Arif Ashraf
@aribidopsis.bsky.social
820 followers 580 following 440 posts
Assistant professor of Botany at the University of British Columbia‬. My lab works on cell division and beyond. Lab website: https://www.ashraflab.com/
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aribidopsis.bsky.social
Massive news for the lab 🎉🎉🎉

We received Canada Foundation for Innovation - CFI's JELF (John R. Evans Leaders Fund) grant!

Thanks to the team, office of research @science.ubc.ca, and colleagues @ubcbotany.bsky.social for the generous help and support.

www.innovation.ca/news/jelf-cf...
Reposted by Arif Ashraf
nat-prunet.bsky.social
Grateful to see one my #superresolution #pollen images won 2nd place at the 2025 @bioimagingna.bsky.social image contest!

www.bioimagingnorthamerica.org/image-contes...

#microscopy #confocal #botany #plantscience #allergies #bioimaging
aribidopsis.bsky.social
🔬🍀

Mind blowing live cell imaging by Vivek

Look at these beautifully radiating Hechtian Strands, visualized using GFP: RabA2b.

Novel insights into RabA2b intracellular localization suggest a role in plasmodesmatal function @frontiersin.bsky.social

www.frontiersin.org/journals/pla...
aribidopsis.bsky.social
It's Thanksgiving in Canada today!

Every year, I ask myself same question, what I am thankful for?

I am thankful for having a bench in the lab and doing some experiments everyday. Here are positive plants (attached picture) from my screening.
aribidopsis.bsky.social
🍀🔬

E69K mutation in β-tubulin 2 blocks cell wall integrity signaling during plant cell elongation @emboreports.org

www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Arif Ashraf
cytoskeljournal.bsky.social
The new issue of #CYTOSKELETON is now out! You can check out the issues here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/19493592... #microscopymonday
Reposted by Arif Ashraf
cygnusplantxray.bsky.social
I'm frequently asked if we can use XRM imaging to study Arabidopsis, and the answer is absolutely yes. The pollen grains were segmented using basic grayscale thresholding. This scan used the 4X lens, stayed tuned for results from the 20X.
@danforthcenter.bsky.social
@zeiss-microscopy.bsky.social
Reposted by Arif Ashraf
michaelraissig.bsky.social
Using cell wall immunostainings, Alex found differential staining of LM6, which stains arabinans. B. distachyon showed strong staining in subsidiary cells, and this staining was absent in B. stacei.
Reposted by Arif Ashraf
michaelraissig.bsky.social
Anna therefore looked at the subcellular features of these stomatal complexes using TEM and found no striking differences between B. stacei and B. distachyon. Nonetheless, Anna saw the huge symplastic connections between the grass guard cells and shared vacuoles (a feature specific to grass stomata)
Reposted by Arif Ashraf
michaelraissig.bsky.social
Our paper comparing stomata of the three annual Brachypodium species is out 🌾
bmcplantbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
A great collaborative effort between @lbmountain.bsky.social, & our friends at University of Silesia (Alexander Betekhtin and Anna Milewska-Hendel). Funded by @dfg.de and NAWA
Reposted by Arif Ashraf
michaelraissig.bsky.social
Happy to share our recent thoughts on how grasses form and pattern stomata
doi.org/10.1016/j.pb...
🌾From fate establishment, through within-file patterning to dumbbell formation🌾
Congrats to
@lbmountain.bsky.social
on getting two publications out in a single day - a first for the lab!
aribidopsis.bsky.social
ha ha 😀yes and, some fancy equipment
aribidopsis.bsky.social
Massive news for the lab 🎉🎉🎉

We received Canada Foundation for Innovation - CFI's JELF (John R. Evans Leaders Fund) grant!

Thanks to the team, office of research @science.ubc.ca, and colleagues @ubcbotany.bsky.social for the generous help and support.

www.innovation.ca/news/jelf-cf...
Reposted by Arif Ashraf
mcdb-yale.bsky.social
🌿 Calling All Plant Enthusiasts! 🌺

Join us at the Sussex Symposium this Friday for a day dedicated to plant biology! 🌳

🎙️ Don't miss the keynote by Dr. Ken Birnbaum!

🗓️ 9 AM - 5 PM 📍 Jones Auditorium, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
Reposted by Arif Ashraf
rajuaafc.bsky.social
Breeding better #seabuckthorn! At AAFC, we identified 4 standout genotypes with longer fruit stalks (easier to harvest), larger, sweeter berries, and richer nutrition. Weather played a key role too. doi.org/10.1139/cjps...
Reposted by Arif Ashraf
samuelconnell.3i.social
....and a 3i customer visiting Heidelberg from Australia kindly sent me this photo of Nicole and @dvonwangenheim.bsky.social busy talking about microscopy with a handful of visitors to our booth.
Reposted by Arif Ashraf
msupri.bsky.social
We're excited to welcome Christopher Topp to the Plant Resilience Institute! Dr. Topp uses powerful imaging tools to envision the future of sustainable agriculture, and he will soon bring his expertise in root biology to MSU. Read the full story: plantresilience.msu.edu/pri-news/202...
The graphic features a background image of roots over a green gradient. The title says "Chris Topp Puts Down Roots at MSU PRI." There is a headshot of Chris Topp on the righthand side with the following text on the left, "Christopher N. Topp, Ph.D., Professor, Plant Resilience Institute, Department of Plant Biology, Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, Michigan State University” and the MSU PRI logo underneath.
Reposted by Arif Ashraf
Reposted by Arif Ashraf
ehaswell.bsky.social
I started to work on MscS-Like proteins 20 years ago, dreaming that they were involved in plant mechanotransduction. And it is becoming more & more clear that they are!
#plantscience 🧪
"DmMSL10 is crucial for mechanosensing, facilitating AP firing by generating a receptor potential (RP) amplitude."
aribidopsis.bsky.social
🍀🔬

MSL10 is a high-sensitivity mechanosensor in the tactile sense of the Venus flytrap @natcomms.nature.com from Toyota lab.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Arif Ashraf
carolynplants.bsky.social
A time projection of the microtubules in the katanin mutant by Stephanie Martinez 🥳
Maize epidermal cells with a live cell marker for microtubules where microtubule color from cyan to red indicate time.