Catharina Merchante / Karen
Tenured scientist @ihsmumacsic.bsky.social Curious about how plants adjust translation to adapt to their environment 👩🏻🔬🍀Science-Dog-📚-Travel-Nature-🌙-lover
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / Karen🔊III Andalucía AGRO-HUB PhD students Meeting 📍IBVF, Seville 🗓️12-13 march 2026 Deadline for registration: 7 Feb @csicdivulga.bsky.social @iascsic.bsky.social @eezcsic.bsky.social @ibvf-sevilla.bsky.social @institutograsa.bsky.social @irnase.bsky.social @ihsmumacsic.bsky.social
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / KarenPlease share! We are looking for a postdoctoral scientist (2 years, extension possible) starting from 01/05/2026 at @ipbhalle.bsky.social! The project focuses on plant immune receptor biochemistry and structural biology. Deadline 09/03/2026. Apply at: ipb-halle.mhm.jobs/11-postdocto...
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / Karen“La cura para todo es siempre agua salada: el sudor, las lágrimas o el mar.” Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen)
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / Karen🔬 Ribosomes are hands down one of the most intricate molecular machines we know. Huge (for a cellular scale at least) complexes made of long RNAs (rRNAs) and proteins … a lot of different proteins. 1/6 (❗️Sound on!) @narjournal.bsky.social
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- Cow Tools! We have lived alongside cows for nearly 10,000 years. We breed them and exploit them It is now, only now, that we have discovered THEY CAN USE TOOLS Here I describe our study (paper) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... in @currentbiology.bsky.social with @auersperga.bsky.social
- It was great to collaborate with you @alonsostepanovalab.bsky.social , as always 🤩 Congrats, Jade, for an amazing job! 🌱🧬🩷
- 📚𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 Translational control in plants: from basic mechanisms to environmental and developmental responses 🧬🌱 ✍️ Jade Lyons, @kmerchante.bsky.social @alonsostepanovalab.bsky.social Discover the power of translation in shaping plant responses 🌱👉 doi.org/10.1111/tpj.70647
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / KarenJust in time for Christmas a new paper in @plantspeopleplanet.bsky.social by @joannakacprzyk.bsky.social and myself. We asked 421 plant scientists why they study plants! Check it out and also check @plantmemories.bsky.social where we post lovely survey responses.
- Our paper is out now in @plantspeopleplanet.bsky.social! Read it here: doi.org/10.1002/ppp3... We will start sharing plant memories from our survey! Watch this space. #plantsci
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / KarenYa está aquí la 5ª convocatoria del Concurso «Dibuja una persona que se dedique a la ciencia y ponle un nombre». ¡Anima a tus estudiantes a participar! Bases y plantilla aquí: f.mtr.cool/tpngzjqedi
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / Karen🗣️ Today, Rosa Lozano-Durán from the Center for Molecular Plant Biology (ZMBP), @unituebingen.bsky.social (Germany) came to visit us in Málaga to share her research with a great talk entitled “The Cell Snatchers -- viral strategies to hijack a plant” as part of our #IHSMLaMayoraSeminars
- How lucky are we?! 🤩 Rosa Lozano-Durán @geminiteamlab.bsky.social will be here! So looking forward to hearing you, my friend! 🌱🦠
- 📋 Join us on Friday 19th for a fascinating talk by Rosa Lozano-Durán from Center for Molecular Plant Biology (ZMBP), University of Tübingen (Germany) @unituebingen.bsky.social as part of the #IHSMLaMayoraSeminars series Don't miss it! 🕑 9:30 AM 📍 IHSM La Mayora Auditorium More information here ⬇️
- “Science is the beautifu pursuit of building knowledge. It thrives when you are happy” This is so true 🥹
- 💼 💔 Academia’s toxic love language is playing “hard to get” 🧪 💓 Science is the beautiful pursuit of building knowledge I wrote an essay for Nature Human Behaviour on treating academia as “just a job” www.nature.com/articles/s41... What ideas would you add? 💡 #HigherEd #PhDLife #DiversityInSTEM
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / Karen🔭 Flying Over the Earth at Night Video Credit: Gateway to Astronaut Photography, NASA ; Compilation: David Peterson (YouTube); Music: Freedom Fighters (Two Steps from Hell) apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap25120...
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / KarenTiming of transcription controls the selective translation of newly synthesized mRNAs during acute environmental stress
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / KarenMetamorphosis is nature at its weirdest and historian Oren Harman has just written a beautiful book about it. Also check out this link for free access to the review I wrote about the book for this week's Nature: nature.com/articles/d41...
