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Facundo Romani

@fromani

Leverhulme ECF (U of Cambridge)πŸ‡¬πŸ‡§. PhD (UNL)πŸ‡¦πŸ‡·Biotechnologist (UNQ)πŸ‡¦πŸ‡·. Gene regulation and plant EvoDevo.

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12.11.2024
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Latest posts by Facundo Romani @fromani

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a sign that says save the date in orange letters ALT: a sign that says save the date in orange letters

The #nonseedUK26 meeting will be held at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh on 15th December 2026. Please save the date. Further details will follow πŸ˜ƒ

06.03.2026 10:37 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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An unconventional Rubisco small subunit underpins the CO2-concentrating organelle in land plants In many algae, photosynthesis is boosted by biophysical CO2-concentrating mechanisms, which pack the CO2-fixing enzyme Rubisco into liquid-like organelles called pyrenoids. Engineering C3 crops with a...

Our work on #hornwort #pyrenoids is finally out in @science.org! πŸŽ‰ We uncovered how hornworts pack their Rubisco into pyrenoids and successfully recreated them in Arabidopsis. A key step toward engineering more efficient photosynthesis in crops @btiscience.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

05.03.2026 20:03 πŸ‘ 122 πŸ” 62 πŸ’¬ 6 πŸ“Œ 7

1/ ✨ New preprint alert ✨

It is my pleasure to share:
"Stepwise evolution of the developmental and symbiotic functions of DELLA in land plants"

Here we investigated the role of the single GRAS transcription factor DELLA in #MyMarchantia

doi.org/10.64898/202...

#PlantScience
A thread...

04.03.2026 05:20 πŸ‘ 48 πŸ” 36 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 2
Spatial distribution of isoprenoid enzymes and MpABCG1 transporter influences sesquiterpene accumulation in Marchantia polymorpha oil bodies - Communications Biology A study maps terpene biosynthesis in Marchantia polymorpha oil bodies and identifies the ABC transporter MpABCG1 as a key factor for endogenous sesquiterpene accumulation in oil bodies, informing futu...

New paper from the lab. Important insights into the compartmentalisation of terpene biosynthesis in Marchantia oil body cells. #PlantScience #SynBio www.nature.com/articles/s42...

04.03.2026 11:46 πŸ‘ 19 πŸ” 13 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Join us at the #SEBconference Florence 2026 to discuss #Plant Robustness! 🌱πŸ”₯

@kaspervangelderen.bsky.social and I are organising the P12 session "Plant robustness from molecules to ecosystems" with the support of @greenrobust.de

Check the program and submit your abstract by March 6th! πŸ‘‡

02.03.2026 10:50 πŸ‘ 19 πŸ” 16 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Addgene: OpenPlant Kit Use the OpenPlant toolkit for genetic engineering of the plant synthetic biology model Marchantia polymorpha.

The OpenPlant kit is finally available from Addgene as... a kit :)
www.addgene.org/kits/haselof...
@addgene.bsky.social #marchantia #synbio

26.02.2026 01:08 πŸ‘ 25 πŸ” 10 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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Really happy to see this one out: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... Alibek's drive & great coll w/ friends @gekaragoz.bsky.social & E. Hallacli resulted in a cool story that starts with our beloved #Marchantia and ends with iPSC-derived neurons 🀩πŸ€ͺ A short 🧡

23.02.2026 17:05 πŸ‘ 119 πŸ” 53 πŸ’¬ 6 πŸ“Œ 7
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Delighted to share our new preprint: "Evolution of moss leaf-like organs through variations in deeply conserved developmental principles."
Led by Ph.D. student Wenye Lin from my lab @irbv.bsky.social ,
in collab. with Yoan Coudert (ENS Lyon) and Richard Smith (JIC).
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

20.02.2026 12:40 πŸ‘ 66 πŸ” 35 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 3

#Synbio

16.02.2026 19:29 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Marchantia might seem an unlikely biotech crop, but it’s worth trying. In Aurore’s thesis, we pushed this concept by engineering the auronidins with MpMYB14 and using the pigments to dye cotton. It ended up giving a very unique and beautiful product. #PlantScience www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

16.02.2026 15:38 πŸ‘ 58 πŸ” 19 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 3
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New preprint! The same TFs can drive distinct regulatory programs depending on where they bind.

TSS β†’ rapid stress responses

Intronic & upstream β†’ cell-type programs

Enhancer-like CRMs β†’ embryo/meristem programs

Coding-sequence binding β†’ repression
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

10.02.2026 21:50 πŸ‘ 19 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
PNAS Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...

1/9 Our latest paper on immunity mechanisms in Marchantia just out @pnas.org ! πŸ”½

Close collaboration between our former PhD students @karimaelm.bsky.social and @chloe-beaulieu.bsky.social !

and the old gard @jacquet-chris.bsky.social @maximebonhomme.bsky.social

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

05.02.2026 10:57 πŸ‘ 51 πŸ” 35 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 2
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Please share!
PhD position (4 years) available in my group @zmbp-tuebingen.bsky.social. We look for candidates with solid aptitude in computer science to cross disciplines and use cutting edge imaging to understand host infection by destructive plant pathogens.
uni-tuebingen.de/universitaet...

