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Rainer Melzer

@ucdflowerpower.bsky.social
1.4K followers 1.9K following 244 posts

Associate Professor at UCD Dublin. Plant genetics & development. Crops, agriculture, hemp, cereals. Evo-devo, transcription factors. My views.

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Reposted by Rainer Melzer
Mike Wiser @drmikewiser.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Question for the hive mind: If I wanted to buy a bunch of individually wrapped butter packets -- the kind you can get at a diner, bakery cafe, etc -- where would I do that? I checked out both the local Gordon Food Services and Amazon, and couldn't really find what I was looking for.
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Rainer Melzer @ucdflowerpower.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Fantastic review with a new perspective on MADS box genes and floral organ development.
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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
It's Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) migration season in Texas. At least 90% of all southward migration passes through Texas, either along the coast, or through central Texas. They'll overwinter in Mexico, then return. Let's talk about the utter weirdness of generational migration.
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Rainer Melzer @ucdflowerpower.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Die Iden des Merz?
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Journal of Experimental Botany @jxbotany.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
🥬🕐 RESEARCH 🕐🥬 Most cultivated lettuce varieties have a 27 h internal clock but are grown under 24 h light cycles. Anton-Sales et al. confirm circadian resonance effects in a crop species and demonstrate yield increases of 11–29% 🥬📈 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/... #PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 3.Visual tipburn severity scale used for lettuce phenotyping. Representative photographs of lettuce plants illustrating the six-point tipburn scoring scale, ranging from 0 (no tipburn symptoms) to 5 (severe tipburn with extensive necrosis of inner leaves). Score 0 indicates healthy plants with no visible damage; scores 1–2 reflect early-stage symptoms with minor marginal browning on young leaves; scores 3–5 represent progressive necrosis affecting an increasing proportion of the inner canopy and considered unmarketable (severe tipburn). Scale bar=10 cm.
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Dr Darren Abbey @thebiologistisn.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
My first harvest of dried lima beans for 2026. I've been growing the yellow and magenta varieties together for several years, hoping the local pollinators would make a hybrid for me. The dark population of seeds all seem to have come from one very productive F1 plant.
About three handfuls of dried lima beans. Those at left are yellow, with a few immature white seeds. Those in the middle are magenta, with a few immature pink seeds. Those at right are dark maroon with various amounts of yellow markings. At the top-middle is a small pile of five blue dry beans.
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Q-Lab @leandroquadrana.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
What if transposases are already transcription factors in disguise? Our new preprint shows that transcriptional regulatory activity is an intrinsic property of transposases, revealing a direct route for their domestication into transcription factors. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
doi.org
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christhebarker @christhebarker.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Anyone fancy testing this plant recogntion game for me? I just want to check it's not going to fall over when it goes live next week… hortle.life
hortle.life
Hortle — Recognise the plant
Test your plant ID skills. Two choices, one image, race the clock.
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Caitlin E. McDonough-Goldstein @ideaspermatheca.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
If there is one thing we can agree on - it's that there are disagreements about the meaning and use of sex in biological research. Contribute to the @treeofsex.bsky.social research survey to let us know how you define sex in biology! univie.questionpro.eu/definitionsurvey
univie.questionpro.eu
ToS.DefinitionSurvey.QuestionPro
ToS.DefinitionSurvey.QuestionPro
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Tree of Sex @treeofsex.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
New publication alert: Tree of Sex 2.0 members unpack the many, sometimes overlapping, sometimes conflicting uses of "sex" in biology. Lead author Caitlin McDonough-Goldstein @ideaspermatheca.bsky.social has an excellent explainer thread if you want a preview!
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Marc Somssich @somssich.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
We are looking for a Scientist in #PlantCellBiology here at @kwsgroup.bsky.social in Einbeck. The position is in our Doubled Haploid Research Unit, and the work can be done onsite or remote! This is a two-year contract. jobs.kws.com/job/Einbeck-... #PlantSciJobs #PlantSciJob #PlantScience
jobs.kws.com
Plant Cell Biologist (m/f/d)
Plant Cell Biologist (m/f/d)
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Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
🌾 We're hiring a postdoc! Join the Stomatal Biology group in beautiful Bern @unibe.ch How do grass leaves spatially coordinate development of veins & stomatal rows? 2 years (plus possible extension), funded by @snsf.ch @dfg.de within @cerealcell.bsky.social RU5325 jobs.unibe.ch/job-vacancie...
