Björn Usadel
Plant Omics, Machine Learning, Genomics, Tools, Data Managment
Labs in Forschungszentrum Jülich and HHU Düsseldorf Uni
fz-juelich.de/en/ibg/ibg-4
biological-data-science.hhu.de/en/biological-data-…
- Reposted by Björn UsadelNew AI tool “Helixer” identifies genes in newly sequenced organisms. Helixer identifies genes directly from DNA sequences. Developed by team around @usadellab.bsky.social @fz-juelich.de, @apmweber.bsky.social , @sebtriesch.bsky.social @hhu.de et al. www.fz-juelich.de/en/news/arch...
- Reposted by Björn UsadelKI-Tool „Helixer“ entdeckt Gene in unbekannten Organismen Forscherinnen und Forscher des Forschungszentrums Jülich und der Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf haben ein Werkzeug entwickelt, das die Genforschung spürbar verändern könn... weiterlesen
- Reposted by Björn Usadel🆕📰‼️ #PaperCBGP 🔬 A study, co-authored by @wabniklab.bsky.social and published in Science, reveals a molecular mechanism blocking inflorescence termination 🧬 A negative feedback loop buffers the floral signal, opening the door to faster-growing & more efficient crops 📎 shorturl.at/rkPwJ
- Reposted by Björn Usadel#Plant pathogens secrete effectors to establish infections, but resistant crops select for resistance-breaking #pathogens. @mfseidl.bsky.social &co use #pangenome graph analyses of 19 resistance-breaking races of an #oomycete pathogen to identify several effectors @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4qA6nKC
- Reposted by Björn UsadelHappy to share our recent preprint: "DNA-intercalating antiphage molecules trigger abortive infection through mutual destruction and synergize with bacterial immunity" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... @spp2330.bsky.social, @mibinet.bsky.social, @dfg.de @hhu.de @fzj.bsky.social
- Reposted by Björn UsadelAs our #H2020 project enters its last month, our coordinator, @apmweber.bsky.social, reflects on the importance and potential of the GAIN4CROPS to boost crop yields! 🌻 “Our project can [contribute] to a more sustainable agriculture in Europe, but also in other places in the world.”🌍
- Reposted by Björn UsadelNew Article: "Imputation integrates single-cell and spatial gene expression data to resolve transcriptional networks in barley shoot meristem development" rdcu.be/eYiMF With Research Briefing rdcu.be/eYiM7
- Reposted by Björn UsadelBARVISTA visualises gene expression in the barley shoot apical meristem with single-cell resolution @edgardemesa.bsky.social @usadellab.bsky.social @simonrdg.bsky.social @isaiavardanega.bsky.social @plantgen-hhu.bsky.social @hhu.de @ceplas.bsky.social www.plabipd.de/projects/han...
- It's finally out!... Using single-cell and spatial transcriptome data, and data imputation, we created BARVISTA, a website able to perform almost genome-wide information on gene expression profiles at single-cell resolution in barley spikes! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- Reposted by Björn Usadelpaper is out now in Nature Plants, here is a link: Imputation integrates single-cell and spatial gene expression data to resolve transcriptional networks in barley shoot meristem development. Nat. Plants (2026). doi.org/10.1038/s414...
- Reposted by Björn UsadelFor some years we have been working on wild relatives of cultivated tomato including the green-fruited Solanum pennellii and orange-fruited Solanum cheesmaniae. These species, and other wild tomatoes, are genetically diverse and used in breeding to improve the cultivated tomato.
- Reposted by Björn Usadel3rd Early Career Plant Researcher Network Meeting Calling experienced PhD students & postdocs with a passion for plant research. Present your work, connect with peers and discuss the key steps toward building an independent research career. Apply by 23 Jan 2026 Details: www.plant-ecr-networking.eu
- Reposted by Björn UsadelDear Plant ECRs, don't miss this wonderful opportunity!
- Reposted by Björn UsadelLichen and moss are brilliant 👇💚
- A THREAD, which I am calling 'Some Of The Many Reasons Lichen And Moss Are Fucking Brilliant'. 1. They make public seating super comfy. bsky.app/profile/dj-a...
