Fig. 1. The five senses: How do plant pathogens know they found their host? An illustration of various ways in which pathogens may sense their hosts, by analogy to the five classical human senses: 1, touch; 2, sight; 3, smell; 4, hearing; and 5, taste. The inset depictions of molecules/media that may convey the information that the pathogen has arrived at the host, as well as their locations in the host, are descriptive, not definitive.

NEW H. H. Flor Distinguished Review: “The Five Senses: How Do Plant Pathogens Know They Found Their Host?" by Rachel Hammond et al.: https://doi.org/10.1094/MPMI-10-25-0148-HH

Research rarely goes as planned yet we often don’t talk about it. Did unexpected results challenge your hypothesis? Did a promising idea lead to a dead end? We want to hear about it in our special YNN session at #ESN2026.
#Nematology #OpenScience #ResearchLessons

We are organising a YNN session at #ESN2026. Abstract submission is open until the 30th January.

Anika Damm is our plenary for Session 3 of Advances in Nematology 2025

🪱 From host signals to parasitism: a transcription factor duet regulates sequential effector deployments

Read more in her recent paper: doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2415861122

@anikadamm.bsky.social @cropscicentre.bsky.social

Thank you @aabiologists.bsky.social for the invitation to present. I had a fantastic time at the conference!

Absolutely excited for #VNC25 tomorrow! Featuring talks from ECRs, 2 workshops, a murder mystery, and a pub with games. We are excited to have registrations from 55 countries! If you are interested in joining the YNN board, come along to our info session from 16:00-16:25 CET.

The host range paradox of Meloidogyne incognita: a physiological and transcriptomic analysis of nine susceptible interactions across six plant orders The plant-parasitic nematode Meloidogyne incognita is the pathogen with the broadest host range among all known biotrophic interactions. This species is also the single most damaging of a group of agr...

New Preprint alert! It is finally here!
M incognita is a remarkable pathogen: extremely specialised with the widest host range (> 3,000). All this while reproducing parthenogenetically! We analyse the infection phenotype and transcriptome of 9 hosts (6 orders) at 25 dpi.
doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Thank you to everyone who submitted an abstract for #VNC2025!!
For everyone that missed their chance: we extended the deadline for abstract submission until Monday, September 15th: forms.gle/yqQtpovYiwrY...

#VNC2025 is going to be global!! Thank you to everyone who already registered!
If you haven’t registered yet: today might be your last chance. Follow the link to register and/or submit an abstract forms.gle/yqQtpovYiwrY....
Looking forward to seeing everyone!!!
@biologists.bsky.social

Adela Gaja Jezierska-Suwinska is making plants invisible to nematodes!
#PPATH2025 #ECPP2025

🪱 Reminder: Registration for #VNC2025 is NOW OPEN until September 10th! 🎉

Register and submit your abstract here. 👉 lnkd.in/dzTRsK7z

Special thanks to @biologists.bsky.social who support this year’s VNC via Funding for Innovations in Sustainable Conferencing.

Absolutely honoured to have been invited to speak and very much looking forward to the conference!!

Great presentation (and poster!) by @anikadamm.bsky.social, describing two nematode transcription factors that regulate effector gene expression at different infection stages.

Coming back from 5 days of great science at #2025ISMPMI, I wanted to share some of my highlights, and particularly to mention my favourite presentations by early career researchers.

A thread 🧵 ⬇️

Registration for #VNC2025 is open!! If you are a ECR please consider submitting an abstract using the link/QR code below. Looking forward to seeing everyone there!

🚀 Registration for VNC 2025 opens on July 10, 2025!

🔬 Submit your abstract and showcase your research in a vibrant, supportive environment.

📅 Save the date! More info on the 10th!

How and when organisms edit their own genomes - Nature Genetics This Review describes the changes that some organisms make to their own DNA sequences, linking many to common genetic mechanisms built around canonical DNA repair and to a set of functional circumstan...

New paper @natgenet.nature.com

nature.com/articles/s41...

Our most recent thinking on HYP effectors involves programmed shuffling of the parasite genome. This prompted us to review how and when organisms edit their own genomes

In so doing, Vincent made two important discoveries...

(1/3)

Explore the latest research on the molecular battles between plants, nematodes, and parasitic plants in the #2025ISMPMI concurrent session, “Plant Interactions with Nematodes & Parasitic Plants.”

bit.ly/3SmrAZ1

Registration closes 7 July!

#Nematology #ParasiticPlants

🌱 New review out with @minyaojhu.bsky.social and Dr. Katharina Schiessl.

Plants form unique organs, and here, we dive into signal perception, hormone regulation, and organ development of three structures: root-knot gall, rhizobia nodule and haustorium

Read here 👉 doi.org/10.1016/j.tp...

Drs Kaihuai Li, Daowen Wang, Fengquan Liu & Zhengqing Fu highlight @sebastianevda.bsky.social‬ & colleagues’ ‪@pnas.org‬ article on #plant #effectostimulins & #nematode SUbventral-Gland Regulator #SUGR1 promoting parasitism. @sc.edu‬ @camplantsci.bsky.social

authors.elsevier.com/a/1kzVW5Eb1x...

Get to know our Board members! 🌱

Meet Dr. Unnati Sonawala (@uprogress.bsky.social), one of YNN’s founding members. As a PostDoc at the @cropscicentre.bsky.social, she is marvelled at interactions between plants and microbes—and beyond! Also, she is passionate about learning a new language!

Tomato root protoplasts. Photo credit: Unnati Sonawala

Unnati Sonawala talks about her work setting the stage for large-scale nematode effector screening in tomato roots.

Her project was a pilot in our new Postdoc Innovation Awards launched in 2024.

👉 tinyurl.com/ykc6ckee

@uprogress.bsky.social
@cropscicentre.bsky.social

#PlantScience 🧪

Photo of a cyst nematode's head viewed through a high-power microscope shows its esophageal glands, which produce effectors it uses to infect host plants. Photo illustration by Tom Maier and Thomas Baum/Iowa State University.

New study shows how disrupting plant-nematode communication could limit cyst nematode infections.

The work - a collaboration between Cambridge Uni, Iowa State Uni, John Innes Centre & USDA - opens promising new routes to nematode control for crop protection & food security.

tinyurl.com/222h572b

We are delighted to announce our upcoming seminar:
"Nematode-Microbe Interactions" by Dr Olivera Topalović and PhD student Sandra Bredenbruch

🔬 Don’t miss it—register now!

important work www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

The SUbventral-Gland Regulator (SUGR-1) of nematode virulence | PNAS Pathogens must precisely tailor their gene expression to cause infection. However, a signaling cascade from host signal to effector production has ...

📜 The SUbventral-Gland Regulator (SUGR-1) of nematode virulence

🧑‍🔬 Clement Pellegrin, Anika Damm, Sebastian Eves-van den Akker, et al.

📔 @pnas.org

🔗 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

#️⃣ #PlantScience #PlantImmunity #Nematodes

Exciting: YNN, SON and APN working together to bring excellent NemaEvents later this year! Curious to know more? Follow us and stay tuned for updates!
#Science #PlantPathology #Nematology #Nematodes

Very excited to see my first first-authored paper published in @pnas.org . We found the first regulator of effector production in plant-parasitic nematodes! Congratulations to co first author @clempellegrin.bsky.social and all other authors. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Still reflecting on our last webinar—we had participants from 15 different countries tuning in! It was truly exciting to see such diversity and the high level of engagement from nematologists around the world. 🌍✨