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galofir.bsky.social
Gal Ofir
@galofir.bsky.social
650 followers 1K following 21 posts
Departmental Group Leader - Plant Immunogenomics 🌱🧬🦠
Max Planck Institute for Biology - Tübingen
Plant immunity and other small things
⛰️🏃‍♂️far not fast
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Gal Ofir
jxbotany.bsky.social
🧬🦠 REVIEW 🧬🦠

In this review, Elvira-González et al. describe how virus-induced small RNA synthesis and small RNA movement through plasmodesmata and phloem determine the outcome of viral infection in terms of disease and tolerance.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 1.Dynamic regulation and role of plasmodesmata (PD) in viral RNA and siRNA movement. PD regulate the symplasmic transport of molecules between cells. Viruses encode movement proteins (MPs) that are expressed in cells at the viral infection front to facilitate viral movement through PD. Tobamovirus MPs interfere with pattern-triggered immunity (PTI), a defense mechanism activated by plant receptors that recognize viral double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) and cause PD closure by callose deposition. The open state of the PD at the viral infection front, which allows the virus to spread, also allows the movement of signaling molecules, including viral and host-derived small interfering RNAs (siRNAs). As they move ahead of the infection, these siRNAs play a critical role in systemic defense signaling and the regulation of disease outcomes. MIR, miRNA-encoding gene; PTGS, post-transcriptional gene silencing; TGS, transcriptional gene silencing.
February 2, 2026 at 5:57 PM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
plantevolution.bsky.social
Danke, Frau Lübcke MdB, für diesen ausgewogenen und wohl überlegten Beitrag! #NGT
andrea-luebcke.de/presse/gente...
Neue Züchtungstechniken: Warum differenziert werden muss
Mein Gastbeitrag bei AGRA-Europe Die Reform des europäischen Gentechnikrechts bietet die Chance, eine lange emotional geführte Debatte auf eine sachlichere Grundlage zu stellen. Dabei geht es um eine...
andrea-luebcke.de
February 2, 2026 at 8:46 AM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
berasymbionts.bsky.social
Can plant pathogens boost vector fitness?

Together with @hassansalem.bsky.social, we review how phytopathogens can spread further by moonlighting as insect symbionts 🪲 More on this nifty lifestyle in @annualreviews.bsky.social!

www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
Plant Pathogens Moonlighting as Beneficial Insect Symbionts
Herbivorous insects can shape the epidemiology of disease in plants by vectoring numerous phytopathogens. While the consequences of infection are often well-characterized in the host plant, the extent...
www.annualreviews.org
February 2, 2026 at 7:48 AM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
kseniakrasileva.bsky.social
📣 Our lab is seeking a postdoc to study mutation mechanisms in fungi using cutting-edge sequencing + computational biology. No active posting/grant right now, but we’re excited to host postdoc fellowship applicants in our comparative immunology team.
Interested? Reach out DM email. krasilevalab.org
Krasileva Lab – Research Lab
krasilevalab.org
January 31, 2026 at 3:06 AM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
sramundo.bsky.social
The ClaRa retreat V1 was a blast!

The Clausen + Ramundo folks teamed up for two days of science, cooking, and good chaos — plus some skiing ⛷️

Then came the pipetting showdown… and the whale trophy swam home with us 🐋🏆!

Will the @clausenlab.bsky.social win it back next year? Probably 😅 …
January 31, 2026 at 5:53 AM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
delaconcepcionjc.bsky.social
Please share!
My group at @zmbp-tuebingen.bsky.social is offering a post-doctoral position (4 years). We look for a structural biologist with experience in Cryo-EM/Cryo-ET to investigate the mechanisms of host invasion by pathogenic fungi. Deadline February 28th!
uni-tuebingen.de/universitaet...
January 30, 2026 at 1:56 PM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
cssmartinho.bsky.social
One protein. One pathway. A whole germline fate.

New paper from my postdoc @mpi-bio-fml.bsky.social out in PNAS:
Germline fate determination by a single ARGONAUTE protein in Ectocarpus www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Germline fate determination by a single ARGONAUTE protein in Ectocarpus | PNAS
ARGONAUTE (AGO) proteins are a highly conserved family of RNA-binding proteins that play central roles in gene regulation and developmental process...
www.pnas.org
January 30, 2026 at 9:14 AM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
martinsteinegger.bsky.social
FoldMason is out now in @science.org. It generates accurate multiple structure alignments for thousands of protein structures in seconds. Great work by Cameron L. M. Gilchrist and @milot.bsky.social.
📄 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
🌐 search.foldseek.com/foldmason
💾 github.com/steineggerla...
Multiple protein structure alignment at scale with FoldMason
Protein structure is conserved beyond sequence, making multiple structural alignment (MSTA) essential for analyzing distantly related proteins. Computational prediction methods have vastly extended ou...
www.science.org
January 30, 2026 at 6:11 AM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
lauriebelch.bsky.social
Calling all OrthoFinder users!

