Michael Prigge
LightNews LightNews
banner
mjprigge.bsky.social
Michael Prigge
@mjprigge.bsky.social
2K followers 1.4K following 230 posts
Plant biologist at UCSD (how auxin regulates transcription across land plants, from receptors to pol II and the steps in between). Mostly, moss⬌Arabidopsis. Grew up in Minnesota, attended/worked at UMinn, UO, UM, and IU.
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
mjprigge.bsky.social
Michael Prigge @mjprigge.bsky.social · Apr 11
I am very happy to see this story published! This was a wonderful collaboration between the @mestelle.bsky.social lab (@ucsandiego.bsky.social) on the moss side, Annis Richardson’s lab on the maize side, and @luciastrader.bsky.social lab’s help throughout.
#plantscience #auxin
natplants.nature.com Nature Plants @natplants.nature.com · Apr 11
Some auxin-related reading for the week-end: ARFs are degraded, too.

- "Comparative mutant analyses reveal a novel mechanism of ARF regulation in land plants" rdcu.be/ehnOT

- "ARF degradation defines a deeply conserved step in auxin response" rdcu.be/ehnPa

#PlantScience
Reposted by Michael Prigge
drannisr.bsky.social
Are you looking for a PhD in Plant Science? Check our our project on barley canopy architecture. Combine genetics and physics to understand how awns influence barley grain development. Find out more here: lnkd.in/eWhWammJ Apply by 14th December. #PhDPosition
#PlantSci @instmolplantsci.bsky.social
LinkedIn
This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn
lnkd.in
November 10, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Reposted by Michael Prigge
botsocamerica.bsky.social
From Knowable Magazine: How #Arabidopsis thaliana, a humble weed, became a superstar of plant biology | Knowable Magazine knowablemagazine.org/content/arti...
How a humble weed became a superstar of biology
Arabidopsis thaliana was always an unlikely candidate for the limelight. But 25 years ago, the diminutive thale cress launched the botanical world into the molecular era.
knowablemagazine.org
November 5, 2025 at 4:54 PM
mjprigge.bsky.social
After reading about milkweed’s cardiac glycosides in @nkwhiteman.bsky.social ‘s book, I was surprised to see people eating stew with milkweed floral buds in tonight’s episode of Tony Shalhoub Breaking Bread. Does the toxin break down in the heat? Or is it absent from buds?
November 3, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Reposted by Michael Prigge
leydonsaurus.bsky.social
Excited to share a recent review from our team in Physiologia Plantarum digging into how effectors modulate TPL/TPR family proteins through competition with endogenous EAR motif containing proteins: The TPX family of co‐repressors: a hub amidst the hubbub onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
The TPX family of co‐repressors: a hub amidst the hubbub
You have to enable JavaScript in your browser's settings in order to use the eReader.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
October 21, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Reposted by Michael Prigge
amsama.bsky.social
Really excited to share the pre-print of my first paper! It details the computational method we used to identify uncharacterized metabolites along the developmental gradient of maize roots, I hope you find it interesting! 🌱🌽
biorxiv-plants.bsky.social bioRxiv Plant Bio @biorxiv-plants.bsky.social · Sep 25
Computational method for mapping mass signatures along developmental gradients reveals a novel role for a monosaccharide tetrose in maize salt-stress response. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.22.677919v1
September 28, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Reposted by Michael Prigge
bahome.bsky.social
Standardizing models across a field so that everyone gets the same answer is only helpful if the answer is (1) correct and (2) generalizable.
Otherwise it’s a regulated circle jerk.
October 17, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Reposted by Michael Prigge
helenkennedy.bsky.social
A message from the frog resistance
youtu.be/bw5zxdSObso
A Message From The Frog Resistance
YouTube video by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
youtu.be
October 14, 2025 at 2:52 AM
Reposted by Michael Prigge
newphyt.bsky.social
Unlocking #grass #leaf development: foundations for tunable #cereal design

📖 buff.ly/08NS8jV
#TansleyReview by McAllister et al.

