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Nick Talbot @talbotlabtsl.bsky.social · 22h

Feeling very Autumnal today #Norfolk

Nick Talbot @talbotlabtsl.bsky.social · 1d

New PhD opportunity in my group @thesainsburylab.bsky.social through the BBSRC NRP DTP Programme - see details of host to apply below

biodtp.norwichresearchpark.ac.uk/projects/van...

Vanishing Virulence: Investigating pathogenicity loss in a plant pathogenic fungus (TALBOT_T26DTP) | Doctoral Training Partnership

What makes a plant killer lose its edge? This project will investigate why fungal pathogens lose virulence when they are grown in laboratory culture away from their host plant. Use cutting-edge…

biodtp.norwichresearchpark.ac.uk

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Reposted by Nick Talbot

Alice Eseola @aliceeseola.bsky.social · 1d

In summary, this study uncovers a remarkable spatio-temporal coordination in fungal infection. One cell lives, two die, and together they build a weaponized appressorium. (12/13)

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Reposted by Nick Talbot

Alice Eseola @aliceeseola.bsky.social · 1d

These observations provide further evidence that distal and middle conidial cells are programmed for autophagic degradation, and organelle trafficking and de novo mitochondrial synthesis occurs only in the germinating conidium cell and appressorium at the onset of appressorium melanisation. (11/13)

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Reposted by Nick Talbot

Alice Eseola @aliceeseola.bsky.social · 1d

At 7h post-inoculation, we observed a mixed population of red and green mitochondria in the appressorium and apical cell, while photoconverted mitochondrial decreases in the distal and middle cells. (10/13)

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Reposted by Nick Talbot

Alice Eseola @aliceeseola.bsky.social · 1d

Next, we determine timing of de novo organelle synthesis, we fused Scad2 with the photoconvertible protein mEos3.2, which shifts fluorescence from green to red upon UV activation. We tracked red (pre-existing) and green (newly synthesized) mitochondria from germ tube swelling to appressorium.

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Reposted by Nick Talbot

Alice Eseola @aliceeseola.bsky.social · 1d

We found the volume of mitochondria in the appressorium was greater than the starting average mitochondrial the apical conidial cell at 0h. This observation suggests de novo biogenesis during appressorium maturation. (9/13)

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Reposted by Nick Talbot

Alice Eseola @aliceeseola.bsky.social · 1d

We investigated whether autophagy is required for organelle breakdown in conidial cells. Using a ∆atg8:Scad2-paGFP strain lacking autophagy, we found that only the apical cell transported mitochondria to the appressorium, while those in distal and middle cells remained intact. (8/13)

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Reposted by Nick Talbot

Alice Eseola @aliceeseola.bsky.social · 1d

We next asked whether the three-celled conidium of M. oryzae uniformly contributes organelles to the appressorium. Using paGFP-tagged mitochondria, we found that only the apical cell transfers intact mitochondria to the appressorium. The distal and middle cells retain their photoactivated signal 7/

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Reposted by Nick Talbot

Alice Eseola @aliceeseola.bsky.social · 1d

Our observations provide evidence that the three-celled conidium is an open system that facilitates trafficking from all cells to the appressorium. However, conidium-appressorium connectivity is transient. By 6 hpi, cytoplasmic streaming into the appressorium ceases.(6/13)

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Reposted by Nick Talbot

Alice Eseola @aliceeseola.bsky.social · 1d

Given that filamentous fungi possess septal pores for intercellular exchange, we asked whether the conidium behaves as an open system. Photoactivation experiments confirmed rapid cytoplasmic diffusion across cells and into the appressorium, indicating open septal pores early in development. (5/13)

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Reposted by Nick Talbot

Alice Eseola @aliceeseola.bsky.social · 1d

To quantify these changes, we modeled fluorescence intensity over time. The distal and middle cells showed a rapid linear decrease in organelle signal, while the apical cell retained organelles longer, correlating with a steady increase in the appressorium—suggesting directional trafficking. (4/13)

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Reposted by Nick Talbot

Alice Eseola @aliceeseola.bsky.social · 1d

To carry out the investigation, first we fluorescently tagged 10 organelle proteins with eGFP in M. oryzae to track their fate, and confirmed that vector integration didn't affect pathogenicity (2/13)

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Reposted by Nick Talbot

Alice Eseola @aliceeseola.bsky.social · 1d

I’m excited to share our new preprint from @talbotlabtsl.bsky.social lab!
🌱 Our latest study reveals how Magnaporthe oryzae synchronizes organelle trafficking and autophagy to infect plants. (1/13)
📄 Read more: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Synchronous spatio-temporal control of autophagy and organelle trafficking is necessary for appressorium-mediated plant infection by Magnaporthe oryzae

The blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae infects plants using a specialised infection structure called an appressorium that generates physical force to break the rice leaf cuticle. Appressorium development...