We’ve just released GLADE, a tool to infer gene gains, losses, duplications, and ancestral genomes across a phylogeny.

GLADE runs directly on OrthoFinder results.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
github.com/lauriebelch/...

(1/10)
www.biorxiv.org
January 29, 2026 at 12:07 PM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
ritamaravilha.bsky.social
1/12 I'm ecstatic to share my preprint on legume NLR tissue expression! We investigated the NLRomes of 28 legumes + 4 outgroups, examining tissue expression across 7 legume species. Paper thread below 🧵👇
@thesainsburylab.bsky.social @itqbnova.bsky.social
🔗https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.01.25.701577
January 29, 2026 at 11:06 AM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
mpi-mp-potsdam.bsky.social
Thanks a lot to @zivirus.bsky.social visiting us from @volcaniinstitute.bsky.social to talk about the #tobamovirus revealing a crossroad between viral movement and #PlantImmunity 🍅🦠

Thanks as well to @incavirus.bsky.social for hosting! 🙏
Ziv Spiegelmann (left) and Marco Incarbone (right) standing outside near an office building in snowy weather. They are both smiling in the camera.
January 29, 2026 at 9:15 AM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
philcarella.bsky.social
We’re looking for a postdoc to investigate Pseudomonas viridiflava virulence across diverse plant lineages. The 3yr position will combine plant and microbial molecular biology to understand core processes of infection - email for more info & apply online @ www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/po...
January 14, 2026 at 2:53 PM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
somssich.bsky.social
Interesting that a 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 mutant (𝘢𝘣𝘪𝟣-𝟣 𝘤𝘰𝘪𝟣 𝘦𝘥𝘴𝟣 𝘦𝘪𝘯𝟤 𝘳𝘣𝘰𝘩𝘋 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝟤) is less sensitive to fungal infection than a 𝘤𝘺𝘣𝟩𝟫𝘣𝟤/𝘣𝟤 mutant (Similarly, 𝘦𝘥𝘴𝟣 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝟤 is more susceptible to bacterial infection than the 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴).

From @newphyt.bsky.social: shorturl.at/jYbOS

#PlantScience #PlantImmunity
An Arabidopsis leaf-infection assay with Alternaria alternata showing lesions on Col-0, defenseless (abi1-1 coi1 eds1 ein2 rbohD sid2) and cyp79b2b3 plants. The lesions are worst on cyb79b2b3, intermediate on the defenseless plant, and least on Col. Similarly, plants infected with Pseudomonas syringae show strongest susceptibility in an eds1 sid2 background, medium susceptibility in defenseless, and least in Col.
January 27, 2026 at 11:59 AM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
sramundo.bsky.social
Here we go again! Join us in Vienna, May 21–22, for two days of plant science—talks, discussions, and celebration of what makes plants both beautiful and essential 💚Full program + registration here: www.oeaw.ac.at/gmi/news-eve...
Come be part of it — each of you counts!
January 27, 2026 at 12:13 PM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
soreklab.bsky.social
Model bacteria that lack (or have minimal) defense systems have been crucial for understanding bacterial immunity. Now, there is a model defenseless plant. One may expect that this model can accelerate discoveries on plant immunity
newphyt.bsky.social New Phytologist @newphyt.bsky.social · 8d
Decoding plant defense signaling using the defenseless mutant

Baral and Brosché

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Developmental and abiotic stress assays in Columbia-0 (Col-0) and mutants (abi1-1 and defenseless).
January 26, 2026 at 1:03 PM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
isabelmonte.bsky.social
Congratulations, Dr @hsuanpai.bsky.social! Well done! 🥳🥳🥳

Thanks for the invitation, @kamounlab.bsky.social. It is always nice to discuss science with friends and colleagues @thesainsburylab.bsky.social, @johninnescentre.bsky.social and @earlhaminst.bsky.social
kamounlab.bsky.social Sophien Kamoun @kamounlab.bsky.social · 7d
A special day as we celebrate PhD of Dr Hsuan Pai @HsuanPai1

Pai has been a pillar @KamounLab @nobolly Labs over the years having contributed to research, method development, as well as science art and communication 🧬 🖼️ 😻

🙏 to viva examiners @EunyoungChae @Isabel_MonteG
January 27, 2026 at 10:29 AM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
asaflevylab.bsky.social
A new paper from the lab on virus-like particles called eCISs www.nature.com/articles/s41...

