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
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...
Computational design of de novo integrated domains enables rational control of pathogen effector recognition in plant NLR immune receptors.
The rapid evolution of plant pathogens poses a persistent threat to global agricultural sustainability, often outpacing the discovery and deployment of natural disease resistance genes. While bioengin...
doi.org
Here is our contribution to this lovely special issue. Together with talented PhD students Gabriel and Mung Hsia, we discussed when and how pattern-triggered immunity had been established in plants. doi.org/10.1016/j.cu... @watertoland.bsky.social @mpipz.bsky.social
Redirecting
doi.org
Anne Knowlton@anneknowlton.bsky.social · 2mo agoOur beautiful special issue on plant evolution is out @currentbiology.bsky.social ! www.cell.com/issue/S0960-...
📢 new preprint! How do commensal bacteria establish themselves on plant roots despite plant immunity? We identify Cpi1, a conserved membrane-anchored protease inhibitor in Pseudomonas that promotes early root colonization and modulates microbial community assembly. www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
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
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
📣Last week another @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social dropped: "A fungal pathogen effector that shapes host plant microbiota kills bacteria through lipoteichoic acid binding and membrane disruption" a joint effort by @nicksnelders.bsky.social & @gabriellapetti.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Proud to share our new paper on how prion-like fungal effectors target plastids and modulate host metabolism during root symbiosis. Exciting collaborative work uncovering PEPSI effectors and the interaction of one of them with DXR in plants. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... bsky.app/profile/eell...
biorxiv.org
Ernesto Llamas@eellamas.bsky.social · 3mo ago1/ Happy to share our latest work, now on bioRxiv! 🌱🍄 We explore how Serendipita indica effectors target root plastids and modulate plastidial metabolism through prion-like domains. bioRxiv: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... #plastids #plantmicrobe #chloroplasts #plants
I am very grateful to Franz Hagn, his team and colleagues for making this possible. Atomic resolution of the inactive, active and downstream effector ICR/RIP-bound active ROP GTPase RACB. The complex may form a positively charged interface for plasma membrane interaction. doi.org/10.1038/s420...
Nucleotide-dependent switching and RIPb effector recognition of the barley susceptibility factor RACB - Communications Biology
High-resolution structures of the plant small GTPase RACB show how switching between inactive and active states enables RIPb effector binding, providing a physical link between the cell membrane and m...
doi.org
Are you excited about understanding the molecular underpinnings of arbuscular mycorrhiza? Then this PostDoc position may be for you: jobs.mpimp-golm.mpg.de/jobposting/4...
Postdoc (m/f/d) position on molecular mechanisms of nutrient exchange in arbuscular mycorrhiza symbiosis
jobs.mpimp-golm.mpg.de
Delighted to see this work out in #ScienceAdvancesResearch @science.org where we uncover a surprising evolutionary origin of fungal effector proteins as ancient antimicrobials. Led by the super-star @mesny.bsky.social in the frame of @ceplas.bsky.social @mibinet.bsky.social & @madfungi.bsky.social
Universität zu Köln@unicologne.bsky.social · 4mo ago🍂🌱 An international research team led by @teamthomma.bsky.social has discovered the surprising evolutionary origin of fungal effector proteins: molecules that pathogens use today to infect their hosts appear to have evolved from ancient antimicrobial proteins. More: ➡️ uni.koeln/UCMWQ #UniCologne
Very proud to share our new paper led by Mathias Brands from my team at @UniCologne! With Markus Pauly team @HHU. Host-adapted enzymatic deconstruction of acetylated xylan limits immune activation and facilitates mutualistic colonization of monocot roots: Molecular Plant www.cell.com/molecular-pl...
Host-adapted enzymatic deconstruction of acetylated xylan limits immune activation and facilitates mutualistic colonization of monocot roots
This study identifies a monocot-specific enzymatic module in the beneficial root endophyte Serendipita indica, showing how ancestral saprotrophic enzymes have been repurposed into an immune-compatible...
cell.com
So diverse and yet conserved. Check out opinion paper by Leonhard Pachinger @leopach.bsky.social on antimicrobial effectors produced by fungal pathogens: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Antimicrobial effectors of plant-associated fungi: multipurpose proteins with fast-evolving surfaces and structurally conserved cores
Plants are exposed to a variety of devastating pathogens, causing significant yearly yield losses. In order to facilitate infections, plant pathogens …
sciencedirect.com
Speakers and topics: 🟢 Johana Misas Villamil @jomivi.bsky.social 👉 "Zip1 Peptide Signaling: Biogenesis, Function and Evolution" 🟢 Satoshi Fujita 👉 "MBAPs link brassinosteroid singaling and microtubules" 🟢 Jacob Moe-Lange 👉 "Uncovering New Layers of KAI2 Signaling Crosstalk"
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. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.08.698370v1
Huge thanks to my amazing co-authors, to AG Saur and AG Döhlemann, and to all our collaborators for their fantastic contributions @Merle Bilstein-Schloemer@izzysaurlab.bsky.social @grandpahiro.bsky.social @sara-stolze.bsky.social@Gunther Döhlemann@Matthieu Pierre Platre ! 🙏
Isabel saur@izzysaurlab.bsky.social · 7mo agoWei 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)
Postdoc position in my lab in Cologne starting early next year or latest in spring to get this exciting project started. jobportal.uni-koeln.de/ausschreibun...
jobportal.uni-koeln.de
Beat Keller from Uni Zürich giving the final keynote of the Powdery mildew workshop #2025ISMPMI Overview of a whole very very successful career in the field!
