PuckerLab

Updated preprint: "Out of the blue: Family-wide loss of anthocyanin biosynthesis in Cucurbitaceae" doi.org/10.1101/2025... #Evolution #Pigments #Genomics #Bioinformatics @nancy-choudhary.bsky.social @bpucker.bsky.social @unibonn.bsky.social

Great work from @ergabiodiv.bsky.social member @bpucker.bsky.social and colleagues!

Interested in learning how emerging pangenomic and pantranscriptomic resources can help elucidate specialized plant metabolism? Check out our new review, published in The Plant Journal: doi.org/10.1111/tpj....!

Excited to share “Elucidating and exploring specialised plant metabolism through a pangenomic and pantranscriptomic lens” dx.doi.org/10.1111/tpj.... @frankelab.bsky.social @nancy-choudhary.bsky.social @shakunthalan.bsky.social @puckerlab.bsky.social #Genomics #SpecializedMetabolism

Anthocyanin biosynthesis remains a hot topic in plant biology despite nearly 200 years of research #FlavonoidFriday doi.org/10.1111/plb.... & shorturl.at/fCVcO @nancy-choudhary.bsky.social @puckerlab.bsky.social

Human design or AI-generated? 🤖🎨 With AI-generated images everywhere, we get this question a lot! The figures in our publications are designed by a talented human: Marie. 🌱✨✏️🧠🌿 👉 See her work: www.izmb.uni-bonn.de/en/pbb/mh 📖 Example: doi.org/10.1111/tpj.... #SciArt #SciComm @puckerlab.bsky.social

Excited to share our new paper is out in TPJ! 🌱 "Out of the blue: family-wide loss of anthocyanin biosynthesis in Cucurbitaceae" We explore the anthocyanin biosynthesis gene loss through comparative genomics: doi.org/10.1111/tpj.... @nancy-choudhary.bsky.social @puckerlab.bsky.social #Evolution

Julie just completed sequencing run 200 on our PromethION @puckerlab.bsky.social . Time to celebrate numerous successful plant genomics projects and to look for new challenges! www.izmb.uni-bonn.de/en/pbb/news#... #PlantGenomics #Bioinformatics #LongReads

Next Botanik-Tagung is going to take place in Göttingen. Looking forward to the next meeting. Thank you, @jandevries.bsky.social ! #BT2028 @plantsciencedbg.bsky.social

Please submit comments to the EU Commission’s Call for Evidence on how to implement the new rules for "Plants obtained by new genomic techniques (#NGT)". Submission deadline 28 Sept. Below what I submitted. #plantscience ec.europa.eu/info/law/bet... ec.europa.eu/info/law/bet...

Final talk of the session by Jakob Horz about the evolution of MYB transcription factors in plants #BT2026 #Botanik-Tagung2026 @puckerlab.bsky.social @plantsciencedbg.bsky.social

Please remember to visit our group members at their posters and attend their talks #BT2026 #Botanik-Tagung2026

You missed the talk or you would like to read about the details? Here is the corresponding preprint: doi.org/10.1101/2025... #evolution #pigments @nancy-choudhary.bsky.social @puckerlab.bsky.social

Review paper What we know, what we assume + what remains unknown from anthocyanin research. By @nancy-choudhary.bsky.social, N. Khatun, and @bpucker.bsky.social Read more #OpenAccess in our Journal #PlantBiology @Wileyplantsci #PlantSci DOI: doi.org/10.1111/plb....

Activation of anthocyanin biosynthesis in Utricularia gibba depends on nitrogen starvation and light exposure #FlavonoidFriday doi.org/10.64898/202... & shorturl.at/Be9T2

Interested in long read sequencing of plant genomes? Visit Julie at her poster to learn how it is done and what is possible today #Botanik-Tagung2026 #BT2026 #genomics @puckerlab.bsky.social @plantsciencedbg.bsky.social

Having a great time at the Botanik-Tagung 2026 in Bochum! I’ll be presenting my work on Cucurbitaceae tomorrow (09.09.2026) at 16:30. Looking forward to an interesting discussion! #BT2026 #PlantScience #SpecializedMetabolism #PlantPigments #Anthocyanins #Carotenoids #Evolution #Cucurbitaceae

