Chris Dundas
@cmdundas.bsky.social
Plant & Microbial Synthetic Biologist | Music Lover & Coffee Drinker | Assistant Professor University of Georgia Department of Plant Biology & Institute of Bioinformatics | https://www.dundaslab.com
Plant synthetic biology faculty opening – come be my colleague! 🌱🧬
@universityofga.bsky.social Department of Plant Biology is hiring a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Plant Synthetic Biology for Strategic Resources Research. Join UGA's growing plant synbio community!
@universityofga.bsky.social Department of Plant Biology is hiring a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Plant Synthetic Biology for Strategic Resources Research. Join UGA's growing plant synbio community!
We're hiring! Please spread the word. We have an opening for an Assistant Professor in Plant Synthetic Biology for Strategic Resources Research. See ad for details – and apply to join us here in Athens, GA! 🪴 #PlantBiology #SyntheticBiology #PlantScience #AcademicJobs #UGA
October 16, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Plant synthetic biology faculty opening – come be my colleague! 🌱🧬
@universityofga.bsky.social Department of Plant Biology is hiring a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Plant Synthetic Biology for Strategic Resources Research. Join UGA's growing plant synbio community!
@universityofga.bsky.social Department of Plant Biology is hiring a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Plant Synthetic Biology for Strategic Resources Research. Join UGA's growing plant synbio community!
Reposted by Chris Dundas
Today in Nature we report a systematic strategy to activate & identify gene sets in plants. We identify 8 new genes from the yew tree's Taxol biosynthetic pathway, enabling us to engineer tobacco with 17- & 20-gene pathways to Taxol precursors baccatin III & deBz-deoxy-Taxol #SingleCell #secmet 🧬🧪🌾
Discovery of FoTO1 and Taxol genes enables biosynthesis of baccatin III - Nature
An approach that combines single-nucleus RNA sequencing and multiplexed perturbation identifies genes that enable the biosynthesis of direct precursors of the anti-cancer drug Taxol, whose curren...
www.nature.com
June 11, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Today in Nature we report a systematic strategy to activate & identify gene sets in plants. We identify 8 new genes from the yew tree's Taxol biosynthetic pathway, enabling us to engineer tobacco with 17- & 20-gene pathways to Taxol precursors baccatin III & deBz-deoxy-Taxol #SingleCell #secmet 🧬🧪🌾
Reposted by Chris Dundas
Recombinases your thing? In the latest from my lab, Veronica Greco shows how @nanopore sequencing + automated liquid handling provides the perfect platform for characterising these systems at scale! Awesome collaboration with @jennbrophy.bsky.social @sarah-guiziou.bsky.social doi.org/10.1101/2025...
May 29, 2025 at 6:49 AM
Recombinases your thing? In the latest from my lab, Veronica Greco shows how @nanopore sequencing + automated liquid handling provides the perfect platform for characterising these systems at scale! Awesome collaboration with @jennbrophy.bsky.social @sarah-guiziou.bsky.social doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Open faculty position in computational plant synthetic biology at @universityofga.bsky.social Dept. of Crop & Soil Sciences. Join us in Athens and be a part of UGA's emerging Institute of Synthetic Biology!
👉 Apply: www.ugajobsearch.com/postings/429...
#SynBio #PlantScience #FacultyJobs
👉 Apply: www.ugajobsearch.com/postings/429...
#SynBio #PlantScience #FacultyJobs
Assistant or Associate Professor (Open Rank) - Plant Synthetic Biology and Technology Development
The University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (UGA CAES) seeks a visionary scientist to lead innovative research in designing and developing computational tools, methodo...
www.ugajobsearch.com
May 20, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Open faculty position in computational plant synthetic biology at @universityofga.bsky.social Dept. of Crop & Soil Sciences. Join us in Athens and be a part of UGA's emerging Institute of Synthetic Biology!
👉 Apply: www.ugajobsearch.com/postings/429...
#SynBio #PlantScience #FacultyJobs
👉 Apply: www.ugajobsearch.com/postings/429...
