Cute!😄

Maize Genetics Cooperation, Inc Meeting

The registration deadline for the 68th Annual Maize Genetics Meeting is approaching quickly. 
Registration, abstract submission and student hotel support applications are due by December 19, 2025.

A visiting scholar, Mei, from Japan gave a talk in the CROPS seminar today. She presented her work at the Kobe Unvi. and it was her first seminar in English. Good job! @CropsUNL @UNL_PlantPath

Project | E5 Doctoral Training Partnership | E5 Doctoral Training Partnership The project advertisement

If you know anyone who is interested in doing a PhD at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, please share this opportunity with them! 🌽
I will co-supervise the student at UNL, and they will have the opportunity to travel there.

e5-dtp.ed.ac.uk/project?item...

📣 Massively proud of this ⬇️ great study, led by the brilliant @mesny.bsky.social surprisingly uncovering that many pathogen effectors stem from ancient antimicrobials 🤯 #EffectorWisdom #EvoMPMI

A cell wall-associated kinase phosphorylates NLR immune receptor to negatively regulate resistosome formation - Nature Plants The discovery of the resistosome was a milestone in plant immunity. Here, Zhong et al. identify a kinase that phosphorylates the NLR, and reveal how this kinase regulates resistosome assembly to fine-...

🌱 From Nature Plants: Phosphorylation of NLR immune receptors by a cell wall–associated kinase limits resistosome assembly, fine-tuning plant immune responses. (Savithramma P. Dinesh-Kumar)

▶️ www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#PlantBiology #PlantScience

Libia @libiafgt.bsky.social presented her project at the IS-MPMI in Cologne for the first time. I hope she enjoyed the scientific atmosphere and learned from their enthusiasm as I always do! Way to go! #2025ISMPMI

Complete biosynthesis of salicylic acid from phenylalanine in plants - Nature Characterization of four SALICYLIC ACID-DEFICIENT GENEs in rice identifies an ancestral pathway for biosynthesis of salicylic acid from phenylalanine and provides genetic targets for engineering disea...

Three back-to-back Salicylic Acid biosynthesis papers 3/3 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Deciphering phenylalanine-derived salicylic acid biosynthesis in plants - Nature Diverse plant species synthesize salicylic acid from phenylalanine through a pathway that includes a conserved triple-enzyme module that converts benzoyl-CoA to salicylic acid.

Three back-to-back Salicylic Acid biosynthesis papers 2/3 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Three-step biosynthesis of salicylic acid from benzoyl-CoA in plants - Nature The salicylic acid (SA) biosynthesis pathway—involving ligation of benzoyl coenzyme A and benzyl alcohol to give benzyl benzoate; hydroxylation of benzyl benzoate to give benzyl salicylate; and cleava...

Three back-to-back Salicylic Acid biosynthesis papers 1/3 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

mamp-ml: A deep learning approach to epitope immunogenicity in plants Eukaryotes detect biomolecules through surface-localized receptors, key signaling components. A subset of receptors survey for pathogens, induce immunity, and restrict pathogen growth. Comparative gen...

#2025ISMPMI 📣 In silico screening of PRR-epitope interactions is now possible!

Here, we developed mamp-ml to predict their immunogenic outcomes without structural context. Let's accelerate engineering plant receptors for robust resistance! 🚀🌱 Small 🧵

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Are they bitter?

Wheat tandem kinase RWT4 directly binds a fungal effector to activate defense - Nature Genetics This study shows that RWT4, a wheat tandem kinase, confers resistance to the fungal pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae by directly binding to the pathogen effector AvrPWT4 and activating host defense.

I'm very excited our most recent work on plant tandem kinases (TKPs) has finally been published! TKPs are a fascinating protein family conferring disease resistance to fungi. Originally in bioRxiv. Many thanks to @yichangsung.bsky.social for leading this work. 🧵
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A wheat tandem kinase and NLR pair confers resistance to multiple fungal pathogens Tandem kinase proteins underlie the innate immune systems of cereal plants, but how they initiate plant immune responses remains unclear. This report identifies wheat protein wheat tandem NBD 1 (WTN1)...

The tandem kinase WTK3 and its allelic variant Rwt4 activate the NLR WTN1 to form Ca2+ channel resistosomes, which induce ETI against the blast effector PWT4 in wheat! @science.org

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

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...

The tandem kinase Sr62TK activates the Sr62NLR to induce ETI against the rust effector AvrSr62 in wheat! @science.org

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

@LibiaGomezT presenting her project at the maize genetics meeting. This is her first attendance in our maize society. Please come to her poster #P266 and encourage her cool project! @MaizeGDB #MGC2025 @UNLPlantPath @UNL_PSI

First slide of the maize meeting.

Travel permits of all US government employees (USDA, NSF) have been revoked shortly before the the maize meeting affecting:
- The chair of the meeting
- The winner of the most prestigious McClintock award
- A plenary speaker
- Two short talk presenters
- 22 scientists presenting posters.
#MGM2025

Great presentation by @WilsonLab🍄 about Cracking the codon code for effector secretion & evolution in rice blast. @UNL_PlantPath @UNLPlantPath

My great student @libiafgt.bsky.social got a first place in the 2025 Elevator Speech Contest where grauduate students from Plant Pathology, Animal Science, Agronomy & Horticulture, and Entomology competed! We are very proud of Libia! 🫶🏻😊

This is insane!!!

Several excellent USDA group leaders were fired last week. Anyone at scientific federal agencies that could be fired, were. Anyone within a couple years of hiring (Matthew Moscou, Amelia Lovelace, etc, etc), or reclassified within the last couple years (promotion, new department, new title). 1/2

Had the honor of introducing my colleague, collaborator, and friend, Prof. Jinliang Yang, at the seminar marking his appointment as the next Gardner Endowed Professor of Quantitative Genetics. We are extremely fortunate to have Jinliang on the faculty here at the University of Nebraska.

Research Impacts of Recent Executive Orders and Memos – and a Call to Action to the ASPB Community | Plant Science Today Since President Donald Trump took office on January 20,4a series of executive actions have shaken the research community. Several executive orders were released that targeted diversity, equity, and in...

US plant science peeps: this is a *very* informative summary of the current state of plant science funding, and a call for your stories to help @aspbofficial.bsky.social make their case with public officials. Please re-skeet!

🧪 #PlantScience

blog.aspb.org/research-imp...

Activation and inhibition mechanisms of a plant helper NLR - Nature In plant immunity, sensor NLR resistosomes can generate heterotrimer complexes comprising the helper NLR NRG1, and investigation of cryo-EM structures shows the mechanisms of these heterotrimers in im...

Activation and inhibition mechanisms of a plant helper NLR www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Balanced plant helper NLR activation by a modified host protein complex - Nature In Arabidopsis, mechanisms for NRG1A activation by recognition of a modified host EDS1–SAG101 complex, and NRG1A inhibition by NRG1C through sequestration of activated EDS1–SAG101, show activation and...

Balanced plant helper NLR activation by a modified host protein complex www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Grad student position at UIUC on weed evolution and adaptation with my former student Asher Hudson. Asher’s a wonderful mentor and a top notch evolutionary biologist.

😭

I just published: 12 tips for effective leadership

I spent three days at a leadership course. These are the most helpful takeaways.

link.medium.com/KGHiePpEGQb

A maize near-isogenic line population designed for gene discovery and characterization of allelic effects www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.01....

Tree of life in rainbow