Joanna Chustecki
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chusteckisci.bsky.social
Joanna Chustecki
@chusteckisci.bsky.social
390 followers 140 following 37 posts
Postdoc Associate at University of Oxford, currently studying mitochondrial dynamics in plant development

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chusteckisci.bsky.social
All together now 🗣️🗣️ : mitochondrial dynamics are vital *even in plants*! 🗣️🗣️ Fantastic work looking looking at the prime candidate for the mysterious & elusive plant mito fusion factors: MIRO1

The momentum for plant mito dynamics is picking up 💪🏻

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Mitochondrial fusion safeguards stomatal defence in plants - Nature Plants
Plants close their stomata to block pathogen entry, but how this defence is supported at the organelle level remains unclear. Our study reveals that immune signalling promotes MIRO1-dependent mitochon...
www.nature.com
February 12, 2026 at 2:11 PM
Reposted by Joanna Chustecki
vinayshukla.bsky.social
PhD opportunity in the newly minted RO2T Respiration Group! Please share!
Interested in root biology, oxygen dynamics, imaging & modelling? We’re recruiting a PhD student at the University of Nottingham.
Deadline 15th February.
jobs.nottingham.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx...
#plantscijobs #plantscience
January 21, 2026 at 3:08 PM
Reposted by Joanna Chustecki
jcellsci.bsky.social
In their Review, Rahul Kumar Verma, Somya Madan and Richa Rikhy discuss mitochondrial dynamics and signalling in stem cell differentiation.
journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...
Schematic showing interaction of mitochondrial fusion with Notch signaling. (A) Mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) have fragmented mitochondria and active Notch signaling. The Notch intracellular domain (NICD) accumulates in the nucleus, where it regulates CBF1-dependent transcription, resulting in maintenance of fragmented mitochondria. Increased capacitative Ca2+ entry and calcineurin A (CnA) activity stimulate Notch1 signaling, maintaining the stem cell state. During differentiation of ESCs into cardiomyocytes, Notch signaling is reduced, which is accompanied by mitochondrial fusion due to increased expression of the fusion proteins Opa1, Mfn1 and Mfn2 (Mfn1/2). (B) Drosophila neural stem cells (NSCs) have fused mitochondria and active Notch signaling. Increased NICD in the nucleus results in Suppressor of Hairless [Su(H)]-mediated transcription and increased Opa1 and Marf expression. Opa1 and Marf maintain fused mitochondria and support the formation of intermediate progenitor cells. Created in BioRender by Rikhy, R., 2025. https://BioRender.com/wqklpid. This figure was sublicensed under CC-BY 4.0 terms.
January 14, 2026 at 10:34 AM
Reposted by Joanna Chustecki
sloanevolab.bsky.social
Great collaboration with the Sanchez-Puerta lab and colleagues! @lfceriotti.bsky.social @organelledchaos.bsky.social @jumpinggenomes.bsky.social @chusteckisci.bsky.social @achristensenphd.bsky.social (and others not on bsky)

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reshaping Organellar Translation and tRNA Metabolism: The Consequences of Photosynthesis Loss and Massive Horizontal Gene Transfer
The transition to holoparasitism in plants precipitates the loss of photosynthesis, fundamentally altering the selective landscape acting on organellar genomes. These changes raise questions about the...
www.biorxiv.org
January 13, 2026 at 4:45 AM
chusteckisci.bsky.social
More evidence for the sphere of influence model- local mtDNA quality determines local mitochondrial function, even when part of an interconnected network- and drives selection! Beautiful work
osman-lab.bsky.social Osman Lab @osman-lab.bsky.social · Jan 10
How do cells assess mtDNA quality?

Local ATP and membrane-potential gradients reflect mtDNA integrity and drive intracellular purifying selection.

We introduce FAST, a scalable mtDNA QC assay in S. cerevisiae.

