raphmercier.bsky.social
@raphmercier.bsky.social
#Meiosis4ever. #ChromosomeBiology. Max Planck for Plant Breeding Research.
Pinned
Reposting an old meme.
My greatest contribution to the field #meiosis4ever #meiosis4eva
www.nature.com/articles/s42...

Latest from the lab. The conclusion is in the title!
Basically, we found that the KMN complex (outer kinetochore) is fully conserved between plants and fungi/animals, showing deep origin. (reminder, you are closer to a mushroom than a mushroom is to a plant.)
The composition and structure of the outer kinetochore KMN complex is conserved across kingdoms - Communications Biology
Affinity purification in Arabidopsis identified all key subunits of the outer kinetochore KMN complex. Functional analyses revealed a striking conservation of its composition and organization across k...
www.nature.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Reposted
On mange des OGM tous les jours depuis plusieurs décennies (les plantes obtenues par mutagénèse chimique ou radiative) et ça ne pose aucun problème
Il est temps que les institutions européennes défendent l'intérêt général et le droit des consommateurs à savoir ce qu'ils mangent et à choisir librement. #NGT #NouveauxOGM
October 24, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Reposted
The Author List
October 23, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Only those who know🐖🎮
October 21, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Reposted
“The scientific Nobels announced this week underscore that point. All three awards — granted each year in physiology or medicine, physics and chemistry — honored achievements rooted in fundamental research…Decades of inquiry paved the way for the technology, treatments and toys of tomorrow.” 🎁
Nobel Prizes This Year Offer Three Cheers for Slow Science
www.nytimes.com
October 13, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Reposted
Thanking the reviewers
October 4, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Reposted
This is the work of a tremendous PhD student, Benoit Madec, who did everything in this study (genetics, molecular biology, all the bioinformatics analyses)

He defended his PhD on Monday and is now Dr Madec!

I am very proud of him and all the work he has accomplished!
October 1, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Reposted
🚨 First pre-print from my team !!

TL;DR: presence of polymorphism (sequence differences between the homologous chromosomes) can *increase* the local rate of recombination in Arabidopsis thaliana, turning cold regions of the genome hot (purple v. grey) !
October 1, 2025 at 8:31 AM
Reposted
Writing: just add coffee
**Hey, my new book comes out on Tuesday! 👉 amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1419764063
September 14, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Reposted
Out First Release in @science.org this week:

A large scale analysis of the epigenetics of transposable elements in Arabidopsis shows transgenerational stability

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

#PlantScience
Transposable elements are vectors of recurrent transgenerational epigenetic inheritance
DNA methylation loss at transposable elements (TEs) can affect neighboring genes and be epigenetically inherited in plants, yet the determinants and significance of this additional system of inheritan...
www.science.org
September 22, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Reposted
I feel incredibly privileged to share this study on Fanconi anaemia, based on a small but important cohort. This work describes the genetics and clinical outcomes of patients in Australia and New Zealand with a diagnosis of FA.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Clinical and genetic spectrum of Fanconi anemia in Australia and New Zealand
Fanconi anemia (FA) is a rare genetic condition that predisposes to progressive bone marrow failure, a specific spectrum of malignancies, including he…
www.sciencedirect.com
September 11, 2025 at 3:50 AM
Reposted
This is a great opportunity to start an independent group in one of the best research environments you could think of!
Springboard for an international scientific career! 🧬🧪🔭⚛️🧠🌱 Call for #MaxPlanckResearchGroups launched; applications are possible until October 14, 2025 www.mpg.de/max-planck-r... #ScienceCareer
September 10, 2025 at 4:51 AM
Reposted
Springboard for an international scientific career! 🧬🧪🔭⚛️🧠🌱 Call for #MaxPlanckResearchGroups launched; applications are possible until October 14, 2025 www.mpg.de/max-planck-r... #ScienceCareer
September 9, 2025 at 12:10 PM
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Interesting journalist piece on apomixix. With pieces of MiMe inside :-)
Is this the future of food? 'Sexless' seeds that could transform farming
Scientists are tinkering with plant genes to create crops that seed their own clones, with a host of benefits for farmers.
www.nature.com
September 8, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Reposted
Six more years—plus a lot of blood, sweat, and tears—later, we are thrilled to finally share it: a cytological framework of female meiosis in Arabidopsis!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A cytological framework of female meiosis in Arabidopsis
Female and male meiosis often differ in many aspects, such as their duration and the frequency as well as the positioning of crossovers. However, studying female meiosis is often very challenging and ...
www.biorxiv.org
August 25, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Preprint Alert! 🚨🧬
Not one, but two preprints!

Meiotic orientation of kinetochore at meiosis is inforced by...[see below]
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

and

Unlocking meiotic crossovers next to plant centromere
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

#meiosis4ever
#everythingisconnected

a thread👇
Monopolar orientation of kinetochores at meiosis is enforced by COHESINS and their regulators, CENP-C, and the deSUMOylase SPF2
The first division of meiosis is unique in its capacity to halve the ploidy of the future gametes. To this end, one key innovation compared to mitosis is the monopolar orientation of the pairs of sist...
www.biorxiv.org
August 25, 2025 at 7:54 AM
Reposted
@alisondawnscott.bsky.social et al. use genome data from >400 Arabidopsis lyrata sampled across Eurasia to show it as the most polyploid-rich species complex in Arabidopsis, with multiple origins of autotetraploidy.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf153

#evobio #molbio #PlantSky
Multiple Autopolyploid Arabidopsis lyrata Populations Stabilized by Long-Range Adaptive Introgression Across Eurasia
Abstract. Abundance of established polyploid lineages varies across lineages, evolutionary time, and geography, suggesting both genetics and environment pl
doi.org
August 12, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Reposted
Introducing the 1,000 Flower Collection 🧬🌹

I’m creating 1,000 genetically designed flowers each crafted with new colors, patterns, and shapes.

Here’s how I’m making it happen… and how you can join me on this journey 🧵(1/7)
August 11, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Reposted
Interested to know more about a new theory relating the #evolution of #sexchromosomes to the rules of #speciation? Check out this paper that we published with Denis Roze in the last issue of #Science. PDF here: www.science.org/stoken/autho...
A single theory for the evolution of sex chromosomes and the two rules of speciation
Sex chromosomes are involved in three major empirical patterns: (i) Y (or W) chromosomes are often nonrecombining and degenerate; (ii) heterogametic offspring (XY or ZW) from interspecific crosses are...
www.science.org
July 12, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Reposted
Scientists have spent decades puzzling over potatoes’ origin story. The answer was juicier than anyone expected, @katherinejwu.com reports.
Potatoes Evolved From … Tomatoes?
Dipping fries into ketchup just got a little more mind-bending.
bit.ly
August 3, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Reposted
Director at Max Planck - a unique position! The Open Call for Expressions of Interest in Max Planck Directorships is open now and can be submitted by the 31st of October 2025. ➡️ mpg.de/directors - Please share the Open Call among potential candidates.
August 1, 2025 at 9:06 AM
Reposted
When the professor edits the student's draft
July 22, 2025 at 10:19 AM
Reposted
It's not procrastination i'm thinking
July 28, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Reposted
Cette année, les Journées Scientifiques et Techniques (JST2025) du Réseau des Microscopistes INRAE (RµI) sont à Versailles!!! C'est du 5 au 7 novembre 2025 et les inscriptions sont ouvertes !!! 🔬👑✨ @ijpb-versaillescly.bsky.social

👇👇👇

rmui-2025.journees.inrae.fr
July 18, 2025 at 2:34 PM