Here is a picture of @puckerlab.bsky.social at #Botanik-Tagung2026 @plantsciencedbg.bsky.social #BT2026 #Genomics #Evolution #PlantScience @nancy-choudhary.bsky.social

Now, @nancy-choudhary.bsky.social is presenting her exciting findings about the anthocyanin biosynthesis loss in the Cucurbitaceae #BT2026 #Botanik-Tagung2026 @puckerlab.bsky.social @plantsciencedbg.bsky.social

Good news: Amanda and Katharina just won poster prizes for their amazing work on MYB transcription factors and pigment biosynthesis at #Botanik-Tagung2026 #BT2026 @puckerlab.bsky.social @ruhr-uni-bochum.de @unibonn.bsky.social @plantsciencedbg.bsky.social

We are excited to share our research at Botanik-Tagung 2026. Looking forward to inspiring discussions and a great time in Bochum! www.izmb.uni-bonn.de/en/pbb/news#... #BT2026 #PlantSciences @nancy-choudhary.bsky.social @bpucker.bsky.social @plantsciencedbg.bsky.social

Why could this be useful? We see cross-species coexpression (as implemented in CoExpPhylo) as a very powerful tool for future discoveries in the specialized plant metabolism, but you need big data to run it: doi.org/10.1186/s128...

Today is the day! Your chance to learn about synthetic biology (iGEM). We will be sharing our experiences at 6 pm in SR2.007 (IZMB, Kirschallee 1). Interested students from the University of Bonn are invited! Details: www.izmb.uni-bonn.de/en/pbb/igem @puckerlab.bsky.social @igembonn.bsky.social

Are you interested in gene expression? We have just released PanXpresso - a large collection of precomputed gene expression datasets for plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, and archaea: doi.org/10.64898/202... #RNAseq #Transcriptomics #Python @shakunthalan.bsky.social @bpucker.bsky.social

We went on a boat trip to collect samples of aquatic carnivorous plants (Utricularia). Excited to learn more about these fascinating plants? Check out our latest preprint: doi.org/10.64898/202... #PlantSciences #Genomics #TeamWork @puckerlab.bsky.social

Presentation at #Quest4Orthologues on DupyliCate from Shakunthala Natarajan, from lab of @bpucker.bsky.social, ERGA Council member for Germany @ergabiodiv.bsky.social

Having a busy day? Julie’s latest work might be just the thing to calm things down. 🌿 Genome sequence and annotation of Valeriana officinalis doi.org/10.64898/202... #Genomics #Bioinformatics #PlantSciences @puckerlab.bsky.social @unibonn.bsky.social @opensciene-unibonn.bsky.social

More information about this upcoming course on our website: www.izmb.uni-bonn.de/en/pbb/news#... #Bioinformatics #CloudComputing #Genomics #CLI @puckerlab.bsky.social @nancy-choudhary.bsky.social

It was a pleasure to recently give talks and meet with researchers working on exciting questions in plant sciences. My talks included “Addressing the Functional Annotation Bottleneck in Plant Genomics” and “Evolutionary Ups and Downs of Anthocyanin Biosynthesis”. #Genomics #Bioinformatics #Evolution

🧬 Want to get started with bioinformatics and the command line? Join our de.NBI training course “CLI Basics for Life Scientists” in Bonn! www.denbi.de/training-cou... #Bioinformatics #Bonn #CloudComputing @puckerlab.bsky.social @denbi.bsky.social @nancy-choudhary.bsky.social

#PlantSci Review: Anthocyanins and betalains in evolution: Why mutual exclusion remains the best-supported model – contrary to recently published reports By @bpucker.bsky.social and MI Khan Read more #OpenAccess in our Journal #PlantBiology @Wileyplantsci DOI: doi.org/10.1111/plb....