In our latest #PlantersPunch issue PhD student Laura Merx @laurame.bsky.social explains in a podcast together with David Spencer @davidspencer.bsky.social how bacteria can help us feed the world! #scicomm @jomivi.bsky.social @unicologne.bsky.social bit.ly/4mBMgtU
📣 We have a postdoc position in fungus-microbiota interactions! Apply here: jobportal.uni-koeln.de/bewerben/2197 For more details, visit: bewerbungsmanagement.uni-koeln.de/ausschreibun...
bewerbungsmanagement.uni-koeln.de
🎊 We made it!! @dfg.de has just announced that we have been successful with our CEPLAS III proposal in the current funding round of the Excellence Strategy! Many thanks to all our supporters! @hhu.de @unicologne.bsky.social @mpipz.bsky.social @fz-juelich.de @leibnizipk.bsky.social
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft@dfg.de · last yr.Die #Exzellenzcluster stehen fest: Heute hat die Exzellenzkommission 70 Projekte zur Förderung ausgewählt. 45 Cluster werden fortgesetzt, 25 neu eingerichtet. Die Förderung beginnt ab 1. Jan. 2026 für 7 Jahre, die Fördersumme beträgt insg. 539 Mio. €/Jahr. Die Liste: www.dfg.de/resource/blo... 1/3
Check this out👇 New from the Doehlemann lab! A fungal enzyme modulates plant-microbe and microbe-microbe interactions 🔥
bioRxiv Microbiology@biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social · last yr.GH25 lysozyme mediates tripartite interkingdom interactions and microbial competition on the plant leaf surface https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.04.647216v1
Today we celebrate a wide diversity in plant sciences at the Symposium of our institute at @unicologne.bsky.social with support from @ceplas.bsky.social & @trr341.bsky.social #PlantScience
Gunther Döhlemann starting the MadFungi research unit (for5682.uni-koeln.de) kick off meeting involving groups from @hhu.bsky.social, @unibonn.bsky.social @uni-kiel.de, @kit.edu and of course @unicologne.bsky.social (eg. @teamthomma.bsky.social, @algazuccaro.bsky.social ). Let‘s go
The MadFungi🍄 research unit funded by @dfg.de kicked off this week with our meeting in Cologne @unicologne.bsky.social. We're excited to see what great science we'll achieve over the next four years.
Obligate biotrophic fungi cause some of the most devastating diseases on cereals. They are also highly difficult to study…. It is truely remarkable how well described the barley and what powdery mildews are. Here you find an overview on the current knowledge and summary of great resources. Enjoy!
Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions® (MPMI)@mpmijournal.bsky.social · 2y agoGet a First Look! 👇 🌱🌾Technical Advances Drive the Molecular Understanding of Effectors from Wheat and Barley Powdery Mildew Fungi doi.org/10.1094/MPMI... @izzysaurlab.bsky.social
📣New year, new preprint @biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social 🎉! A study led by the brilliant @yukiyosato.bsky.social showing that Starship giant transposons dominate plastic genomic regions in the fungal plant pathogen Verticillium dahliae and drive virulence evolution. 🧵[1/12] doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Starship giant transposons dominate plastic genomic regions in a fungal plant pathogen and drive virulence evolution
Starships form a recently discovered superfamily of giant transposons in Pezizomycotina fungi, implicated in mediating horizontal transfer of diverse cargo genes between fungal genomes. Their elusive nature has long obscured their significance, and their impact on genome evolution remains poorly understood. Here, we reveal a surprising abundance and diversity of Starships in the phytopathogenic fungus Verticillium dahliae. Remarkably, Starships dominate the plastic genomic compartments involved in host colonization, are enriched in virulence-associated genes, and exhibit genetic and epigenetic characteristics associated with adaptive genome evolution. We further uncover extensive horizontal transfer of Starships between Verticillium species and, strikingly, from distantly related Fusarium fungi. Finally, we demonstrate how Starship activity facilitated the de novo formation of a novel virulence gene. Our findings illuminate the profound influence of Starship dynamics on fungal genome evolution and the development of virulence. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.
doi.org
Get a First Look! 👇 🌱🌾Technical Advances Drive the Molecular Understanding of Effectors from Wheat and Barley Powdery Mildew Fungi doi.org/10.1094/MPMI... @izzysaurlab.bsky.social
Technical Advances Drive the Molecular Understanding of Effectors from Wheat and Barley Powdery Mildew Fungi | Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions®
Pathogens manipulate host physiology through the secretion of virulence factors (effectors) to invade and proliferate on the host. The molecular functions of effectors inside plant hosts have been of ...
doi.org
Our latest paper is online: "A nucleoside signal generated by a fungal endophyte regulates host cell death and promotes root colonization". Two fungal enzymes acting cooperatively are key players in this process. Thanks to the fantastic team of scientists. 👇 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
