Michael Raissig

@michaelraissig.bsky.social

1299 Followers 658 Following

Plant developmental geneticist, football fanatic, parent Associate Prof @unibern equity, fairness, transparency, posts my own, he/him

Mature leaf epidermis of the model grass Brachypodium distachyon.

Edwige and Michael in front of Newton's apple tree

ONLINE COVER: Leaves of Kalanchoe thyrsiflora, a member of the Crassulaceae family of succulents also containing Kalanchoë laxiflora. Stomata, otherwise known as plants’ breathing pores, allow gas exchange between plants and the atmosphere, but little is known about how succulent stomata are formed or move. Cheng et al.’s investigation into K. laxiflora revealed that subsidiary cells can support the opening and closing of stomata and that the transcription factor MUTE, which drives stomatal development, also facilitates additional rounds of asymmetric division needed to generate subsidiary cells. Their work provides insight into succulent development and could be applied in agricultural contexts to engineer water conservation strategies.

Credit: Rob Tilley / Minden

Stomatal Biology Group at UniBe celebrating Xin's defense.

Members of the Stomatal Biology group at the University of Bern "pinned" to the world map

Bern last week after the first heavy snowfall - in the background behind the big church tower you can see Eiger, Mönch & Jungfrau, the most prominent trio of the Bernese Alps

4-celled "graminoid" stoma of the model grass B. distachyon. Stomata are the plant's "breathing pores" that enable plant-atmosphere gas exchange.