Join us for our next Research Seminar! Jorge M. S. Faria will be presenting: "Novel plant pest detection techniques based on volatile organic compounds (VOCs): The Purpest project.

🗓️Date: April 17th
📍CIALE and Online
🕛Hour: 12:00

@usaloficial.bsky.social @agrienvironcyl.bsky.social

Join us for our next Research Seminar! Michelina Ruocco will be presenting: "The Role of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in Plant-Plant and Plant-Microbe Communication"
🗓️Date: March 20th
📍Online
🕛Hour: 12:00
meet.google.com/qna-erbw-inz
@usaloficial.bsky.social
@agrienvironcyl.bsky.social

If you have the opportunity, apply for the TSL @thesainsburylab.bsky.social Summer Conference. An intense week with top experts in plant-microbe interactions. What you can learn here in a week would normally take months (or longer)!!! @kamounlab.bsky.social 🦠🔬🌱

www.tsl.ac.uk/tsl-summer-c...

Las semillas de Salamanca que duermen en la bóveda del fin del mundo de Svalbard El rompesacos de Babilafuente, cártamo de Las casas del Conde, frejol de la Virgen de Cantapino o el guisante de Tamames son algunas de las variedades charras que España ha enviado al Ártico

Parientes silvestres y variedades locales atesoran una biblioteca de genes de interés agrícola esencial para conseguir cultivos más resistentes y sostenibles 🌱🧬👨‍🌾🌍 #PGR
Las semillas de Salamanca que duermen en la bóveda del fin del mundo de Svalbard www.salamanca24horas.com/provincia/se...

Muchas gracias @carmen-agro.bsky.social por visitarnos la anterior semana! Charla amena, didáctica y de gran calidad científica. Mucho y...bueno 🌱👩‍🔬🧫🦠. Todo lo mejor en @irnasa.bsky.social @csiccyl.bsky.social

Four Images: A scientist in a lab looking at a pipetting robot, a greenhouse with lots of pots containing plants, a scientist with drones and other euipment in a field, and a tractor driver with lots of high-tech equipment in the cockpit. The text is: TalentCampus@KWS May 29, 2026 A look behind the scenes: All KWS research and development departments open their doors

The headline and text says: May 29, 2026 in Einbeck, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Seeding the future – breeding combines sciences and talents The image is a wheel showing all the R&D contributions to plant breeding, incl. Molecular Biology Experimental Fields Cell Biology Breeding Phytopathology Chemical Analytics Greenhouse Phenotyping Digitalization

Highlights of the program Information stands Breeders of our main crops explain their work From sowing to harvesting: all the special machines of a breeding station Digital tools for field trialing Root phenotyping: how roots grow in the soil Phenotyping with drones: multispectral from a bird's eye view Phytopathology: insects, fungi, nematodes and other pathogens Chemical Analytics and process analysis Catch crops - concepts for agriculture, soil health, CO2 balance Biological seed treatment Breeding technologies – data and genomics specialists support breeding Genome Editing: new breeding technologies and their application at KWS Regulatory Affairs: paving the way to approval From lab to market: how KWS protects intellectual property Marker lab: examine the DNA The art of engineering for seed production Career opportunities at KWS Hands-on activities The start of a new generation of varieties: crossing plants by hand Tissue culture: placing plant parts on a special diet in vitro Leaf harvest for the marker lab Live view of root growth: navigate a camera through the soil

If you're interested in #PlantScience R&D work at a plant breeding company: @kwsgroup.bsky.social is hosting its annual R&D TalentCampus here in Einbeck on May 29th.

More info here:
www.kws.com/corp/en/care...

Our new article is now online on @natplants.nature.com! ✨
We identified and characterised AvrPm4 and SvrPm4, a pair of powdery mildew effectors controlling avirulence on the wheat kinase fusion resistance protein Pm4 🌾 check it out ➡️ www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A good day por powdery mildew research community 😍! We described how virulence on Pm4 resistance gene is controlled but two effectors! Avirulence vs Suppression. Work led by @zoebernasconi.bsky.social, Aline Herger, Pilar Caro and @lukas-kunz.bsky.social 🌱🦠🧬A big thank you to everyone involved

With @lukas-kunz.bsky.social @marioncmueller.bsky.social @vwidrig.bsky.social @javicheztin.bsky.social and others

Historic transposon mobilisation waves create distinct pools of adaptive variants in a major crop pathogen - Nature Communications In this study, the authors analysed a large genomic dataset to trace how jumping genes shaped the global spread of a major wheat pathogen and reveal bursts of activity over decades that drove adaptati...

TEs aren’t just genomic parasites, they’re also engines of genomic novelty.

Our new study with ~2,000 Z. tritici genomes shows repeated TE mobilization waves during global expansion.

With @danielcroll.bsky.social & @guidopuccetti.bsky.social

🧬 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#TEworldwide

Glad to share our latest article “Off-season sex in #Zymoseptoria tritici: little room for late encounters”, which continues our series of studies conducted in #ADEPTeam @inrae-bioger.bsky.social on the epidemiological determinants & impact of sexual reproduction in STB.
doi.org/10.1016/j.fg...

My new Emmy Noether Group is recruiting!

🔬 Two PhD positions in plant pathogen evolution

🧬 Start: April 2026 (flexible)

📍 Dept. of Phytopathology & Plant Protection @rstam.bsky.social @uni-kiel.de

⏰ Apply by 15 Dec 2025

🔗 More info: www.uni-kiel.de/personal/de/...