#SynBio #PlantScience #FacultyJobs
Today’s the final day to submit your abstracts for the SIMB Annual Meeting in San Francisco! Don’t miss your chance to showcase your microbiome research.
Present your microbiome research at the SIMB Annual Meeting in San Francisco! Abstracts due May 13: sim.confex.com/sim/2025/cfp...
Angela Chen (MSU ChEMS) and I are convening the Genetically Modified Microbes in Complex Environmental & Human Microbiomes session—submit your work!
Angela Chen (MSU ChEMS) and I are convening the Genetically Modified Microbes in Complex Environmental & Human Microbiomes session—submit your work!
May 13, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Today’s the final day to submit your abstracts for the SIMB Annual Meeting in San Francisco! Don’t miss your chance to showcase your microbiome research.
Present your microbiome research at the SIMB Annual Meeting in San Francisco! Abstracts due May 13: sim.confex.com/sim/2025/cfp...
Angela Chen (MSU ChEMS) and I are convening the Genetically Modified Microbes in Complex Environmental & Human Microbiomes session—submit your work!
Angela Chen (MSU ChEMS) and I are convening the Genetically Modified Microbes in Complex Environmental & Human Microbiomes session—submit your work!
May 7, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Present your microbiome research at the SIMB Annual Meeting in San Francisco! Abstracts due May 13: sim.confex.com/sim/2025/cfp...
Angela Chen (MSU ChEMS) and I are convening the Genetically Modified Microbes in Complex Environmental & Human Microbiomes session—submit your work!
Angela Chen (MSU ChEMS) and I are convening the Genetically Modified Microbes in Complex Environmental & Human Microbiomes session—submit your work!
Reposted by Chris Dundas
It seems there are no free-living organisms known to rely exclusively on one other organism for their survival
Until perhaps now
Check out our latest publication in @natmicrobiol.nature.com to see how we designed an exclusive microbial reliance using GCE
rdcu.be/ekepI
1/2
Until perhaps now
Check out our latest publication in @natmicrobiol.nature.com to see how we designed an exclusive microbial reliance using GCE
rdcu.be/ekepI
1/2
Engineered orthogonal and obligate bacterial commensalism mediated by a non-standard amino acid
Nature Microbiology - A genetically engineered microbial symbiosis based on synthetic auxotrophy is created, with potential implications as a biocontainment strategy.
rdcu.be
May 1, 2025 at 10:30 AM
It seems there are no free-living organisms known to rely exclusively on one other organism for their survival
Until perhaps now
Check out our latest publication in @natmicrobiol.nature.com to see how we designed an exclusive microbial reliance using GCE
rdcu.be/ekepI
1/2
Until perhaps now
Check out our latest publication in @natmicrobiol.nature.com to see how we designed an exclusive microbial reliance using GCE
rdcu.be/ekepI
1/2
Reposted by Chris Dundas
Finally!
Im so excited to present to culmination of many years of work from the fantastic Defeng Shen and some great collaborators. For details, I have made a digested thread below, but if you are more interested feel free to reach out (and read the paper of course).
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Im so excited to present to culmination of many years of work from the fantastic Defeng Shen and some great collaborators. For details, I have made a digested thread below, but if you are more interested feel free to reach out (and read the paper of course).
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Apoplastic barriers are essential for nodule formation and nitrogen fixation in Lotus japonicus
Establishment of the apoplastic root barrier known as the Casparian strip occurs early in root development. In legumes, this area overlaps with nitrogen-fixing nodule formation, which raises the possi...
www.science.org
March 21, 2025 at 5:53 AM
Finally!
Im so excited to present to culmination of many years of work from the fantastic Defeng Shen and some great collaborators. For details, I have made a digested thread below, but if you are more interested feel free to reach out (and read the paper of course).
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Im so excited to present to culmination of many years of work from the fantastic Defeng Shen and some great collaborators. For details, I have made a digested thread below, but if you are more interested feel free to reach out (and read the paper of course).
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Thanks for the opportunity to speak @taeseokmoon.bsky.social ! Was fun to speak about my lab’s work, much of it from my postdoc in @josedinneny.bsky.social ‘s lab!