- Are you interested in @ceplas.bsky.social single cell data and spatial transcriptomic data analysis and inference? Then apply for this PhD position in our graduate school HDS-LEE in my group co-supervised by Prof Assent. www.fz-juelich.de/en/careers/j.... For questions don't hesitate to contact me.
- Reposted by Björn Usadel🚨JOB ALERT! We’re hiring a Head of the new Imaging Facility at Goethe University Frankfurt. You’ll support researchers across disciplines, train users, and help enable cutting-edge science with high-end microscopy platforms. tinygu.de/TknxZ If facility-building + imaging is your thing, please apply!
- Reposted by Björn UsadelSie ist lila, manchmal weiß, manchmal stachelig: die Aubergine. Erstmals haben Forschende eine Übersicht über Gene und wichtige Eigenschaften erstellt – basierend auf 3.400 Sorten. 🧬 Das ebnet den Weg für robustere Sorten und hilft, Erträge zu sichern. 🌾🌡️ 👉 www.fz-juelich.de/de/aktuelles...
- Reposted by Björn UsadelWe are looking far and wide for this position! So if you are motivated, interested in academia, and want to explore the world of plant-virus interaction, we are ALSO happy to host you for a PhD! More detail below🔽☘️🦠
- Reposted by Björn UsadelHappy to share our latest paper: The symbiosome space needs to be continuously cleared from demethylated pectins to keep rhizobia happy. Former PostDoc Chao Su took this story with him when moving back to China and finished it off. www.nature.com/articles/s41... #PlantScience; @uni-freiburg.de
- Reposted by Björn UsadelProfessorship Plant Physiology. Kaiserslautern, Germany. #PlantSciJobs #plantscijob www.academics.de/jobs/w2-prof...
- Reposted by Björn UsadelProfessorship Stress resilience of plants. Aachen, Germany. #PlantSciJobs #plantscijob www.academics.de/jobs/w3-univ...
- Reposted by Björn UsadelProfessorship for Functional and 3D Modeling of Plants. Bonn, Germany. #PlantSciJobs #plantscijob www.academics.de/jobs/w3-prof...
- Reposted by Björn UsadelCongrats Agnieszka Golics, New @WageningenUR Chair in Plant Breeding: ‘The tech revolution is boosting crop improvement’ www.wur.nl/en/news/new-...
- Reposted by Björn Usadel🚀 Big news in genome annotation! The latest Nature Methods paper presents Helixer. Developed as part of the @denbi.bsky.social infrastructure, Helixer makes high-quality genome annotations more accessible and efficient for the community. 🔗 nature.com/articles/s41592-025-02939-1
- Reposted by Björn UsadelOut in @science.org this week: PME5 is sequestered in the nucleus and released during cytokinesis allowing its activity to be timed with cell division. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... #PlantScience #PlantSci
- Reposted by Björn UsadelHelixer: a tool for ab initio gene annotation with broad taxonomic coverage. @usadellab.bsky.social @apmweber.bsky.social @weberlab.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- Reposted by Björn Usadel🧬🍅 SPECIAL ISSUE REVIEW 🍅🧬 Recent breakthroughs in genome sequencing have transformed tomato research, unlocking key wild germplasm traits 🌍 Rose et al. outline how these well-characterized genetic resources can be used to improve tomato research 🔬 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/... #PlantScience 🧪
- Reposted by Björn UsadelWe are looking for a Head of Cell Biology here at @kwsgroup.bsky.social Vegetables. This is a permanent, full-time position located in Wageningen, Netherlands. jobs.kws.com/job/Wagening... #PlantScience #PlantSciJobs #PlantScienceJobs #PlantCellBiology #PlantBreeding #PlantSciJob #PlantScienceJob
- Reposted by Björn Usadel📝 SPECIAL ISSUE EDITORIAL 📝 🍅 Tomato 🍅 🔎 Guest editors Gibon, Beckles, Osorio & Ezura dive into the reviews, technical innovations and original research articles in this special issue that address the major challenges facing the tomato industry 🍅 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/... #PlantScience 🧪
- Reposted by Björn UsadelJunior Professorship Plastid Homeostasis. Kaiserslautern, Germany. #plantscijobs #plantscijob www.academics.de/jobs/w1-juni...