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Andy Plackett @seedrevolutionlab.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
www.nature.com/articles/s41... It's been a long time coming, but delighted to say that the first major output from my Royal Society Fellowship is now published. 🙂 #PlantScience
nature.com
The post-fertilization archegonium gene network of seedless plants contributed to the origin of seeds - Nature Communications
The authors identify conserved gene networks across fern and angiosperm reproductive development, including between the sporophyte ovule and the fern gametophyte egg-chamber. Repurposing of this netwo...
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Chenxin Li, PhD @chenxinli2.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
That’s just awesome
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Journal of Experimental Botany @jxbotany.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
🚨 Call for the 2027 JXB Editorial Interns is now open! 🚨 🌱 Designed for ECRs, interns will gain behind-the-scenes publishing experience and write commentary pieces that will be published in the journal 📝 Deadline: 30 Sept 2026 👉 bit.ly/jxbinterns #PlantScience 🧪 SEBiology
JXB EDITORIAL
INTERNSHIPS 2027
Who is this for?
• Early career researchers (2-8 yrs postgrad/postdoc experience)
What will you do?
• Assess submitted manuscripts (with editorial mentorship)
• Write commentary articles for publication in JXB
• (Optional) Join JXB's social media activities
Benefits for you:
• Gain editorial & publishing experience
• Career development as a researcher
• Free SEB membership (1 year)
Apply by 30th September 2026
bit.ly/jxbinterns
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Journal of Experimental Botany @jxbotany.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
🥝🌸 RESEARCH 🌸🥝 Gene editing and overexpression show that LEAFY genes control branching and floral organ development but not flowering time in kiwifruit, unlike the flowering-time function proposed in other plants - Peng et al. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/... #PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 5 (shortened, full legend in paper): Abnormal floral development in kiwifruit lfy1 and lfy2 single-mutants, and in the lfy1 lfy2 double-mutant. (A) Representative images of closed and open floral buds, and open flowers from the non-edited control (fast-flowering hermaphrodite background, cen4 sygl double-mutant), the lfy1 and lfy2 single-mutant lines 11 and 27, respectively, and the lfy1 lfy2 double-mutant line 22 (Fig. 4). Scale bars are 1 mm. (B) SEM images of dissected floral buds from the non-edited control and the lfy1 lfy2 double-mutant lines 10 and 33. Scale bars are 1 mm. The insets are images of the complete floral buds. (C–F) Relative expression of (C) the class A genes AcAP1, AcAP1-1, AcAP1-2, and AcAP2, (D) the class B genes AcPI and AcAP3-2, (E) the class C gene AcAG, and (F) the class E genes AcSEP1 and AcSEP3 in the floral buds of the non-edited, single-mutant, and double mutant plants. Expression is shown relative to that of the ACTIN reference gene.
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Rainer Melzer @ucdflowerpower.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Thanks to all our speakers at our symposium at the @sebiology.bsky.social meeting in Florence. Great discussions, awesome science, fabulous city! Thanks to @ucdearth.bsky.social for the support!
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Yichun I.B. Qiu @fallspringyc.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Great pleasure to summarize the up-to-date findings and share our thoughts on the functional evolution of Type I MADS-box genes! Many thanks to Journal of Experimental Botany and the editor, Rainer @ucdflowerpower.bsky.social for the invitation!
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Rob Waterhouse @rmwaterhouse.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Today at #SMBE2026 we kick off with the plenary from ERGA member @emmateeling.bsky.social lead of ERGA Associate Partner Bat1K Project @bat1kgenomes.bsky.social #biodiversity #genomics @ergabiodiv.bsky.social @biogeneurope.bsky.social @official-smbe.bsky.social
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Marc Somssich @somssich.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Mary-Dell Chilton, plant transformation pioneer, passed away on June 24th. www.facebook.com/story.php?st... See also Plant Science Classic #6: bsky.app/profile/soms... #PlantScience 🧪
facebook.com
Facebook
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Tree of Sex @treeofsex.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
As everyone's winding down on #evol2026 we want to share our survey link with you again. Whether you work in reproductive biology specifically or not, please take a minute to help us understand how the scientific community uses reproductive terms in research! And hope to see you at #SMBE!
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Silvia Manrique @tank-silvia.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Cool review on one of most popular transcription factor family in plant reproduction
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Ralf Reski @reskilab.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Cool article: Mass extinctions and land plant evolution The big five - five mass extinctions and their importance for plant evolution. www.cell.com/current-biol...
cell.com
Mass extinctions and land plant evolution
Feng discusses how the Earth’s major extinction events affected the evolutionary trajectory of land plants.
