Stefan de Folter

These 99 'lab hacks' will make your scientific work easier Nature asked contributors, editors and working researchers to share their best advice for scientists.

These 99 'lab hacks' will make your scientific work easier www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Wishing you the best this season and always! Happy holidays ✨🥂

Fig. 4.Effect of the lack of SlSPT function on pollen tube growth and ovary characteristics in slspt mutants and wild-type (WT; Micro-Tom) plants. (A) Pollen tube growth in the gynoecium. (B) Pollen tube staining measured as relative intensity units. (C) Micrographs of transverse sections of the ovary at anthesis, with a magnified view of the pericarp of the ovary at anthesis. (D, E) Comparison of cell layers and pericarp thickness between WT and slspt mutants. Different letters indicate statistically significant differences [ANOVA followed by Fisher's LSD test, P≤0.05, n=10, for (B), Kruskal–Wallis test followed by Dunn’s test, P≤0.05, n=15, for (D); Tukey’s range test, P≤0.05, n=15, for (E)]. Scale bars: 1 mm (A), 0.4 mm (C left); 50 µm (C right).

🧬 SPECIAL ISSUE RESEARCH 🧬

🍅 Genome-edited tomato mutants for the SPATULA gene elucidated conserved functions during gynoecium development, improving our understanding of the SPT gene in fleshy fruits- Martínez-Estrada et al.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪 @defolter-lab.bsky.social

Fig. 1 (shortened, full legend in paper): Complexity of gynoecium development shown with confocal microscopy imaging. (A) Meristematic stages of floral development in which the inflorescence meristem (IM) is observed; from stage 3, the sepal primordia (asterisks) are observed; in stage 4, the developing sepals (asterisks) partially cover the floral meristem (FM); and in stage 5, the FM is completely covered by the sepals. (B) Stage 6 in which the gynoecium is established with the appearance of the primordium of the gynoecium. (C) In stage 7, the middle and lateral domains can be differentiated (marked by dotted lines). (D–H) Longitudinal view of the gynoecium from stage 8 to 12. At stages 8 and 9, the gynoecium grows as a hollow tube and the valves and young replum can be seen. (F and G) Longitudinal view of stage 10 and 11 gynoecia showing the replum and valves. (H) Mature stage 12 gynoecium showing the stigma, style, and ovary, the latter formed by the valves and replum.

🌸 Flowering Newsletter Review 🌸

López-Gómez et al. review the role of protein–protein interactions in flower and fruit development and discuss the latest techniques to study them.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪 @defolter-lab.bsky.social

Special issue outline: Plant Growth Substances Phytohormones are chemical relays that inform the plant about the state of the internal and external environment. Recent advances in this field include increasingly accurate quantitation of small molecule and peptide hormones, discoveries of how hormones enable inter-kingdom communication and immunity, and a clearer picture of how these signals evolved. Systems approaches are also allowing researchers to dissect how cell-type-specific interactions among multiple hormones shape distinct forms and functions. Together, the contributions in this issue highlight the continuing impact of studying plant growth substances on foundational questions, while also providing inspiration for novel methods for crop improvement. Interested in contributing? Please go to the link in the previous post for more info and to contact the editorial office.

Wide-ranging topics are covered in the expected papers so far, from signalling to stress responses and development 🌿 🔄 🍄 🌡️

@defolter-lab.bsky.social @uhammes.bsky.social @shabeklab.bsky.social @christatesterink.bsky.social @sebiology.bsky.social

#JXBspecialissues #PlantScience 🧪

New paper from our lab @jxbotany.bsky.social about auxin and cytokinin interactions during carpel initiation in Arabidopsis

Led by @andreagomezfe.bsky.social in collaboration with @defolter-lab.bsky.social

academic.oup.com/jxb/advance-...

Auxin and cytokinin regulate growth dynamics underlying carpel initiation Abstract. Plant organ initiation requires precise spatial and temporal coordination of cellular behaviors. In Arabidopsis thaliana, the gynoecium, the fema

I’m happy to finally share our story on carpel initiation in Arabidopsis and how auxin and cytokinin shape carpel growth patterns. Auxin and cytokinin regulate growth dynamics underlying carpel initiation url: academic.oup.com/jxb/article/...

Two orthogonal differentiation gradients locally coordinate fruit morphogenesis Nature Communications - The coordination of cellular behaviors is essential for proper organogenesis. Here the authors show that fruit development in Arabidopsis is governed by time-shifted...

One of my first live imaging of Arabidopsis gynoecium www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Flowers of California poppy (Eschscholzia californica). Two fused sepals form a hat-like structure that has already dehisced, while four free bright orange petals adorn the blossom. Inside the flower, though not visible from this perspective, are numerous stamens arranged in several whorls and a gynoecium composed of two carpels. The gynoecium is surrounded by a floral cup forming a wide rim, which can be seen on the lower left, once all other organs have fallen off. (Image credit: Annette Becker.)

🌾🌼 Flowering Newsletter 2025 🌼🌾

"Flowers come in all shapes and sizes, from inconspicuous wind-pollinated grass flowers to the large flowers of California poppy with its bright petals" - @ucdflowerpower.bsky.social

🔗 bit.ly/JXBFNL?utm_so...

A 🧵 incoming...

