Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU)
LightNews LightNews
banner
slcuplants.bsky.social
Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU)
@slcuplants.bsky.social
1.7K followers 450 following 73 posts
Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU) is a research institute of the University of Cambridge dedicated to plant developmental biology.
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
slcuplants.bsky.social
Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU) @slcuplants.bsky.social · 2d
Confocal scanning laser microscopy, fluorescence lifetime imaging & Raman analyses allowed @nhm-london.bsky.social, @slcuplants.bsky.social & @cambridge-ee.bsky.social researchers to resolve plant & fungal structures fossil
Read in @newphyt.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1111/nph....

@dromius.bsky.social
Reposted by Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU)
transcription.bsky.social
I've been in this role for @theplantjournal.bsky.social for nearly two years and can highly recommend it! You work with a great team, hone your writing skills and grow your network in the plant science community. Feel free to reach out if you have specific questions about the role.
theplantjournal.bsky.social The Plant Journal @theplantjournal.bsky.social · 16d
Looking for 2 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐄𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬!
🌿 Join TPJ! You´ll:

🧬 Select standout TPJ papers
📰 Write short commentaries
🎨 Choose cover images
💬 Work with authors & SEB team

👉https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/1365313x/homepage/rheditor
📩 Rosie Trice 𝐫𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞@𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐲.𝐜𝐨𝐦
🗓️24Nov2025
October 28, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Reposted by Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU)
dariuskos.bsky.social
The life of a plant scientist… In order of magnification: me taking some #Marchantia from my courtyard, the picture I took in that very moment, and the microscopy image of that sample sectioned through a gemma cup. Turquoise: chlorophyll, yellow: WGA-FITC (binds chitin of e.g. fungi)!
November 5, 2025 at 3:13 PM
slcuplants.bsky.social
Confocal scanning laser microscopy, fluorescence lifetime imaging & Raman analyses allowed @nhm-london.bsky.social, @slcuplants.bsky.social & @cambridge-ee.bsky.social researchers to resolve plant & fungal structures fossil
Read in @newphyt.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1111/nph....

@dromius.bsky.social
November 12, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Reposted by Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU)
dromius.bsky.social
Plz RP. Come join us at @slcuplants.bsky.social @cam.ac.uk to study effector-targeted plant processes impacting plant cell biology and development.
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/post-do...
www.schornacklab.net
advert text as bitmap picture of the Schornacklab team
November 6, 2025 at 6:51 PM
slcuplants.bsky.social
🎃✨ Pumpkin perfection!

We were seriously impressed by the beautifully carved and brilliantly lit pumpkins from @thesainsburylab.bsky.social🕯️

We also got spiritedly competitive with our annual team pumpkin carving competition 😄🎃

Who knew plant scientists were such talented artists? 🪚🎃🌿
Collage of 13 pumpkins that have been carved in various designs and painted for the annual SLCU Pumpkin Carving Competition
November 3, 2025 at 11:35 AM
slcuplants.bsky.social
Ever seen a pumpkin under a microscope? 🎃🔬

This Halloween, Raymond Wightman & Daniel Sparrow used @slcuplants.bsky.social’s powerful imaging tools to reveal:
🔬 Skin detail with the #Keyence microscope
💡 Beta-carotene via #Raman spectroscopy
❄️ Flash-frozen oval cells via cryo-SEM

#HappyHalloween
Composite image showing a pumpkin used for microscopy. A photo of the whole pumpkin with a small 2mm square cut out indicates the area imaged. The main background shows the orange flesh captured with a Keyence digital microscope, with the darker ridge on the left marking the skin. An inset black graph displays the Raman spectrum with strong beta-carotene peaks, explaining the pumpkin’s orange colour. Another inset image from cryo-SEM reveals tightly packed oval cells that make up the pumpkin’s fleshy interior. Images by Raymond Wightman and Daniel Sparrow. Pumpkin on the Raman microscope Flash frozen pumpkin in the vacuum chamber of the cryo-SEM before undergoing cryofracture and then coating in gold/palladium. It was then passed in to the cryo-SEM itself for imaging.
October 31, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Reposted by Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU)
paszkowskilab.bsky.social
It's been a busy time in the Paszkowski lab!

First, a pre-print on how rice distinguishes friend (AM fungi)🍄 from foe (pathogens)👾: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

And second, a review on single-cell omic approaches to understand the spatially and temporally complex AM symbiosis 🔬: doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
Defining the pre-symbiotic transcriptional landscape of rice roots
Plants interact with a plethora of organisms in the rhizosphere, with outcomes that range from detrimental to beneficial. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis is the most ubiquitous beneficial plant ...
doi.org
October 6, 2025 at 10:29 AM
Reposted by Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU)
camplantsci.bsky.social
Job opportunity!

We are recruiting got a Horticultural Technician:
- Crop Science Centre
- Fixed term
- Closes on Friday 31 October

www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/horticu...

