Our new preprint is out! 🍄 Decoupled evolution of antimicrobial repertoires in lichen-forming fungi We compared many lichen-forming fungal genomes to ask how different photobiont associations relate to their antimicrobial repertoires.

Now accepted: Haplotype-phased assemblies of the two poplar rust fungi species: Melampsora larici-populina and Melampsora allii-populina academic.oup.com/g3journal/ar...

Haplotype-phased assemblies of the two poplar rust fungi species: Melampsora larici-populina and Melampsora allii-populina

Abstract. Dikaryotic rust fungi maintain two distinct haploid nuclei for most of their life cycle, making their large, repeat-rich genomes difficult to ass

academic.oup.com

New preprint online! We sequenced several hundred Zymoseptoria isolates from different fields through a field epidemic to ask what really drives short-term evolution. Fungicide selection or seasonal epidemic progression? www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Standing genetic variation buffers field populations of Zymoseptoria tritici against seasonal and fungicide selection

### Competing Interest Statement AT was funded by BASF under a formal scientific collaboration agreement. BASF did not exert control over the data collection, analysis, or interpretation of results. ...

biorxiv.org

Giant viruses are known across eukaryotes. This study by @hyphaltip.bsky.social &co identifies Mycodnaviridae, a global giant #virus family that persistently infect zoosporic #fungi, providing a promising model for studying #giantVirus infection in eukaryotes. 🧪 #AcademicSky plos.io/3Sq4ioL

New Publication: Tangerine: A new family of Starships from lichen-forming fungi (2026) www.tsl.ac.uk/publications...

Tangerine: A new family of Starships from lichen-forming fungi

Lichens are symbiotic associations between filamentous fungi and photosynthetic micro-organisms, such as green algae and/or cyanobacteria, that result in a single anatomically complex structure that…

tsl.ac.uk

Join us and become part of PhageOrder: study the evolution of phage genetic modules!

Jessica Andreani@jessicaandreani.bsky.social · last mo.

🚨📣 Hiring a postdoc in bioinformatics 🧬🧑‍💻 Join our team at @i2bcparissaclay.bsky.social to explore biomolecular interactions and improve protein function prediction in bacteriophages! 📍 Gif-sur-Yvette, France ⏳ 13 months (+ possible extension) 📅 Apply here: emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CDD/U...

Finally online! It took ut 9 yars from formulating the hypothesis to actually finalizing the last experiments... but there it is!

Mélanie Rich 🌱🍄@melaniekrich.bsky.social · last mo.

New preprint alert! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... The conclusion of a long-lasting obsession about lipids, plant terrestrialization and the origin of plant symbioses 1/7 🧵 @pierremarcdelaux.bsky.social @katharinamel1.bsky.social @tatiana-vernie.bsky.social @kellerjeanphd.bsky.social

Data-driven inference of local behavioural rules predicts emergent properties of Phytophthora zoospore dispersal https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.12.744352v1

🫒Warum der Olivenbaum die Blätter verliert Erstmalig ist es einem Forschungsteam ‪@teamthomma.bsky.social‬ @ceplas.bsky.social gelungen, Einblicke in die genetischen Grundlagen der durch den Schädlingspilz Verticillium dahliae verursachten „Entlaubung“ zu bekommen ➡️https://uni.koeln/RC5HX

Thrilled to share that I'll be starting my lab at the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm as a DDLS Fellow in November! 🧑‍🔬🧬🎉 Of course, we will be delving into all things mobile DNA & evolution, as well as developing AI approaches for biodiversity genomics #newPI #TEsky #TEworldwide

Our study on giant transposons Starship 🚀🧬 in the genome of the lichen fungus Xanthoria is now out in @pnas.org! What did we find out about Starships in #lichen fungi? 👇Updated thread below 🖥️ 🧪 🦠 🧫 #SymbioSky 1/6 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

🫒Why the olive tree loses its leaves For the first time, a research team led by @teamthomma.bsky.social @ceplas.bsky.socialhas succeeded in gaining insights into the genetic basis of the ‘defoliation’ caused by the pathogenic fungus Verticillium dahliae. Read more➡️https://uni.koeln/JJ7F2

Nazir & @bramvandijk.bsky.social demonstrate how phage lifecycle dynamics and spatial heterogeneity drive mobile genetic element–gene associations, providing new insights into the evolution of phage-encoded virulence. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evag181 #societyjournal #virus

Viral Lifecycle Dynamics and Spatial Structure Explain Why Accessory Genes Are Associated With Temperate Phages

Abstract. Genes encoding for virulence factors are frequently found on prophages, yet the evolutionary forces driving this association remain unclear. The

doi.org

New postdoc opportunity in our team! Topic is computational analysis of (meta)genomic data to study evolution of plant-microbiome interactions. Part of the AEGIS consortium (aegisearth.bio/en). Apply here: www.wur.nl/en/vacancy/p... Please RT!

Postdoc on computational (meta)genomic analysis

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges for global food security, requiring new approaches to understand and harness the natural diversity that enables plants and their associated microbiomes...

wur.nl

Neue Forschungsgruppe stärkt die funktionelle Mikrobiomforschung am @fzborstel.bsky.social: Prof. Dr. Amelia Barber übernimmt die W3-Professur für „Funktionelle Mikrobiomforschung chronischer Lungenerkrankungen“ und baut am FZB eine neue Forschungsgruppe auf: fz-borstel.de/de/aktuelles...