@drannisr.bsky.social @hildenelissen.bsky.social @WileyPlantSci
#PlantSci #genetics

Figure credit BioRender: Hilde, Nelissen (2025) buff.ly/uhRFPbx.
Leaf development engineering challenges and opportunities.
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
October 5, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Reposted by Michael Prigge
annkpowers.bsky.social
Really honest, beautifully wrought piece. Karly is the queen of the telling detail. www.vulture.com/article/wedn...
‘I’m Poking Roadkill With a Stick. Making It Twitch.’
Wednesday’s Karly Hartzman and MJ Lenderman broke up. A month later, she writes in this personal essay, she had to record a love song for him.
www.vulture.com
October 8, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Reposted by Michael Prigge
likeyoda1.bsky.social
Check out our new review in JXB:
tinyurl.com/yta6fd5b

@pablidopsis.bsky.social and I write about the cell's decision between division and differentiation. 🌱 What factors promote one or the other in different cell types? 🤔 Are they really mutually exclusive?
Validate User
tinyurl.com
October 1, 2025 at 8:55 AM
mjprigge.bsky.social
Nice write-up about RUBY in our university newsletter:
today.ucsd.edu/story/seeing...
Seeing Red: A UC San Diego Invention is Transforming the Way Scientists Track Genes
UC San Diego biologists have created a transformative new way to monitor genes. The game-changing tool known as RUBY is an inexpensive, easy-to-use technology that allows researchers to visualize gene...
today.ucsd.edu
September 30, 2025 at 11:50 PM
Reposted by Michael Prigge
jxbotany.bsky.social
🌱📖 RESEARCH 🌱📖

Bascom et al. used CRIPSR/Cas9 to produce a septuple AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR mutant in the model bryophyte Physcomitrium patens , revealing the developmental consequences of the complete loss of auxin-mediated gene activation 🌱📖

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 4.Model of auxin de-repression. When the auxin concentration in the nucleus is low (A), the effect of ARFas, as well as other non-ARF transcription factors, is limited by Aux/IAA-mediated recruitment of the TPL co-repressor, closing the locus. As auxin levels rise (B), AFBs ubiquitinate Aux/IAAs, thereby allowing all transcription factors to act on the locus. As a result, there is a significant difference in gene expression between baseline and auxin induction. In afb1,2,3,4 mutants (C), Aux/IAAs are not degraded, and therefore the promoter remains closed. In the iaa2mDII degron mutant (D), one of three Aux/IAAs is stabilized, thereby resulting in only partial promoter closure. In arfasept lines, Aux/IAAs are not recruited to the promoter. While gene expression remains diminished without activating ARFs, other non-ARF transcription factors are allowed to provide baseline gene expression. However, there is no auxin-mediated induction.
September 29, 2025 at 10:42 AM
Reposted by Michael Prigge
jxbotany.bsky.social
🌱🧬 INSIGHT 🧬🌱

Complete loss of A-ARF activity in bryophytes reveals a role for auxin-adjacent regulatory networks – Flores-Sandoval & Bowman comment on an original research article by Bascom et al.