3. Poaceae: doi.org/10.1101/2025... @puckerlab.bsky.social @puckerlabpapers.bsky.social

2. Cucurbitaceae: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Interested in learning more? Read about our work: 1. Withanolide-associated gene cluster discovery: doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Great week at #EMPSEB31 in Oberwiesenthal, Germany! I presented a poster on the evolution of a withanolide biosynthetic gene cluster in Solanaceae and gave a talk on contrasting evolutionary outcomes of anthocyanin biosynthesis: complete loss in Cucurbitaceae and pathway rewiring in Poaceae. 🌱🧬

Just in time for the weekend: our latest paper is out in Plant Biology! Anthocyanins and betalains in evolution: Why mutual exclusion remains the best-supported model doi.org/10.1111/plb.... #PlantBiology #Evolution #Anthocyanins #Betalains @puckerlab.bsky.social @unibonn.bsky.social

#PlantSciJobs #PlantScienceJobs

#bioinformatics #PlantSciJobs #PlantSciJob

We are looking for a Bachelor's or Master's student to develop a functional annotation tool for large plant gene families. If you are excited about this opportunity, please get in touch. Details are available here: www.izmb.uni-bonn.de/en/pbb/news#... #Python #Bioinformatics @puckerlab.bsky.social

Please share with your network: Would you benefit from full plasmid sequencing? Check out this cost-effective solution via nanopore sequencing on old flow cells: doi.org/10.64898/202... #LongReads #Biotech #SynBio #Plasmids #iGEM @puckerlab.bsky.social @bpucker.bsky.social

In Glasgow, Hannah presented our Cucurbitaceae resarch at EURO EVO DEVO 2026: Who stole the blue flowers? Cucurbitaceae lack genes required for anthocyanin biosynthesis. This is quite unusual, as these genes are conserved in most flowering plants. www.izmb.uni-bonn.de/en/pbb/news#... #Evolution

🧬 New paper! DupyliCate provides an automated solution for the identification and characterization of gene duplications. 📄 doi.org/10.1038/s415... #Bioinformatics #Genomics @shakunthalan.bsky.social @bpucker.bsky.social

We are looking for a new group member (BSc/MSc student) to bring our full plasmid sequencing data analysis workflow (NanoPlasmiQC) to the next level: www.izmb.uni-bonn.de/en/pbb/news#... #Python #Genomics #LongReads #Biotech #SynBio #Bioinformatics @puckerlab.bsky.social

In Glasgow, Hannah presented our Cucurbitaceae resarch at EURO EVO DEVO 2026: Who stole the blue flowers? Cucurbitaceae lack genes required for anthocyanin biosynthesis. This is quite unusual, as these genes are conserved in most flowering plants. www.izmb.uni-bonn.de/en/pbb/news#... #Evolution

🧬 New paper! DupyliCate provides an automated solution for the identification and characterization of gene duplications. 📄 doi.org/10.1038/s415... #Bioinformatics #Genomics @shakunthalan.bsky.social @bpucker.bsky.social

Dark pigmentation of blackberry can be explained by high amounts of cyanidin-3-O-glucosides #FlavonoidFriday doi.org/10.64898/202... & shorturl.at/bxQU9 @puckerlab.bsky.social

🌾🧬A practical cookbook for plant genome sequencing. Oxford Nanopore workflows. From project planning to data release. Helping newcomers enter the growing field of plant genomics. #plantscience @bpucker.bsky.social @puckerlab.bsky.social @puckerlabpapers.bsky.social link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Interested in getting the genome sequence of your favourite plant? "Cookbook for plant genome sequences" doi.org/10.1186/s128... #Genomics #PlantSciences #Bioinformatics @puckerlab.bsky.social

Have you ever touched Urtica dioica? It is a memorable experience. Beyond its sting, this plant has medicinal properties. To better understand the genetics underlying key traits, we sequenced and analyzed its genome: doi.org/10.64898/202... #Genomics #PlantScience @puckerlab.bsky.social

Near-black flowers of Tacca chantrieri are connected to anthocyanin genes including a curious DFR twist #FlavonoidFriday doi.org/10.64898/202... & shorturl.at/SnbhQ @puckerlab.bsky.social

The preliminary programme of International Conference of our German Society for #PlantSci, the Botanik-Tagung, is online botanik-tagung.de/programme.html 📆 6-10 September 2026 📍Bochum, Germany Makes it easier to plan your participation. Register today! botanik-tagung.de/registration...