- Reposted by Björn UsadelProfessorship Plant Physiology. Kaiserslautern, Germany #plantscijobs #plantscijob www.academics.de/jobs/w2-prof...
- Reposted by Björn UsadelAI model Helixer predicts eukaryotic genes ab initio, directly from a plain text FASTA file. No RNA-seq. No protein homology. No repeats, hints, or curated evidence. Raw genome → accurate gene models. Deep learning + HMM, published in @natmethods.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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View full threadReposted by Björn UsadelPerformance approaches data-supported references across plants, fungi, vertebrates, and invertebrates. Inference is fast: human genome in <9 h on a single GPU. @alisandra-denton.bsky.social @usadellab.bsky.social @sebtriesch.bsky.social @weberlab.bsky.social
- Reposted by Björn UsadelAnd now we have Arabidopsis plants with 8 chromosomes instead of 10 and no obvious phenotypic differences, this week in @science.org #PlantScience Paper here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Perspective here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
- Tomorrow Luciana Gaccione from Lorenzo Barchi's lab will explain on our @nanoporetech.com day at HHU Düsseldorf, how to turn what we sequenced with 9.41 technology (!) into a high quality pangenome. If you can't make it, read all about it here as well: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- 1/8 How do graph pangenomes and panphenomes help breeding eggplant? doi.org/10.1038/s414.... This feat would not have been possible without a large team of 24 researchers from 7 countries.
- 2/8 We had started from a large worldwide collection of 3,400 eggplant varieties and wild progenitors and used it to reconstruct its domestication history in India and South-East Asia, and its later expansion doi.org/10.1111/tpj..... www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- 3/8 This led to the observation that for instance, the varieties coming from India and South-East Asia have retained the non-purple skin colour and the spiny leaves characteristic of their wild ancestors, while these traits were progressively lost in the other geographical areas.
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View full thread8/8 And iii) chlorogenic acid metabolism potentially caused by a GDSL-lipase like gene www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- Reposted by Björn Usadel
- The 5th of 6 faculty positions in UNC Biology is posted. We're working with the @ncbg.bsky.social to fill a joint position as Director of the UNC Herbarium at @ncbg.bsky.social and as Associate Professor within the Department of Biology (BIOL). Please share 1/n unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/308...
- Reposted by Björn UsadelIn our new pre-print 📝we dissect how #plants🌾 adapt their metabolism under #Nitrogen limitation when #beneficial #Pseudomonas 🦠are present. You can compare #Noninvasive #Phenotype 📸 during 3 weeks with #lipidomc and #proteomic results at specific 🕰️. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 🧪 #PlantSci #PMI
- Reposted by Björn UsadelPostdoctoral Research Position in Plant–Microbe Interactions | University of Cologne, Germany The Saur Lab at the University of Cologne invites applications for a postdoctoral position in molecular plant–microbe interactions. This ERC-funded role offers an opportunity to study non-host resistance…
- Reposted by Björn UsadelWe are looking for a colleague to join us at RWTH Aachen University: 🌱 Full Professor in Stress Resilience of Plants (W3 tenured) 📌What are we looking for? Someone working with us strategically at the interface of plant biology/ physiology/ resilience #academicjobs #facultyjobs #PlantJobs 1/4
- Reposted by Björn UsadelHi all @plantsciencedbg.bsky.social members and other 🌽community folks, #MBP2026 🌱 is no open for registration. Please 🏄♀️ to: www.pflanzen-molekularbiologie.de/en/conferenc...
- Reposted by Björn UsadelTenure-Track Plant Biology Assistant Professor position at UT Austin MBS. Review of the applications starts Nov. 1! Please spread the words🤠🌱🌼🌽🫛🍃🌾 jobs.plantae.org/jobs/2176440...
- Reposted by Björn Usadel🎉We have announced a new professorship at the University of Gothenburg 🇸🇪 to celebrate our Crown Princess’s 50th birthday! 🌿Broad focus on biodiversity — from microbes to modelling 📢A fantastic opportunity for researchers working across scales and disciplines! 🔗 web103.reachmee.com/ext/I005/103...
