Caterina Giannini

Why I’m genetically engineering a rainbow flower…

And how a Russian fairy tale inspired the idea 🧵

Interior of Sainsbury Laboratory building showing experimental laboratories on left with floor-to-ceiling glass facing into the main central avenue with people walking on stairs and sitting at study boxes. Lots of natural light and views to the Cambrdge University Botanic Garden. Overlay text "Join SLCU" and logos and closing date of 15 January 2026.

🌱 2x David Sainsbury Career Development Fellowships at @slcuplants.bsky.social

Unique opportunity for early-career researchers to launch their own independent research programme in quantitative plant development, with generous support & world-class facilities.

www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/david-s...

New preprint!
SOSEKI polarity proteins are mechanoresponsive integrators linking growth and tissue mechanics during lateral root formation. Their polarity marks growth boundaries and reorganises in response to mechanical alterations —reshaping how we think about axis formation.
tinyurl.com/28p7af2w

Glad to have this finally published: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... lots of new data since the #preprint. If you are into selective #autophagy, #evolution, #proteostasis Please have a look!

AlphaFold is five years old — these charts show how it revolutionized science Since it was unveiled in 2020, Google DeepMind's game-changing AI tool has helped researchers all over the world to predict the 3D structures of hundreds of millions of proteins.

Five years ago, researchers at Google DeepMind unveiled AlphaFold2

go.nature.com/3LUDauu

#auxin

Nuclear auxin signalling induces autophagy for developmental reprogramming The phytohormone auxin is a central regulator of plant growth and development, traditionally known for mediating transcriptional reprogramming through the canonical TIR1/AFB-Aux/IAA signalling pathway...

Check out this recent preprint:

doi.org/10.1101/2025...

🚨 New preprint by @cate-giannini.bsky.social🚨
We uncover an unexpected link between auxin signalling, transcription, and autophagy — revealing how plants coordinate gene expression and cytoplasmic renewal to drive developmental reprogramming. 🌱✨ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Thank you, Eleazar!

Thank you Yasin! I really enjoyed working on this with you and @marintianava.bsky.social!

Curious about my main PhD work?!🔬🌱 Please have a look on @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.04.686542v1
Connecting auxin-autophagy-development

It is with great sadness that we heard of John Gurdon’s passing this week. Not just one of our 100 extraordinary biologists, but truly one of a kind, he was a pioneer, whose vision and personality inspired biologists worldwide.

ABP1/ABL3-TMK1 cell-surface auxin signaling targets PIN2-mediated auxin fluxes for root gravitropism In gravistimulated roots, gravity perception in the columella redirects the flow of the plant hormone auxin toward the lower root side, where it inhibits cell elongation for downward root bending. Thi...

It is out! A tandem of two papers showing TMK regulation of PIN-dependent auxin transport www.cell.com/cell/fulltex... (PIN2, Friml lab) and www.cell.com/developmenta... (PIN1, Xu lab)

Such a nice and inspiring experience! 🌱
Thanks @NewPhyt for the opportunity!

P.s. spot me in the photo, if you can 😉

How I finally found my confidence as a scientist After three postdoc positions, this researcher now sees her skills and knowledge as valuable

“As researchers we are explorers, and part of our mission involves finding our way without always knowing where we are going” www.science.org/content/arti...

Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) 📸 © Anna Stöcher | ISTA

Founded in 2009 with a bold vision to become a top international research institution, ISTA already ranked 3rd in 2019’s Nature Index Normalized. Today, its campus is “home” to 1,100+ people from 78 countries. By 2036, it will double in size to appr. 150 research groups + more than 2,000 employees.

I will be recruiting one PhD student and one postdoc in 2025. If interested please contact me already. @psb-vib.bsky.social 🌱🌱🌱We are interested in steroid hormones. See our published work
PMID: 40068682 
PMID: 38513023
PMID: 37639582
PMID: 37365405

These historical threads by @somssich.bsky.social‬ about various fundamental aspects of plant biology, and the long process of discovery, linking papers from a century ago to very recent publications, are such a joy to read, every single time.

Back-to-back on bioRxiv by @plantophagy.bsky.social and @moritznowack.bsky.social

Cell-type specific upregulation of autophagy in Arabidopsis root hair cells promotes

1) root hair lifespan by suppressing cell death
2) plant salt stress resilience by ion sequestration

See links to 2 papers below!

a penguin wearing a bear hat and a blue sweater is jumping in the air ALT: a penguin wearing a bear hat and a blue sweater is jumping in the air

The next frontier in #autophagy is understanding how it functions across cell types to maintain organismal homeostasis. w/ @moritznowack.bsky.social lab, we present TWO #preprint on cell type spec. autophagy in root hairs‼️ #plantscience www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Two distinct oscillatory auxin signals define the plasticity of lateral rooting in Arabidopsis thaliana The phytohormone auxin defines lateral root pre-branch sites (PBS) in the growing primary root tip. How PBS contribute to the plasticity of the root system architecture remains incompletely understood...

We are excited to update you on two distinct auxin oscillations (local & systemic), revealing how root architecture adapts to fluctuating conditions!

@cibss.bsky.social @biologyunifreiburg.bsky.social @cbgpmadrid.bsky.social

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...