Marc Somssich
@somssich.bsky.social
Plant Scientist
Trait Program Manager (Biotic Stress) @KWSGroup.bsky.social
Web: https://linktr.ee/somssich
Personal Account
Trait Program Manager (Biotic Stress) @KWSGroup.bsky.social
Web: https://linktr.ee/somssich
Personal Account
Pinned
Marc Somssich
@somssich.bsky.social
· Jun 6
𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨 and 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞! 👋
Here's some content you might find interesting:
𝟏) My chapters of "𝐀 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞"
𝟐) My 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐬 threads
𝟑) My threads on 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬
𝟒) My Bluesky 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 & 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐏𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬
𝟓) Some info on 𝐌𝐲 𝐎𝐰𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡
See all compiled Below 👇🧵
Here's some content you might find interesting:
𝟏) My chapters of "𝐀 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞"
𝟐) My 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐬 threads
𝟑) My threads on 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬
𝟒) My Bluesky 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 & 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐏𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬
𝟓) Some info on 𝐌𝐲 𝐎𝐰𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡
See all compiled Below 👇🧵
Reposted by Marc Somssich
My interest in plant pigments started with the tomatoes in my garden. There didn't seem to be any one place organizing all the genetics related to color mutations, even though there was a great deal of research, so I decided to make one.
January 4, 2026 at 5:52 AM
My interest in plant pigments started with the tomatoes in my garden. There didn't seem to be any one place organizing all the genetics related to color mutations, even though there was a great deal of research, so I decided to make one.
Reposted by Marc Somssich
At the end of 2024 I did a chronological round up of all the #plantscience in @science.org that year.
So how did 2025 pan out? This year, I’m grouping papers thematically instead of chronologically so read on to find out what exciting plant science came out over the last 12 months. (1/22)
So how did 2025 pan out? This year, I’m grouping papers thematically instead of chronologically so read on to find out what exciting plant science came out over the last 12 months. (1/22)
January 2, 2026 at 6:24 PM
At the end of 2024 I did a chronological round up of all the #plantscience in @science.org that year.
So how did 2025 pan out? This year, I’m grouping papers thematically instead of chronologically so read on to find out what exciting plant science came out over the last 12 months. (1/22)
So how did 2025 pan out? This year, I’m grouping papers thematically instead of chronologically so read on to find out what exciting plant science came out over the last 12 months. (1/22)
Reposted by Marc Somssich
🍽️ Healthier oils for sustainable diets?
#GenomeEditing offers new ways to improve oil composition in crops.
Read the review here: https://ow.ly/8Vaq50XMvOx
#GenomeEditing offers new ways to improve oil composition in crops.
Read the review here: https://ow.ly/8Vaq50XMvOx
January 2, 2026 at 8:00 AM
🍽️ Healthier oils for sustainable diets?
#GenomeEditing offers new ways to improve oil composition in crops.
Read the review here: https://ow.ly/8Vaq50XMvOx
#GenomeEditing offers new ways to improve oil composition in crops.
Read the review here: https://ow.ly/8Vaq50XMvOx
Reposted by Marc Somssich
We're looking for a postdoc to join us in trying to map the routes by which different signals travel through plants and identify what information they carry. Link👇or get in touch! @johninnescentre.bsky.social
#PlantSciJobs
www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/po...
#PlantSciJobs
www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/po...
Postdoctoral Researcher (Faulkner Group) | John Innes Centre
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Postdoctoral Researcher to join the Faulkner Group at the John Innes Centre, working on cutting-edge science in the field of Cell & Developmental Biology.
www.jic.ac.uk
December 22, 2025 at 1:30 PM
We're looking for a postdoc to join us in trying to map the routes by which different signals travel through plants and identify what information they carry. Link👇or get in touch! @johninnescentre.bsky.social
#PlantSciJobs
www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/po...
#PlantSciJobs
www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/po...
Reposted by Marc Somssich
Proximity labeling users: check out this study by @zhixingchen2.bsky.social and Peng Zou, which establishes how much contact-dependence vs. diffusion is responsible for biotinylation — tl;dr TurboID has a much smaller effective radius! www.nature.com/articles/s41... 1/2
Spatial barcoding reveals reaction radii and contact-dependent mechanism of proximity labeling - Nature Chemical Biology
A DNA nanoruler platform enables precise measurement of the labeling radii of TurboID and APEX2, uncovering their contact-dependent mechanisms. These findings redefine the enzymology of proximity labe...
www.nature.com
December 31, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Proximity labeling users: check out this study by @zhixingchen2.bsky.social and Peng Zou, which establishes how much contact-dependence vs. diffusion is responsible for biotinylation — tl;dr TurboID has a much smaller effective radius! www.nature.com/articles/s41... 1/2
Reposted by Marc Somssich
🙌 9 out of 9 points!
