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Marc Somssich

@somssich.bsky.social
3.4K followers 682 following 2.7K posts

Plant Scientist R&D Trait Program Manager (Biotic Stress) @KWSGroup.bsky.social Web: linktr.ee/somssich Personal Account

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Marc Somssich @somssich.bsky.social · 12h
Really good news. Otherwise next year's competition would have been a joke (flooded with AI material).
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Karl Schmid @kjschmid.bsky.social · 14h
Pro-Tip: Don't upload your unfinished or unpublished papers to OpenAI etc.
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CEPLAS - Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences @ceplas.bsky.social · 13h
Congrats, Milena! Really well deserved!!🏆🎉
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Christophe 🔬 Leterrier @christlet.bsky.social · 13h
Nikon Small World does the right thing
nikonsmallworld.com
Nikon Small World in Motion Video Statement | News | Nikon Small World
An update from Nikon Small World regarding the 2026 Small World in Motion first-place winning video: After thoroughly re-evaluating the video and supporting materials and consulting with members of…
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Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research @mpipz.bsky.social · 18h
📣Paper Alert! 🥳 A new study @cp-cell.bsky.social from the Schulze-Lefert group @mpipz.bsky.social reveals how Arabidopsis adapts its iron acquisition strategy to soil pH, using coumarins & bacterial pathways to access this essential nutrient. 👏 👉 bit.ly/4yEU9Em #plantsci www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
cell.com
Arabidopsis uses distinct coumarins and bacterial pathways for pH-adaptive iron acquisition
Arabidopsis coordinates Fe acquisition with its root microbiota by releasing distinct coumarin chemotypes in response to environmental pH. These root-exuded specialized metabolites interact with root-...
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Gal Ofir @galofir.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
A new plant-bacteria immunological connection in the first preprint of our group at @mpi-bio-fml.bsky.social @plantevolution.bsky.social! Straight from the top of Mt. Olympus ⛰️🦅 Led by Eirik @eiriklag.bsky.social, in collaboration with @geminiteamlab.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Our preprint with the view from the top of the Olympus in the background
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Lara Van Dijck @laravdijck.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Have a look at this very cool story! #iron #PGPR #Arabidopsis
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Milena Malisic @milenamalisic.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
🌱🦠 Excited to share part of my PhD work @mpipz.bsky.social with @hotvegetables.bsky.social as co-first, in collab with @leibnizipk.bsky.social and @ceplas.bsky.social. We found that Arabidopsis and its microbiota work together to adapt iron acquisition to soil pH. www.cell.com/cell/fulltex... 🧵
cell.com
Arabidopsis uses distinct coumarins and bacterial pathways for pH-adaptive iron acquisition
Arabidopsis coordinates Fe acquisition with its root microbiota by releasing distinct coumarin chemotypes in response to environmental pH. These root-exuded specialized metabolites interact with root-...
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Mill_lab @cilialab.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Microscopy images are scientific evidence, and that image processing must be transparent and faithful to the underlying biology. Reinforce those standards, especially now-insist Nikon uphold them. #NikonSWiM2026 Read the letter: tinyurl.com/OpenLetterSW... Add your name: forms.gle/TyGRELnCxq5z...
tinyurl.com
Open letter to Nikon Small World in Motion
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Laboratory of Plant Morphodynamics @plantmorpho.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Our new Nat Plants paper introduces WALLΦ, a genetically encoded cell wall pH sensor, and reveals that root developmental zonation is independent of local cell wall pH. Wall pH supports growth at the organ level, but local growth patterns are governed by other mechanisms. doi.org/10.1038/s414...
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Marc Somssich @somssich.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Very cool 👍
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ching-hochang.bsky.social @ching-hochang.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Research is full of uncertainty, but every once in a while, nature works out exactly as you hypothesized. In 2019, while finishing my PhD, I pitched a bold idea in an email to @harmitmalik.bsky.social (below). Seven years later, it feels surreal to see that hypothesis become empirical reality. 🧵👇
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Ralph Hückelhoven @huckelhovenr.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Professorship for Plant Metabolism: www.biologie.uni-wuerzburg.de/en/about-the...
biologie.uni-wuerzburg.de
W3_Pflanzenmetabolismus - FACULTY OF BIOLOGY
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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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bioRxiv Plant Bio @biorxiv-plants.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Arabidopsis cysteine protease RD19 limits RBOHD-generated ROS production in pattern triggered immunity www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/20…
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Journal of Experimental Botany @jxbotany.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
🌱 We are hiring! 🌱 Join our team as an Assistant Editor (12-month FTC) where you will support peer review, journal meetings, content promotion and editorial development. 📅 Apply by 23 October 2026 Please share with your network! @sebiology.bsky.social @plantpostdocs.bsky.social #PlantScience 🧪
A sketch of a person reclined in a chair editing a paper.
