Facundo Romani

Facundo Romani

@fromani.bsky.social

Leverhulme ECF (U of Cambridge)🇬🇧. PhD (UNL)🇦🇷Biotechnologist (UNQ)🇦🇷. Gene regulation and plant EvoDevo.

1.1K followers749 following85 posts

Facundo Romani
@fromani.bsky.social

New research. Conveniently, Marchantia has relatively few transcription factors. Yet, we need to leverage on that at the family scale to have a more comprehensive picture. In this paper, we focused on ERFs, the second largest TF family. #PlantScience www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.orgFunctional diversification of ERF transcription factors in land plantsThe ERF family is one of the largest families of plant-specific transcription factors, controlling diverse developmental processes and stress responses. Extensive gene duplication and redundancy in fl...
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Facundo Romani
@fromani.bsky.social

Interestingly, we found that the MpERF2 makes ectopic rhizoids. A surprising function compared with its Arabidopsis WIND homologues. Also, it is a proof-of-concept for doing functional genomics at scale. I hope the #evodevo community enjoys it, and feedback is very welcome.

Facundo Romani
@fromani.bsky.social

New research. Conveniently, Marchantia has relatively few transcription factors. Yet, we need to leverage on that at the family scale to have a more comprehensive picture. In this paper, we focused on ERFs, the second largest TF family. #PlantScience www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.orgFunctional diversification of ERF transcription factors in land plantsThe ERF family is one of the largest families of plant-specific transcription factors, controlling diverse developmental processes and stress responses. Extensive gene duplication and redundancy in fl...
Facundo Romani
@fromani.bsky.social

We made gain-of-function screening for practically all ERFs in Marchantia and found that most have very strong and distinct developmental phenotypes. Different to their classic function in flowering plants associated with stress and ethylene responses.

Facundo Romani reposted

Plant Physiology
@plantphys.bsky.social

Elucidating the ancestral role of Class I HD-Zip transcription factors in land plants (Facundo Romani , Santiago Farías , Ariel Cerda Rojas , et al) doi.org/10.1093/plph... #PlantScience @aspbofficial @fromani @camplantsci

doi.orgElucidating the ancestral role of Class I HD-Zip transcription factors in land plantsThe C1HDZ plant transcription factor family shapes stress and development responses differently across species, revealing how gene functions evolve while i

Facundo Romani reposted

Andy Plackett
@seedrevolutionlab.bsky.social

www.nature.com/articles/s41... It's been a long time coming, but delighted to say that the first major output from my Royal Society Fellowship is now published. 🙂 #PlantScience

nature.comThe post-fertilization archegonium gene network of seedless plants contributed to the origin of seeds - Nature CommunicationsThe authors identify conserved gene networks across fern and angiosperm reproductive development, including between the sporophyte ovule and the fern gametophyte egg-chamber. Repurposing of this netwo...

Facundo Romani reposted

Arnau Sebé-Pedrós
@arnausebe.bsky.social

Happy to share the final version of our study on the evolution of chromatin states across eukaryotes, out today in @natgenet.nature.com Led by @crisnava.bsky.social and @seanamontgomery.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41... Some highlights below

nature.comDiversity and evolution of chromatin regulatory states across eukaryotes - Nature GeneticsThis study introduces iChIP2, a low-input chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing method that profiles histone post-translational modifications (hPTMs) simultaneously across diverse eukar...

Facundo Romani reposted

Robin Burns
@robinburns.bsky.social

Delighted to share our paper on neo-chromosomes! We induced centromere fission using CRISPR in Arabidopsis and increased the chromosome count from n=5 to n=6. The broken chromosomes ends quickly “healed” by adding telomeres de novo and the new karyotype is stable through mitosis and meiosis! 1/3

Ian Henderson@hendersi.bsky.social

CRISPR-mediated centromere fission generates neochromosomes with distorted meiotic inheritance in Arabidopsis biorxiv.org/content/10.6... new preprint from us - includes changing the Arabidopsis karyotype from 5 -> 6 chromosomes using Cas9 & outcomes of 5/6 chromosome hybrid meiosis

Facundo Romani reposted

Josep Mercadal
@josepmercadal.bsky.social

Our work on pattern formation in fossil and extant liverworts is out! @dev-journal.bsky.social Check it out if you are interested in fossils, evo-devo, and how mathematical modeling can help us understand the evolution of developmental processes! 🌿🧪 Thread ⬇️

journals.biologists.comLateral inhibition governs ancestral cellular patterning in fossil and extant liverwortsHighlighted Article: Comparative and mathematical analyses reveal that oil body cell patterning in fossil and extant liverworts is consistent with a local activation-lateral inhibition mechanism, poin...
Facundo Romani
@fromani.bsky.social