30.01.2026 15:04 πŸ‘ 48 πŸ” 69 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1

Half of the problems in the western hemisphere can be solve by having an official ID.

29.01.2026 21:57 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Silvia Rojas, brigadista forestal: β€œEl fuego no espera y el Estado llegΓ³ tarde” Desde MallΓ­n Ahogado, Silvia Rojas, brigadista forestal e integrante de la organizaciΓ³n Sur a Sur, describe una realidad que no entra en partes oficiales. El incendio sigue activo en sectores clave, l...

My mom, Silvia, is my hero. Living abroad while everything is on fire is difficult, but at least I know she is there taking care of the forest. www.vertices.com.ar/contenido.ph...

29.01.2026 20:49 πŸ‘ 14 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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One of the most rarest and enigmatic bryophytes is now in the lab: Takakia lepidozioides. Thanks to the IMSC and Reski lab at Freiburg for maintaining them. #PlantScience

27.01.2026 17:45 πŸ‘ 21 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Auxin signaling dynamics during Ceratopteris male development in response to antheridiogen. The six panels contain confocal time-lapse images showing auxin signaling dynamics in Ceratopteris male gametophytes expressing the DR5v2::ntdTomato transgenic reporter, grown on conditioned fern medium. A male gametophyte was live-imaged every day from 1 to 6 days after germination (DAG). The panels show projection views of tdTomato signals (Fire LUT). The white arrowhead (top left panel) indicates the initial DR5 signal in the early developing prothallus, while yellow arrowheads (top row) indicate DR5 signals in developing rhizoids. Cyan arrowheads and white dashed circles highlight DR5 signaling dynamics during antheridium initiation and maturation. Color bars represent the relative intensity of DR5 signals in Fire LUT images, with low intensity shown in black, intermediate intensity in blue to red, and high intensity in yellow to white. The color scale applies to the entire prothallus but excludes the spore coat. Scale bars: 50 Β΅m.

Auxin signaling dynamics during Ceratopteris male development in response to antheridiogen. The six panels contain confocal time-lapse images showing auxin signaling dynamics in Ceratopteris male gametophytes expressing the DR5v2::ntdTomato transgenic reporter, grown on conditioned fern medium. A male gametophyte was live-imaged every day from 1 to 6 days after germination (DAG). The panels show projection views of tdTomato signals (Fire LUT). The white arrowhead (top left panel) indicates the initial DR5 signal in the early developing prothallus, while yellow arrowheads (top row) indicate DR5 signals in developing rhizoids. Cyan arrowheads and white dashed circles highlight DR5 signaling dynamics during antheridium initiation and maturation. Color bars represent the relative intensity of DR5 signals in Fire LUT images, with low intensity shown in black, intermediate intensity in blue to red, and high intensity in yellow to white. The color scale applies to the entire prothallus but excludes the spore coat. Scale bars: 50 Β΅m.

Ferns alternate between asexual #sporophyte & sexual free-living #gametophyte. This study uncovers the mechanism of male-to- #hermaphrodite conversion in the #fern #Ceratopteris, revealing a novel role for #auxin biosynthesis during #meristem formation @plosbiology.org πŸ§ͺ plos.io/4k5EcAU

27.01.2026 08:55 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
image of a maize inflorescence meristem that is labeled by the plasma membrane marker PIP2-CFP and BAM1D-YFP.

image of a maize inflorescence meristem that is labeled by the plasma membrane marker PIP2-CFP and BAM1D-YFP.

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/JAIVZX...

Excited to share my latest work in @newphyt.bsky.social. Here, we used TurboID proximity labeling with CLAVATA receptors FEA3 and BAM1D in maize meristems to better understand the signaling pathways important for meristem regulation. #PlantScience

26.01.2026 17:33 πŸ‘ 72 πŸ” 32 πŸ’¬ 6 πŸ“Œ 0
Model systems and available resources in non-seed plants. Overview of available and developing resources (sequenced genomes and transcriptomes, single-cell transcriptomics) and experimental methods (stable transformation, CRISPR-Cas-based genome editing) for the main models. *Marchantia paleacea could also be considered a model system for symbiosis and also has several resources. **Several tools were also developed for Selaginella kraussiana, and the single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) is exclusive to S. kraussiana.

Model systems and available resources in non-seed plants. Overview of available and developing resources (sequenced genomes and transcriptomes, single-cell transcriptomics) and experimental methods (stable transformation, CRISPR-Cas-based genome editing) for the main models. *Marchantia paleacea could also be considered a model system for symbiosis and also has several resources. **Several tools were also developed for Selaginella kraussiana, and the single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) is exclusive to S. kraussiana.

