Host-adapted enzymatic deconstruction of acetylated xylan limits immune activation and facilitates mutualistic colonization of monocot roots This study identifies a monocot-specific enzymatic module in the beneficial root endophyte Serendipita indica, showing how ancestral saprotrophic enzymes have been repurposed into an immune-compatible...

Very proud to share our new paper led by Mathias Brands from my team at @UniCologne! With Markus Pauly team @HHU. Host-adapted enzymatic deconstruction of acetylated xylan limits immune activation and facilitates mutualistic colonization of monocot roots: Molecular Plant www.cell.com/molecular-pl...

Antimicrobial effectors of plant-associated fungi: multipurpose proteins with fast-evolving surfaces and structurally conserved cores Plants are exposed to a variety of devastating pathogens, causing significant yearly yield losses. In order to facilitate infections, plant pathogens …

So diverse and yet conserved. Check out opinion paper by Leonhard Pachinger @leopach.bsky.social on antimicrobial effectors produced by fungal pathogens: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Check out our new preprint ☺️⏬️

Speakers and topics:

🟢 Johana Misas Villamil
@jomivi.bsky.social
👉 "Zip1 Peptide Signaling: Biogenesis, Function and Evolution"

🟢 Satoshi Fujita 👉 "MBAPs link brassinosteroid singaling and microtubules"

🟢 Jacob Moe-Lange 👉 "Uncovering New Layers of KAI2 Signaling Crosstalk"

Targeting of the barley cell-surface receptor SRF3 by the Blumeria hordei effector AVRA13 overlaps with AVRA13 recognition by MLA and the induction of NLR-mediated cell death. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01...

Huge thanks to my amazing co-authors, to AG Saur and AG Döhlemann, and to all our collaborators for their fantastic contributions @Merle Bilstein-Schloemer@izzysaurlab.bsky.social @grandpahiro.bsky.social @sara-stolze.bsky.social@Gunther Döhlemann@Matthieu Pierre Platre ! 🙏

Postdoc position in my lab in Cologne starting early next year or latest in spring to get this exciting project started.

jobportal.uni-koeln.de/ausschreibun...

Beat Keller from Uni Zürich giving the final keynote of the Powdery mildew workshop #2025ISMPMI Overview of a whole very very successful career in the field!

In our latest #PlantersPunch issue PhD student Laura Merx @laurame.bsky.social explains in a podcast together with David Spencer @davidspencer.bsky.social how bacteria can help us feed the world! #scicomm @jomivi.bsky.social @unicologne.bsky.social

bit.ly/4mBMgtU

📣 We have a postdoc position in fungus-microbiota interactions! Apply here: jobportal.uni-koeln.de/bewerben/2197
⁩
For more details, visit: bewerbungsmanagement.uni-koeln.de/ausschreibun...

🎊 We made it!! @dfg.de has just announced that we have been successful with our CEPLAS III proposal in the current funding round of the Excellence Strategy! Many thanks to all our supporters! @hhu.de @unicologne.bsky.social @mpipz.bsky.social @fz-juelich.de @leibnizipk.bsky.social

Check this out👇 New from the Doehlemann lab! A fungal enzyme modulates plant-microbe and microbe-microbe interactions 🔥

Today we celebrate a wide diversity in plant sciences at the Symposium of our institute at @unicologne.bsky.social with support from @ceplas.bsky.social & @trr341.bsky.social #PlantScience

Gunther Döhlemann starting the MadFungi research unit (for5682.uni-koeln.de) kick off meeting involving groups from @hhu.bsky.social, @unibonn.bsky.social @uni-kiel.de, @kit.edu and of course
@unicologne.bsky.social (eg. @teamthomma.bsky.social, @algazuccaro.bsky.social ). Let‘s go

The MadFungi🍄 research unit funded by @dfg.de kicked off this week with our meeting in Cologne @unicologne.bsky.social. We're excited to see what great science we'll achieve over the next four years.

Obligate biotrophic fungi cause some of the most devastating diseases on cereals.
They are also highly difficult to study….
It is truely remarkable how well described the barley and what powdery mildews are.
Here you find an overview on the current knowledge and summary of great resources. Enjoy!

Starship giant transposons dominate plastic genomic regions in a fungal plant pathogen and drive virulence evolution Starships form a recently discovered superfamily of giant transposons in Pezizomycotina fungi, implicated in mediating horizontal transfer of diverse cargo genes between fungal genomes. Their elusive nature has long obscured their significance, and their impact on genome evolution remains poorly understood. Here, we reveal a surprising abundance and diversity of Starships in the phytopathogenic fungus Verticillium dahliae. Remarkably, Starships dominate the plastic genomic compartments involved in host colonization, are enriched in virulence-associated genes, and exhibit genetic and epigenetic characteristics associated with adaptive genome evolution. We further uncover extensive horizontal transfer of Starships between Verticillium species and, strikingly, from distantly related Fusarium fungi. Finally, we demonstrate how Starship activity facilitated the de novo formation of a novel virulence gene. Our findings illuminate the profound influence of Starship dynamics on fungal genome evolution and the development of virulence. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.

📣New year, new preprint @biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social 🎉! A study led by the brilliant @yukiyosato.bsky.social showing that Starship giant transposons dominate plastic genomic regions in the fungal plant pathogen Verticillium dahliae and drive virulence evolution. 🧵[1/12] doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Technical Advances Drive the Molecular Understanding of Effectors from Wheat and Barley Powdery Mildew Fungi | Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions® Pathogens manipulate host physiology through the secretion of virulence factors (effectors) to invade and proliferate on the host. The molecular functions of effectors inside plant hosts have been of ...

Get a First Look!
👇

🌱🌾Technical Advances Drive the Molecular Understanding of Effectors from Wheat and Barley Powdery Mildew Fungi doi.org/10.1094/MPMI...

@izzysaurlab.bsky.social

Our latest paper is online:
"A nucleoside signal generated by a fungal endophyte regulates host cell death and promotes root colonization".
Two fungal enzymes acting cooperatively are key players in this process.
Thanks to the fantastic team of scientists. 👇
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...