔬 w. Captain Yaowu & @biancatash.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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Liana Lareau @lianafaye.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
This preprint from Helen Sakharova is one of the coolest things to come out of my lab: “Protein language models reveal evolutionary constraints on synonymous codon choice.” Codon choice is a big puzzle in how information is encoded in genomes, and we have a new angle. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
Protein language models reveal evolutionary constraints on synonymous codon choice
Evolution has shaped the genetic code, with subtle pressures leading to preferences for some synonymous codons over others. Codons are translated at different speeds by the ribosome, imposing constrai...
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Conor McClune @cmcclune.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
A truly enabling new approach by @taralowensohn.bsky.social Will Cody and @sattelylab.bsky.social to probe plant genetics at scale. Single-gene-per-cell delivery coupled to an effective transcriptional selection system www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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Elisabeth Bik @elisabethbik.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
Fantastic new paper by @reeserichardson.bsky.social et al. An enormous amount of work showing the extent of coordinated scientific fraud and involvement of some editors. The number of fraudulent publications grows at a rate far outpacing that of legitimate science. 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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Johnathan Napier @johnathan-n.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
Great to see our collaborative study with Ed Cahoon and colleagues on the front cover of PBJ, describing our successful efforts to engineer the accumulation of astaxanthin in GM camelina seeds. Astaxanthin is a ketocarotenoid that is a powerful antioxidant & used in aquaculture feeds as a pigment.
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Mary Williams @PlantTeaching @plantteaching.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
Lots of talk about teaching yesterday at #PlantBio2025. A few resources that might be useful. 1) From LUCA to Lily: 12 perspectives for teaching about plants blog.aspb.org/from-luca-to...
blog.aspb.org
From LUCA to Lily: 12 perspectives for teaching about plants | Plant Science Today
The other day I was talking to a friend about the need to demystify plants, so that teachers feel as confident in their teaching of plant biology as they do about animal biology. I wonder if sometimes...
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Mary Williams @PlantTeaching @plantteaching.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
This is a great program. We started in in 2016 and it just gets better and better! Check out some past fellows who are on Bluesky: @philcarella.bsky.social @mattbnt.bsky.social @psaima.bsky.social @fromani.bsky.social @sjb287.bsky.social @aribidopsis.bsky.social @cavycavs.bsky.social
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Maciek Wiatrak @macwiatrak.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
💥 Excited to introduce Bacformer 🦠 - the first foundation model for bacterial genomics. Bacformer represents genomes as sequences of ordered proteins, learning the “grammar” of how genes are arranged, interact and evolve. Preprint 📝: biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 🧵 1/n
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The Arabidopsis Information Resource (TAIR) @tairnews.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
"Postdoctoral Researcher in Organelle Synthe4c Biology at UC Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA" Read more here: arabidopsis.org/news/jobs/view?file… #PlantSciJobs
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Antony Dodd @antdodd.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
Two amazing opportunities at the @johninnescentre.bsky.social
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Karas Lab @karaslab.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
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Steven Burgess @sjb287.bsky.social · 13/07/2025
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Guard cells on the adaxial and abaxial leaf surfaces use different compositions of potassium ion channels to drive light-induced stomatal opening - Nature Plants
This study combines single-cell RNA sequencing, in silico OnGuard simulation and genetic modification approaches to reveal distinct compositional differences in the potassium ion channel between adaxi...
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Prof Ros Gleadow FAA 💙💚 @rgleadow.bsky.social · 12/07/2025
My department has open positions at Level B (Lecturer) or Level C (Senior Lecturer), - one position in Genomics and two in Ecology. #PlantSciJobs Applications close on Thursday 7 August Aussie time careers.pageuppeople.com/513/cw/en/jo... careers.pageuppeople.com/513/cw/en/jo...
careers.pageuppeople.com
Job Search
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Ben Long @botbml.bsky.social · 12/07/2025
A perspective: some relationships between the biochemistry of photosynthesis and the gas exchange of leaves (Planta 153, 376–387) link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
A perspective: some relationships between the biochemistry of photosynthesis and the gas exchange of leaves (Planta 153, 376–387) - Planta
The Planta paper “Some relationships between the biochemistry of photosynthesis and the gas exchange of leaves” explored the relationship between gas exchange measurements of CO2 assimilation rate and...