With non-seed plant research gaining momentum and a vibrant community emerging, Karima El Mahboubi and Facundo Romani highlight the growing impact of diverse model systems on key questions in plant evolution. doi.org/10.1242/bio....

#MeetingReview #NonSeedPlants #EvoDevo

15.01.2026 09:02 πŸ‘ 13 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

This is also a first as a senior author, together with Fred. This can be a useful resource for chromatin states in Arabidopsis and Marchantia. Some unique feature but they share a similar "epigenetic code". Hopefully, this provide a useful model to understand TF-chromatin interplay in plants.

23.01.2026 15:17 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Chromatin state architecture governs transcription factor accessibility across plant genomes Author summary In eukaryotes, DNA is tightly associated with histone proteins. Histone covalent modifications and histones isoforms, also called histone variants provide most of the complexity of chro...

This is a very special paper for me. I had the idea of combining transcription factor binding with chromatin in 2016/8. It took some time, but thanks to Fred and Vikas, we can finally share the story in @plos.org Genetics looking at chromatin states in Arabidopsis and Marchantia. #PlantScience

23.01.2026 15:17 πŸ‘ 74 πŸ” 38 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0
PNAS Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...

Happy to present our latest: Evolutionary adaptations to the hormonal regulation of vascular tissue development | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/.... Work by Wei Xiao and funded by @erc.europa.eu

20.01.2026 19:22 πŸ‘ 29 πŸ” 14 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

Totally agree. When MpGMFR is constitutively expressed, some shoots even look like simple thalloid liverworts. I think we should link more often phenotypes to existing developmental diversity across distant species.

17.01.2026 22:01 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
A Marchantia gemmaling producing ectopic vegetative propagules

A Marchantia gemmaling producing ectopic vegetative propagules

Happy to share the pre-print on GEMMIFER, a novel ERF required for the initiation of gemma in Marchantia. One of the coolest phenotypes that I have ever seen. Congratulations to Yuki and Go, who led this research. #PlantScience @biorxiv-plants.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

17.01.2026 12:00 πŸ‘ 58 πŸ” 26 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0
Fig. 1.Schematic diagram of tRNA-gRNA multiplexing for plant genome editing. (A) A plasmid is constructed containing a tRNA-gRNA cassette driven by the U6 promoter, together with a transcription unit for Cas9 expression. (B) After transformation into the plant, the primary RNA transcript is cleaved by the endogenous tRNA-processing enzymes RNase P and RNase Z, resulting in functional guide RNAs for genome editing.

Fig. 1.Schematic diagram of tRNA-gRNA multiplexing for plant genome editing. (A) A plasmid is constructed containing a tRNA-gRNA cassette driven by the U6 promoter, together with a transcription unit for Cas9 expression. (B) After transformation into the plant, the primary RNA transcript is cleaved by the endogenous tRNA-processing enzymes RNase P and RNase Z, resulting in functional guide RNAs for genome editing.

βœ‚οΈπŸ§¬ EDITOR’S CHOICE πŸ§¬βœ‚οΈ

Frangedakis et al. present an improved method for generating complex CRSIPR-mediated genome modifications in Marchantia polymorpha using the tRNA-gRNA approach together with an optimized protocol for thallus transformation.

πŸ”— doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience πŸ§ͺ

16.01.2026 16:00 πŸ‘ 12 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
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our hornwort paper got the cover of the @newphyt.bsky.social
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

08.01.2026 14:59 πŸ‘ 55 πŸ” 12 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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Plant Kelch phosphatases are Ser/Thr phosphatases involved in cell cycle regulation Brassinosteroids (BRs) are plant steroid hormones sensed at the cell surface by the membrane receptor kinase BRI1. Activation of BRI1 leads to the dephosphorylation of BZR1/BES1 transcription factors ...

Our new year starts of course with new preprint on brassinosteroid signaling tinyurl.com/nhzcfkxd. We re-analyzed the function of Kelch phosphatases, which were previously characterized as protein tyrosine phosphatases that dephosphorylate the critical pTyr200 in the GSK3 kinase BIN2. (1/6)

07.01.2026 07:48 πŸ‘ 31 πŸ” 20 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
PNAS Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...

Thrilled to share our latest publication: Chlamydomonas chloroplast genes tolerate compression of the genetic code to just 51 codons | PNAS 🧬

Grateful to all involved!

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
@alisonsmith25.bsky.social @camplantsci.bsky.social @andreholzer.bsky.social

07.01.2026 13:53 πŸ‘ 11 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Draft Genome Sequence of Rhizobium rhizogenes Strain ATCC 15834 - PubMed Here, we present the draft genome of Rhizobium rhizogenes strain ATCC 15834. The genome contains 7,070,307 bp in 43 scaffolds. R. rhizogenes, also known as Agrobacterium rhizogenes, is a plant pathogen that causes hairy root disease. This hairy root induction has been used in biotechnology for the g …

It must be sequenced. Quick search pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27469966/ pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25359916/

31.12.2025 18:11 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Is this only for the US students?

16.12.2025 14:58 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0