#plantscijobs #plantsciences
October 9, 2025 at 8:09 AM
Reposted by Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU)
camplantsci.bsky.social
Celebrating 200 years since John Stevens Henslow became Professor of Botany at Cambridge.

It's almost 200 years to the day since Henslow took an oath before the Vice Chancellor as 'King's Reader in Botany' on 10 October 1825.

Find out more about his legacy: tinyurl.com/4stzwhz9

@cam.ac.uk
Geological map of Anglesey from J.S. Henslow's 1822 article Geological Description of Anglesea. Credit: Cambridge Philosophical Society. Henslow's botanical drawings. Credit: University of Cambridge.
October 9, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Reposted by Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU)
engbioirc.bsky.social
A week to go... #EngBio ECRs Meetup returns on 20 Oct. Join us to hear great talks from Konstantina Beritza and
Caroline Faessler 🌱 Don't miss it!
@camplantsci.bsky.social

Sign up here👉 www.tickettailor.com/events/engin...

#plantsciences #marinemicroalga #Nicotianabenthamiana
October 13, 2025 at 9:43 AM
Reposted by Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU)
crasshlive.bsky.social
🌱 Join us for the first event by the 'Decolonising Plant Knowledge' research network on 15 October

This interdisciplinary seminar series explores aspects of Rau as a crucible of creative epistemic frictions between botanical narratives and colonised plant worlds

2-5pm, Pembroke College, CB2 1RF
Decolonising Plant Knowledge Term Card. 15 October, Decolonising Plant Knowledge: Thinking around ‘Rau’. 22 October, Plant knowledge in plantation economies. 12 November, Reclaiming indigenous history from Amazonian soil and palaeobotany. 19 November, Toxicity, plant animacy and blurred categories.
October 9, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Reposted by Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU)
gesahoffmann.bsky.social
It was wonderful to have Bijun with us @mpi-mp-potsdam.bsky.social & @incavirus.bsky.social to finally "use our microscope to its full potential" as our core-facility put it! 🔬

Congrats to all, esp. @bijuntang.bsky.social and @xanderjones.bsky.social ! Super happy to be a part of this great story!
October 10, 2025 at 7:09 AM
Reposted by Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU)
incavirus.bsky.social
Thrilled to see this out! SalicS is a beautiful new tool to monitor salicylic acid activation live in plants.

Kudos to @xanderjones.bsky.social and @bijuntang.bsky.social for spearheading this work and to @gesahoffmann.bsky.social at @mpi-mp-potsdam.bsky.social for using SalicS in viral infections🌱
slcuplants.bsky.social Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU) @slcuplants.bsky.social · Oct 9
Salicylic acid biosensor, SalicS1, tracks the plant immune hormone salicylic acid in real time - revealing propagation of hormone surge during plant pathogen advance

Latest biosensor from @xanderjones.bsky.social team
In Science doi.org/10.1126/scie...
Summary www.slcu.cam.ac.uk/news/new-bio...
October 10, 2025 at 9:45 AM
slcuplants.bsky.social
Salicylic acid biosensor, SalicS1, tracks the plant immune hormone salicylic acid in real time - revealing propagation of hormone surge during plant pathogen advance

Latest biosensor from @xanderjones.bsky.social team
In Science doi.org/10.1126/scie...
Summary www.slcu.cam.ac.uk/news/new-bio...
October 9, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Reposted by Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU)
zoenahas.bsky.social
Check out the link below for a summary of our recent paper on how plants coordinate their branching architecture, via @slcuplants.bsky.social 🌱
slcuplants.bsky.social Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU) @slcuplants.bsky.social · Sep 19
🌱From Bud to Branch🌱
New model reveals how local & systemic signals combine to regulate shoot branching.
"...by modulating #auxin transport, local #BRC1 expression in each bud could contribute to the systemic control of branching." @zoenahas.bsky.social
🔗 dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...
@plosbiology.org
Axillary buds are located at the base of each leaf. Initially dormant, each can grow into a branch. To study how branching is regulated by local signalling within each bud and by systemic signalling from other buds, we used stem sections with two axillary buds and their associated leaves (left). This signalling network influences, for example, whether one bud grows and rapidly inhibits the other (middle), or whether both buds grow simultaneously (right).
September 26, 2025 at 11:17 AM
Reposted by Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU)
xanderjones.bsky.social
Only a few days left to apply!

My group is looking for a postdoc to engineer and deploy new tools to precisely manipulate and decode how auxin coordinates plant morphogenesis.

@starmorph-syg.bsky.social

Research Associate - Reprogramming Development (closes 7 October 2025)
www.cam.ac.uk
October 3, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Reposted by Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU)
dromius.bsky.social
Job Advert - Russell R. Geiger Professorship of Crop Science @camplantsci.bsky.social @cropscicentre.bsky.social www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/russell...
Russell R. Geiger Professorship of Crop Science
The Board of Electors to the Russell R. Geiger Professorship of Crop Science invite applications for this Professorship from persons whose work falls within the general field of the Professorship to
www.cam.ac.uk
October 1, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Reposted by Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU)
cambridgebiosci.bsky.social
Unlock your potential with a Master's at the University of Cambridge! 🔬 Our MPhil in Biological Sciences offers a unique opportunity for cutting-edge, lab-based research at a world-leading institution.

