Unnati Sonawala
@uprogress.bsky.social
Postdoctoral researcher @camplantsci.bsky.social | Co-founder youngnematologists.net | Interested in genetics, plant-microbe interactions, & evolution.
One protein. One pathway. A whole germline fate. New paper from my postdoc @mpi-bio-fml.bsky.social out in PNAS: Germline fate determination by a single ARGONAUTE protein in Ectocarpus www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Germline fate determination by a single ARGONAUTE protein in Ectocarpus | PNAS
ARGONAUTE (AGO) proteins are a highly conserved family of RNA-binding proteins that play central roles in gene regulation and developmental process...
pnas.org
New Brief Communication: "A CRISPR-based sequence proximity binding protein labelling system for scanning upstream regulatory proteins" rdcu.be/eZLUP CRISPR-based proximity labelling system to profile DNA-binding proteins such as PIF4 transcription factor .
Excited to share this commentary on the work by Isaksson et al, now out in @mpmijournal.bsky.social, where they find that structural similarity underlies both multimerization and NLR recognition of a powdery mildew effector family doi.org/10.1094/MPMI... Original paper 👉 doi.org/10.1094/MPMI...
Excited to announce we are organising a YNN themed session at the 36th Symposium of the European Society of Nematologists June 1–5, 2026. This session will explore unexpected or negative results to extract meaningful messages. Submit your abstract until the 30th January -> forms.gle/9wU8tGbwLxaS...
🧵 Just out in Cell after more than 10 years in the making! 🎓 www.cell.com/cell/fulltex... Plants and animals evolve radically different body plans. Do they also operate under fundamentally different molecular evolutionary constraints during organ formation? @cellpress.bsky.social
Absolutely excited for #VNC25 tomorrow! Featuring talks from ECRs, 2 workshops, a murder mystery, and a pub with games. We are excited to have registrations from 55 countries! If you are interested in joining the YNN board, come along to our info session from 16:00-16:25 CET.
How does a single plant cell tell symbiont from pathogen? We show that the Symbiotic Determinant 1 of NFR1 evolved to facilitate nitrogen-fixing symbiotic signalling. I’m thrilled to share our published data from my PhD back in Aarhus! #symbiosis #juxtamembrane #ensa www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Two residues reprogram immunity receptors for nitrogen-fixing symbiosis - Nature
An investigation of plant receptor-like kinases identifies regions of these proteins that control whether immune or symbiotic signalling pathways are activated, with minimal changes to specific r...
nature.com
Register to receive the link for our upcoming webinar! Scan QR code below or follow the link here: forms.gle/Cua1WahRcRbn...
Young Nematologists Network@youngnemas.bsky.social · 12mo agoWe are excited to announce our next Trends in Nematology Webinar on Nematode Genomics and Effectoromics! When: 18th September, 2025 Time: 16:00-17:15 CEST How can I join: Register using the QR code below 🪱 Looking forward to seeing you there!
Don't forget to register! Join us for an exciting Trends in Nematology Webinar next month!
Young Nematologists Network@youngnemas.bsky.social · 12mo agoWe are excited to announce our next Trends in Nematology Webinar on Nematode Genomics and Effectoromics! When: 18th September, 2025 Time: 16:00-17:15 CEST How can I join: Register using the QR code below 🪱 Looking forward to seeing you there!
The environmental component of the disease triangle in spotlight here! Grow maize densely --> they produce more linalool --> reshapes rhizosphere --> plants are more resistant to pathogens but at a cost: reduced biomass.
Maddy Seale@maddyseale.bsky.social · 12mo agoOut in @science.org The crazy sequence of events from planting maize in dense fields. Density-dependent linalool release triggers release of compounds into the soil affecting microbes and plants. Article: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Perspective: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... #PlantScience
🆕 paper out in Nitrogen 💡 This review highlights the importance of legumes in tropical farming and covers major diseases affecting productivity and their impact on the economy and the environment, including #nematodes 🔎 Read the full paper at doi.org/10.3390/nitr...
Registrations are open for our exciting webinar next month!
Young Nematologists Network@youngnemas.bsky.social · 12mo agoWe are excited to announce our next Trends in Nematology Webinar on Nematode Genomics and Effectoromics! When: 18th September, 2025 Time: 16:00-17:15 CEST How can I join: Register using the QR code below 🪱 Looking forward to seeing you there!
The Marchantia mRNA decapping protein MpEDC4 also functions in P-body turnover via autophagy, a dual role absent in Arabidopsis and human orthologs. Strikingly, when expressed in human cells, MpEDC4 promotes degradation of Parkinson’s-linked α-synuclein. Some truly fascinating evolutionary biology!
bioRxiv Plant Bio@biorxiv-plants.bsky.social · 12mo agoAncestral P-body proteins rewired for autophagic recyclingin the early land plant Marchantia polymorpha https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.09.669463v1
Interspecific hybridization was key to tuberization. Thank you hybrid speciation for the world's 5th most important food crop 🥔
Cell Press@cellpress.bsky.social · last yr.Potato evolved from tomato 9 million years ago. http://dlvr.it/TMFCK8 Sandra Knapp, Loren H. Rieseberg,Jianquan Liu, Sanwen Huang @cp-cell.bsky.social
How do enhancer-gene contacts relate to transcription activation? In mouse embryonic stem cells, a combo of STED, oligoFISH & RNA FISH shows that 3% of Dppa3 alleles transcribe. For these, enhancers and promoters come closer (panel E). Stumberger ... Leonhardt & Harz www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Just the tip of the iceberg...more to come on this topic! Congratulations to Laura Mancera-Miranda for her first scientific paper, and best of luck for her upcoming PhD dissertation defence! doi.org/10.1002/mbo3...
