Thomas WIDIEZ
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thomaswidiez.bsky.social
Thomas WIDIEZ
@thomaswidiez.bsky.social
🌾Plant biologist, plant reproduction, seeds, pollen, haploid induction, maize🌽. PI at lab @rdplab.bsky.social in ENS de lyon @ensdelyon.bsky.social / research director at @inrae-france.bsky.social
Pinned
🌽 A dream maize seed phenotype—finally real❗

Two KIL TFs trigger lytic cell death in endosperm (EAS) ➡️ boosting embryo growth!

@theplantcell.bsky.social

Huge credit to @moritznowack.bsky.social & N. Doll for leading this work 🙌 Fantastic collaboration 🤝

📖 academic.oup.com/plcell/advan...
Reposted by Thomas WIDIEZ
Two days of retreat and amazing discussions with @cosheidelberg.bsky.social ; @igflyon.bsky.social ky.social & @rdplab.bsky.social

The power of science really shows when different organisms (and minds!) come together.
February 10, 2026 at 4:30 PM
Reposted by Thomas WIDIEZ
Ahead of Clara Igisch’s PhD defense tomorrow, we enjoyed four excellent talks today in a 🌱 mini-symposium:

@emmanuellebayer.bsky.social / @ottlab.bsky.social / @jennyrussinova.bsky.social & @structplantbio.bsky.social

Great science, great stories!
January 22, 2026 at 8:48 PM
Reposted by Thomas WIDIEZ
New Article: "ATG5–HSP90.2-mediated micromitophagy as a cytological basis for maternal inheritance of plant mitochondria" rdcu.be/eZ87l

Micromitophagy in male germline cells underpins paternal mitochondrial elimination and supports the zygote-to-embryo transition.
January 21, 2026 at 11:43 PM
Reposted by Thomas WIDIEZ
Save the date: Plant Development PhD school (i.e. Retzbach 2.0) in Neustadt, Germany.

Sept 23rd-25th, 2026
~€350 all inclusive

Excellent speakers and a relaxed atmosphere for early-career researchers (PhDs & postdocs). Registration opens soon.

For more info, see
raissiglab.org/plantdevosch...
January 13, 2026 at 12:50 PM
Reposted by Thomas WIDIEZ
🌟 Great seminar this week at RDP lab

with Artemis Perraki ( @cnrsbiologie.bsky.social , @lrsv-toulouse.bsky.social) sharing her exciting science to understand how developmental and environmental pathways intersect during anther development 🌱
January 14, 2026 at 12:37 AM
Reposted by Thomas WIDIEZ
🔥 Hot new preprint before the Christmas break 🎄

Egg cell fertilization–dependent peptide receptor signaling mediates endosperm polarity

📖
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Audrey Creff, @jackrhodes.bsky.social , Cyril Zipfel, Gwyneth Ingram and others
December 19, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Reposted by Thomas WIDIEZ
Today, our Director, Gwyneth Ingram, received the CNRS Silver Medal. (👇see the post below👇)

This award recognizes researchers for the originality, quality, and significance of their work, acknowledged at both national and international levels.

🌱Congratulations!🥂
December 15, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Reposted by Thomas WIDIEZ
🧬🌽 RESEARCH 🧬🌽

A new whole-genome assembly of maize identifies a potential regulator of crossover frequency and other effects on expression of A-chromosome genes mediated by the B chromosome - Hloušková et al.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪
December 13, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Thomas WIDIEZ
Thrilled to have our paper out in @science.org. Cell division guides plant cell wall formation. Does the reverse hold? We show that bimodal pectin methylesterification, via PME5 mRNA nuclear sequestration, influences plant cell division and cell plate orientation. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Cell wall patterning regulates plant stem cell dynamics
The plant cell wall regulates development through spatiotemporal modulation of its chemical and mechanical properties. Pectin methylesterification is recognized as a rheological switch controlling wal...
www.science.org
December 6, 2025 at 10:11 AM
Reposted by Thomas WIDIEZ
Reinforcing the 🇫🇷France–Japan🇯🇵 collaboration in plant biology🌱

Great meeting our French and Japanese colleagues in a cozy pre-Christmas atmosphere in Strasbourg, hosted by @ibmp-cnrs.bsky.social

So glad to have brilliant Japanese researchers at @rdplab.bsky.social
Let’s grow science together! 🌱✨
November 30, 2025 at 9:08 PM
🌾 Shorten the wheat gene-edited breeding cycle
✨ Haploid induction × gene editing