#SynBYSS seminar with Dr. Axel Visel @axelvisel.bsky.social at the Berkeley Lab (LBNL) & also a Deputy of Science at Joint Genome Institute @jgi.doe.gov and Prof. Christopher Dundas @cmdundas.bsky.social at University of Georgia
The talk video link below:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRSN...
The talk video link below:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRSN...
SynBYSS with Dr Axel Visel at LBNL & Joint Genome Institute & Prof Christopher Dundas at U. Georgia
YouTube video by TAESEOK Moon
www.youtube.com
March 13, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Thanks for the opportunity to speak @taeseokmoon.bsky.social ! Was fun to speak about my lab’s work, much of it from my postdoc in @josedinneny.bsky.social ‘s lab!
Reposted by Chris Dundas
Our new review in @theplantjournal.bsky.social on synthetic gene circuits is out! I am super proud of this. I hope that it acts as a useful resource for people new to gene circuits.
The switch-liker's guide to plant synthetic gene circuits
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
The switch-liker's guide to plant synthetic gene circuits
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
The switch‐liker's guide to plant synthetic gene circuits
Synthetic gene circuits have the potential to revolutionise how plants can be engineered by allowing highly customised gene expression patterns to be designed. Gene circuits can sense and integrate m....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
March 9, 2025 at 1:15 AM
Our new review in @theplantjournal.bsky.social on synthetic gene circuits is out! I am super proud of this. I hope that it acts as a useful resource for people new to gene circuits.
The switch-liker's guide to plant synthetic gene circuits
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
The switch-liker's guide to plant synthetic gene circuits
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Chris Dundas
#SynBYSS Thur 10am USA CT
155th, Mar 6: Dr Tammy Collins @bwfund.bsky.social & Elena Musteata @riceuniversity.bsky.social
156th, Mar 13: Dr Axel Visel @axelvisel.bsky.social @jgi.doe.gov & Prof Christopher Dundas at U. Georgia
Zoom link for the general audience
us02web.zoom.us/j/88380504839
155th, Mar 6: Dr Tammy Collins @bwfund.bsky.social & Elena Musteata @riceuniversity.bsky.social
156th, Mar 13: Dr Axel Visel @axelvisel.bsky.social @jgi.doe.gov & Prof Christopher Dundas at U. Georgia
Zoom link for the general audience
us02web.zoom.us/j/88380504839
March 5, 2025 at 7:16 PM
#SynBYSS Thur 10am USA CT
155th, Mar 6: Dr Tammy Collins @bwfund.bsky.social & Elena Musteata @riceuniversity.bsky.social
156th, Mar 13: Dr Axel Visel @axelvisel.bsky.social @jgi.doe.gov & Prof Christopher Dundas at U. Georgia
Zoom link for the general audience
us02web.zoom.us/j/88380504839
155th, Mar 6: Dr Tammy Collins @bwfund.bsky.social & Elena Musteata @riceuniversity.bsky.social
156th, Mar 13: Dr Axel Visel @axelvisel.bsky.social @jgi.doe.gov & Prof Christopher Dundas at U. Georgia
Zoom link for the general audience
us02web.zoom.us/j/88380504839
Reposted by Chris Dundas
🙏 NSF for supporting @uf-ifas.bsky.social / UF Horticultural Sciences' trailblazing workshop 'How SynBio can *realistically* impact crop improvement & agriculture'! We brought🌱 SynBio ECRs together w/ top ag biotech & crop breeding experts to identify disconnects btwn their worlds & how to fix them⬇️
March 3, 2025 at 9:19 PM
🙏 NSF for supporting @uf-ifas.bsky.social / UF Horticultural Sciences' trailblazing workshop 'How SynBio can *realistically* impact crop improvement & agriculture'! We brought🌱 SynBio ECRs together w/ top ag biotech & crop breeding experts to identify disconnects btwn their worlds & how to fix them⬇️
Pretty excited to try this!
Sequencing by Expansion (SBX) -- a novel, high-throughput single-molecule sequencing technology https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.19.639056v1
February 25, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Pretty excited to try this!
