Lukas Kunz
@lukas-kunz.bsky.social
Postdoc in the lab of Thomas Wicker at University of Zurich Interested in molecular plant pathology, fungal & cereal genetics and genomics. Passionate hunter of avirulence genes.
📣 New preprint! 🧵 Fantastic work led by @antonkraege.bsky.social Fact: Cerato-platanins are everywhere in fungi. Found across the fungal kingdom, implicated in everything from development to virulence to immune activation. But what do they *actually* do? We finally found the answer 👇
A tomato MIK2‐clade receptor is involved in the perception of a Fusarium‐derived elicitor - Maroschek - New Phytologist - Wiley Online Library nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
A tomato <fc>MIK2</fc>‐clade receptor is involved in the perception of a <fi>Fusarium</fi>‐derived elicitor
Fusarium elicitor responsivness and MIK2-clade proteins are conserved across plant families.
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
As seen on @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social: our story on how the dreaded late blight pathogen hijacks a helper NLR pathway is now out in its final form! 🎉 Meet AVRcap1b: the two-faced effector 🧵👇 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
A potato late blight pathogen effector interacts with ENTH-domain protein TOL9a and an activated helper NLR to suppress immunity
A plant pathogen effector suppresses an activated helper NLR via a host ENTH domain–containing protein, NbTOL9a.
science.org
So proud to see this story finally out!🎉 We added new data since our previous preprint—transgenic barley plants with an engineered immune receptor that fights off two fungal pathogens at once. Short 🧵 and link to the original preprint thread on X👇 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Molecular mimicry of a pathogen virulence target by a plant immune receptor
Plants and animals respond to pathogen attack by mounting innate immune responses that require intracellular nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) proteins. These immune receptors detect pathog...
science.org
We have an open PhD position in our Mol. Biochemistry of Plant-Microbe Interactions Lab Saurlab.com. Please see details below, share and consider applying. jobportal.uni-koeln.de/ausschreibun...
jobportal.uni-koeln.de
Many pathogens that infect wild plants are close relatives of crop pathogens. Important model systems for studying plant diseases. Check out the special issue on wild plant pathosystems published in the Philosophical Transactions B: royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/issue/3...
Volume 381 Issue 1951 | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B | The Royal Society
Influential themed journal issues across the life sciences.
royalsocietypublishing.org
📢 EffectorGeneP is finally here! Stop missing small, single-exon or orphan genes from your favourite pathogen genome. Current tools only annotate 15%-78% of effector genes, EffectorGeneP finds 95% - including the large AvrSr26 family in stem rust. #Bioinformatics 📖 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Super excited to see our work on the Pm3e NLR that recognises two structurally diverse AVR effectors from powdery mildew out in @natcomms.nature.com Congratulations to @lukas-kunz.bsky.social, Beat Keller, and everyone involved! Check it out ➡️https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-72199-w
Dual recognition of structurally unrelated mildew effectors underlies the broad-spectrum resistance of Pm3e in wheat - Nature Communications
The wheat NLR Pm3e provides broad-spectrum resistance against powdery mildew. Here, the authors show that Pm3e recognizes two structurally unrelated effector proteins and that its range can be further...
nature.com
Thrilled to share our paper now out in Nature Plants 🎉 We developed a genome-host association (GHA) approach to study pathogen adaptation directly from field metadata by using the originating host cultivar as phenotype. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Genome–host association mapping reveals wheat pathogen genes involved in host specialization - Nature Plants
This study introduces genome–host association (GHA), leveraging natural epidemics to map the genetic landscape of host adaptation in the pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici. Applied to 832 wheat fungal stra...
nature.com
#TansleyInsight: Entanglement of plant immunity and endomembrane trafficking revealed by plant–powdery mildew fungal interactions Thordal-Christensen et al. 👇 📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #LatestIssue #PlantScience @sohini-d.bsky.social
Thank you @marioncmueller.bsky.social, @binebrumm.bsky.social, Eric Kemen, Yiheng Hu and Thomas Lahaye for this nice common effort on effector diversity. Diversify and conquer: How effector diversity is shaped by host–microbe co-evolution doi.org/10.1371/jour...