Great collaboration with the Schmoller Lab.

journals.plos.org/plosgenetics...
🧬⚡
Local mitochondrial physiology defined by mtDNA quality guides purifying selection
Author summary Mitochondria are essential organelles in our cells that convert nutrients into usable cellular energy. They contain their own DNA, and mutations in this DNA can compromise mitochondrial...
journals.plos.org
January 11, 2026 at 9:14 PM
Reposted by Joanna Chustecki
mitomaths.bsky.social
1. Apply for one of the positions below (lab or theory) by Jan 18th
2. Learn interdisc skills and discover cool new things about how mitochondria move and socialise
3. Explore some of Norway's beautiful nature (both the below, Rundemanen and Gullfjellet, <10km from work)
January 9, 2026 at 8:02 AM
chusteckisci.bsky.social
Apply here for an incredible mentor, cool science and a beautiful city in which to work! ✨
mitomaths.bsky.social Iain Johnston @mitomaths.bsky.social · Dec 19
‼️Two new PhD positions open! One experimental, one modelling, exploring these beautiful collective dynamics in mitochondria across species. 🇳🇴, good pay, full staff benefits. [Shares much appreciated]
Lab: www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...
Modelling: www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...
mitomaths.bsky.social Iain Johnston @mitomaths.bsky.social · Nov 30
Excited to share our new review looking at how mitochondrial dynamics help resolve conflicting priorities that the cell faces! We extend the "social network" mito picture to a "societal network": trade networks, infrastructure, comms, pollution...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
December 19, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Reposted by Joanna Chustecki
jclandoni.bsky.social
🔬 Curious about #mitochondria #imaging but unsure where to begin? Our review might help! 🚀📜🧪

www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

#Quantitative #Microscopy #SuperResolution #AcademicSky #ScienceSky #CellBiology #mtDNA
Review title Review sections graphic Sub compartments of mitochondria graphic Mitochondrial.dynamics graphic
November 17, 2024 at 4:46 PM
Reposted by Joanna Chustecki
drosborneplantsci.bsky.social
So happy to see this work finally online!

In this Research Review, I discuss the emerging roles of H3K27me3 writers (the enzymes that lay it down) and erasers (the enzymes that remove it) in controlling plant adaptation 🌿🌡️❄️🦠

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Finding balance: the dynamic interplay between H3K27me3 writers and erasers in regulating environmental plasticity and memory
Subject to an ever-changing world, plants must respond to harmful conditions and environmental fluctuations. Their evolutionary success can be attributed to their plasticity in both perceiving and in...
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 4, 2025 at 11:02 AM
chusteckisci.bsky.social
Check out the editorial 'Plant Mitochondrial Biology' special issue; home to our paper 'Running on empty: Mitochondria Without DNA Exhibit Differential Motility&Connectivity' @achristensenphd.bsky.social

Editorial onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Paper onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
December 1, 2025 at 9:16 AM
Reposted by Joanna Chustecki
jytinevez.bsky.social
We just released a new major version of TrackMate (v8), the cell and organelle tracking plugin of Fiji.

It ships many new features, detailed below, but that are articulated around the following:
November 20, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Reposted by Joanna Chustecki
johntngo.bsky.social
🚀 Our new paper is out @natmethods.nature.com!

Kuffer & Marzilli engineered conditionally stable MS2 & PP7 coat proteins (dMCP & dPCP) that degrade unless bound to RNA, enabling ultra–low-background, single-mRNA imaging in live cells.