▶️Rapid Genetic Stabilisation of Transgenic and Edited Wheat Through Transformation of Immature Haploid Embryos

📖 doi.org/10.1111/pbi....
November 28, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Reposted by Thomas WIDIEZ
Congrats to Andrea Calhau from @rdplab.bsky.social for winning the Best Talk Award at "Seed 2025", the 10ᵉ edition of the French Seed Network Conference! 🌱

This year’s colloque, held in Nantes, brought together scientists around the theme Seeds & the agroecological, climatic, and food transitions.
November 16, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Reposted by Thomas WIDIEZ
🌱 Our latest: in Plant Biotech J we study transgenerational #CRISPR editing in #maize🌽 using a split Cas9/gRNA system, highlighting importance of event quality & choice of promoters. 👏 Christian Lorenzo, Dirk Inzé and Hilde Nelissen @fbwugent.bsky.social @psb-vib.bsky.social doi.org/10.1111/pbi....
October 29, 2025 at 3:57 PM
🌽 Maize vs. Fusarium 🌽

Overexpressing a maize lipoxygenase (ZmLOX4) boosts resistance to Fusarium infection.

Glad that our maize Gene editing & transformation platform, at @rdplab.bsky.social, contributed to this research, led by the Lanubile's Lab.

▶️ doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
October 6, 2025 at 9:51 AM
The cenH3 assembly factor ZmKNL2 boosts haploid induction in maize 🌽

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
October 6, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Reposted by Thomas WIDIEZ
🌱 3 plant biology institutes, 2 great days! 🌿

PhDs & postdocs from DBMV @unil.bsky.social, @psb-vib.bsky.social & @rdplab.bsky.social rocked the 2nd Trilateral Plant Bio Symposium in Lausanne!

👏 Big congrats to all ECRs, especially to @nathan-german.bsky.social for winning Best Presentation! 🏆💥
September 13, 2025 at 11:10 AM
🚨Breakthrough in haploid induction through microspore 🌾 🌱

@cp-cell.bsky.social

▶️ Reprogramming of microspore fate via BBM-BAR1 for highly efficient in vivo haploid induction

📖 www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...
September 9, 2025 at 11:58 AM
➡️NRT1.1B acts as an ABA receptor in integrating compound environmental cues for plants

@cellcellpress.bsky.social

📖https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2025.07.027
August 12, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Reposted by Thomas WIDIEZ
Our paper showing that variation in transcription factor binding sites underlies the majority of additive genetic variance for phenotypic variation in maize is finally out!

Sadly they didn't use our suggested cover image below (made by the inimitable Andi Kur).

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
August 11, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Reposted by Thomas WIDIEZ
🌽 Le suicide utile de l’albumen : des cellules se détruisent pour laisser grandir l’embryon

Publié dans The Plant Cell, découverte signée N. Doll & @thomaswidiez.bsky.social (UMR RDP), un mécanisme clé pour la croissance et la nutrition des graines ⤵️
urlr.me/QvBTSV

Des pistes pour l’#agriculture 🚜
July 18, 2025 at 8:34 AM
A haplotype-resolved pangenome of the barley wild relative Hordeum bulbosum 🌾

@nature.com

📖 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A haplotype-resolved pangenome of the barley wild relative Hordeum bulbosum - Nature
A study describes the assembly and analysis of a haplotype-resolved pangenome of bulbous barley with the potential to improve domesticated barley and illustrates its use in evolutionary research and t...
www.nature.com
July 10, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Amazing discovery 🤯 on barrier integrity control in 🌱 👇🏼👇🏼

@nature.com

Congratulations to all👏🏼
July 2, 2025 at 11:19 PM
🌽 A dream maize seed phenotype—finally real❗

Two KIL TFs trigger lytic cell death in endosperm (EAS) ➡️ boosting embryo growth!

@theplantcell.bsky.social

Huge credit to @moritznowack.bsky.social & N. Doll for leading this work 🙌 Fantastic collaboration 🤝

📖 academic.oup.com/plcell/advan...
June 22, 2025 at 3:14 PM
🌱 Latest research from A. Lanubile Lab
▶️ editing the ZmWKRY125 transcription factor enhances maize resistance against Fusarium verticillioides🌽

Glad that our team from @rdplab.bsky.social contributed to this work! 🤝

🔓open access: hal.science/hal-05119616

📖 publisher's link doi.org/10.1007/s002...
June 19, 2025 at 7:01 AM