For everyone as passionate about breeding as us, this quiz is a nice way to test your knowledge of where some of our well-known fruits and vegetables originated.
Try the Gene Sprout Initiative's quiz and see how well you do 😉
🔗 https://ow.ly/40vY50XMtbZ
For everyone as passionate about breeding as us, this quiz is a nice way to test your knowledge of where some of our well-known fruits and vegetables originated.
Try the Gene Sprout Initiative's quiz and see how well you do 😉
🔗 https://ow.ly/40vY50XMtbZ
December 29, 2025 at 6:01 PM
🙌 9 out of 9 points!
For everyone as passionate about breeding as us, this quiz is a nice way to test your knowledge of where some of our well-known fruits and vegetables originated.
Try the Gene Sprout Initiative's quiz and see how well you do 😉
🔗 https://ow.ly/40vY50XMtbZ
For everyone as passionate about breeding as us, this quiz is a nice way to test your knowledge of where some of our well-known fruits and vegetables originated.
Try the Gene Sprout Initiative's quiz and see how well you do 😉
🔗 https://ow.ly/40vY50XMtbZ
Reposted by Marc Somssich
In our #VirtualIssue on #Herbivore-derived elicitors of plant responses we bring together New Phytologist articles that highlight recent developments in the study of how plants respond to herbivores 👇
📚 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1...
#PlantScience
📚 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1...
#PlantScience
December 29, 2025 at 12:01 PM
In our #VirtualIssue on #Herbivore-derived elicitors of plant responses we bring together New Phytologist articles that highlight recent developments in the study of how plants respond to herbivores 👇
📚 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1...
#PlantScience
📚 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1...
#PlantScience
Reposted by Marc Somssich
New preprint on ancestral cellular patterning in fossil and extant liverworts! A story led by @josepmercadal.bsky.social together with Susan Tremblay, @leoniekraska.bsky.social, Martin Hutten. Check the thread below! @mpipz.bsky.social Link: doi.org/10.64898/202...
Interested in fossils, evo-devo, and how mathematical modeling can help us understand the evolution of developmental processes? In our latest preprint, we uncover an ancestral lateral inhibition mechanism underlying epidermal patterning in liverworts.
Lateral inhibition governs ancestral cellular patterning in fossil and extant liverworts https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.27.696693v1
December 28, 2025 at 10:37 AM
New preprint on ancestral cellular patterning in fossil and extant liverworts! A story led by @josepmercadal.bsky.social together with Susan Tremblay, @leoniekraska.bsky.social, Martin Hutten. Check the thread below! @mpipz.bsky.social Link: doi.org/10.64898/202...
Reposted by Marc Somssich
Thanks for the shout-out! If anybody wants to get an overview of expansion microscopy techniques in plants, give this a read! 🔬
🔬 EXPERT VIEW 🔬
In this review, Cox & Czymmek cover the recent developments of expansion microscopy techniques in plant systems and provides examples of their applications in plant biology research.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪 @kcox-bioguy.bsky.social
In this review, Cox & Czymmek cover the recent developments of expansion microscopy techniques in plant systems and provides examples of their applications in plant biology research.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪 @kcox-bioguy.bsky.social
December 27, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Thanks for the shout-out! If anybody wants to get an overview of expansion microscopy techniques in plants, give this a read! 🔬
Reposted by Marc Somssich
🔬 EXPERT VIEW 🔬
In this review, Cox & Czymmek cover the recent developments of expansion microscopy techniques in plant systems and provides examples of their applications in plant biology research.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪 @kcox-bioguy.bsky.social
In this review, Cox & Czymmek cover the recent developments of expansion microscopy techniques in plant systems and provides examples of their applications in plant biology research.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪 @kcox-bioguy.bsky.social
December 27, 2025 at 4:45 PM
🔬 EXPERT VIEW 🔬
In this review, Cox & Czymmek cover the recent developments of expansion microscopy techniques in plant systems and provides examples of their applications in plant biology research.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪 @kcox-bioguy.bsky.social
In this review, Cox & Czymmek cover the recent developments of expansion microscopy techniques in plant systems and provides examples of their applications in plant biology research.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪 @kcox-bioguy.bsky.social
Reposted by Marc Somssich
Why are so many plant viruses phloem-restricted? New work from Xueping Zhou’s lab reveals how this tissue tropism is determined in a geminivirus — and why phloem confinement can turn out to be an evolutionary advantage! www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🌱🦠🚷🅿️🛫🌱
Defence-mediated phloem restriction of a plant virus facilitates insect transmission - Nature Communications
How plant viruses are restricted to the phloem are long-standing questions in plant virology. The paper shows PENETRATION3 activity and callose deposition confine plant viruses to the phloem, which fa...