Join my group at @fz_juelich within the @ceplas.bsky.social excellence cluster. #PlantJobs We’re looking for a postdoc/senior scientist in plant single-cell and spatial transcriptomics recruiting.fz-juelich.de/jobposting/8...

Postdoctoral Researcher / Senior Scientist in the field of plant single-cell and spatial transcriptomics

recruiting.fz-juelich.de

Please share! 🌱🤖 Permanent W2 Professorship in crop & plant sciences @ PhenoRob, University of Bonn. Especially encouraged: crop genome engineering, sustainable pest control, or sustainable disease control. Expertise in one area is enough. Apply by Sept. 30, 2026. www.uni-bonn.de/en/universit...

Super proud and excited about this work, led masterfully by Peiwei Chen! A fun and fruitful collaboration with department colleagues Andy Clark & Alexei Aravin. After 30 yrs of studying transposons, this is one of the very first times I see them jump in real time in their natural host! Hurrah! 🥳

Peiwei Chen@peiwei-chen.bsky.social · 2mo ago

How do transposons jump when they’re released from host control? I babysat two chromosomes for 2 years, making sure they are ok without most piRNAs. Here’s what we found & excited to share my 1st postdoc paper: “piRNA loss unleashes episodic transposition bursts” www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

I am happy to share that my NWO Veni project was awarded 🍄🧬🔻! In this project, I will study how transposons shape genome folding, evolution, and adaptation in a fungal salamander pathogen. I am incredibly thankful for all the support and look forward to this next chapter #fungi #transposons #TEsky

Status of #Phytophthora infestans populations in Europe updated. Helping late blight IPM on potato crops. Sunshine may be a good fungicide but I imagine many thirsty crops about. @hutton.ac.uk EuroBlight final data release, 2025 share.google/PhwBZllqrWdE...

EuroBlight final data release, 2025

EuroBlight announce the final results of 2025 monitoring – despite the low blight pressure 2025 season over 1700 samples from 27 countries across Europe were genotyped.

share.google

📣 Sunny ☀️ celebration 🎉🥳: Chen-Yu Kuan succesfully defended her PhD thesis entitled "Genome evolution in the plant-pathogenic fungus Verticillium dahliae in the absence of apparent sexual reproduction" @unicologne.bsky.social 🥳

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

Back in Madrid after 3 months at @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social! I recently wrapped up a research stay at @binfutrecht.bsky.social working on cereal metagenomics for my PhD thesis 🧬 Big thanks to @mfseidl.bsky.social and the TBB team, and to @femsmicro.org for the Research and Training Grant!

Excited to see our new preprint on bioRxiv! 🌱🤖 We used AI protein design (RFdiffusion + ProteinMPNN) to build brand-new sensor domains from scratch and installed them in a rice NLR immune receptor engineering recognition of a Fusarium effector FoSSP17

@yuxuan-xi.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Our new preprint is out! Using AI-guided design (RFdiffusion + ProteinMPNN), we engineered a plant immune receptor to recognise non-cognate pathogen effectors. Huge thanks to our amazing co-authors for making this possible! doi.org/10.64898/202...

Martijn Rep on the effectors of Fusarium oxysporum, a pathogen of many plants 🍉 🍅 🌴 🍌 🧅

Sophien Kamoun@kamounlab.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Join us in Utrecht 🇳🇱 SYMPOSIUM & PUBLIC PhD DEFENCE SMALL CHANGES FUEL A RAPIDLY EVOLVING THREAT The genomic basis of resistance breaking in spinach downy mildew Petros Skiadas @pskiadas docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Shoutout to the speakers for their fantastic talks today: Petros kicked the day off, followed by Melanie Mendel, @kamounlab.bsky.social, Francine Govers and Martijn Rep

Today we're enjoying a wonderful symposium hosted by Petros Skiadas & @mfseidl.bsky.social, as a prelude for Petros's PhD defence. Lots to learn about oomycetes and plant pathogenesis, immunity and effector biology! @ubc-uu.bsky.social @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social

Have a favorite European colleague who should be recognized for their work in non-medical biotechnology? Pls nominate them for the Novo Nordisk Foundation Prize for Biotechnology. (Prior awardees at novonordiskfoundationprize.com/awardees). Thank you! novonordiskfoundationprize.com/nominate-bio...

The Novo Nordisk Foundation Prize

Our prizes are awarded to researchers who have contributed to scientific breakthroughs or in other ways distinguished themselves within natural or medical science.

novonordiskfoundationprize.com

My PhD thesis has been submitted and reviewed, and my PhD defence is on the horizon! But today I start my next chapter as a postdoc in the Molecular Plant Immunity lab led by @clemmar.bsky.social at @ipbhalle.bsky.social! Here I will continue to dive into the form & function of plant NLRs 🌱

Have ideas for your own, independent research program in Theoretical Biology? Then come and join us as a Group Leader at the @mpi-evolbio.bsky.social in Plön, Germany!

Group Leader in Theoretical Biology (m/f/d)

Experience in Theoretical Biology, Applied Mathematics, Theoretical Physics

mpg.de