Harnessing random peptide mixtures to combat multidrug-resistant fungal infections | mBio The rising prevalence of invasive fungal infections, particularly among immunocompromised individuals, has become a critical public health concern. However, antifungal drug development has not kept pace with this growing need, and treatment options remain limited to a small number of drug classes. The emergence of multidrug-resistant fungal pathogens, such as Candida auris, further exacerbates this crisis by reducing the efficacy of existing therapeutics and increasing the risk of treatment failure. In this study, we evaluate the antifungal potential of FK20, a random peptide mixture (RPM) composed of L-phenylalanine and L-lysine. FK20 displays potent activity against C. auris and other clinically relevant Candida species, impairs biofilm formation, and exhibits synergy with caspofungin. Importantly, FK20 limits the emergence of resistance and demonstrates therapeutic efficacy in a murine model of systemic candidiasis. These findings establish RPMs as a promising new class of antifungals with broad-spectrum activity and clinical potential against drug-resistant fungal infections.

🚨A random solution to a growing fungal threat🚨
Our work on random peptide mixtures reveals potent antifungal activity against multidrug-resistant pathogens like C. auris, with low resistance potential and strong biofilm activity.
Now out in mBio!
Congrats to John and Yael for the fantastic work 👏

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...

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...

🌱 #PSSC2026 is coming to IPB Halle (10-12 June 2026).
Organized by our doctoral representatives, the student conference offers great talks, poster sessions, workshops & keynote lectures by invited international plant scientists.
Info & registration: eveeno.com/pssc26
#PhDnetwork #PlantSci #PlantECRs

AlphaFold 3 captures oligomeric states and interaction dynamics of MLO ion channels www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.04...

Head of Department, Department of Biology

jobportal.ku.dk/administrati...

We are soon to be headless....

So come be our new boss in lovely Copenhagen and lead a department with research interests
from genes to ecosystems, and everything alive in between.

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 …

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...

Princess Leia at the Fungal Genetics conference? Because #Fusarium Strikes Back, and it’s BAD! Join the rebellion, fight the #toxins, and discover new #fumonisin producers in South African maize 🌽🧫✨ for more visit my poster: 559C #fungal26 @genetics-gsa.bsky.social

It was a great honor to give a Chairs’ Choice Plenary Talk at the Fungal Genetics Conference #fungal26 !
I truly appreciated the opportunity to share our research on tandem kinases and the rice blast system for TKP studies.
Great science, great community, and beautiful Asilomar sunshine.

Faculty position in Plant Molecular Biology (Associate Professor or Tenure-Track Assistant Professor) at Aarhus University, Denmark
mbg.au.dk/aktuelt/ledi...

Check out this great opportunity to join the @kamounlab.bsky.social!

Apply online by 16 March 2026

www.tsl.ac.uk/working-at-t...

#PlantSciJobs #PlantScience #STEMJobs

@thaisdalsasso.bsky.social is applying new tools to address the evolution and functional diversification of secreted proteins of fungal plant pathogen. Preprint here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Uppsala in late autumn

Join us at the Evolutionary Biology Centre at Uppsala University. We’re searching for an Assistant Professor in Biology. www.uu.se/en/about-uu/...

Genomic and physiological signatures of adaptation in pathogenic fungi - Nature Communications Emerging fungal pathogens have detrimental impacts on crops, animals, and humans, however little is known about their transition to a pathogenic lifestyle. This study demonstrates that the transition ...

What enables a fungus to invade a mammal host? @marco-guerreiro.bsky.social unravels signatures of translation adaptation among pathogenic and non-pathogenic species of Trichosporonales. See more: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Two really cool PhD positions available with Christina Barragan on Plant Pathogen evolution!

Our dept. just moved to a brand new building with great facilities and we have an absolutely amazing team!

Professorship in plant genetics.
The Botanical Institute at Kiel University is advertising a W2 professorship. Great opportunity to do plant research in the north of Germany. See:
www.berufungen.uni-kiel.de/de/dateien/o...

Our PhD candidates are having a great time at the MadFungi transcriptomics workshop at the University of Kiel @uni-kiel.de. Special thanks to @estukenbrock.bsky.social and her team for the great organization!