Diversify and conquer: How effector diversity is shaped by host–microbe co-evolution
doi.org
New OA Article: "Virulence on Pm4 kinase-based resistance is determined by two divergent wheat powdery mildew effectors" rdcu.be/eY3ED AvrPm4 effector / wheat Pm4. The pathogen can evade Pm4 recognition by expressing the suppressor SvrPm4, an RNase-like effector.
Wei Shi @wshisky.bsky.social & Merle‘s work is online. Wei really pushed this work from scratch and Merle linked it to MLA diversification…3rd (co-)first author paper in her PhD. Very proud PI! And only possible through collaboration with G. Döhlemann, @grandpahiro.bsky.social &, Matt Platre. (1/x)
Targeting of the barley cell-surface receptor SRF3 by the Blumeria hordei effector AVRA13 overlaps with AVRA13 recognition by MLA and the induction of NLR-mediated cell death.
Pathogens secrete effector proteins to promote virulence. Despite their recognition by barley Mla resistance genes, the structurally-related Blumeria hordei ( Bh ) AVRA effectors are maintained in the...
doi.org
When you realize that you're each holding a piece of the same puzzle: Avirulence on the wheat mildew resistance gene Pm4 is controlled by two opposing factors: AvrPm4 and SvrPm4. A collaborative project with @zoebernasconi.bsky.social, Aline Herger, Maria del Pilar Caro and many others. Check it out
Zoe Bernasconi@zoebernasconi.bsky.social · 7mo agoOur new article is now online on @natplants.nature.com! ✨ We identified and characterised AvrPm4 and SvrPm4, a pair of powdery mildew effectors controlling avirulence on the wheat kinase fusion resistance protein Pm4 🌾 check it out ➡️ www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Evolution of HMA-integrated tandem kinases accompanied by expansion of target pathogens https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.15.692859v1
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi boost plant resilience by remodelling the plant-pathogen membrane interface Check-out the latest paper from @alexguyon.bsky.social & @dromius.bsky.social 📖 doi.org/10.1016/j.ce... in @cp-cellreports.bsky.social News article www.slcu.cam.ac.uk/news/arbuscu...
Our latest pre-print on TE-mediated tandem duplication of the ToxB effector is now online...still a puzzle for us but we think it is in a Helitron! Together with amazing collaborators, Reem Aboukhaddour and Ryan Gourlie #TE #fungi www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
The virulence gene ToxB is both amplified and disrupted by transposons in the wheat pathogen Pyrenophora tritici-repentis
### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, https://ror.org/051dzs374 Alberta Grain Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commissio...
biorxiv.org
New light on old stones: a fossil #fungus in #symbiosis with one of the oldest known land plants @chistinesd.bsky.social, et al. nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... @dromius.bsky.social @ffercoq.bsky.social #PlantScience Summary also available in French and Spanish.
A wheat NLR conferring broad-spectrum resistance against powdery mildew by recognizing two structurally diverse AVR effectors. Interested? Check out our newest preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Dual recognition of structurally unrelated mildew effectors underlies the broad-spectrum resistance of Pm3e in wheat
Broad-spectrum resistance genes are highly valuable for sustainable crop protection, yet the molecular basis of their activity is often unknown. The Pm3 allelic series in wheat encodes NLR receptors t...
biorxiv.org
Super excited to see our work on the NLRseek program finally published 🥳 Here we identify new NLRs against major wheat pathogens and present a pipeline for NLR identification. Huge thank you to all of the co-authors for bringing this work together! @matthewmoscou.bsky.social rdcu.be/eIGvv
Discovery of functional NLRs using expression level, high-throughput transformation and large-scale phenotyping
Nature Plants - Rapid discovery of functional resistance genes is enabled by a high-expression signature and high-throughput transformation. This approach identified 31 new resistance genes for...