Excited to share this story in its final form, now published in ACS Synthetic Biology. #PlantBiology #Synbio pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

pubs.acs.orgEngineering Auronidin Production in Marchantia polymorpha Enables a New Class of Plant-Derived Textile PigmentsPlant-derived pigments offer sustainable alternatives to synthetic colorants, yet their practical deployment in textiles is limited by restricted chemical diversity and low abundance. Liverworts represent a source of diverse chemical compounds, and the model liverworts Marchantia polymorpha are emerging as chassis for bioengineering and synthetic biology. Here, we report the biotechnological application of auronidins, a rare class of flavonoid pigments, as textile dyes. Using M. polymorpha, we engineered enhanced auronidin production through controlled expression of the R2R3-MYB transcription factor MpMYB14. We systematically benchmarked constitutive and inducible gene expression systems, including heat-shock, glucocorticoid receptor, and β-estradiol (XVE) circuits, identifying inducible strategies that decouple biomass accumulation from secondary metabolite production while achieving high pigment yields. Extracted auronidins were used to dye cotton yarn directly, demonstrating the feasibility of auronidins for textile dyeing. Our results establish M. polymorpha as a versatile plant chassis for programmable secondary metabolite production and introduce auronidins as a promising natural pigment platform for sustainable textile biotechnology.
Facundo Romani@fromani.bsky.social

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...

Facundo Romani
@fromani.bsky.social

New pre-print. Biosynthesis of limonene in Marchantia is carried out by a small biosynthetic gene cluster specific to oil body cells #PlantScience www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.orgNeryl diphosphate-derived monoterpene biosynthesis via a biosynthetic gene cluster in the liverwort Marchantia polymorphaMonoterpenes (C10) are a large group of specialized metabolites important for plant interactions with the environment. Their biosynthesis is well understood in seed plants, where geranyl diphosphate s...

Facundo Romani reposted

Ignacy Bonter
@ignacybo.bsky.social

Happy to share some of the auxin Marchantia research we've been working on for a while with @fromani.bsky.social and @jimhaseloff.bsky.social. We confirm long standing suspicions that stem cells in Marchantia exist in an auxin concentration/signalling minimum, and potentially a cytokinin maximum.

biorxiv.orgMarchantia stem cell maintenance and re-establishment are controlled by MpPIN1-mediated auxin transport and ARF signallingMeristem organization in land plants depends on coordinated auxin distribution, transport and response, yet how these processes are integrated during vegetative growth of the gametophyte of non-seed p...

Facundo Romani reposted

Min-Yao Jhu
@minyaojhu.bsky.social

1/ Excited to share our new bioRxiv preprint! "4D spatial transcriptomics reveals nodule identity emerges through stacked parallel developmental programs" 📄 doi.org/10.64898/202... Using Xenium, we generated a 4D (3D space + time) atlas of nodule development in Medicago truncatula.

Facundo Romani reposted

Facundo Romani
@fromani.bsky.social

Glad to see Anna's final PhD paper as a pre-print. Marchantia as a bioproduction chassis not only for markers but also for useful proteins. #PlantScience #SynBio www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.orgMarchantia polymorpha as a simple platform for plant-based production of functional nanobodiesRecombinant proteins have transformative potential in biomedicine, but their production is often costly and carries contamination risks. Plants offer an attractive alternative, with low growth costs a...
Facundo Romani
@fromani.bsky.social

Glad to see Anna's final PhD paper as a pre-print. Marchantia as a bioproduction chassis not only for markers but also for useful proteins. #PlantScience #SynBio www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.orgMarchantia polymorpha as a simple platform for plant-based production of functional nanobodiesRecombinant proteins have transformative potential in biomedicine, but their production is often costly and carries contamination risks. Plants offer an attractive alternative, with low growth costs a...

Facundo Romani reposted

George R. L. Greiff
@ilichenmoss2.bsky.social

Happy to announce our study that has just been published from work done during my PhD at the University of Bristol working in Prof. Jill Harrison's lab. It's about WOX genes and sporophyte development in the model moss, Physcomitrium patens. Take a look 🧵👇

Facundo Romani reposted

Phil Carella
@philcarella.bsky.social

Check out our latest pre-print on the evolution of TIR activity/signalling: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.orgbiorxiv.org
Elenor Kennedy@ebkennedy.bsky.social

@khongsamchia.bsky.social Extremely excited to share the first pre-print from my PhD project in the Carella lab, co-first authored with @khongsamchia.bsky.social 🎉 (Thread below ⬇️) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Huge thanks to all co-authors and the #CarellaCapybaras for all the support 😊

biorxiv.orgbiorxiv.org
Facundo Romani
@fromani.bsky.social

Another cool liverwort genome by Szövényi group. #PlantScience link.springer.com/article/10.1...

link.springer.comGenome assemblies of the liverwort Blasia pusilla uncover a well-defined pseudoautosomal region on homomorphic UV sex chromosomes - Genome BiologyBackground Sex chromosomes evolve from autosomes and are expected to be initially homomorphic, though they may become heteromorphic over time. In diploid systems, one sex chromosome often degenerates,...