TODAY. 15:15 @ Room P&Q #2025ISMPMI
Tatsuya Nobori@tatsuyanobori.bsky.social · last yr.#ISMPMI2025 attendees! Bookmark our concurrent session co-organized with @uprogress.bsky.social featuring exciting talks on the spatial and temporal regulation of plant–microbe interactions. We have 3 invited speakers: Feng Zhou, @lluginbuehl.bsky.social @type3lab.bsky.social and…
Please don't miss it! A great session on the spatial and temporal regulation of plant–microbe interactions, hosted by @uprogress.bsky.social and @tatsuyanobori.bsky.social Many attractive talks, including our latest research presented by @crbeuzon.bsky.social #ISMPMI2025 #MicroSky #PlantScience
Tatsuya Nobori@tatsuyanobori.bsky.social · last yr.TODAY. 15:15 @ Room P&Q #2025ISMPMI
In memory of our dear colleague, John McDowell, who left us all too early. RIP. doi.org/10.1094/MPMI...
John Matthew McDowell: A Visionary Leader in Molecular Oomycete-Plant Interactions and a Wonderful Mentor and Friend to Many | Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions®
doi.org
We lost a Grangle family member, a friend, and a visionary scientist. “A note from Jeff Dangl: John McDowell was a former MPMI Editor and great membr of our community and that it is apt that his memory be recognized at the current #2025ISMPMI nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...
John Matthew McDowell: A Visionary Leader in Molecular Oomycete-Plant Interactions and a Wonderful Mentor and Friend to Many | Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions®
nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com
🪱 Calling all Early-Career Nematologists: Registration for #VNC2025 is NOW OPEN! 🎉 If you are MSc student, PhD candidate, or postdoc working in nematology, Register and submit your abstract. Register here👉 lnkd.in/dzTRsK7z ⏰ Registration closes September 10th!!!
Cell-type-specific execution of effector-triggered immunity Our new preprint is online, 1 July⬇️ With @himanshuchhillar.bsky.social @leonardojo.bsky.social Amey Redkar @kaisakajala.bsky.social @jonathandgjones.bsky.social For early readers & community feedback🙏🏼 #openscience @erc.europa.eu
bioRxiv Plant Bio@biorxiv-plants.bsky.social · last yr.Cell-type-specific execution of effector-triggered immunity https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.06.28.662111v1
My sister is finishing her endocrinology residency (proud sister moment 😎). Instead of wrestling with Word to write equations for her thesis, I offered to help with LaTeX. Writing in LaTeX is one of the most rewarding things I’ve taught myself, but this might be its shiniest use yet! #LaTeX
#ISMPMI2025 attendees! Bookmark our concurrent session co-organized with @uprogress.bsky.social featuring exciting talks on the spatial and temporal regulation of plant–microbe interactions. We have 3 invited speakers: Feng Zhou, @lluginbuehl.bsky.social @type3lab.bsky.social and…
🌐 Online symposium of the Society of Nematologists 📌 "#Nematodes on the move: building resilience and sustainability through international collaboration and better policies" 🔎 Program available at drive.google.com/drive/folder... 📥 Register here 👉 iica.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Very glad to have won one of the Postdoc Innovation Awards and excited to see the final outcome. Stay tuned!
Department of Plant Sciences Cambridge@camplantsci.bsky.social · last yr.Unnati Sonawala talks about her work setting the stage for large-scale nematode effector screening in tomato roots. Her project was a pilot in our new Postdoc Innovation Awards launched in 2024. 👉 tinyurl.com/ykc6ckee @uprogress.bsky.social @cropscicentre.bsky.social #PlantScience 🧪
🌲 In just 90 seconds, I distill the relevance and impact of my PhD ▶️ Watch the full video 👉 youtu.be/lLtgd9EE1nw?... #PinewoodNematode #PineWiltDisease #Esteya #Biocontrol
2 papers in @science.org this week uncover wheat tandem kinase function. Working in parallel, the authors of each paper show that two different tandem kinases converge to activate the same NLR! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... #PlantScience
A wheat tandem kinase activates an NLR to trigger immunity
The role of nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) receptors in plant immunity is well studied, but the function of a class of tandem kinases (TKs) that confer disease resistance in wheat and ba...
science.org
Deadline for abstract submission has been extended to 4th of April! Don't forget to submit your abstracts for the PPN mini-symposium at the Hydra Helminths conference this September 🗒️🌱
Unnati Sonawala@uprogress.bsky.social · 2y agoRegistrations are now open for Parasitic Helminths 2025! helminthconference.org and for the very first time will host a special mini-symposium on Plant-Parasitic Nematodes 😍🌱🪱 Hope you will join us!
