MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2026 receives record number of applications

The 2026 call has attracted considerable interest from the research community with 21,627 applications submitted.

marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu

Environmental factors and microbe-microbe interactions drive the structure of the core microbiota of terrestrial microalgae

Plants and other photosynthetic organisms interact with their environment and surrounding microbiota through specialized associations. A global core microbiota has been proposed at high taxonomic levels, such as the order level. However, it remains unclear which environmental factors and how microbe-microbe interactions drive variation of this core microbiota at lower taxonomic resolution. Here, we leveraged the environmental diversity of 141 sites across the southwest of France to characterize algal populations, and their associated bacterial and fungal microbiota. We then performed a meta-analysis, combining these data with published datasets to formally identify the global core microbiota of terrestrial photosynthetic organisms, which comprises seven bacterial and five fungal orders. We next investigated diversity within this core microbiota and the environmental drivers shaping site-specific community composition. While environmental factors have a low impact on the total relative abundance of core orders, the core microbiota at the ASV-level is impacted by climatic factors, edaphic factors, and plant community descriptors. Using interaction network analysis, we finally explored how microbe-microbe interactions contribute to the assembly of stable core communities. Our results show that core ASVs occupy central positions in algal-associated microbial networks and that distinct core orders drive site-specific variation in core microbiota structure. Together, these findings highlight the importance of both environmental context and microbial interactions in shaping the composition and stability of the core microbiota associated with photosynthetic organisms. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. European Research Council, 951444 – PATHOCOM, erc-stg-948219, EPYC Agence Nationale de la Recherche, ANR-10-LABX-41 Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, https://ror.org/00cwqg982, BB/ X011054/1, BBS/E/F/000PR13631

tinyurl.com

A Pmk1-Regulated Mst12-Bip1 Network Coordinates Appressorium Function, Effector Deployment, and Invasive Growth by Magnaporthe oryzae

To cause rice blast disease, the filamentous fungus Magnaporthe oryzae develops a specialised infection cell called an appressorium, which generates enormous turgor to breach the rice leaf cuticle. Al...

biorxiv.org

Susana Coelho

Interview with Susana Coelho, who uses brown algae to study evolution, development, and life-cycle complexity at the Max Planck Institute for Biology.

cell.com

Engineering rhizobacterial communities for soil and plant health

Rhizobacteria play a central role in supporting plant growth, contributing to nutrient acquisition, stress tolerance and disease suppression. Harnessing and improving rhizosphere microbial communities therefore represents a promising avenue towards more sustainable agriculture. Recent advances in microbiome ecology and synthetic biology have enabled the rational design of microbial consortia.

okt.to

Engineering rhizobacterial communities for soil and plant health

Rhizobacteria play a central role in supporting plant growth, contributing to nutrient acquisition, stress tolerance and disease suppression. Harnessing and improving rhizosphere microbial communities...

microbiologyresearch.org

The dual trxG/PcG protein ULTRAPETALA1 modulates H3K27me3 and directly enhances POLYCOMB REPRESSIVE COMPLEX 2 activity for fine-tuned reproductive transitions - Nature Plants

This study reports a bivalent factor, ULTRAPETALA1, that can counteract as well as promote PRC2 activity at hundreds of developmental genes in Arabidopsis thaliana. The pro-PRC2 activity of ULTRAPETAL...

nature.com

The dual trxG/PcG protein ULTRAPETALA1 modulates H3K27me3 and directly enhances POLYCOMB REPRESSIVE COMPLEX 2 activity for fine-tuned reproductive transitions

Nature Plants - This study reports a bivalent factor, ULTRAPETALA1, that can counteract as well as promote PRC2 activity at hundreds of developmental genes in Arabidopsis thaliana. The pro-PRC2...

rdcu.be

Portail Emploi CNRS - Offre d'emploi - Doctorant / Doctorante en bioinformatique et deep-learning (H/F)

emploi.cnrs.fr

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

Fungal symbioses: A multiplicity of fungi in the lichen union

Increasing evidence suggests that lichens are not just a partnership between one fungus and one alga or cyanobacterium but may contain multiple intera…

sciencedirect.com

Fungal symbioses: A multiplicity of fungi in the lichen union

Increasing evidence suggests that lichens are not just a partnership between one fungus and one alga or cyanobacterium but may contain multiple intera…

sciencedirect.com

An unconventional Rubisco small subunit underpins the CO2-concentrating organelle in land plants

In many algae, photosynthesis is boosted by biophysical CO2-concentrating mechanisms, which pack the CO2-fixing enzyme Rubisco into liquid-like organelles called pyrenoids. Engineering C3 crops with a...

science.org

Poplar CLE peptides promoting ectomycorrhizal symbiosis identified through genome-wide analysis of responsive small secreted peptides

Trees use CLAVATA3/EMBRYO SURROUNDING REGION-related (CLE) peptides to promote ectomycorrhizal symbiosis, revealing an additional regulatory layer in tree–

academic.oup.com