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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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Marc Somssich @somssich.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I would use Zenodo, but this does limit visibility compared to an outlet such as bioRxiv, unfortunately.
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James Lloyd 🧬 @jamespblloyd.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I have a short one figure hypothesis paper that I would like to get out rapidly. But sadly @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social do not take hypothesis papers without new results. Does anyone have a suggestion for how I can get this idea out? It relates to the origins of complex multicellular life 
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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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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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Marc Somssich @somssich.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Job alert! We are looking for a Head of Applied Genomics in our Vegetable Division @kwsgroup.bsky.social. This is a leadership position (full-time, permanent) based in the Netherlands. A strong background in #CropGenetics and leadership experience are necessary. #PlantScienceJobs #PlantSciJobs
jobs.kws.com
Head of Applied Genomics
Head of Applied Genomics
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Journal of Experimental Botany @jxbotany.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
🚨 FINAL CALL 🚨 ⏰ Our 2027 Editorial Internship call closes TOMORROW at 23:59 BST 🌱✍️ Don’t leave it to last minute – the application takes a bit of work. You'll need: 📄 A CV 📝 A Cover letter 🔍 An Insight-style article Apply here: bit.ly/jxbinterns @sebiology.bsky.social
bit.ly
JXB Editorial Internships
About the internships The aim of these part-time internships is to provide early career researchers with experience of scientific publishing from the editorial
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Swati Mahiwal @swatimahiwal.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
PhD Defense done ✅ It was a fantastic journey! I would like to thank all the people who contributed and helped me sailing my boat! Specially PhDoffice & @tonnigrubeandersen.bsky.social for being the incredibly best supervisor and mentor! @defengshen.bsky.social for introducing me to Lotus Universe!
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Tonni Andersen @tonnigrubeandersen.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Do you want to know more about plant barriers? Read our new review, here is probably more than you ever wanted :-) . A very fun writing experience with Gwyneth Ingram: Welcome to The Junction: Polymeric extracellular interfaces and barriers in plant life academic.oup.com/jxb/article/...
academic.oup.com
Validate User
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Christophe 🔬 Leterrier @christlet.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Here's a balanced account of where the microscopy community stands on AI use by this year's Small World in Motion winner. My main issue is that no one seems to have seen the original data despite requests (no mention of it being reviewed by the organizers) www.the-scientist.com/allegations-...
the-scientist.com
Allegations of AI Use in Nikon Competition Spark Controversy | The Scientist
Microscopists raise concerns about inappropriate AI usage in Nikon's microscopy contest-winning video. Nikon stands their ground, citing no policy breach.
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Marc Somssich @somssich.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Oh no, thanks for posting.
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Andreas Schiermeyer @aschier1.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Fritz Kreuzaler passed away on September 2nd. Rest in peace, Fritz. www.biologie.rwth-aachen.de/cms/biologie...
biologie.rwth-aachen.de
Obituary for Prof. Dr. Fritz Kreuzaler | Department of Biology | RWTH Aachen University | EN
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KWS Group @kwsgroup.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Open science for plant breeding 🌱 Researchers successfully used OpenCRISPR-1, and AI-designed open-source editing system, in soybean. Tools with broader access could mean faster innovation 👇 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
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SEBiology @sebiology.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
🌱 Join the (@jxbotany.bsky.social) team as an Assistant Editor! A 12-month opportunity based in Lancaster, supporting peer review, journal meetings, content promotion and editorial development. 📅 Apply by 23 October 2026 More information: www.sebiology.org/resource/joi...
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Prof. Keiko Torii @keikoutorii.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I am proud to share my No-AI-assisted perspective review "Plant Peptide Hormones: Three Decades of Discovery and Emerging Paradigms" for the Centennial issue of @plantphys.bsky.social 🌱🍅. It's OA, so everyone can access! 1/ academic.oup.com/plphys/advan...
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MwahahahahahadScientist @mads100tist.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
This is it. This is what everyone is enabling by humoring genAI: you spend months writing something that took you years to get at, for an opaque algorithm that a few control to spit a number and cut you off right there and then. This is what we're up against 🧪
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Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU) @slcuplants.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
How do plants grow cups? Leonie Kraska shared her research at #SLS26 investigating the development and plasticity of Marchantia polymorpha gemma cups - organs with a distinct concave geometry #PlantScience
Leonie Kraska presenting at #SLS26Images of cup forms in fungi and plants - Nidulariaceae, Mitella japonica and Marchantia polymorpha
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Marc Somssich @somssich.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Leonie is also on here: @leoniekraska.bsky.social 👍
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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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Marc Somssich @somssich.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Fantastic work, Dr. @swatimahiwal.bsky.social! Congratulations!