Facundo Romani reposted

Juan Carlos De la Concepcion
@delaconcepcionjc.bsky.social

Excited to have started my group @zmbp-tuebingen.bsky.social through the @dfg.de Emmy Noether program. In this project we will be looking at the mechanisms of host invasion by fungal pathogens 🍄🌱 Check it out and drop me a line if you are interested! uni-tuebingen.de/en/universit...

uni-tuebingen.deNew Emmy Noether research group on fungal infections in plants
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft@dfg.de

Good News!📢 Die DFG hat vom 1. Januar bis 31. März 2026 insgesamt 43 Wissenschaftler*innen in die Programme der #Einzelförderung aufgenommen. Mehr zu den Projekten, Personen und ihren Einrichtungen: ➡️ www.dfg.de/de/aktuelles...

Facundo Romani reposted

Plant & Cell Physiology
@plantcellphysiol.bsky.social

A comprehensive database for #Marchantia research Tanizawa et al. present the new improved MarpolBase #database - a central resource for M. polymorpha #genomics with near-telomere-to-telomere reference male Tak-1 and female Tak-2 genomes (ver. 7.1) 🆓 doi.org/10.1093/pcp/... #PlantScience

marchantia.infomarchantia.info[Important notice] To maintain nomenclature consistent and systematic, we strongly recommend that gene names/symbols should be registered before publications and presentations.

Facundo Romani reposted

Thea Kongsted
@theakongsted.bsky.social

Although the red pigments made by flowering plants and liverworts are produced by distinct chemical pathways, here we found that they are induced by homologous complexes of transcription factors. @currentbiology.bsky.social

cell.comReplicated repurposing of an ancestral transcriptional complex in land plantsKongsted et al. find that, while the red pigments produced in liverworts and seed plants are distinct, they are regulated by homologous MYB-bHLH transcriptional complexes. They also find that in liver...

Facundo Romani reposted

Trends in Plant Science
@cp-trendsplantsci.bsky.social

Bryophytes: natural incubators of new gene evolution #plantscience

dlvr.itBryophytes: natural incubators of new gene evolutionDe novo gene origination from noncoding regions is a major source of genetic innovation. Dong et al. [1] (Nat. Genet. 2025; 57:2562–2569) reveal that bryophytes harbor an exceptionally high abundance of such genes, establishing them as a new and key system for studying the mechanisms and evolutionary consequences of new gene emergence in plants.

Facundo Romani reposted

Department of Plant Sciences Cambridge
@camplantsci.bsky.social

Replying to @camplantsci.bsky.social

The research, led by Dr Edith Forrestier whilst at the @jimhaseloff.bsky.social lab @camplantsci.bsky.social is published in ‘Communications Biology’: tinyurl.com/ypfd54xr @fromani.bsky.social @cambridgebiosci.bsky.social @cam.ac.uk #PlantsAtCambridge

tinyurl.comSpatial distribution of isoprenoid enzymes and MpABCG1 transporter influences sesquiterpene accumulation in Marchantia polymorpha oil bodies - Communications BiologyA 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 future metabolic engineering strategies.

Facundo Romani reposted

Michael Raissig
@michaelraissig.bsky.social

Our first study on how the leaf succulent Kalanchoë laxiflora makes stomatal subsidiary cells is finally peer-reviewed & out - and it made the cover! 🌵 🧬 🔬 doi.org/10.1126/scia... Despite 150 years of evolution, grasses and Crassulacean succulents use the SAME gene to make subsidiary cells! 🤯

Michael Raissig@michaelraissig.bsky.social

🌵Preprint alert 🌵 5y in the works & extremely proud of this one. Xin Cheng & @heikelindner.bsky.social established the eudicot leaf succulent Kalanchoë laxiflora as a dev model. Like in grasses, MUTE makes Kalanchoë’s stomatal subsidiary cells! 1/n www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... BSKY-tutorial 👇

Facundo Romani reposted

Nico Rascovan
@nrascovan.bsky.social

How did farming reach the Southern Andes? Through migration or cultural transmission? Our new paper in @nature.com combines ancient DNA, isotopes, archaeology & paleoclimate to reconstruct 2,000+ years of history in Uspallata, Mendoza. www.nature.com/articles/s41... A Thread🧵 (1/25+)

nature.comLocal agricultural transition, crisis and migration in the Southern Andes - NatureIn the Uspallata Valley, agriculture was adopted by local populations, as evidenced by genetic continuity from earlier hunter-gatherers to farmers; maize-dependent groups from the same regional p...

Facundo Romani reposted

Ezequiel Vera
@ezequielvera.bsky.social

Saliooooo el número 5 de la Revista Carnotaurus!! El tortugo Jorge, la tortuga gigante extinta Helianthochelys, océano plástico, evolución del Homo sapiens, parankylosaurios argentinos, unos ratoncitos de Holmberg, el tiburón espinillo, y más, en un número muy 🐢