Fascinating research results from a team in our @oconnorlab.bsky.social including Ryan Alam, Tobias Köllner and Danny Kessler on blister beetle larvae mimicking flowers and their scent.

We congratulate Prof. Wilhelm Boland on receiving the Xience Award 2026! 👏 In recognition of his outstanding scientific achievements and long-standing support, the Leibniz-HKI has presented the second Xience award to the chemist from @mpi-ce.bsky.social.
👉 More: www.leibniz-hki.de/en/press-rel...

Happy to announce that Anh Hai Vu from the @oconnorlab.bsky.social has successfully defended her PhD thesis on "Understanding plant natural product biosynthesis using single-cell mass spectrometry"! Congratulations to her and her supervisors Sarah O'Connor and Lorenzo Caputi!

Ant larvae control parental care by using odor signals In the clonal raider ant (Ooceraea biroi), workers in a colony alternate between caring for larvae and laying eggs in a coordinated cycle. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology ...

A research team from @yukoulrich.bsky.social‘s lab at our institute has identified the first brood pheromone in ants—thereby proving that larvae of clonal raider ants actively influence the colony’s reproduction cycle. www.ice.mpg.de/550783/PR_Pi...

Millions-of-years-old insect symbioses are surprisingly fragile Many insects have lived in close symbiosis with bacteria for millions of years, during which time the bacteria have provided them with vital nutrients, making the mutualistic relationship so close tha...

Ronja Krüsemer and Martin Kaltenpoth of @kaltenpoth-lab.bsky.social et al. report in @natcomms.nature.com on the rapid loss of a beetle symbiont following infection with another bacterium. This could be the key to systematically investigating symbiont exchange. www.ice.mpg.de/549447/PR_Kr...

We are very proud: Julio Antonio Otárola Jiménez successfully defended his PhD thesis today! His research topic was "From Courtship to Egg-Laying: How Chemical Cues and Experience Shape Reproductive Strategies in Drosophila melanogaster". Congratulations, Julio!

Botanical mystery solved: how plants make a crucial malaria drug YouTube video by Nature Podcast

In this Nature podcast, our director, Sarah O'Connor from the @oconnorlab.bsky.social, explains how she and her team solved the mystery of quinine biosynthesis.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeN8...

Mystery of quinine biosynthesis solved For centuries, the process by which the cinchona tree produces its valuable alkaloids, including the life-saving quinine used to treat malaria, was shrouded in mystery. Now, a research team from the M...

The process by which the cinchona tree produces quinine has been elucidated. In a new study published in @nature.com, researchers from the @oconnorlab.bsky.social and the @universityofga.bsky.social unveil the biosynthetic pathway behind this 400-year-old secret.
www.ice.mpg.de/548102/PR_Ki...

On the International Day of Women and Girls in Science we feature 6 amazing women — @mariferrarini.bsky.social, Shristee Panthee, Sonja Bisch-Knaden, @yukoulrich.bsky.social, Xinyi Cheng and @shabmohammadi.bsky.social. Their statements inspire a more inclusive future for women in science.

Air pollution causes social instability in ant colonies A research team from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology has shown in a new study that ants returning from habitats affected by air pollution are attacked when they re-enter the colony. The ...

Markus Knaden et al. from the Odor-Guided Behavior Group in collab. with @yukoulrich.bsky.social report in PNAS that ozone destroys colony-specific odors causing attacks within the colony – a dramatic example of how human pollution can disrupt social systems in nature.
www.ice.mpg.de/530492/PR_Ji...

Plant diversity shapes chemical communication in ecosystems Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology and the University of Kiel have provided experimental evidence showing that reducing plant species diversity alters plant chemical signals ...

Researchers from our Dept. of Biochemistry and @uni-kiel.de led by @sunsicker.bsky.social show in @pnas.org that the loss of plant diversity has an impact on the odor signals emitted by plant communities—with consequences for their interactions with other organisms. www.ice.mpg.de/527832/PR_Me...

Resharing & please pass it on!

ACCE+ PhD project on the molecular evolution of insectivorous mammals that eat toxic amphibians 🦔🐸. Jointly supervised with brilliant colleagues in @livuni-ismib.bsky.social & @mpi-ce.bsky.social & open to UK & international students. @shabmohammadi.bsky.social

Fungus turns bark beetles’ defenses against them Spruce bark beetles use the plant defense compounds in spruce bark as a protective mechanism. After feeding, they metabolize the antimicrobial phenolic compounds into more toxic derivatives to protect...

Ruo Sun, Jonathan Gershenzon et al. from our Biochemistry Dept. report in PNAS that the insect-pathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana can detoxify the defense substances of bark beetles, which originate from plant precursors, and successfully infect the insects.
www.ice.mpg.de/526562/PR_Sun

Newsletter PULS/CE

The new PULS/CE is out!
Topics:
Science depends on trust
A recipe from two eras
Pseudoenzyme controls indole production
Plus: An inspiring interview with @shabmohammadi.bsky.social on her life as a researcher and mother, and how science has always been her dream.
www.ice.mpg.de/257126/newsl...

The ship-timber beetle's fungal partner: more than just a food source In collaboration with scientists from the University of Würzburg, a research team from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology studied the ambrosia fungus of the ship-timber beetle and made an a...

Maximilian Lehenberger, Jonathan Gershenzon et al. show in The ISME Journal how a symbiotic fungus helps the ship-timber beetle survive in dead wood. www.ice.mpg.de/525357/PR_Le...