- Now we just need more target journal support (esp. plant journals) but this is really something needed....
- Finally, someone has solved a real problem with AI! No more having to take a paper in the format for a journal that rejected you, and reformat it for a new journal. Well done!! formatmypaper.com
- Reposted by Björn UsadelThe Cluster of Excellence @greenrobust.de is hiring: - Computer Scientist/Research data manager: shorturl.at/xSvvO - Data steward: shorturl.at/l6NCv - Scientific coordinator 'Plant Perturbation Atlas': shorturl.at/vBU6x Deadline: Friday, 7 November 2025 RT are welcome #plantjobs #plantscijobs
- Reposted by Björn UsadelNext, Hannah Lepper from @franzificht.bsky.social lab in Düsseldorf is investigating the enigmatic role of trehalose 6-phosphate during land plant evolution #MAdLand2025
- Reposted by Björn Usadel[This post could not be retrieved]
- Anika in my department is looking for a Phd student on buckwheat stress responses. Maybe this is something for you? #plantjobs www.fz-juelich.de/en/careers/j...
- Reposted by Björn Usadel#PlantSciJobs #PlantSciJob W2-Professorship: Plant Genetics @uni-kiel.de Deadline: 19 October 2025 www.deutsche-botanische-gesellschaft.de/en/job-openi...
- Reposted by Björn UsadelLucas Munnes closes this Wednesday’s session at the #SOLRUB2025 presenting about a #pangenome in the Morelloid clade. Different species have different levels of polyploidy with S. nigrum being highest (6x). Synteny with S. americanum (2x). For nigrum subA ~ americanum. subB & subC ~ villosum (4x).
- Laura breeding /generating the eggplants we all want to have.
- Laura Toppino follows at #SOLRUB2025 with her presentation about avoiding eggplant fruit flesh browning using CRISPR-Cas9 technology. Browning is produced by polyphenols. Chlorogenic acid is the main browning polyphenol in eggplants. It is caused by PPOs. Knocking out HQT reduces browning.
- Reposted by Björn UsadelJaime Prohens brings us a wonderful presentation about the importance of #eggplant populations to elucidate the molecular players in agronomical traits at #SOLRUB2025. Having a good population was essential to identify the gene behind the formation of #pickles in eggplants.
- Reposted by Björn UsadelNice presentation by Martina Stromvik at the #SOLRUB2025aboit the #allotetraploid potato species, Solanum acaule. This species has been used to introgress cold tolerance into some potato varieties like Viking. One of the ancestral parents remains elusive in its identification.
- Reposted by Björn UsadelAn-Sofie Tas brings us a presentation of a wild coffee species, Coffea dactylifera, at #SOLRUB2035. She proposes the use of this species as alternative to the coffee crops although breeding is necessary. This species has a compact form, similar to arabica. It also has smaller beans and sweet taste.
- Reposted by Björn UsadelSwitching from biodiversity to the omics technologies session at the #SOLRUB2025. Presenting Adi Avni about plant-based sensors. The idea , convert plant gene responses in a signal read by an electrode that can transmit the information to a computer.
- Lucas Munnes just provided some update on Morelloid genomes and where Solanum nigrum might have come from at #SOLRUB2025
- It took us a very long time but here is Arslan with the Nicotina glauca genome and the leaf developmental series transcriptome and metabolome at #SOLRUB2025
- Vivien out of her usual lichen track presents the analysis of Alkengi officinarum and transcriptomic change during the calyx color change at #SOLRUB2025.
- Reposted by Björn UsadelJob Alert! We're hiring a BIOINFORMATICIAN / NGS SPECIALIST to support our new Molecular Biodiversity Lab in the @terra-cluster.org at @unituebingen.bsky.social. Like the idea to use your skills for understanding biodiversity? To work on diverse questions in a wonderful place? Apply! Please repost!
- Reposted by Björn UsadelBe our new colleague! 🎉 The Dept of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Geneva is hiring an Assistant Professor or Associate Professor. 👉 More details here: lnkd.in/e8Z9eAm4 👉 Our department: mocel.unige.ch Please feel free to share this opportunity with your network.
