Andrew Millar
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andrewmillar.bsky.social
Andrew Millar
@andrewmillar.bsky.social
350 followers 59 following 27 posts
#OpenData and science policy, interdisciplinarity, biological clocks and plants. He/his.
University of Edinburgh, the Biological Research Data Management team, BioRDM.
New student of #trees.
Avatar credit: Ed Himmelblau.
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andrewmillar.bsky.social
Love it ❤️👍!

But at £32.00, the USD-GBP exchange rate is wicked these days.
Website screenshot from Foldscope.com, for an 'Explorer Kit', offering a 15% Holiday discount and a price of £32
November 29, 2024 at 10:03 PM
andrewmillar.bsky.social
Now this is pretty cool 🤓🧪. Anyone for a microscope?
BYO objective lens.

Openflexure via @labcrafter.co.uk
#StayCurious
A dozen plastic bags of components, washers etc from UK company Labcrafter to build a 3-D printed microscope designed by OpenFlexure. Image from Labcrafter, at https://labcrafter.co.uk/products/openflexure-microscope
November 29, 2024 at 8:43 PM
andrewmillar.bsky.social
👀 See where this ends? #HungryTrees

🌲 Metasequoia glyptostroboides, or the Dawn Redwood, at #EdinburghUniversity. Another ancient tree family 🦕, and unusual as a deciduous gymnosperm.

#Trees #Nature
Originally on @A_J_Millar@fediscience.org
Dawn redwood trunk, with bark starting to grow around the metal banister of a fire escape. Dawn redwood tree as tall as the 3-storey University building next to it, with foliage turning brown in the Autumn.
November 29, 2024 at 2:14 PM
andrewmillar.bsky.social
From post 5,
Amino acids that are enriched/depleted next to the phospho-site reflect which protein kinase enzymes did the phosphorylation.
Phospho-dawn sees acid-directed sites phosphorylated (D, E at ZT0), but by evening it's #CellCycle kinases guided by Proline (P, ZT12-16). 😎
#Shiftwork
Motif plot showing which amino acids are enriched or depleted in the residues next to the phosphorylated Serine or Threonine, which reflects the preferences of the protein kinase enzymes that do the phosphorylation. Those enzymes seem to work in alternate shifts, because acid residues (D/E) flank the rhythmic phospho-dawn sites that are most phosphorylated at ZT0 before dawn. Many of the evening-peaking sites are followed by Proline (P), characteristic of GSK3b and the cell-cycle kinases. (from Figure 5C)
November 4, 2024 at 12:51 PM
andrewmillar.bsky.social
🌑🕵️‍♂️ But here’s the twist: right before dawn, many proteins are modified with a phosphate (phospho-dawn!), preparing algae for the coming day.
A clear sign that these tiny creatures anticipate the sun's arrival!
#SunrisePrep #ScienceMagic 4/7
Graphs showing that rhythmic RNAs peak at all times of day but rhythmic proteins mostly peak in day-time, and many Phospho-sites peak at ZT0, just before dawn (from Figure 2).
November 4, 2024 at 12:44 PM
andrewmillar.bsky.social
🌊🔬 Meet the world's smallest free-living eukaryote Ostreococcus tauri. Our research dives into how this tiny marine alga gets ready for a new day.
Hint: it has a clever way of preparing for sunrise! #MarineBiology #Microalgae 1/7 🧵
Originally posted on @A_J_Millar@fediscience.org
A cell image from electron microscopy. Its colour-coded parts show how tiny the cell is. The single chloroplast, here coloured green, occupies more than half the cell. Under CC-BY 4.0 licence from Henderson GP, Gan L, Jensen GJ (2007) 3-D Ultrastructure of O. tauri: Electron Cryotomography of an Entire Eukaryotic Cell. PLoS ONE 2(8): e749. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0000749
November 4, 2024 at 12:41 PM
andrewmillar.bsky.social
Hello Bluesky, anyone into #trees? 🌳

If #ThinkTrunkThursday is happening, here's a close-up gifted from my friend and fellow arb Lucio. Some #PlantDevelopment here🌳⚡!

Maybe more of these later, and happy to see other #HungryTrees
A mossy tree trunk that has grown over a 1kV power line, just the edge of the insulators sticking out of the bark, and the cables.
October 31, 2024 at 10:39 PM