Scott Anderson

Parasex generates highly recombinant progeny in Candida albicans with increased virulence - Nature Microbiology An alternative mating system, termed parasex, produces progeny with high levels of genotypic diversity and is able to fulfil the roles of meiosis when it is absent in the fungal pathobiont Candida alb...

OUT NOW! Parasex generates highly recombinant progeny in Candida albicans with increased virulence

By Robert Fillinger, Scott Filler, Anna Selmecki, Richard Bennett,
Matthew Anderson & colleagues.
#microsky @annaselmecki.bsky.social

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

I would have loved this assignment as an undergrad:
Learning how an instrument works by taking one apart 🧪

New pre-print from the team!

The manuscript is @emma-raven.bsky.social's PhD work showing that whether a leaf is a carbon sink or a carbon source influences how they execute immune responses.

Have a read!

#PlantScience
@johninnescentre.bsky.social

Recognition of a phytocytokine by the DEPR1-SERK2 receptor complex confers multi-pathogen resistance in wheat #research #MolecularPlant cell.com/molecular-pl...

Game changer for cell-based plant genetics: the labs of Caixia Gao & Jin-Long Qiu have developed very efficient self-replicating vectors and they just published a very nice proof-of-concept paper.
#plantscience
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

SALICYLIC ACID SENSOR1 reveals the propagation of an SA hormone surge during plant pathogen advance Salicylic acid (SA) is a key phytohormone that orchestrates immune responses against pathogens, including Pseudomonas syringae bacteria. The timing and extent of SA accumulation are tightly controlled...

Out in @science.org this week:

A new FRET sensor for salicylic acid gives insight into spatial dynamics of pathogen infection www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

(1/2)

#PlantScience

Old Puzzle around Protein Distribution in Plant Cells Solved Researchers in Bochum have discovered a control mechanism that may also operate beyond plants.

Plant scientists solved old puzzle around protein distribution in plant cells. The team around Prof. Chriostopher Grefen and first author Dr. Lei Zhang from @ruhr-uni-bochum.de report findings in @pnas.org (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.251435412) #PlantSci
news.rub.de/english/pres...

A secreted citrus protease cleaves an outer membrane protein of the Huanglongbing pathogen Plants secrete a variety of proteases as a defense response during infection by microbial pathogens. However, the relationship between their catalytic activities and antimicrobial functions remains la...

1/13 Thankfully, both you and your plants have a lot of sophisticated ways to fight off invading pathogens.
In our new preprint, we describe a new way in which animals and plants share a common strategy to ward off harmful bacteria.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

SALICYLIC ACID SENSOR1 reveals the propagation of an SA hormone surge during plant pathogen advance Salicylic acid (SA) is a key phytohormone that orchestrates immune responses against pathogens, including Pseudomonas syringae bacteria. The timing and extent of SA accumulation are tightly controlled...

FRET sensor for SA developed. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Engineered geminivirus replicons enable rapid in planta directed evolution Directed evolution can rapidly generate genetic variants with new and enhanced properties, yet efficient platforms for performing such evolution directly in plant cells have been lacking. We developed...

Out First Release in @science.org this week:
The development of a directed evolution strategy with proof of concept in plant immune protein engineering.

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

Fig. 4. Protein abundance immunoblots for 7 days postinoculation (dpi) samples of soybean cyst nematode (SCN)-infested root zones or similar areas from noninfested samples from same experiment as in Figure 3. The affinity-purified polyclonal antibodies raised against α-SNAPRhg1HC C-terminus peptide cross-react with the α-SNAPRhg1LC protein but not the Wm82 α-SNAPRhg1WT, whereas antibodies against α-SNAPRhg1LC C-terminus peptide are specific for the α-SNAPRhg1LC protein. Experiments used pooled samples of three roots each, separately for Set 1 and Set 2 seedlings. Similarity of total protein loading confirmed by Ponceau staining (Supplementary Fig. S4). Noncropped images for all blots shown are presented in Supplementary Figure S5.

“Overexpression of α-SNAPRhg1 Can Improve rhg1-a-Mediated Soybean Resistance to Soybean Cyst Nematode,” by Deepak Haarith et al. Available open access in Phytopathology, Volume 115, Number 9: https://doi.org/10.1094/PHYTO-02-25-0077-R

HY5 integrates light and electrical signaling to trigger a jasmonate burst for nematode defense in tomato
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#plantscience

Very happy to see this work finally online!
Resistance against necrotrophic pathogens is not generally conserved. When comparing five wild tomato spp, we saw that one spp co-opted a different mechanism against Sclerotinia infection!