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Rachel Wells @oilseedrachel.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Very happy to share our latest work on FLC and seed size in Brassica. FLC does not just have an effect on flowering. Two copies also show increased expression reaching a maximum in seed. Variation is associated with the sensitivity of seed size to vernalisation. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
FLOWERING LOCUS C orthologues with expression maxima in seeds are associated with an effect of vernalisation intensity on seed size Brassica napus | Seed Science Research | Cambridge Core
FLOWERING LOCUS C orthologues with expression maxima in seeds are associated with an effect of vernalisation intensity on seed size Brassica napus
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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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MwahahahahahadScientist @mads100tist.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
You know what's also interactive? Reading the paper. Talk to your colleagues about the paper you just read. Tell them why you loved it. Tell them why you hated it. And even better: invite the authors to talk about their paper 🧪
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RDP lab @rdplab.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
🔬 New collaborative preprint ➡️ A versatile triple fluorescent marker for live imaging of plant cell membranes, nuclei and microtubules” 🌱 Work led by Magalie Uyttewaal & colleagues @ijpb-versaillescly.bsky.social 📄 doi.org/10.64898/202...
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Pingtao Ding (he/him) @dinglab.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Two back-to-back publications about transcriptional regulations of SA-mediated activation of plant immunity from Nin Zheng’s lab and Yuelin Zhang’s lab www.nature.com/articles/s41... www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Transcriptional activation of plant immunity by salicylic acid - Nature
A mechanistic basis for how the hormone salicylic acid promotes transcriptional activation during plant immune responses is described.
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Marc Somssich @somssich.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
I really wish more plant scientists, and especially influential big name plant scientists, would publish with eLife. Their new publishing model is a fantastic way forward and to get us out of the #ScientificPublishing mess we have gotten ourselves into and to which we claim we are held hostage.
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Marc Somssich @somssich.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
First funding agencies are accepting it. I'm pretty sure that @dfg.de and @embo.org accept reviewed preprints like in elife as full publications in their proposals. I think the researchers are a bigger hurdle than the funding bodies...
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Mary Williams @PlantTeaching @plantteaching.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Many of you may have heard the terrible news of Dr. Meng Chen's sudden death. I just found this tribute from UC Riverside cnas.ucr.edu/news/2026/09... and a beautiful review article he contributed to @plantphys.bsky.social earlier this year, "25 years of photobodies" doi.org/10.1093/plph... 💔
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Tora Økland 🌱 @receptora.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
That's a wrap on #PPRM2026 ! Had a lot of fun with a community of researchers I really admire and appreciate, and was happy to have the chance to show what we work on. You can read the preprint on some of what I presented here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Evolutionary diversification of the SymRK receptor family in land plants
Plant receptor-like kinases (RLKs) are involved in diverse processes, ranging from growth and reproduction to interactions with microbes. Variation in the extracellular domains delineates several RLKs...
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Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft @dfg.de · 16/09/2026
Informationen zum neuen DFG-Programm "Open Access-Publikationsförderung" finden sich auch in der aktuellen 'Info für die Wissenschaft': www.dfg.de/de/aktuelles... Wer schon direkt ins Merkblatt schauen möchte: www.dfg.de/resource/blo...
dfg.de
Neues Förderprogramm „Open-Access-Publikationsförderung“
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Elke Barbez @elkebarbez.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
How is CRISPR embedded in society—and how can it change agriculture? 🌱🧬 Ursula Franklin argued long before CRISPR-Cas that technologies are shaped by the systems around them: regulation, access and trust! rdcu.be/xuiHDM7EB5Ka #NGT @kleinevehnlab.bsky.social @cibss.bsky.social @uni-freiburg.de
rdcu.be
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CIBSS – Centre for Integrative Biological Signalling Studies @cibss.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
CRISPR can change plants—but will it change agriculture? 🌱🧬 In a new Nature Plants Correspondence, #CIBSS researchers discuss how regulation, access, commercialisation and public trust shape the real-world impact of genome editing 🚜. 🔗Read more: rdcu.be/xuiHDM7EB5Ka
Female researcher looking at plants. Quote: "We know that CRISPR can change plants. The question is how it will change agriculture."
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Nature Plants @natplants.nature.com · 15/09/2026
Xu Wang (Schaller's lab), giving a talk at #PPRM2026 about new systemins in tomato, reminds us of the 1991 Science paper from Clarence Ryan's lab that basically started the whole field: 2 kg of tomato leaves to finally extract 1 ug of systemin. Amazing biochemistry. www.science.org/doi/epdf/10....
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PlantEvolution 🌱🌾 @plantevolution.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Please consider submitting comments on the implementation for genome edited plants in the EU. Reminder: this is not the place for general statements regarding your personal vie of #NGT. Instead, the Commission is asking for input for the development of workable rules.
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