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧬 www.addgene.org/John_Ngo/
September 22, 2025 at 6:27 PM
chusteckisci.bsky.social
A privilege to attend the 9th annual Computational Plant Biology workshop last week at @slcuplants.bsky.social heard inspiring talks, got direct help and advice with pipeline bottlenecks and explored some very pretty places!
September 15, 2025 at 12:44 PM
chusteckisci.bsky.social
Nice to see a small summary of our research findings in the Plantae Research Weekly! ☺️🌱
September 13, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Reposted by Joanna Chustecki
radinbio.bsky.social
This might be one of the simplest images I captured, but very fascinating nonetheless, as it shows how tight the cytoplasm in a plant cell is. The cytosol and all other organelles are squished between the plasma membrane (magenta) and the central vacuole (its membrane is green)
#MicroscopyMonday
The image shows one straight magenta line and, close to it, another wavy green line.
September 8, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Reposted by Joanna Chustecki
samlewis.bsky.social
I'm happy to share new work in collaboration with Elena Koslover's lab! First author Keaton developed a mathematical framework for diffusion of soluble material through mitochondrial networks. Then, Lewis lab PhD candidate Camryn used live cell imaging to parameterize... 1/3
August 29, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Reposted by Joanna Chustecki
amunts.bsky.social
Mitochondrial transfer is a fascinating phenomenon where cells shuttle mitos. The therapeutic potential is compelling and observational science is solid but the mechanism is a black box.
Excellent Viewpoint in @naturemetabolism.bsky.social breaks down one of cell biology’s biggest emerging mysteries
August 29, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Reposted by Joanna Chustecki
plantphys.bsky.social
Cytoplasmic inheritance: The transmission of plastid and mitochondrial genomes across cells and generations (Kin Pan Chung) doi.org/10.1093/plph... #PlantScience
July 17, 2025 at 1:05 PM
chusteckisci.bsky.social
The only meeting I’ve ever been to with a fun fair at night! #brumforever #NGS2025
newphyt.bsky.social New Phytologist @newphyt.bsky.social · Aug 7
Thank you to our brilliant delegates, mentors, speakers, the organising committee and our hosts at the University of Birmingham for making New Phytologist next generation scientists 2025 a great success!
Large group of diverse scientists and researchers gathered outside a modern building for a New Phytologist next generation scientists symposium.
August 7, 2025 at 9:36 AM
chusteckisci.bsky.social
It’s been a wonderful meeting so far at #NGS2025 the ECR community is a great place to be right now, and we’ve had some fascinating talks and workshops. Loved presenting my work on mtDNA and mito dynamics #plantscience
August 6, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Reposted by Joanna Chustecki
lowlab.bsky.social
Please RT! Call for Fellows! If you’re a structural biologist and wanting to start your lab by applying for an external Fellowship then we at Imperial may be excited to host you. Synthetic biologists too.. Please submit expression of interest with details below 🙏

www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperi...
www.imperial.ac.uk
July 28, 2025 at 4:13 PM
chusteckisci.bsky.social
Got papped yesterday at the @biology.ox.ac.uk research showcase spreading the good word about mitochondrial dynamics! So fun being in the new LaMB building and interacting with psych/bio colleagues 🌱🧠

(You can check out the paper I was soapboxing about here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...)
July 24, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Reposted by Joanna Chustecki
biotechunl.bsky.social
Congrats, Joanna! New article out in collaboration with our Microscopy Core!
July 15, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Reposted by Joanna Chustecki
jcellsci.bsky.social
In their Review, Sangheeta Bhattacharjee and Benu Brata Das discuss the roles of topoisomerases in mtDNA maintenance and repair, and highlight their potential as therapeutic targets.
journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...
Spatial organization of mitochondrial nucleoids. (A) Human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is a covalently closed, circular DNA molecule composed of heavy (outer) and light (inner) DNA strands. Each strand has its own origin of replication, referred to as OH and OL, respectively. mtDNA contains 16,569 nucleotides and encodes 37 genes, including two rRNAs and 22 tRNAs (designated by letters). These genes are vital for protein synthesis within mitochondria. (B) Left, live-cell microscopy image of MCF7 breast cancer cells stained with Picogreen (DNA, green) and MitoTracker red (mitochondria, red) taken by S.B. of our laboratory. mtDNA nucleoids appear yellow. Right, a schematic diagram shows mtDNA wrapped in nucleoid-associated proteins, which form core and peripheral complexes within the nucleoid. These protein complexes are essential for the replication, transcription, translation and maintenance of mtDNA within mitochondria.
July 15, 2025 at 7:55 AM
Reposted by Joanna Chustecki
katajistolab.bsky.social
Proudly presenting Simon’s @simonsterson.bsky.social‬ paper on asymmetric apportioning of old mitochondria biasing intestinal stem cells for the Paneth cell linage through aKG-dependent metabolism
@naturemetabolism.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s42... @helsinki.fi @metastem.bsky.social 🧵1/8
Old mitochondria regulate niche renewal via α-ketoglutarate metabolism in stem cells - Nature Metabolism
Andersson et al. show that intestinal stem cells enriched for old mitochondria are metabolically distinct and have enhanced ability to regenerate the epithelial niche.
www.nature.com
July 14, 2025 at 10:21 AM