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / Karen“A program with a 0.5% success rate is not elite. It’s wasteful. Thousands of highly trained scientists will sink dozens of hours into writing proposals with vanishing odds of success. This is not just inefficient — it’s disrespectful of scientific labour.” Very well said @kamounlab.bsky.social!👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
- I just published: ERC-Plus: jackpot science or missed chance to fix academia? My reflections on ERC-Plus, Europe’s newest ultra-competitive research grant and what it tells us about the academic culture we’re building. medium.com/p/erc-plus-j...
- “Shared wonder”, the gorilla and the butterfly, is, simply, beautiful 🩷 In Nature’s The month’s best science images 👉 www.nature.com/immersive/d4...
- So looking forward to it!! 🤩
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / KarenDefender or accomplice? Dual roles of plant #vesicle #trafficking in restricting and enabling #geminiviral systemic infection 📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... by Cana-Quijada et al. @WileyPlantSci #PlantScience
- So glad I got to be a part of this! It was a beautiful meeting. Thank you to the organizers @ewjwallace.bsky.social, Matthew Brook, for inviting me. I truly appreciated and enjoyed it. www.biochemistry.org/about-us/new...
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / Karen🔭 Moon Games Image Credit & Copyright: Giorgia Hofer apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap25112...
- Join us in Málaga!
- 🎉 The PGRP2026 website is live & registration is OPEN! 👉 malaga-en.congresoseci.com/pgrp2026/index Check out our amazing lineup of speakers Don’t miss out: we´ll also select speakers from submitted abstracts ❗️ Hurry up! we have limited seats! Join us in Málaga, Oct 5–7, 2026 🌞
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / Karen🏆 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐏𝐉 𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐬 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭! 🏆 Read our EiC @katherinedenby.bsky.social ´s editorial about the prizes and 2024 winners 👉 doi.org/10.1111/tpj.70567 Discover the winners of the six award categories in the thread below 🧵 🌟Congratulations to all authors! 🎉
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / KarenLooking for 2 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐄𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬! 🌿 Join TPJ! You´ll: 🧬 Select standout TPJ papers 📰 Write short commentaries 🎨 Choose cover images 💬 Work with authors & SEB team 👉https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/1365313x/homepage/rheditor 📩 Rosie Trice 𝐫𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞@𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐲.𝐜𝐨𝐦 🗓️24Nov2025
- Join us in beautiful Málaga 😊
- 𝐏𝐆𝐑𝐏𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐨! 🎉 Kudos to the artist: @laura-ah.bsky.social Website and registration info coming VERY soon — how exciting! 🤩
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / Karen
- Libro precioso
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / Karen📢 Abstract submission is now OPEN! Join us for the 77th International Symposium on Crop Protection (ISCP 2026) 🪴 🗓️ 19 May 2026 | Ghent University, Belgium 🔗 Details here: www.ugent.be/bw/plants-an... #ISCP2026 #GhentUniversity #CropProtection #PlantHealth #SustainableAgriculture #Research
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / Karen🌱 "Go barefoot in the sun. Sit close to trees. Listen to the wind. And remember who you actually are. This was your ancestor's therapy." —Nicole Le Pera
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / KarenRosa Lozano-Durán (@geminiteamlab.bsky.social), one of the newly elected EMBO members 2025, has introduced her research at the @embo.org Members' Meeting in Heidelberg. We are so proud of you! #plantsci
- 😲 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐬𝐲𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧! Female Japanese Dinidorid stinkbugs have a surprise: a newly discovered symbiotic organ. Inside, they grow fungi that they rub onto their eggs, forming a protective blanket that shields the clutch from parasitic wasps 🪲🐝 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / Karen🚨 SPECIAL ISSUE - CLOSING SOON 🚨 🌿 Plant Proteostasis 🌿 📝 Edited by Pablo Manavella & Catharina Merchante 📅 Deadline: 30 November 2025 📄 Manuscripts welcomed, please contact us 👉 bit.ly/JXBissues #JXBspecialissues #PlantScience 🧪 @sebiology.bsky.social @kmerchante.bsky.social
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / KarenPeople are thinking about what is not happening almost as often as they are thinking about what is. Doing so typically makes them unhappy. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / KarenSplicing was discovered in adenoviruses, but was thought to be only anecdotal in plant viruses... We may need to revisit plant viral transcriptomes and proteomes!