🚨A few days left to apply! 🚨

Work with us to uncover how birds evolve resistance to prey toxins, resurrect ancient proteins, and map the rules that shape molecular adaptation.

🧬 Fully funded BBSRC PhD
📅 Deadline: 7 Dec
🔗 www.liverpool.ac.uk/courses/bbsr...

New super pest combines broad spectrum of microbes The reed leafhopper has evolved rapidly from a reed grass specialist into a dangerous pest that attacks important crops such as sugar beets, potatoes, carrots and onions, as well as reeds. It lives in...

The reed leafhopper has become a major crop pest targeting sugar beets & potatoes. Scientists from @kaltenpoth-lab.bsky.social et al. show that it hosts 7 bacteria, 2 of which spread plant diseases. The microbial community may be key to its success in switching hosts. www.ice.mpg.de/524703/PR_Vo...

Huge congratulations to Pamela Medina van Berkum on successfully defending her PhD! Supervised by @sunsicker.bsky.social and Jonathan Gershenzon, her work on how plant biodiversity shapes chemical defenses bridges ecology, chemistry, and evolution. Pam is now part of Sybille’s group at @uni-kiel.de.

Sodalis bacteria use a network of nanotubes aka tubenets to reach beyond the boundary of their own cells and aqcuire nutrients within the competitive environment of host cells. It was a pleasure working with you and your team, seeing the project evolve over the years! Thanks for having us on board!

We are very proud - yesterday, Somasundar Arumugam successfully defended his PhD thesis on "Exploring innate and learned sensory behaviors in Drosophila under natural and perturbed context".
He was supervised by Prof. Silke Sachse.
Congratulations!!!!

A glimpse into the cell factory: matching gene expression to metabolite production in single plant cells A research team at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology has successfully combined single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) and single-cell mass spectrometry (scMS) analysis on the same plant ce...

A research team from the @oconnorlab.bsky.social has made a breakthrough in elucidating the biosynthesis of plant natural products by combining scRNA-seq and scMS in the same plant cell. The study was published in @pnas.org. www.ice.mpg.de/516369/PR_Ka...

Doctoral researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, and the Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology came together for the first Max Planck PhD Day in Jena which included speed dating and skills-sharing sessions and networking.

Discovery of iridoid cyclase completes the iridoid pathway in asterids - Nature Plants Iridoids are terpenoid metabolites found in thousands of plants. Using single-cell transcriptomics, the authors discovered an unexpected enzyme that has been neofunctionalized to catalyse the cyclization required to form the iridoid scaffold.

Very exciting to finally see our iridoid cyclase ICYC online @natplants.nature.com!
A joined effort with Robin Buell’s lab with Josh Wood generating snRNA-seq, and my student Chloée Tymen performing the initial experiment.
#natprod
#PlantScience
@mpi-ce.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Final step in the biosynthesis of iridoids elucidated Until now, a crucial step in the biosynthesis of iridoids, a class of plant defense substances that are also medically relevant, had remained undiscovered. A team from the Max Planck Institute for Che...

Missing piece of the puzzle for the formation of iridoids found! @maitecolinas.bsky.social from the @oconnorlab.bsky.social et al. have identified the enzyme responsible for iridoid biosynthesis—the key to natural products with medicinal potential. www.ice.mpg.de/512932/PR_Co...

Warning colour or camouflage: Why some animals shine bright and others disappear in plain sight A global study explores why some animals use bright warning colors while others rely on camouflage for predator evasion. Findings reveal that predator competition and habitat influence these strategie...

New study in @science.org reveals why some animals display striking colors to warn predators while others use camouflage. Our former group leader @hannahmrowland.bsky.social, now @livuni-ives.bsky.social was part of the global project on the evolution of animal colors. www.ice.mpg.de/511966/PR_Me...

A recipe from two eras for protection against bark beetles: Andrew O’Donnell et al. show in PNAS that some resin diterpenes are older than conifers themselves, while others developed independently—presumably to protect against bark beetles. www.ice.mpg.de/510162/PR_OD...

HUGE congratulations also to Jessil Pajar on successfully defending her PhD thesis! 🎓 Her research, supervised by @nmvandam.bsky.social, explores novel strategies to strengthen plant resistance against a major pest, drawing innovative insights from interactions with microscopic nematodes.

We are proud to announce that Sol Yepes has successfully defended her PhD thesis on intraspecific chemodiversity in Black Poplar supervised by @sunsicker.bsky.social. Her work advances our understanding of plant diversity as a foundation for ecosystem resilience. Congratulations!

Toxicity is a good defense, until it isn't : Short Wave Imagine, you’re a toxic toad hanging around South America. No other animals are gonna mess with you, right? After all, you’re ~toxic~! So if anyone tries to eat you, they’ll be exposed to something ca...

Featured on NPR: @shabmohammadi.bsky.social and her team study how predators adapted to toxic substances to safely consume toxic prey. Humans have used these toxins for thousands of years, even prescribing them to treat heart failure. Listen to the whole story: www.npr.org/2025/08/19/n...

Reduced genome – flexible performance: How symbiotic bacteria with minimal genetic information provide optimal support to their hosts Symbiotic bacteria that live permanently with a host and are connected to its metabolism lose many genes over the course of evolution that are no longer required. A research team at the Max Planck Ins...

Researchers from the @kaltenpoth-lab.bsky.social show in @emboreports.org ‬that despite having only a tiny genome, the symbionts of reed beetles can adapt their gene activity flexibly to the developmental stages and ambient temperatures of their hosts. www.ice.mpg.de/509125/PR_Ca...