📝 Insight: doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

🔬 Research: doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 1 (shortened, full legend in paper): Auxin responses and auxin-adjacent transcription factors (TFs) control developmental transitions in bryophyte gametophytes. (A) Wild-type (WT) auxin responses (left) cycling between low and high auxin. Under low auxin, A-ARFs are kept in a repressive complex by AUX/IAAs via recruitment of the TOPLESS co-repressor and associated histone deacetylases (HDACs). Under high auxin, auxin mediates the interaction between TIR1/AFB and AUX/IAAs, leading to AUX/IAA ubiquitination and proteolysis. A-ARFs are then free to interact with SWI/SNF ATPases and histone acetylases (HACs), leading to open chromatin states. Positive (TIR1/AFB, A-ARF, SWI/SNF, HAC), negative (AUX/IAA, TPL, HDAC) and auxin-adjacent (TFs) factors are shown. Auxin is represented by an A.
September 22, 2025 at 1:32 PM
mjprigge.bsky.social
A friend of mine has a preprint out with an ingenious method to directly generate collections of NILs surrounding a locus or a collection of loci. They used the yeast KO collection, but it’d be cool to adapt for mapping traits in plants.
biorxiv-genetic.bsky.social bioRxiv Genetics @biorxiv-genetic.bsky.social · Sep 19
High-resolution, genotype-free mapping of genetic variation with CRI-SPA-Map https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.16.676640v1
September 19, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Reposted by Michael Prigge
mluckovich.bsky.social
September 17, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Reposted by Michael Prigge
wabniklab.bsky.social
Did you know that there is a cell cycle duration gradient in plant root meristem? New story by joining forces between Plant dynamics lab and Crisanto Gutiérrez & Bénédicte Desvoyes lab @cbgpmadrid.bsky.social @cbm-csic-uam.bsky.social #Plants #roots #cellcycle www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Stem cell regulators drive a G1 duration gradient during plant root development - Nature Plants
A positional and developmentally regulated cell cycle duration gradient exists in the root meristem whereby the G1 phase is very long close to the stem cell niche. This relies on the interplay of PLET...
www.nature.com
September 18, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Reposted by Michael Prigge
bas-bargmann.bsky.social
Please repost and spread the word! 🙂
bas-bargmann.bsky.social Bas Bargmann @bas-bargmann.bsky.social · Sep 14
This should be fun! 🤓 Join us May 10-13 in Barcelona!!

www.ptcge2026.com
September 15, 2025 at 3:00 PM
mjprigge.bsky.social
Took some time off to visit family and to see Courtney Barnett for the first time this weekend. Amazing show! (Picture from @tbobrowsky.bsky.social blows all my phone-snaps out of the water.)
photo of Cortney Barnett and her band on stage at Grand Rapids Riverfest.
September 7, 2025 at 6:17 AM
Reposted by Michael Prigge
biorxiv-plants.bsky.social
Diversification of functional requirements for proteolysis of Auxin Response Factors https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.03.673984v1
September 5, 2025 at 1:05 AM
Reposted by Michael Prigge
pjthereuss.bsky.social
www.startribune.com/reusse-padre...
Reusse: Padres have come a long way from their early years of fan apathy
Baseball reigns in San Diego, and the Padres are no longer second-class citizens in their own city.
www.startribune.com
August 30, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Reposted by Michael Prigge
zoenv.bsky.social
Here it is! Epidermal cells in the root can figure out if they are covered by the root cap or not using mechanical signals! Thanks to @ckirchhelle.bsky.social, @moritznowack.bsky.social, @nathan-german.bsky.social Annamaria Kiss and all the others!
biorxiv-plants.bsky.social bioRxiv Plant Bio @biorxiv-plants.bsky.social · Aug 27
Plant cells at the organ surface use mechanical cues to activate a specific growth control programme https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.25.672229v1
August 27, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Reposted by Michael Prigge
pjthereuss.bsky.social
Did America really need this product?
August 22, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Reposted by Michael Prigge
flagellatedpants.bsky.social
Ok, hear me out, here's the plan:
Meme with a quasi bryologist disaproving of early land plants agenda, but quite liking early mars plants idea, since mosses are amongst organisms that should be able to colonize mars.
August 19, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Reposted by Michael Prigge
makaylathebotanist.bsky.social
I love being a cell biologist, look at these beautiful cells! P. patens glam shot!
July 19, 2025 at 4:31 PM
mjprigge.bsky.social
There is a nice News & Views article by @suruchiroy.bsky.social and others regarding our recent Nature Plants paper (@mestelle.bsky.social, @drannisr.bsky.social, and @luciastrader.bsky.social labs) and another from @dolfweijers.bsky.social 's lab. #PlantScience #Auxin rdcu.be/eAEnz
ARF degradation fine-tunes auxin response in land plants
Nature Plants - Two recent studies in phylogenetically distant plants integrate a new layer of control into the canonical auxin pathway. A deeply conserved degron that affects the stability of...
rdcu.be
August 14, 2025 at 12:25 AM