#FNL25 #PlantScience 🧪
1/9

AP1 floral induction system and experimental strategy used. (A) The AP1 floral induction system (pAP1::AP1-GR ap1 cal) was used in Arabidopsis. On the left, an SEM image of overproliferation inflorescence meristems of the ap1 cal mutant and on the right, an SEM image of many synchronized floral buds 5 d after dexamethasone (DEX) treatment are shown. (B) Overview of the workflow and sampling scheme. The extraction buffer Trizol was used, so from the same tissue sample, RNA and protein could be extracted. Subsequently, RNA-seq and LC-MS/MS were performed, followed by data analyses. SEM images provided by José Luis Riechmann.

🌸🧬🔬 INSIGHT 🌸🧬🔬

Almost lost in translation: integrated transcriptome and proteome analyses for early Arabidopsis flower development - Stefan de Folter

📝 Insight: doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
🔬 Research: doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪

Almost lost in translation: integrated transcriptome and proteome analyses for early Arabidopsis flower development url: academic.oup.com/jxb/article/...
Insight on the article by Álvarez-Urdiola et al. (2025) @jxbotany.bsky.social

Please consider Planta for your next science.

Happy to speak next week at #IPGSA2025

It's in a few days! IPGSA 2025, the premier conference for research on ALL substances that regulate plant growth and responses to the environment: small molecules, phytohormones and peptide hormones. See you soon in Colorado! #IPGSA2025

Plant Sciences represented at #ICDB2025 🌷🍀@SocDevBio
@socdevbio.bsky.social

My Plant Biology Story (MPBS) Hosted by the North American Arabidopsis Steering Committee (NAASC) YouTube video by NAASC

Learn the unique career stories of 3 Arabidopsis plant biology faculty at CINVESTAV- Mexico in this episode of "My Plant Biology Story" featuring Stefan De Folter, Nayelli Marsch, and Stewart Gillmor! Brought to you by NAASC. @defolter-lab.bsky.social
youtu.be/lOok5cb2FZw

Tomorrow- Friday at 11 am Mexican time.

RSVP today for next week's 2 professional / career development webinar two pack!
👏June 4: From Sound Science to Successful Publication, organized by @plantpostdocs.bsky.social
👏June 6: My Plant Biology Story from NAASC !
Registration links here ➡️https://mailchi.mp/e33a618cf39b/soundsciencempbs

🔈 Thrilled to have Stefan de Folter @defolter-lab.bsky.social as an invited speaker at #ICDB2025!
Stefan investigates floral development and transcriptional regulation in plants, shedding light on reproductive innovation. 🌸📜

Construction of multi-targeted CRISPR libraries in tomato to overcome functional redundancy at genome-scale level - Nature Communications Genetic variance is vital for breeding programs and mutant screening, yet traditional mutagenesis methods wrestle with genetic redundancy and a lack of specificity in gene targeting. Here the authors ...

New CRISPR tools for tomato functional genomics from Eilon Shani! 🍅 🧬 ✂️ www.nature.com/articles/s41...

NAASC is excited to host Dr. Stefan DeFolter, Dr. Nayelli Marsch, and Dr. Stewart Gillmor on June 6 to learn their Plant Biology Story! Join the June 6th webinar to learn about 3 plant biology faculty at CINVESTAV-IPN in Irapuato, Mexico
Register now at www.arabidopsiscommunity.org/mpbs

Agamydopsis superpetala

Did you know that the journal Planta exists for 100 year?
Please read about the history of the journal: link.springer.com/journal/425/...

Very happy that one of our first tomato stories is out 🍅 by
Eduardo Martinez-Estrada.
Conserved and novel roles of the bHLH transcription factor SPATULA in tomato.
academic.oup.com/jxb/advance-...

This picture shows the tropical palm house of the Berlin Botanical Garden with a pond in the front

Deadline extension for abstract submission (now until Jan 31) to the international meeting "Evolution of Plant Reproduction" organized by dfg-icips.org in Berlin (March 25-28, 2025) with a great line-up of speakers: dfg-icips.org/berlin2025/ and hurry up to register!
#PlantScience
#PlantEvodevo

Repairing a deleterious domestication variant in a floral regulator gene of tomato by base editing - Nature Genetics A deleterious mutation in the tomato transcription factor SSP2 was enriched during domestication. Repairing the deleterious mutation in cultivated tomato by base editing leads to compact growth and ea...

Repairing a deleterious domestication variant in a floral regulator gene of tomato by base editing www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Do you want to know how to live-image internal floral organs with confocal microscope for up to 2 weeks?
Check out our protocol:
bio-protocol.org/en/bpdetail?...
#Arabidopsis #Flower

Evolution of a SHOOTMERISTEMLESS transcription factor binding site promotes fruit shape determination Nature Plants - This study identifies a molecular mechanism promoting fruit shape variation. Local meristem identity is maintained through autoregulatory activation of the STM gene to allow...

Beautiful Brassicaceae fruit-shape diversity. And here we tell you (part of) how it’s done! rdcu.be/d3i8x
What a great collab it’s been! Thanks Yang Dong, @matmajda.bsky.social, Richard Smith and entire team. @natureplants.bsky.social @oxfordbiology.bsky.social @johninnescentre.bsky.social

Evolution of a SHOOTMERISTEMLESS transcription factor binding site promotes fruit shape determination - Nature Plants This study identifies a molecular mechanism promoting fruit shape variation. Local meristem identity is maintained through autoregulatory activation of the STM gene to allow post-fertilization changes...

STM is involved in fruit shape determination in Brassicaceae:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#MorphoGraphX