Reposted by Chris Dundas
Excited to share our overview on SynCom construction published in @cp-trendsmicrobiol.bsky.social
@xinmingxu.bsky.social & @neftalyl.bsky.social together with Caja Dinesen & Adele Pioppi summerize 86 publications on SynComs for plant promotion
free download: authors.elsevier.com/a/1kdNr_,2Ci...
@xinmingxu.bsky.social & @neftalyl.bsky.social together with Caja Dinesen & Adele Pioppi summerize 86 publications on SynComs for plant promotion
free download: authors.elsevier.com/a/1kdNr_,2Ci...
February 18, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Excited to share our overview on SynCom construction published in @cp-trendsmicrobiol.bsky.social
@xinmingxu.bsky.social & @neftalyl.bsky.social together with Caja Dinesen & Adele Pioppi summerize 86 publications on SynComs for plant promotion
free download: authors.elsevier.com/a/1kdNr_,2Ci...
@xinmingxu.bsky.social & @neftalyl.bsky.social together with Caja Dinesen & Adele Pioppi summerize 86 publications on SynComs for plant promotion
free download: authors.elsevier.com/a/1kdNr_,2Ci...
Reposted by Chris Dundas
Proud to share our latest published work on moisture responsive root development-a process we call hydropatterning! We find that this process has been under differential selection during maize breeding and the gaseous hormone ethylene prevents branching in air.
www.science.org/doi/epdf/10....
www.science.org/doi/epdf/10....
Moisture-responsive root-branching pathways identified in diverse maize breeding germplasm
Plants grow complex root systems to extract unevenly distributed resources from soils. Spatial differences in soil moisture are perceived by root tips, leading to the patterning of new root branches t...
www.science.org
February 6, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Proud to share our latest published work on moisture responsive root development-a process we call hydropatterning! We find that this process has been under differential selection during maize breeding and the gaseous hormone ethylene prevents branching in air.
www.science.org/doi/epdf/10....
www.science.org/doi/epdf/10....
Reposted by Chris Dundas
Seed tuber microbiome can predict growth potential of potato varieties www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Seed tuber microbiome can predict growth potential of potato varieties - Nature Microbiology
Time-resolved drone imaging of potato crop development and seed tuber microbiome data can be used to predict potato vigour, or growth potential, in next-season crops in trial fields.
www.nature.com
December 27, 2024 at 11:56 PM
Seed tuber microbiome can predict growth potential of potato varieties www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Chris Dundas
Proud to share our new @plantphys.bsky.social review exploring the anatomical and molecular basis for root adaptations to the environment. Prashanth Ramachandran and Andrea Ramirez detail cell types and pathways that help plants stay resilient in a changing world. academic.oup.com/plphys/advan...
Rooting for survival: how plants tackle a challenging environment through a diversity of root forms and functions
Abstract. The current climate crisis has global impacts and will affect the physiology of plants across every continent. Ensuring resilience of our agricul
academic.oup.com
December 9, 2024 at 7:34 PM
Proud to share our new @plantphys.bsky.social review exploring the anatomical and molecular basis for root adaptations to the environment. Prashanth Ramachandran and Andrea Ramirez detail cell types and pathways that help plants stay resilient in a changing world. academic.oup.com/plphys/advan...
Reposted by Chris Dundas
Nice preprint! Rhizobium rhizogenes A4-derived strains enable better transient expression in solanaceous plants.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Rhizobium rhizogenes A4-derived strains mediate hyper-efficient transient gene expression in Nicotiana benthamiana and other solanaceous plants
Agroinfiltration, a method utilizing agrobacteria to transfer DNA into plant cells, is widely used for transient gene expression in plants. Besides the commonly used Agrobacterium strains, Rhizobium r...
www.biorxiv.org
December 3, 2024 at 7:45 PM
Nice preprint! Rhizobium rhizogenes A4-derived strains enable better transient expression in solanaceous plants.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
First bluesky post - some beautiful microbial isolates collected from kudzu by Dundas Lab undergrad John Samuel Anderson!
November 28, 2024 at 3:15 PM
First bluesky post - some beautiful microbial isolates collected from kudzu by Dundas Lab undergrad John Samuel Anderson!