Explore and apply: www.mphil.bio.cam.ac.uk

#Cambridge #BiologicalSciences #Postgraduate
September 25, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Reposted by Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU)
camphilsoc.bsky.social
The next Research Café: Science Communication will take place on 30th September 2025 @ 11:30am-2:30pm at @West Hub, Cambridge.

We have limited places, sign up here!

For details and to sign-up:
www.tickettailor.com/events/thewe...
September 23, 2025 at 9:14 AM
Reposted by Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU)
alexwebblab.bsky.social
@camplantsci.bsky.social here in Cambridge is wonderful place to work. Great colleagues. Some very good science and a vibrant city. If you are a world-leading crop scientist wanting to lead a thriving centre, we would like you to join us
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/russell...
Russell R. Geiger Professorship of Crop Science
The Board of Electors to the Russell R. Geiger Professorship of Crop Science invite applications for this Professorship from persons whose work falls within the general field of the Professorship to
www.cam.ac.uk
October 1, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Reposted by Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU)
camplantsci.bsky.social
From space science to dinner plates: the future of farming indoors - on the new paper from an international team reimaging the way we grow food into the future.

Read more at: tinyurl.com/3edf6b93

@aligill.bsky.social @alexwebblab.bsky.social @cambridgebiosci.bsky.social
Dr Alison Gill from the University of Adelaide looks over a crop grown in a controlled environment. Photo credit: Lieke Van Der Hulst.
October 1, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Reposted by Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU)
zoenahas.bsky.social
Happy to share slightly late that the main work of my PhD is now published! How do plants regulate the number + location of growing branches 🌳🌲? We used experiments and mathematical modelling to study how local and systemic signals are integrated during shoot branching regulation. A thread:
plosbiology.org PLOS Biology @plosbiology.org · Sep 16
How do #plants dynamically modulate their shoot branching for optimal returns? ‪@zoenahas.bsky.social‬ &co show that BRC1 modulates bud competitiveness by reducing #auxin efflux, integrating hormonal cues to fine-tune branching patterns @plosbiology.org @slcuplants.bsky.social 🧪 plos.io/4pnrwY2
2-node explants capture key properties of bud regulation. Top left: A stem segment with two axillary buds illustrates two regulatory hubs controlling shoot branching (i) local expression of the transcription factor BRC1, a repressor of bud activation, and (ii) systemic regulation of the auxin transport network. A canalization-based model of shoot branching postulates that bud activation requires the establishment of canalized auxin transport from the bud into the main stem, the dynamics of which is influenced by autocatalytic feedback in auxin flow between the bud and the stem, and the relative auxin source and sink strengths of the bud and stem, respectively. The relationship between BRC1- and auxin-transport-mediated regulation is not known. Bottom left: Arabidopsis bud activation occurs in at least two phases: a slow-growing lag phase, then a switch to rapid outgrowth. Typical timescale 10–12 days. Right: Diagram illustrating the four possible growth outcomes for bud activation on 2-node explants, and their representation in a Mitchison plot. Mitchison plots present the length of the top bud versus that of the bottom bud over time in each explant. Explants where at least one bud grows are termed active, otherwise, they are inactive. Within active explants, there are three possible outcomes: both buds grow, or only either the top or the bottom bud activates.
September 26, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Reposted by Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU)
nickdesnoyer.bsky.social
Friday Flower 004: Hibiscus trionum 🌺✨

Hibiscus trionum displays a dark bullseye in the center that acts as a landing pad for pollinators 🎯

The bullseye is made by a developmental boundary delineating distinct cell shapes and pigments.
September 12, 2025 at 4:51 PM
slcuplants.bsky.social
🌱From Bud to Branch🌱
New model reveals how local & systemic signals combine to regulate shoot branching.
"...by modulating #auxin transport, local #BRC1 expression in each bud could contribute to the systemic control of branching." @zoenahas.bsky.social
🔗 dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...
@plosbiology.org
Axillary buds are located at the base of each leaf. Initially dormant, each can grow into a branch. To study how branching is regulated by local signalling within each bud and by systemic signalling from other buds, we used stem sections with two axillary buds and their associated leaves (left). This signalling network influences, for example, whether one bud grows and rapidly inhibits the other (middle), or whether both buds grow simultaneously (right).
September 19, 2025 at 1:50 PM
slcuplants.bsky.social
🌿💻 Plant Models and Morphology 💻🌿

The 9th International Plant Computational Biology Workshop @slcuplants.bsky.social brought together mathematicians, computer scientists, physicists and biologists exploring plant development through models and simulations.

Huge thanks to organisers and speakers!👏
Group photo of workshop attendees standing in ginkgo tree courtyard with the Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University building in background.
September 17, 2025 at 12:03 PM