rdcu.be
New: ‘Kronos’ #wheat genome preprint • PacBio+Hi-C; 99.9% BUSCO • 2.3k curated NLR loci (1,089 high conf) • 3k EMS datasets re-mapped; 📈 new mutations • Curated smallRNA atlas 🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... zenodo.org/records/1021... #genomics #openscience team effort led by Dr Kyungyong Seong 💫
The Annotated Blueprint: Integrated Functional Genomic Resources for a Model Tetraploid Wheat Triticum turgidum cv. Kronos
Triticum turgidum cv. Kronos is a tetraploid wheat cultivar that underpins one of the richest community platforms for functional genomics. Over the past decade, about 3,000 exome- and promoter-capture...
biorxiv.org
Check out our new pre-print! ✨ We cloned AvrWTK4, the first wheat powdery mildew effector recognised by a tandem kinase protein, and show that an HMA-like integrated domain in WTK4 acts as pathogen decoy. Discover the whole story on bioRxiv ⬇️
bioRxivpreprint@biorxivpreprint.bsky.social · 11mo agoAn HMA-like integrated domain in the wheat tandem kinase WTK4 recognises an RNase-like pathogen effector https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.26.672365v1
First a pentamer, then a hexamer… now an octamer! The riddle of the enigmatic CCG10-NLR immune receptor family cracked open 🔥 Congrats Guanghao @GuanghaoGuo He Zhang @mhz1989 Selva @M__Selvaraj et al. #NLRbiology #plantsci #immunology
bioRxivpreprint@biorxivpreprint.bsky.social · 11mo agoAn activated wheat CCG10-NLR immune receptor forms an octameric resistosome https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.26.672026v1
Check out our work on virulence on Pm4 controlled not by one, but two effectors! Avirulence vs. Suppression, a beautiful case of the arms race between wheat and mildew. Work led by @zoebernasconi.bsky.social , Aline Herger, Pilar Caro, and @lukas-kunz.bsky.social 😍🌱🦠! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Virulence on Pm4 kinase-based resistance is determined by two divergent wheat powdery mildew effectors
The wheat resistance gene Pm4 encodes a kinase fusion protein and has gained particular attention as it confers race-specific resistance against two major wheat pathogens: powdery mildew and blast. He...
biorxiv.org
Molecular investigation of Rlm3 from rapeseed as a broad-spectrum resistance gene against fungal pathogens producing structurally conserved effectors https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.03.635517v1
Fungal 'sex' is so cool and def gender bending ;). Go check out our @plos.org pathogen perl "Sexual recombination in cereal rust fungi: Knowns and unknowns of pathogen evolution and adaptation" journals.plos.org/plospathogen...
Sexual recombination in cereal rust fungi: Knowns and unknowns of pathogen evolution and adaptation
journals.plos.org
Latest from the lab 📰 🍄 🦠 - Molecular Insights into Fungal Innate Immunity using genetically tractable model systems, Neurospora crassa and Pseudomonas syringae. When fungi and bacteria meet, they really grow on each other! Led by a PhD student Grace Stark www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Molecular Insights into Fungal Innate Immunity Using the Neurospora crassa - Pseudomonas syringae Model
Recent comparative genomics and mechanistic analyses support the existence of a fungal immune system. Fungi encode genes with features similar to non-self recognition systems in plants, animals, and b...
biorxiv.org
@tbadet.bsky.social and I have a preprint out on transposon silencing in fungi! Genome size evolution is fascinating and showcases the dynamic nature of transposon activation. What we understand less are the dynamics of transposon defense systems encoded by the genomes. doi.org/10.1101/2025...
This is a truly awesome story by @priyaramakrishna.bsky.social & @nikogeldner.bsky.social et al. #CryoSEM imaging of elements!!! They just opened the floodgates for many many cool discoveries!!! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Elemental cryo-imaging reveals SOS1-dependent vacuolar sodium accumulation - Nature
This study demonstrates that cryo nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry (CryoNanoSIMS) enables direct multi-elemental imaging at subcellular resolution of macro- and micronutrients or trace elemen...
nature.com