ECRs in plant–microbe interactions:

Join us in Norwich for an intensive, interactive 1.5-week Summer Conference at TSL (20–31 July). Lots of opportunities for networking and deep discussions.

(We also plan to offer hands-on practical sessions using our technologies 🔬🧬)

Congratulations to @saskiahogenhout.bsky.social on this fantastic appointment! 👏

Huge thanks to @rsbiello.bsky.social @samtmugford.bsky.social @qunliu07.bsky.social @tom-mathers.bsky.social @johninnescentre.bsky.social . This was a huge team effort.

New preprint on pop #genomics of #spittlebug—the main insect vector of Xylella, the bacterium that has ravaged olive groves in southern Italy 🇮🇹 🫒

Take-home: problematic insect vector may be less widespread than initially thought—important implications for disease control 💥

👇

Microbial determinants of behaviour in herbivorous beetles (SALEM_J26DTP) | Doctoral Training Partnership Many animals rely on beneficial microbes for nutrition, defence, or reproduction. In this project, the student will explore an exciting new dimension of these relationships:

There’ll be several opportunities to join the group, starting w/ a PhD studentship via the BBSRC-NRP Doctoral Training Partnership.

Team up w/ us, @saskiahogenhout.bsky.social & @berasymbionts.bsky.social to answer how microbes shape insect behavior:
biodtp.norwichresearchpark.ac.uk/projects/mic...

Guillaume de Nourriche! #Norwich 🇬🇧

Model: Activation and suppression of defences in plant–aphid interactions. Upper left panel: aphid stylet penetration of the cell wall releases oligogalacturonides (OGs), which induce PAMP/DAMP-triggered immunity (PTI/DTI) in a process dependent on BRASSINOSTEROID INSENSITIVE 1-ASSOCIATED RECEPTOR KINASE 1 (BAK1), ENHANCED DISEASE SUSCEPTIBILITY 1 (EDS1), and CPK5/6/11 (data herein). The stabilisation of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) and coreceptors at the plasma membrane may rely on the deubiquitination (DUB) activity of ASSOCIATED MOLECULE WITH THE SH3 DOMAIN OF STAM (AMSHs; Gravino et al., 2024). Upper right panel: the Mp10 effector, introduced by aphids into the cell cytoplasm (Mugford et al., 2016), suppresses OG-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) (data herein) and flg22-induced PTI (Bos et al., 2010). Mp10 targeting of plant AMSHs is implicated in these processes (Gravino et al., 2024). EDS1 is essential for Mp10-mediated ROS suppression and PRR destabilisation (data herein), acting through an unidentified mechanism (denoted by the double-sided arrow with an asterisk). Lower left panel: effector-triggered immunity (ETI) is activated through EDS1, either directly or indirectly, upon recognition of Mp10 and/or its activities by a TNL (Gravino et al., 2024; Rao et al., 2024). Salicylic acid glucosyltransferase 1 (SGT1) is also required for TNL/ETI activation (Bos et al., 2010). Lower right panel: aphids secrete additional effectors, such as cathepsin B proteins (e.g. CathB6), which target EDS1 to suppress ETI (Liu et al., 2025). Solid arrows, increased activation; solid blunt-ended arrows, increased suppression; Dashed arrows, reduced activation; Dashed -blunt-ended arrows, reduced suppression.

🎉Thrilled to share our latest work, now published in @newphyt.bsky.social!

🧑‍🔬 @matteogravino.bsky.social, @samtmugford.bsky.social, @saskiahogenhout.bsky.social et al., @johninnescentre.bsky.social

#️⃣ #PlantScience #PlantImmunity

📄 Read the full paper👇
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/8QSRJ9...

Aphid effectors suppress plant immunity via recruiting defense proteins to processing bodies Aphids hijack plant immunity via p-bodies, but plants fight back with a heat shock protein in an unexpected twist on defense.

Our paper is now online in Science Advances! Congrats @saskiahogenhout.bsky.social @johninnescentre.bsky.social and all coauthors!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Aphid Saliva fans, happy news, this amazing story is now out in Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... congrats @qunliu07.bsky.social @saskiahogenhout.bsky.social et al @johninnescentre.bsky.social 24h after a triumphant presentation at #ismpmi2025

Aphid effectors suppress plant immunity via recruiting defense proteins to processing bodies Aphids hijack plant immunity via p-bodies, but plants fight back with a heat shock protein in an unexpected twist on defense.