Population genomics using ancient DNA data 22nd-26th September 2025

Only 4 seats left for the online course "Population Genomics using ancient DNA data" from Sept 22-26. Learn about aDNA challenges, processing, and analysis. More info: www.physalia-courses.org/courses-workshops/adna-p... #course

Leafy liverwort genomes shed light on the evolution of ericoid symbiosis Mycorrhizal symbiosis has been fundamental to colonization of terrestrial ecosystems by plants, influencing population dynamics, biogeography, and their evolution. The emergence of the ancient arbuscu...

[🚨Pre-print alert🚨] Excited to share our findings on the enigmatic ericoid mycorrhizal symbiosis.

🔴For the first time we provide evidence that ericoid mycorrhizae evolved from ancestral
arbuscular mycorrhizae through the co-option nutrient-dependent regulation 👇!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

How does heat reshape plant immune responses?
Our PhD student Anica Schmauch shows higher temperatures boost ROS bursts in barley and potentially affect Z. passerinii growth, revealing abiotic-biotic cross-talk in disease resistance.
🗓️ Poster P-424
#2025ISMPMI

Can fungal pathogens hijack host signaling peptides?
Our PhD student Maxim Faroux @molecularmax.bsky.social uncovers a Zymoseptoria KEX2-processed effector putatively mimicking the plant hormone peptide phytosulfokine (PSK) known to lower immunity against hemibiotrophs.
🗓️ Poster P-226
#2025ISMPMI

🌾🍄 The Environmental Genomics group (@estukenbrock.bsky.social lab) is excited to be at #2025ISMPMI! We’ll be sharing posters on plant resistance, host–microbe interactions, effector function and more! Stay tuned!

Job alert! We have a postdoc position available in the Stelkens Lab at Stockholm University. Join us and apply experimental evolution and comparative genomics in the model system yeast to test for parallel climate adaptation. Apply through this link: su.varbi.com/en/what:job/... Deadline 15 August.

New post doc opportunity in our team at Kiel University in the north of Germany. We are looking for a motivated molecular biologists to unravel plant-microbe interactions in grasses. Please see: www.uni-kiel.de/personal/de/...

More to our research and group here: www.environmental-genomics.de

The PlantsCoChallenge homepage is now online.

Please come and visit us!

www.plantscochallenge.de/

The meeting ended with an exciting panel discussion on possible future directions after 12 glorious years of the @dfg.de funded @trr124-funginet.bsky.social consortium. With @estukenbrock.bsky.social, Oliver Kurzai, Axel Brakhage and others.

Excellent days in Würzburg with great fungal research and inspiring discussions. Last meeting of FuniNet but a soild foundation for new directions of more fungal research.

Image shows the branching moss Physcomitrium patens (delicate, green, transparent filaments shown on a flat, grey background). The researchers used this moss to study stress reactions and compare them to algae. The image was taken via microscope - many thanks to researcher Tatyana Darienko.

How did plants evolve to cope with such a challenging habitat?

It turns out the answer is in 600 million years of stress! Researchers compared algae and plants spanning million years of independent evolution: www.uni-goettingen.de/en/3240.html...

Research at #NatureCommunications: doi.org/n9m4

Postdoctor, 2 years, in predicting the evolution of antibiotic resistance The Department of Molecular Biology seeks a postdoctoral researcher who will work with forecasting and steering experimental evolution of antibiotic resistance. The employment is full-time for two yea

We have a 2-year postdoc position available in the Lind Lab at Umeå University, Sweden! Predicting and steering experimental evolution of antibiotic resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Reposts appreciated.
umu.varbi.com/en/?jobtoken...

📣 We offer a #PhDposition within the @dfg.de-funded @rtg2498.bsky.social on "Communication and Dynamics of Plant Cell Compartments" in Debora Gasperini's lab at the IPB.

🔗All information: www.ipb-halle.de/karriere/ste...

📅Apply now until: March 21, 2025!

#plantsci #plantscijobs #phd

Experimental evolution of evolvability Evolvability—the capacity to generate adaptive variation—is a trait that can itself evolve through natural selection. However, the idea that mutation can become biased toward adaptive outcomes remains...

Experimental evolution of evolvability | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...