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Rainer Melzer @ucdflowerpower.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Love those live posts of my talk 🤩
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Ke Yu @keyu01.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Now online! We summarize recent progress in understanding salicylic acid biosynthesis and signaling, a central regulator of plant immunity. Hope you enjoy reading it. Grateful to my coauthors, particularly @ouyang-yi.bsky.social, for making this work possible. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
How does salicylic acid activate plant immunity?
Salicylic acid (SA) is a phytohormone central to plant immune responses, orchestrating both local defense and systemic acquired resistance (SAR), a br…
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José Dinneny @josedinneny.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
So proud to share our latest publication @CellCellPress! Yue Rui reveals that the same enzyme that makes the wall, cellulose synthase complex (CESA), also tethers the plasma membrane to the wall during water-deficit stress, providing resilience. sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
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Joanna Kacprzyk @joannakacprzyk.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Two PhD positions available to work with me on the GREEN CELL FACTORY (Advancing Plant Cell Biotechnology for Sustainable Production of High-Value Metabolites). Details below. Application deadlines are 7th June 2026 (PhD1_cell bio), 31st August (PhD2_bioinf)
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Sebastian Soyk @sebastiansoyk.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
🚨Job alert: We are looking for a #phd student to join us @unil.bsky.social to study the evolution & function of gene regulatory sequences in the context of crop domestication using genomics, genome editing and imaging 🌱🍅🧬. #plantscience #scijobs #plantscijobs. Apply here: tinyurl.com/3u73csma
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Andrew Roger @andrewjroger.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
IQ-TREE 3: Phylogenomic Inference Software using Complex Evolutionary Models academic.oup.com/mbe/article/...
academic.oup.com
IQ-TREE 3: Phylogenomic Inference Software using Complex Evolutionary Models
Abstract. IQ-TREE (https://iqtree.github.io/) is a widely used open-source software tool for efficiently inferring phylogenetic trees under maximum likelih
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Latin American Developmental Biology @lasdb.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
🌊🧬 13th International LASDB Congress 📍 Búzios, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 📅 October 2027 We’re excited to announce the 13th Conference of the Latin American Society for Developmental Biology 📢 More information coming soon!
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Journal of Experimental Botany @jxbotany.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
🌾🧬 SPECIAL ISSUE REVIEW 🧬🌾 Recent advances in understanding homologous and homoeologous meiotic recombination in allopolyploid plant species have led us to propose a model for wheat homoeologous recombination and improving introgressions - Sourdille et al. #PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 1.Genealogy of tetraploid durum wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. durum; AABB) and hexaploid bread wheat (T. aestivum; AABBDD). Wheats are derived from natural interspecific hybridizations between related diploid species that diverged ∼6.5 Million Years Ago (MYA; Marcussen et al., 2014). The first interspecific cross occurred less than 0.8 MYA between T. urartu (AA genome) and a B-related diploid species from the Sitopsis section, the closest living relative being Aegilops speltoides. This resulted in the creation of an allotetraploid species, T. dicoccoides (AABB) that further evolved to give T. turgidum species, from which durum wheat arose (T. turgidum ssp. durum; AABB). T. dicoccoides naturally hybridized with Ae. tauschii (DD) less than 0.4 MYA to give bread wheat (T. aestivum; AABBDD) that evolved concomitantly with humans for 10 000 years (Marcussen et al., 2014). Evolution of Ph1 (TaZIP4-B2) and Ph2 (TaMSH7-3D) is indicated.
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Carlow Weather @carlowweather.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
This rare cloud-free image of Ireland, acquired by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellites on 29 April 2026, provides an exceptional view of the island, revealing its surface in full spring detail. eu-space.europa.eu/components/e...
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Alejandro Montenegro @aemonten.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
A paper is not just its underlying data but also the narrative the authors have decided to use. How authors interpret and explain their results is important. Different readers can then read and interpret differently, but that initial narrative is relevant.
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Simon Hammann @simonhammann.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
Teach your kids to love mass spectrometry. They will never have enough money for drugs* *and if they do they can at least check identity and purity
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Frank Hochholdinger @hochholdingerf.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
Co-dominant inheritance bsky.app/profile/wolk...
