Gitta Coaker
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gittacoaker.bsky.social
Gitta Coaker
@gittacoaker.bsky.social
Professor at UC Davis, studying plant immunity and bacterial pathogens. Loves weightlifting, running, and the outdoors.
Pinned
Excited this paper is finally published! We focused on the inner concave surface of LRR RKs to expand bacterial flagellin perception in plants. Selection indicates expanded perception is more common than previously thought. Experiments led by @jerrytli.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Unlocking expanded flagellin perception through rational receptor engineering - Nature Plants
Receptor kinase FLS2 detects the flg22 epitope of bacterial flagellin. Here the authors identify key residues on FLS2’s concave surface that enable expanded perception of flg22 variants, allowing the ...
www.nature.com
Reposted by Gitta Coaker
Switzerland is joining Horizon Europe!

We are uniting two research powerhouses.

For cutting-edge innovation that will boost our energy security, digital transformation, health and so much more.

Today is a good day for science, and for our EU-Switzerland partnership.
November 10, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Faculty got a standard of living increase from the University of California this month. I used mine to donate to the Sacramento Food Bank, because the majority of politicians in the US do not want to feed those in need. www.sacramentofoodbank.org
Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services
www.sacramentofoodbank.org
November 8, 2025 at 4:17 AM
Reposted by Gitta Coaker
"If it pleases the court, our position is that the poor people should go hungry"
#BREAKING: The Trump administration is asking #SCOTUS for an immediate “administrative” stay of a Rhode Island district judge’s order that is otherwise requiring it to resume the distribution of SNAP benefits from other funding sources no later than the end of today.
November 8, 2025 at 12:10 AM
So my mom was in charge of the surveillance system?
November 7, 2025 at 2:36 AM
USDA issued the following statement today, AFRI deadlines extended: www.nifa.usda.gov/grants/progr...
November 6, 2025 at 12:32 AM
Reposted by Gitta Coaker
Please register for BAPG at Stanford 12/6, especially if you want to give a talk or a poster. The deadline is Nov 16. bapg2025.github.io/bapg2025stan... And please reshare on bsky!
November 5, 2025 at 3:50 PM
“I wish Andrew Cuomo the best in private life” - Mamdani’s victory speech
November 5, 2025 at 4:27 AM
Long lines on UC campus on Nor and So Cal for the special election on #prop50. Ballot called literally 1 second after the polls closed. A blowout. It’s a yes. Voters are mad.
November 5, 2025 at 4:07 AM
Reposted by Gitta Coaker
🧬🌱Research Specialist Position Open🌱🧬 -Please spread the words
HHMI, UT Austin. NGS-based analyses/single cell biology to investigate environmental and hormonal control of plant stem cell differentiation. Requires both wet lab and bioinformatic skills.
hhmi.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Extern...
Research Specialist - Torii Lab
Primary Work Address: 2500 Speedway, Austin, TX, 78712 Current HHMI Employees, click here to apply via your Workday account. About the Lab We are currently seeking a proactive Research Specialist to s...
hhmi.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
November 1, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Reposted by Gitta Coaker
Beautiful work by Ingrid Berenice Sanchez Carrillo on the in situ structure of the Arabidopsis nuclear pore complex.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
In situ architecture of the nuclear pore complex of the higher plant Arabidopsis thaliana - Nature Plants
Using advanced imaging techniques and computer modelling, the authors were able to create a detailed structural model of a nuclear pore complex from a seed plant.
www.nature.com
October 31, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Happy Halloween
October 31, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Reposted by Gitta Coaker
🚀 New preprint!
We introduce K-PROB, a k-mer–based Bayesian framework that mines pangenomic promoter and expression diversity to predict cis-regulatory elements driving gene expression variation in crops 🌽🌱
🔗 biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.27.684862v1
#Genomics #GeneRegulation #Maize #Soybean
Natural variation in regulatory code revealed through Bayesian analysis of plant pan-genomes and pan-transcriptomes
Understanding the genetic code of cis-regulatory elements (CREs) is essential for engineering gene expression and modulating agronomic traits in crops. In plants, CREs underlying rapid evolution of ge...
biorxiv.org
October 29, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Sunset was cooperating during my run but not my dog.
October 30, 2025 at 2:02 AM
Reposted by Gitta Coaker
🌱From Nature Communications: A newly cloned resistance gene, Lr.ace-4A/Lr30, provides near-immunity to leaf rust in durum wheat, offering a powerful tool for future wheat breeding. (Jorge Dubcovsky)
▶️ www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#PlantScience
Genome-assisted identification of wheat leaf rust resistance gene Lr.ace-4A/Lr30 - Nature Communications
Leaf rust threatens wheat production worldwide. Here, the authors report a high-quality genome assembly of the leaf rust resistant durum wheat landrace PI 192051 and the cloning of the leaf rust resis...
www.nature.com
October 28, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Reposted by Gitta Coaker
Come join us in Knoxville!

The Dept. of Microbiology 🧫🦠 at the University of Tennessee is hiring 2 Assistant Professors (tenure track, 9-month appt.).

Microbial Drivers of Chronic Disease: apply.interfolio.com/173153Quantitative Microbe-Plant-Environment Interactions: apply.interfolio.com/173345
October 24, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Reposted by Gitta Coaker
Hey Yaniv Brandvain is not on Bluesky but his most recent biostats ebook is live ybrandvain.github.io/biostats/. His stats resources have been so helpful to me as I develop my own stats course, so check it out. Github repo here: github.com/ybrandvain/b...
Applied Biostatistics
ybrandvain.github.io
October 24, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Lab postdoc appreciation lunch
October 21, 2025 at 4:17 AM
Nice! I was there last weekend for the waves and this one I stayed home to join a local protest.
I joined the "human banner" at San Francisco's Ocean Beach. This flag was at the center. It was a gorgeous day with enormous waves. #nokings
October 19, 2025 at 3:32 AM
Reposted by Gitta Coaker
NYPD announces that zero arrests were made at the massive No Kings protests today after Republicans spent days claiming the protestors are violent terrorists.
October 18, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Reposted by Gitta Coaker
An astonishingly large crowd!
Chicago
October 18, 2025 at 9:18 PM
#NoKings Davis, CA
October 18, 2025 at 10:12 PM
I think there is nothing to gain by engaging with bad actors. Block and spend energy elsewhere. I’m looking forward to some nice live music tonight and tomorrow is a lovely day for a protest.
October 18, 2025 at 1:47 AM
Reposted by Gitta Coaker
We have a bunch of new job ads out @arcadiascience.com. If you haven’t checked them out, take a look!

www.arcadiascience.com/careers
Careers | Arcadia Science
Evolve with Arcadia.
www.arcadiascience.com
October 16, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Reposted by Gitta Coaker
Recognition of a phytocytokine by the DEPR1-SERK2 receptor complex confers multi-pathogen resistance in wheat #research #MolecularPlant cell.com/molecular-pl...
October 12, 2025 at 2:48 PM