- How do geminiviruses maximize their limited coding capacity? Our recent preprint uncovers splicing of viral transcripts as one more strategy used by this viral family. We show that RNA splicing is prevalent in the geminivirus TYLCV — and required for infectivity! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / KarenHow do geminiviruses maximize their limited coding capacity? Our recent preprint uncovers splicing of viral transcripts as one more strategy used by this viral family. We show that RNA splicing is prevalent in the geminivirus TYLCV — and required for infectivity! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- I had the incredible luck of attending the seminar that Jane Goodall gave in Malaga this spring. She truly knew how to communicate science and how to engage people. Her passion was contagious. RIP. 🩷🐒 Jane Goodall’s legacy: three ways she changed science www.nature.com/articles/d41...
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / KarenRIP Jane Goodall. She was such an inspiration & role model. May her memory be a blessing 🧪👩🔬 #HPS
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / KarenCon profunda tristeza, lamentamos compartir que nuestra querida fundadora, la Dra. Jane Goodall, ha fallecido por causas naturales hoy, a los 91 años de edad, en California, donde se encontraba en gira por los Estados Unidos.
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / KarenHoy ha sido el #DíaMundialDeLaTraducción, así que debemos felicitar a quien mejor lo está haciendo... desde hace unos 3.800 millones de años: el #ribosoma.
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / KarenI'm making a collage of Arabidopsis habitats for a seminar. If you have photos to share, such as these iconic ones from @mexpositoalonso.bsky.social & @coevolution.bsky.social, please send to weigel@tue.mpg.de. Please let me also know how to attribute them. 🙏🙏🙏🙏
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / Karen👏 Congratulations to Pathy Kibungu on our new paper in Human Ecology on the characterization and conservation challenges of plant resources in the DRC! 🌿 709 species identified in Mbanza-Ngungu 💊 35% medicinal, many rare ⚠️ Urgent conservation needed 🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s107...
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / Karen🌱 ¿Quieres realizar tu tesis doctoral desarrollando un atlas del transcriptoma single-cell y la caracterización funcional de reguladores del desarrollo y maduración del fruto de fresa? Ofrecemos un contrato de la convocatoria FPI asociado al proyecto PID2024-155863OB-I00
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / Karen🎓 Today our PhD researcher Carolina Huércano made her PhD defense at the IHSM La Mayora (Teatinos). ✨ Congratulations, Carolina! ✨ #PhD #PHDdefense
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / KarenOur new paper is out in New Phytologist! We describe how the Ralstonia solanacearum effector RipAV suppresses plant immunity by directly interfering with key defense regulators. 🧵👇 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / Karen🌱Big news 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 with @globalplantgpc.bsky.social to highlight TPJ papers 1st features researchers from our 𝑆𝐼 𝑜𝑛 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝐸𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 🌱🧬 🗓️Sept 29 ⏰17:00 CEST 🎙️Hosted by EiC @katherinedenby.bsky.social 🔗 Register us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi... SI onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1...
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / KarenWe are hiring a PhD student (FPI) for the 🧬🌱Plant Epitranscriptomics Lab 🧬🌱 at IHSM La Mayora (UMA-CSIC) @ihsmumacsic.bsky.social to study the role of m6A in axillary bud dormancy Candidates send CV and motivation letter to: ✉️laura.arribas@csic.es 📆 until Sep 30th
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / Karen🌟 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐤𝐞𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬 🗣️ Excited to share the first members of our keynote lineup! 🔹 Federico Ariel 🔹 Brian Gregory 🔹 Polly Hsu @pollyhsulab.bsky.social 🔹 Rosa Lozano-Durán @geminiteamlab.bsky.social 🔹 Hervé Vaucheret More speakers and more info coming soon!
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / KarenStorytellers have a fitness advantage. This study on the Agta – a Filipino hunter-gatherer population – found that skilled storytellers have increased reproductive success relative to unskilled storytellers, with an average additional 0.5 living offspring. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / KarenGood Science xkcd.com/3101/
- Gracias @lluismontoliu.bsky.social por este precioso artículo. Fred Sanger: icono de la biología molecular, ganador de dos premios Nobel, científico inspirador e irrepetible 🧬🔬👨🔬
- Este verano visitamos Cambridge, con su universidad y centros de investigación referentes en biología molecular. Donde trabajó Fred Sanger, ganador de 2 premios Nobel de Química. Un investigador singular e irrepetible. Te lo explico en mi blog @naukas.bsky.social montoliu.naukas.com/2025/08/24/u...