doi.org

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Reposted by Nick Talbot

Alice Eseola @aliceeseola.bsky.social · 1d

Finally, a special thank you to my co-authors for their contribution to the success of this project.
I am grateful for the unwavering support and guidance of my supervisor, @talbotlabtsl.bsky.social
This project was supported💰 by the Halpin Scholarship for Rice Blast Research (13/13)

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Reposted by Nick Talbot

Sam Connell @samuelconnell.3i.social · 2d

Congratulations @joeecker.bsky.social! Amazing news for you and the Ecker community! 🔬🌱🔥

us-news.bsky.social @us-news.bsky.social · 3d

Salk scientist Joseph Ecker awarded McClintock Prize for Plant Genetics and Genome Studies

https://www.europesays.com/us/292528/

October 10, 2025 Salk scientist Joseph Ecker awarded McClintock Prize for Plant Genetics and Genome Studies October 10,…#us #news #usnews

Salk scientist Joseph Ecker awarded McClintock Prize for Plant Genetics and Genome Studies - United States

October 10, 2025

www.europesays.com

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Reposted by Nick Talbot

The Sainsbury Laboratory @thesainsburylab.bsky.social · 3d

Huge congratulations to PhD students @lenaknorr.bsky.social, from the Ma group, and @amiralito.bsky.social, from the @kamounlab.bsky.social, for their 2025 ASM poster awards! 🎉🌱

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Reposted by Nick Talbot

Tatsuya Nobori @tatsuyanobori.bsky.social · 3d

Wonderful news and a truly well-deserved recognition. Congratulations, Joe!

PlantEvolution 🌱🌾 @plantevolution.bsky.social · 3d

Congrats, Joe Ecker @salkinstitute.bsky.social, to receiving the McClintock Prize! Joe has been a visionary leader of the field of genetics and genomics – not only for plants – for decades
www.salk.edu/news-release...

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Reposted by Nick Talbot

Alex McClelland @alexjmcclelland.bsky.social · 3d

1/13 Thankfully, both you and your plants have a lot of sophisticated ways to fight off invading pathogens.
In our new preprint, we describe a new way in which animals and plants share a common strategy to ward off harmful bacteria.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

A secreted citrus protease cleaves an outer membrane protein of the Huanglongbing pathogen

Plants secrete a variety of proteases as a defense response during infection by microbial pathogens. However, the relationship between their catalytic activities and antimicrobial functions remains la...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Nick Talbot

Tatsuya Nobori @tatsuyanobori.bsky.social · 3d

Congrats and well done!

The Sainsbury Laboratory @thesainsburylab.bsky.social · 3d

Huge congratulations to PhD students @lenaknorr.bsky.social, from the Ma group, and @amiralito.bsky.social, from the @kamounlab.bsky.social, for their 2025 ASM poster awards! 🎉🌱

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Reposted by Nick Talbot

PlantEvolution 🌱🌾 @plantevolution.bsky.social · 3d

Congrats, Joe Ecker @salkinstitute.bsky.social, to receiving the McClintock Prize! Joe has been a visionary leader of the field of genetics and genomics – not only for plants – for decades
www.salk.edu/news-release...

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Nick Talbot @talbotlabtsl.bsky.social · 3d

Beautiful Tübingen on my visit to the Max Planck Institute for Biology hosted by Yen-Ping Hsueh

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Tatsuya Nobori @tatsuyanobori.bsky.social · 5d

Wonderful talk on natural Host-Induced Gene Silencing (nHIGS) - from fundamental mechanisms to exciting applications!

The Sainsbury Laboratory @thesainsburylab.bsky.social · 5d

This morning Wenbo Ma, senior group leader at TSL, gave the first talk at our Annual Science Meeting, one of the highlights of our scientific year!

Find out more about the Ma lab: tsl.ac.uk/our-work/sci...

@johninnescentre.bsky.social

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Reposted by Nick Talbot

Aleksander Szczurek @aleksszczurek.bsky.social · 5d

If you are a computational biologist come, apply and join Howard & Klose lab in a joint Norwich-Oxford collaboration on chromatin dynamics!

John Innes Centre @johninnescentre.bsky.social · 7d

VACANCY - We have an opportunity for a Postdoctoral Researcher to join the Howard Group, working to develop computational models of epigenetic dynamics in the Polycomb system.

www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/po...

Closing date - 9 November 2025
Salary - £37,500 - £45,350
Contract - 36 months, full-time

Postdoctoral Researcher (Howard Group) | John Innes Centre

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Postdoctoral Researcher to join the Howard Group at the John Innes Centre, working on cutting-edge science in the field of Computational and Systems Biology.

www.jic.ac.uk

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Reposted by Nick Talbot

Tatsuya Nobori @tatsuyanobori.bsky.social · 5d

New posters up @thesainsburylab.bsky.social

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