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Mark A. Hanson @hansonmark.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
The "reproducibility crisis" in science constantly makes headlines. Repro efforts are often limited. What if you could assess reproducibility of an entire field? That's what @brunolemaitre.bsky.social et al. have done. Fly immunity is highly replicable & offers lessons for #metascience A 🧵 1/n
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Graham Coop @gcbias.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
Looking for investors in my CRISPR company recreating the golden ram. Relive the days of Jason and the argonauts. Come get fleeced!
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Joel Sharbrough @jsharbro.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
Please RT! I'm hiring a postdoc to work in my new lab at UCSB (!) on an NSF-funded project investigating the phenotypic consequences of WGD for photosynthesis and respiration. Check out the full posting here: recruit.ap.ucsb.edu/JPF02986 And more info about the lab here: sharbroughlab.com
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Steven Burgess @sjb287.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
Nice work showing it is possible to engineer increased oxygen tolerance of fast rubiscos using in vivo directed evolution via @pnas.org doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
doi.org
In vivo directed evolution of an ultrafast Rubisco from a semianaerobic environment imparts oxygen resistance | PNAS
Carbon dioxide (CO2) assimilation by the enzyme Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate Carboxylase/Oxygenase (Rubisco) underpins biomass accumulation in photosy...
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noam @prywes.bsky.social · 05/07/2025
Specificity is still really tricky, the underlying mechanism remains almost entirely unexplained and red algal assembly is not yet understood (as you point out). But the field is moving quickly!
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Laura Gunn @laura-gunn.bsky.social · 06/07/2025
While we don't know how to assemble Griffithsia Rubisco yet, this expansion in SynBio capabilities (from Archer and friends) are very exciting - the high throughput engineering capabilities that they enable definitely bring us substantially closer to engineering higher specificity Rubisco.
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Steven Burgess @sjb287.bsky.social · 05/07/2025
Further advanced in synbio systems for expression of plant rubiscos in E. coli, exploring importance of Raf1 variants: academic.oup.com/jxb/article-... and accompanying perspective via @jxbotany.bsky.social doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
academic.oup.com
Effects of chaperone selectivity on the assembly of plant Rubisco orthologs in E. coli
We used an E. coli system to examine recognition of plant Rubisco chaperones for different Rubiscos. Identified factors influencing chaperone selectivity e
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Steven Burgess @sjb287.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
New from the Stern lab, KO of both rubisco activase isoforms in setaria. Beta necessary despite C4 pump, but role of heat inducible alpha remains enigmatic @jxbotany.bsky.social doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
doi.org
The α form of Rubisco Activase supports photosynthesis during heat stress in the absence of the β form in Setaria viridis
Abstract. Rubisco activase (RCA) facilitates the removal of inhibitors from the Rubisco active site and is essential for plant growth at atmospheric CO2. H
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Steven Burgess @sjb287.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
Seen a number of groups working on this, but impressive work to produce transgene free heritable genome editing that avoids tissue culture in monocots. Importantly has potential for a range of species www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Transgene- and tissue culture-free heritable genome editing using RNA virus-based delivery in wheat - Nature Plants
Efficient delivery systems are urgently needed for genome editing in monocot plants. Here, this study develops a system of virus-induced genome editing in tillers (ViGET) to achieve heritable editing ...
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Steven Burgess @sjb287.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
Cool preprint - what is the boundary between virus and life? Following the recent discovery of the nitroplast there are lots of interesting things to be discovered in marine microbe communities www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
A cellular entity retaining only its replicative core: Hidden archaeal lineage with an ultra-reduced genome
Defining the minimal genetic requirements for cellular life remains a fundamental question in biology. Genomic exploration continually reveals novel microbial lineages, often exhibiting extreme genome...
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Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology 🌱🧪 @mpi-mp-potsdam.bsky.social · 17/05/2025
New research by @egonzalezduran.bsky.social shows that DSB repair suppresses gene transfer from chloroplasts to nucleus. With DSB repair impaired, transfer rates jump 20× — revealing how plants protect genome stability, with lessons beyond plant biology. Read: nature.com/articles/s41477-025-02005-w
nature.com
Suppression of plastid-to-nucleus gene transfer by DNA double-strand break repair - Nature Plants
Inactivation of double-strand break repair pathways greatly increases the integration of plastid DNA into the nuclear genome of tobacco plants, highlighting the mutagenic potential of organellar DNA a...
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Sternberg Lab @sternberglab.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
1/10 Today in @science.org in collaboration with the Liu group we report the development of a laboratory-evolved CRISPR-associated transposase (evoCAST) that supports therapeutically relevant levels of RNA-programmable gene insertion in human cells. drive.google.com/file/d/1I-Ub...
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