Do get in touch or share 😊

Thanks a lot Isa @isabelmonte.bsky.social👩‍🔬for accepting our invitation🤩. Such a terrific talk, opening up new research lines hand-in-hand with #Trichoderma. MPMI in its purest state!!! Special thanks to @agrienvironcyl.bsky.social for funding the visit, and many more yet to come. 🌿🧫🦠🧬

Dual recognition of structurally unrelated mildew effectors underlies the broad-spectrum resistance of Pm3e in wheat Broad-spectrum resistance genes are highly valuable for sustainable crop protection, yet the molecular basis of their activity is often unknown. The Pm3 allelic series in wheat encodes NLR receptors t...

A wheat NLR conferring broad-spectrum resistance against powdery mildew by recognizing two structurally diverse AVR effectors. Interested? Check out our newest preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Our latest work from led by the one and only @zoebernasconi.bsky.social reporting on a decoy-based pathogen recognition by wheat tandem kinases. Check it out! 🌱 🦠 🔬🧬

Check out our new pre-print! ✨
We cloned AvrWTK4, the first wheat powdery mildew effector recognised by a tandem kinase protein, and show that an HMA-like integrated domain in WTK4 acts as pathogen decoy. Discover the whole story on bioRxiv ⬇️

Our latest article is now online!
@PlantBiotechnologyJournal

Expression of Arabidopsis FLS2 in N. benthamiana confers responsiveness to Ralstonia flg22 and activation of anti-bacterial immunity
doi.org/10.1111/pbi....

By Meng Li, Yujiao Chen, and Yali Wei

Muchas gracias Nacho!

Muy contento con el apoyo a nuestro proyecto en la convocatoria ITINERARIO PARA LA TRANSFERENCIA DE RESULTADOS, plan T-CUE @usal Trichoderma en acción!!! 😍 GIR Fitopatología y Control Biológico.
@vwidrig.bsky.social
tcue.usal.es/convocatoria...

Just back from #2025ISMPMI and #SEFIMEC2025, where we shared first results from the @cienciagob.bsky.social -funded TANGO project PID2022-142651OA-I00 . Great discussions, fresh insights and exciting new ideas! 🌱🔬🧪Kudos to David Encalada Bustamante...and none of it possible w/o @vwidrig.bsky.social

Thrilled to share our latest preprint! This work started during my PhD and was finished together with @jmadhuprakash.bsky.social. We found a Phytophthora infestans L-shaped effector that bridges a host TOL protein to activated NLRs to suppress immunity!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
1/15

Thanks Nacho!

Virulence on Pm4 kinase-based resistance is determined by two divergent wheat powdery mildew effectors The wheat resistance gene Pm4 encodes a kinase fusion protein and has gained particular attention as it confers race-specific resistance against two major wheat pathogens: powdery mildew and blast. He...

Check out our work on virulence on Pm4 controlled not by one, but two effectors! Avirulence vs. Suppression, a beautiful case of the arms race between wheat and mildew. Work led by @zoebernasconi.bsky.social , Aline Herger, Pilar Caro, and @lukas-kunz.bsky.social 😍🌱🦠!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Merci Anne!

k-mer-based GWAS in a wheat collection reveals novel and diverse sources of powdery mildew resistance - Genome Biology Wheat genetic resources hold the diversity required to mitigate agricultural challenges from climate change and reduced inputs. Using DArTseq, we genotype 461 wheat landraces and cultivars and evaluat...

VERY HAPPY to share our last publication...In a world full of SNPs...k-mers made the most biological sense out of the complex wheat genome! 🌱🧬
genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
Grateful to Benjaming Jaegle for the trust, & co-authors for their collaboration!

Genomic Surveillance and Molecular Evolution of Fungicide Resistance in European Populations of Wheat Powdery Mildew Mutations conferring fungicide resistance to wheat powdery mildew emerged multiple times and are characterised by distinct geographic ranges in Europe and neighbouring regions.

Our paper on the evolution of fungicide resistance in wheat powdery mildew is now published! Congrats to all coauthors! doi.org/10.1111/mpp....

From Lesions to Lessons: Two Decades of Filamentous Plant Pathogen Genomics | Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions® Filamentous plant pathogens pose a severe threat to food security. Current estimates suggest up to 23% yield losses to pre- and post-harvest diseases and these losses are projected to increase due to ...

From lesions to lessons:
2025 marks the 20th anniversary of filamentous plant pathogen genomics. In our new review, we present lessons we learned over the past 2 decades and discuss the future of plant pathogen genomics. Take a first look!

apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/10.1094/...

Following thermal adaptation, we investigated Zymoseptoria tritici's responses to extreme temperature stresses using transcriptomics and kmer-based GWAS.

🌡️🧬 Check out our findings in the preprint: biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Fungal phylogeny highlighting genome size changes

Summary of genome size variation among groups

@tbadet.bsky.social and I have a preprint out on transposon silencing in fungi!

Genome size evolution is fascinating and showcases the dynamic nature of transposon activation.

What we understand less are the dynamics of transposon defense systems encoded by the genomes.

doi.org/10.1101/2025...

1/10 We are thrilled to share our preprint on spatial transcriptomics in wheat spikes led by the amazing @katielong.bsky.social and Ashleigh Lister. We resolved expression of 200 genes to cellular resolution. Pre-print👉 tinyurl.com/c7t3kncf., @johninnescentre.bsky.social @earlhaminst.bsky.social