How bacteria evolved thousands of precision nanoinjectors?

Some bacteria don’t secrete toxins — they inject them using phage-derived machines called extracellular contractile injection systems (eCISs).
A comprehensive catalogue of receptor-binding domains in extracellular contractile injection systems - Nature Communications
Extracellular contractile injection systems (eCISs) are bacteriophage tail-derived toxin delivery complexes that are present in many prokaryotes. Here, the authors present an analysis of eCIS tail fib...
www.nature.com
January 26, 2026 at 1:26 PM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
schwessinger.bsky.social
Our first wheat stripe rust avirulence (?!) effector is published "Defence Recognition of a Stripe Rust Fungal Effector Is Uncoupled from Disease Outcomes in Wheat" apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/10.1094/.... It is not what we expected but this is the most fun part about science. 1/n
Defence Recognition of a Stripe Rust Fungal Effector Is Uncoupled from Disease Outcomes in Wheat | Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions®
Plant resistance (R) and pathogen avirulence (Avr) gene interactions are central to pathogen recognition and disease resistance in crops. Functional characterisation of recognised Avr effectors of Puc...
apsjournals.apsnet.org
January 26, 2026 at 8:50 PM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
natplants.nature.com
New Article: "Creating a new oilseed crop, pennycress, by combining key domestication traits using CRISPR genome editing" rdcu.be/e0NAR

De novo domestication by identifying and stacking CRISPR-induced mutations to create a new intermediate off-season oilseed crop.
January 26, 2026 at 2:45 PM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
embl.org
Recruitment for the EMBL International PhD Programme is officially open! 🔊

At EMBL, we train young scientists to become skilled and creative future leaders in academia, industry and other sectors. Start your career in the life sciences with us!

🔎 Read more here:
tinyurl.com/4jdt2ra5
January 26, 2026 at 8:50 AM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
huckelhovenr.bsky.social
Thank you
@marioncmueller.bsky.social, @binebrumm.bsky.social, Eric Kemen, Yiheng Hu and Thomas Lahaye for this nice common effort on effector diversity.

Diversify and conquer: How effector diversity is shaped by host–microbe co-evolution
doi.org/10.1371/jour...
Diversify and conquer: How effector diversity is shaped by host–microbe co-evolution
doi.org
January 24, 2026 at 3:21 PM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
puckerlab.bsky.social
Updated preprint:

"Out of the blue: Family-wide loss of anthocyanin biosynthesis in Cucurbitaceae"

doi.org/10.1101/2025...

#Evolution #Pigments #Genomics #Bioinformatics
@nancy-choudhary.bsky.social @bpucker.bsky.social @unibonn.bsky.social
Microsynteny analysis around the DFR, ANS, and arGST loci in Cucurbitaceae and closely related lineages. Details: https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.10.06.680802
January 24, 2026 at 5:25 AM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
fromani.bsky.social
This is a very special paper for me. I had the idea of combining transcription factor binding with chromatin in 2016/8. It took some time, but thanks to Fred and Vikas, we can finally share the story in @plos.org Genetics looking at chromatin states in Arabidopsis and Marchantia. #PlantScience
Chromatin state architecture governs transcription factor accessibility across plant genomes
Author summary In eukaryotes, DNA is tightly associated with histone proteins. Histone covalent modifications and histones isoforms, also called histone variants provide most of the complexity of chro...
journals.plos.org
January 23, 2026 at 3:17 PM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
biotay.bsky.social
Cow Tools!

We have lived alongside cows for nearly 10,000 years.
We breed them and exploit them

It is now, only now, that we have discovered THEY CAN USE TOOLS

Here I describe our study

(paper) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... in @currentbiology.bsky.social
with @auersperga.bsky.social
January 19, 2026 at 5:26 PM
Reposted by Gal Ofir
volts.wtf
The scale of China's clean energy buildout is difficult to fathom. Check out these pictures.
Photos Capture the Breathtaking Scale of China's Wind and Solar Buildout
e360.yale.edu
January 16, 2026 at 6:39 PM