Bottom line: #plant #tolerance to #nematodes is not simply sedentary vs. migratory. Each interaction triggers specific stress coping strategies. Lots to unpack for breeding!

And M. incognita? No extra roots either. Instead, we propose #gall formation itself may act as a tolerance mechanism — maintaining vascular connectivity around feeding sites.

Key finding: #adventitious lateral root formation only occurs with cyst nematodes. P. penetrans causes similar tissue damage but does NOT trigger extra root branching. So it's not about damage — it's about WHERE nematodes feed.

We compared P. #penetrans (migratory, destroys cortex tissue), H. #schachtii (cyst nematode, feeds from vasculature), and M. #incognita (root-knot nematode, feeds near root tip). Same host, very different stress — very different plant responses.

🧵New preprint alert! How do #plants cope with fundamentally different types of belowground attack? We challenged #Arabidopsis with three #nematode species — one migratory, two sedentary — and the answers surprised us.

t.co/yYvOcB2sVU

New paper out! 🌱

Plant defence isn’t a free upgrade.

We show phloem proteins can boost resistance to one attacker but increase susceptibility to another (incl. cyst nematodes).

Great collaboration 🙌

🔗 sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

#plantscience #nematology

Stationary phloem proteins and their effects on viruses, aphids, and cyst nematodes in Arabidopsis www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09....

We are excited to announce our next Trends in Nematology Webinar on Nematode Genomics and Effectoromics!
When: 18th September, 2025
Time: 16:00-17:15 CEST
How can I join: Register using the QR code below 🪱

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Thrilled to share our preprint on how CHD2 dosage controls the autolysosomal pathway ♻️, shaping the neurodevelopmental pace 🧠 that sets us 👩🏽‍🔬 apart from our extinct relatives and great apes🐒: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... See 🧵below:

Super excited to share this study.

Day 50 cortical organoid stained for KI67 (red), MAP2 (magenta), Hoechst (cyan); image credit: Oliviero Leonardi

DIV 28 iNeuron. Homer1 in green and Synapsin1 in purple showing co-localization of post- and pre-synapses, respectively; image credit: Elly Lewerissa

New preprint 📣! Excited to share the result of several years of work, led by @ellylewerissa.bsky.social & @olivieroleonardi.bsky.social, in collaboration with friends @naelnadifkasri-lab.bsky.social & Giuseppe Testa. On CHD2, a chromatin remodeller, its role in evolution & development [🧵]
🧪🧠🧫🧬