- Delicious coffee that came with the wishes for a “great and successful day” 😍 it will be! (hopefully full of writing) 💪
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / Karen[This post could not be retrieved]
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / Karen🚀 Today we're launching the 'Night Science Institute', a non-for-profit organization to lead a cultural shift in science! You may say we're dreamers 😉, but we think we're not the only ones. Perhaps today you will join us to make the Day Science and Night Science parts of the process live as one!
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / KarenEditor-in-Chief Pablo Manavella kicks off the inaugural The Plant Cell Symposium at #PlantBio2025, bringing the journal closer to authors. Meet editors, learn about the editorial process, and discover more about the journal run by your peers. @aspbofficial.bsky.social #plantscience
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / KarenTwo of my favorite @Editors in Chief, Yunde Zhao @plantphys.bsky.social & Pablo Manavella @theplantcell.bsky.social at #PlantBio2025. They are very approachable and would love to hear about your research. Publishing in ASPB journals helps fund all our activities: education, outreach, travel awards
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / Karen"La expectativa de felicidad es más intensa que la propia felicidad, pero el dolor de una derrota consumada supera siempre la intensidad prevista en sus peores cálculos." "El corazón helado", Almudena Grandes
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / KarenDo animals living in the midnight zone and below have a 24 hr circadian rhythm? It's so dark down there all the time and the temperature doesn't fluctuate diurnally, so I guess no?
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / KarenAbsolutely gorgeous images showing expression reporters in Pseudomonas syringae from @type3lab.bsky.social - variety in flagella and type iii secretion system expression within a group of cells. #2025ISMPMI
- I’m sure it will be a great talk! The work and science behind are amazing 🌱🦠
- Love this: “I think the most important thing is to love what you do (…). The same holds with collaborators, work with people you have an affinity with. And don´t be afraid to ask for advice. People are (almost) universally happy to give it, and there is certainly wisdom in crowds!”
- In Conversation with 𝐃𝐫. 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐅𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐞 Dr Fernie reflects on his path into plant biology, innovations in studying protein–protein interactions & the challenges of work–life balance, while sharing the joys of mentorship and doing what you love ✍️ @luisdeluna.bsky.social doi.org/10.1111/tpj.70351
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / KarenHave you ever wondered why virus-infected plants twist, curl, yellow, and/or stop growing? We did—you can read what we found in our latest review: www.annualreviews.org/content/jour... @gmvalora.bsky.social @annualreviews.bsky.social
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / KarenThis is how to have difficult conversations with vaccine sceptics
- Thank you @hee-kyung-ahn.bsky.social !! 🥹🥰
- Beautiful talk by @kmerchante.bsky.social at #TLUK25 today! Ribosome heterogeneity in plants is so so interesting! @biochemsoc.bsky.social
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / KarenThe 30th Translation UK has begun! We are excited to welcome all our attendees for an amazing few days in Edinburgh #TLUK25
- Congratulations, Rosa! @geminiteamlab.bsky.social You are amazing ❤️
- Welcome and congratulations to the 60 new members and 9 associate members who have been elected to the EMBO Membership! This honour celebrates #research excellence and outstanding achievements in the #LifeSciences. 🧪 Learn more here: www.embo.org/press-releas... #EMBOMembers2025
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / Karen"Cuando mis pensamientos están ansiosos, inquietos y malos, me voy a la orilla del mar, y el mar los ahoga y los manda lejos con sus grandes sonidos anchos, los purifica con su ruido e impone un ritmo sobre todo lo que en mí está desorientado y confundido". Rainer Maria Rilke 📷 Angelo Merendino
- The 2026 edition of the Postranscriptional Gene Regulation in Plants (PGRP2026) meeting will take place in Málaga (Spain) 🗓️ 30 Sept-2 Oct 2026 We’ve generated the @pgrp2026.bsky.social account to announce info regarding the meeting We’ll be updating it soon! 🤩
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / Karen[This post could not be retrieved]
- “Our brains, capable of sophisticated communication through the most complex language on Earth, are an evolutionary miracle—one that has seemingly happened just once. Why would we seek to jettison our superpower? Turning language over to machines is the equivalent of a bird clipping its own wings”
- Reposted by Catharina Merchante / KarenClosing Keynote: Jiri Friml: Let’s talk about auxin signaling- what we know after all of these years (1972-now) and what we don’t, the canonical model is very good and has room for exploring roles in root growth and tropism #icar2025