www.nature.com
December 26, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Why are so many plant viruses phloem-restricted? New work from Xueping Zhou’s lab reveals how this tissue tropism is determined in a geminivirus — and why phloem confinement can turn out to be an evolutionary advantage! www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🌱🦠🚷🅿️🛫🌱
Reposted by Marc Somssich
Our work now on @jxbotany.bsky.social. Make sure you add some Cas13a fluorescent virus detection to your Christmas lights ✨️
Researchers developed a #CRISPR-based method that's user-friendly, extraction-free, 15 min protocol for on-site #virus #detection using a portable fluorescence viewer and a mobile #phone camera directly from RNA of several crop species, including #tomato, #cucumber, and #rapeseed. 👉 bit.ly/4p6Jo8t
December 24, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Our work now on @jxbotany.bsky.social. Make sure you add some Cas13a fluorescent virus detection to your Christmas lights ✨️
Reposted by Marc Somssich
Genome editing of goldenberry ERECTA for crop ideotype. Congrats, Zach Lippman, Joyce Van Eck & the team! "Engineering compact Physalis peruviana to promote its potential as a global crop". ERECTA rock😉
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Engineering compact Physalis peruviana (goldenberry) to promote its potential as a global crop
Goldenberry (Physalis peruviana) produces sweet, nutritionally rich berries, yet like many minor crops, is cultivated in limited geographical regions and has not been a focus of breeding programs for...
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 25, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Genome editing of goldenberry ERECTA for crop ideotype. Congrats, Zach Lippman, Joyce Van Eck & the team! "Engineering compact Physalis peruviana to promote its potential as a global crop". ERECTA rock😉
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Reposted by Marc Somssich
and the winner of the "2025 best thing on Internet" has just arrived
neal.fun/size-of-life/
@carlbergstrom.com
neal.fun/size-of-life/
@carlbergstrom.com
Size of Life
From an amoeba to a blue whale
neal.fun
December 23, 2025 at 4:07 PM
and the winner of the "2025 best thing on Internet" has just arrived
neal.fun/size-of-life/
@carlbergstrom.com
neal.fun/size-of-life/
@carlbergstrom.com
Reposted by Marc Somssich
Happy to see this out! We describe a patterning mechanism underlying rhizoid specification in Marchantia. Contrary to classic patterning mechanisms (e.g., Turing), rhizoid specification depends on both randomness and lateral inhibition, involves subcritical bifurcations, and occurs at criticality!
Cell-type specification at criticality underlies rhizoid patterning in the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha
Rhizoid specification in Marchantia polymorpha gemmae involves lateral inhibition mediated by the microRNA FRH1, which represses the rhizoid-specific …
www.sciencedirect.com
December 23, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Happy to see this out! We describe a patterning mechanism underlying rhizoid specification in Marchantia. Contrary to classic patterning mechanisms (e.g., Turing), rhizoid specification depends on both randomness and lateral inhibition, involves subcritical bifurcations, and occurs at criticality!
Reposted by Marc Somssich
One of the most pleasant surprises of the past 20 years was the transformation of Wikipedia into arguably the most reliable general information source freely accessible to the public. It’s not perfect — I’ve certainly seen errors — but it’s kind of shockingly good.
One might consider a donation.
One might consider a donation.
December 23, 2025 at 1:55 PM
One of the most pleasant surprises of the past 20 years was the transformation of Wikipedia into arguably the most reliable general information source freely accessible to the public. It’s not perfect — I’ve certainly seen errors — but it’s kind of shockingly good.
One might consider a donation.
One might consider a donation.
Reposted by Marc Somssich
Reposted by Marc Somssich
We wrote a review on the mᴏdular properties of plant cell-surface receptors, and how this knowledge can be used to reprogram and engineer them:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
A guide to designing cell-surface receptors in plants
Cell-surface receptors perceive environmental cues and trigger appropriate responses. In plants, these receptors comprise ectodomain, juxta-membrane, …
www.sciencedirect.com
December 22, 2025 at 2:24 AM
We wrote a review on the mᴏdular properties of plant cell-surface receptors, and how this knowledge can be used to reprogram and engineer them:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Marc Somssich
www.nature.com/articles/s41... here they have developed a central vaccine that can elicit immune responses broadly covering many strains by mapping the antigenic and immunogenic space of a viral protein, in principle this can be applied to design plant receptors that can capture wider MAMP epitopes
A vaccine central in A(H5) influenza antigenic space confers broad immunity - Nature
A high-resolution antigenic map of influenza A(H5) haemagglutinin (HA) enables the design of immunogenic and antigenically central vaccine HA antigens that elicit antibody responses broadly covering t...