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

Effector Innovation in Genome-Reduced Phytoplasmas and Other Host-Dependent Mollicutes Obligate host-associated bacteria with reduced genomes, such as phytoplasmas, face strong evolutionary constraints, including metabolic dependence on hosts, limited horizontal gene transfer (HGT), and...

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

Postcard from Sardinia: a fragile migrant In an age of growing tension between north and south, one ordinary orange butterfly flutters freely across continents, unbothered by border…

I just published: Postcard from Sardinia: a fragile migrant

In an age of growing tension between north and south, one ordinary orange butterfly flutters freely across continents, unbothered by border checkpoints. This is the story of the painted lady.

kamounlab.medium.com/postcard-fro...

Follow authors on Bluesky: @caterpillar-coevo.bsky.social
@tom-mathers.bsky.social
@samtmugford.bsky.social
@saskiahogenhout.bsky.social
@fionabugsnbees.bsky.social
@tcheaven.bsky.social

Farming Today - 18/03/25 - Hare coursing, xylella and soil microplastics - BBC Sounds Farmers fear the rise in violent encounters with illegal hare coursers.

Me on the radio this morning talking about UK preparedness for #xylella, froghoppers and the BRIGIT project in the @saskiahogenhout.bsky.social lab @johninnescentre.bsky.social

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Congrats Dr @reubenpjames.bsky.social! latest PhD from @saskiahogenhout.bsky.social lab @johninnescentre.bsky.social

I'm super excited to spend some time in Tracey Chapman's lab (UEA) learning all aspects of insect handling and infection. I'll then be working with @saskiahogenhout.bsky.social (JIC) on a bioinf project characterising bacterial symbionts in one of her really cool insect collections.

@tom-mathers.bsky.social @samtmugford.bsky.social @fionabugsnbees.bsky.social @caterpillar-coevo.bsky.social

Our preprint is now live! We have sequenced the genomes of three psyllid species. These insects pests transmit devastating plant diseases like 'zebra chip' in potatoes and 'carrot yellows' in carrots. 🥕

#MolecularEntomology #MPMI #PlantPathology #psyllids #liberibacter

Anyway, it's quite an accomplishment for this Dutch microbiologist to live rent-free in the head of "the greatest microbiologist of all times" (or however he thinks of himself).
He now even writes papers about me!

Women are under-represented at senior levels in #academia globally, & across all #science 🧪 disciplines, as shown by these "scissor-shaped curves" ✂️

So how can we ever achieve #gender #equality?

We discuss various strategies in this #Cell Commentary

#WomeninSTEM

www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
🧵 1/

Intragenomic variants of a putative effector drive early-stage infection in a broad host-range rust fungus Rust fungi are pathogens that impact plants of environmental, agricultural, cultural, and economic importance. Their mechanisms of pathogenicity are not well-understood but are likely governed by effe...

Our latest contribution to understanding plant pathogenic fungi better led by UQ. Intragenomic variants of a putative effector drive early-stage infection in a broad host-range rust fungus www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

GetGenome Newsletter November 2024 getgenome.net/network

Excited to co-organize the session 'Resolving heterogeneity in plants with imaging and omics' with @ignaciorubiosomoza.bsky.social at ICAR2025! Looking forward to having a wide range of speakers from abstracts. Stay tuned for more details!

📅 June 16-20 Ghent 🇧🇪
web.cvent.com/event/448810...

My first post here! We’re looking for an enthusiastic plant developmentalist to join our team as a postdoc working on how this wonderful plant builds sexually deceptive flowers. Link here: www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/49334/

Mutations in da1, eod1, and erecta

The @saskiahogenhout.bsky.social lab are knocking it out of the park this week, another preprint about the mechanisms of an aphid effector protein

Thanks to everyone involved in this work
@qunliu07.bsky.social, Anna Neefjes, Roksolana Kobylinska, @samtmugford.bsky.social, @mmarzo.bsky.social, James Canham (@thesainsburylab.bsky.social), @marischuster.bsky.social, Renier van der Hoorn,
Yazhou Chen, @saskiahogenhout.bsky.social

We're happy to present a pre-print from the Hogenhout lab (@saskiahogenhout.bsky.social), describing how a family of proteases in aphid oral secretions suppress plant immunity.

I'm currently a postdoc with @saskiahogenhout.bsky.social but will be starting as a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow at Arizona State University next year with @kstsosie.bsky.social