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Marc Somssich @somssich.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
If you are a plant scientist & speak Italian, then this a book for you! The review in Corriere della Sera is impressive: "I have never read a scientific essay that is so rigorous, both in its personal and political account" "I challenge anyone not to be moved—to the point of tears" #PlantScience 🧪
corriere.it
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James Lloyd 🧬 @jamespblloyd.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
I am super excited to announce that I am recruiting a new post-doc to join my team at UWA & @plants4space.bsky.social to work on plant synthetic biology, with a focus on genome engineering. If you are interested, please apply or reach out to me. external.jobs.uwa.edu.au/cw/en/job/52...
external.jobs.uwa.edu.au
Prospective staff : Jobs at UWA : The University Of Western Australia
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Matthias C. Rillig @mrillig.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
Here is a question to ponder: If you could construct a terrestrial ecosystem from scratch, for example for use on another planet, as an enclosed system containing plants and a soil-like substrate: would you include plant pathogens or pathogens in general? Why or why not?
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Alejandro Montenegro @aemonten.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
I think we, at CSH Protocols, should do more to cover areas within the fields of #ecology and #evolution. What areas do you think would benefit from a curated, high-quality collection of methods-centered reviews and step-by-step protocols? I'd be happy to explore and discuss!
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Rainer Melzer @ucdflowerpower.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
Excited to see this published in @newphyt.bsky.social doi.org/10.1111/nph.... Our model may explain why Cannabis develops male, female and monoecious plants. The summary is available in 7 languages: Irish, Urdu, Spanish, French, Italian, English and German! Awesome support by @researchireland.ie!
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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
Male humans are capable of producing more than 500 BILLION sperm cells in their lifetime: 500,000,000,000 of 'em! So here's a fun question: Are there any REPEATS in the bunch, genetically speaking? Come with me on a journey of sex, math & genetics! We start with YOUR PARENTS, unfortunately...
media.tenor.com
a group of people in white clothes are dancing on a field
Alt: a group of people in white clothes are dancing on a field, arms outstretched.
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Jason Chen @chenphilosophy.com · 26/04/2026
Here are the newest philosophy podcast episodes from all over the internet! Arnauld vs. Malebranche on ideas, Daniel Dennett retrospective, Aristotle on the soul, birthright citizenship, war crimes, and more. #philsky philosophypodcasthub.substack.com/p/new-episod...
philosophypodcasthub.substack.com
New Episodes 4/19/26 - 4/25/26
Arnauld vs. Malebranche on ideas, Daniel Dennett retrospective, Aristotle on the soul, birthright citizenship, war crimes, and more.
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University College Dublin @ucddublin.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
🌱🍺 UCD researchers have identified a genetic “switch” that determines the sex of cannabis plants, and found that the same system may exist in hops. 🧵 🕵️‍♂️ @ucdflowerpower.bsky.social @newphyt.bsky.social @ucdscience.bsky.social @researchireland.ie
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Rainer Melzer @ucdflowerpower.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Super excited that this is out now! #plantsci
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Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Bonus panel here: #smbc #comics #math
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James Lloyd 🧬 @jamespblloyd.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Just a reminder that in computational biology and bioinformatics, we should NOT just translate the longest ORF in genomes but the most likely to be translated. Our paper here details some of the pitfalls of you don’t. Be aware. Be warned. doi.org/10.3390/gene...
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Rainer Melzer @ucdflowerpower.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
#ucddublin
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Botanical Society of America @botsocamerica.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Hear it from the students themselves: 🌿 "His job made me more interested in plants." 🌿 "Plants are something I take for granted." 🌿 "Our mentor made science sound interesting and fun." Support PlantingScience today! crm.botany.org/makeadonation #IPAD2026 #PlantingScience #IamaBotanist #STEM
Promotional graphic with a tropical leaf border for International Plant Appreciation Day, April 13, 2026. Features the PlantingScience logo and heading "Student Quotes." Three quote bubbles contain anonymous student testimonials about how their PlantingScience mentor sparked their interest in plants and science. Bottom text reads "Support student botanical science exploration with a donation to PlantingScience.org today!" Includes a Donate Here label and QR code.
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Plant memories @plantmemories.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
Did you have a "plant mentor"? "Family, Grandmother and later part time Nursery job with plants."
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Marc Somssich @somssich.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
We are looking for a Tomato Breeder to join our Team @kwsgroup.bsky.social in Antalya, Türkiye. jobs.kws.com/job/Eski%C5%... Our Vegetable Division is expanding at the moment, and this is a good timepoint to get on board. #PlantScience #PlantSciJobs #PlantScienceJobs #PlantSciJob
jobs.kws.com
Tomato Breeder
Tomato Breeder
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