www.nature.com
December 21, 2025 at 3:36 PM
www.nature.com/articles/s41... here they have developed a central vaccine that can elicit immune responses broadly covering many strains by mapping the antigenic and immunogenic space of a viral protein, in principle this can be applied to design plant receptors that can capture wider MAMP epitopes
Reposted by Marc Somssich
December 21, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Reposted by Marc Somssich
Closing out my year with a journal editor shocker 🧵
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
December 19, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Closing out my year with a journal editor shocker 🧵
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
Reposted by Marc Somssich
The key global crops, wheat, rice and maize, are expected to see the losses to pests increase by about 46%, 19% and 31% respectively when global heating reaches 2C 👇 www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
‘Borrowed time’: crop pests and food losses supercharged by climate crisis
Heating means pests breeding and spreading faster, warn scientists, with simplified current food system already vulnerable
www.theguardian.com
December 21, 2025 at 4:57 AM
The key global crops, wheat, rice and maize, are expected to see the losses to pests increase by about 46%, 19% and 31% respectively when global heating reaches 2C 👇 www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
Reposted by Marc Somssich
So wild. Ein Bundesministerium, das seine Position auf den tendenziösen Umfragen von NGO und wirtschaftlich involvierten Labelbetreibern aufbaut 🫣
Man stelle sich ein solches Vorgehen bei anderen neuen Technologien vor, z.B. bei Impfstoffen oder regenerativen Energien. Ist doch crazy
Man stelle sich ein solches Vorgehen bei anderen neuen Technologien vor, z.B. bei Impfstoffen oder regenerativen Energien. Ist doch crazy
❌ Eine Mehrheit der EU-Mitgliedstaaten hat heute für die Aufweichung des Gentechnikrechts gestimmt. Das EU-Parlament kann noch korrigieren.
👉 Falls nicht, muss es in DE für Betriebe, die weiterhin gentechnikfrei produzieren wollen, gentechnikfreie Lieferketten sowie neue Nachweismethoden geben.
👉 Falls nicht, muss es in DE für Betriebe, die weiterhin gentechnikfrei produzieren wollen, gentechnikfreie Lieferketten sowie neue Nachweismethoden geben.
December 20, 2025 at 6:25 AM
So wild. Ein Bundesministerium, das seine Position auf den tendenziösen Umfragen von NGO und wirtschaftlich involvierten Labelbetreibern aufbaut 🫣
Man stelle sich ein solches Vorgehen bei anderen neuen Technologien vor, z.B. bei Impfstoffen oder regenerativen Energien. Ist doch crazy
Man stelle sich ein solches Vorgehen bei anderen neuen Technologien vor, z.B. bei Impfstoffen oder regenerativen Energien. Ist doch crazy
Reposted by Marc Somssich
The 'Version of Record' of our paper came out on #FluorescenceFriday
elifesciences.org/articles/105...
elifesciences.org/articles/105...
A green lifetime biosensor for calcium that remains bright over its full dynamic range
Directed evolution was used to engineer a green fluorescent biosensor for quantitative calcium imaging that remains fluorescent, yet shows a large change in lifetime in cells.
elifesciences.org
December 19, 2025 at 6:26 PM
The 'Version of Record' of our paper came out on #FluorescenceFriday
elifesciences.org/articles/105...
elifesciences.org/articles/105...
Reposted by Marc Somssich
📣 Save the date!
The GfE Meeting 2026 is coming to Potsdam 🇩🇪🌱
✨ Four outstanding keynote speakers
(Hans Clevers, Isabel Fariñas, Thomas Bosch, Frank Bradke) ✨
🏅 Celebration of the Klaus Sander, Hilde Mangold, and José Campos-Ortega Awards 🏅
👉 www.uni-potsdam.de/en/gfe-meeti...
The GfE Meeting 2026 is coming to Potsdam 🇩🇪🌱
✨ Four outstanding keynote speakers
(Hans Clevers, Isabel Fariñas, Thomas Bosch, Frank Bradke) ✨
🏅 Celebration of the Klaus Sander, Hilde Mangold, and José Campos-Ortega Awards 🏅
👉 www.uni-potsdam.de/en/gfe-meeti...
December 17, 2025 at 9:49 AM
📣 Save the date!
The GfE Meeting 2026 is coming to Potsdam 🇩🇪🌱
✨ Four outstanding keynote speakers
(Hans Clevers, Isabel Fariñas, Thomas Bosch, Frank Bradke) ✨
🏅 Celebration of the Klaus Sander, Hilde Mangold, and José Campos-Ortega Awards 🏅
👉 www.uni-potsdam.de/en/gfe-meeti...
The GfE Meeting 2026 is coming to Potsdam 🇩🇪🌱
✨ Four outstanding keynote speakers
(Hans Clevers, Isabel Fariñas, Thomas Bosch, Frank Bradke) ✨
🏅 Celebration of the Klaus Sander, Hilde Mangold, and José Campos-Ortega Awards 🏅
👉 www.uni-potsdam.de/en/gfe-meeti...