Epigenetic Mechanisms Explain Inheritance of Longevity Markers in C. Elegans - New Zealand News Beep New research in C. elegans from scientists at Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) helps explain how changes in the parents’ lysosomes that promote

Epigenetic Mechanisms Explain Inheritance of Longevity Markers in C. Elegans

https://www.newsbeep.com/nz/43497/

New research in C. elegans from scientists at Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) helps explain how changes in…

Get a First Look 🔍: “Occurrence of Plant-Parasitic Nematodes in Pacific Northwest Hopyards,” by Lester Antonio Núñez Rodríguez et al.: https://doi.org/10.1094/PHP-01-25-0011-RS

USDA funding delays under Trump compromise agricultural research Sharp drop in grant awards leaves researchers frustrated

"With 2 weeks left before the end of this fiscal year, USDA’s [NIFA] had awarded just 558 competitive grants ... 68% fewer than during the prior fiscal year—and $741 million less in competitively awarded research funds"

Don't forget #PlantSci and ag research, folks.
www.science.org/content/arti...

Pleased to share our new article in Cell Host & Microbe, a collaboration with the group of Zhong Wei at NJAU

Common mycorrhizal networks facilitate plant disease resistance by altering rhizosphere microbiome assembly

Free share link: authors.elsevier.com/c/1lnTD6t8JE...

A new EPPO Datasheet on the rice root-knot nematode Meloidogyne graminicola is now online in the EPPO Bulletin. Thanks to Giovanna Curto, Italy.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

🍅 #NEMEMERGE partners at the Agricultural Institute of #Slovenia are testing the #virulence of root-knot #nematodes on #tomatoes with varying degrees of #geneticresistance🌱

The #results will be announced soon, but in the meantime, here are the details of the #experiment 🌐 bit.ly/4lKbHYt
Stay tuned❗️

Top, side and bottom view of the structure of the octameric WAI3 resistosome in wheat. Its unique channel structure and divergent CC domain configuration are also shown.

A new preprint involving the labs of @jonathandgjones.bsky.social and @kamounlab.bsky.social unveils the structure of the largest plant resistosome to date 🌱

The octameric WAI3 resistosome was found in wheat, but similar arrangements can be found in other plants 🌾

Check it out 👉 buff.ly/yBhLYz6

Insulin signaling activity in the somatic gonad controls dauer entry via the germ line in C. elegans C. elegans dauer diapause is a facultative state of cellular and developmental quiescence that enables survival in adverse conditions. Przybyl et al. show that a canonical insulin signaling pathway ac...

My new paper is out in Current Biology!

A protein tunnel helps stressed lysosomes swell The endoplasmic reticulum donates lipids through a tunnel-like protein to help lysosomes expand

The endoplasmic reticulum donates lipids through a tunnel-like protein to help lysosomes expand.

Learn more in a new #SciencePerspective: https://scim.ag/45GWQrS

This always blows my mind. Dude mapped qtl for a quantitative trait to a chromosome in 1923!

#ASPBPlantDirectWednesday #ICYMI

How can we better understand the plant immune system? In my new @cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social piece, I propose “immune cell states” as a framework for uniting molecular and cellular perspectives.

www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...

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!

How do predatory wasps find their caterpillar prey?

In our new preprint on Biorxiv we show that the host plant's immune system detects herbivory to sound the alarm. 🌱🐛

See thread from @nataliagupa.bsky.social -- a surprising role for a plant PRR in indirect defense against herbivores.

electron microscopy image of a C elegans on a yellow background

🧬June's most-read Genetics paper independently validates previous research showing that #CElegans can inherit learned pathogen avoidance: buff.ly/HQgprLp

Stories of Salicylic Acid: A Plant Defense Hormone Salicylic acid (SA) is a key plant hormone required for establishing resistance to many pathogens. SA biosynthesis involves two main metabolic pathways with multiple steps: the isochorismate and the p...

For those who are not familiar with SA research history, we humbly introduce a review we wrote years ago: www.cell.com/trends/plant... @cp-trendsplantsci.bsky.social

New preprint: In situ Architecture of #Plasmodesmata.

Using #cryoET, #AlphaFold & proteomics, we uncover the native organization of plant intercellular nanopores.

🔗 doi.org/10.1101/2025...

🧪🧵1/n
#teamtomo #PlantScience #Physcomitrium #Arabidopsis #cryoEM