Jiorgos Kourelis

1/12 I'm ecstatic to share my preprint on legume NLR tissue expression! We investigated the NLRomes of 28 legumes + 4 outgroups, examining tissue expression across 7 legume species. Paper thread below 🧵👇
@thesainsburylab.bsky.social @itqbnova.bsky.social
🔗https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.01.25.701577

📢 2 PhD Positions Available in Plant Immune Receptor Bioengineering at Imperial College London
🌱 Start: Oct 2026
📅 Deadline: 10 Feb 2026
🇬🇧 UK/settled status only
💰 Fully funded (48 months)
ℹ️ Info: shorturl.at/po61I
#PlantImmunity #PlantPathology #SyntheticBiology
🙏 Share with interested candidates!

CC-NLRs exhibit diverse conformations in the resting state. Figure depicts different NLR resting and activated states. While ZAR1 exists as a monomer bound to its guardees in its resting state, several forms have been observed for the NRC2 helper, including dimers, tetramers, and filaments. While filament-like structures were observed via confocal microscopy for NRC2 upon overexpression in planta, these structures were not detected for its paralog NRC4, suggesting a potentially different resting state configuration for NRC4. Our work suggests that the Pik CC-NLR pair forms a hetero-complex bound to the plasma membrane in its resting state. How effector binding to the integrated domain (ID) of the Pik-1 sensor leads to the activation of the complex remains to be determined.

Excited to share our latest work on plant immune receptor biochemistry! @kamounlab.bsky.social @hsuanpai.bsky.social @mpcontreras.bsky.social Jose Salguero Linares @danielluedke.bsky.social @adnroide.bsky.social @jiorgoskourelis.bsky.social

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

#PlantChemetics
#2025ISMPMI

Chewing the fat with old colleagues @jiorgoskourelis.bsky.social #ismpmi2025

Research Associate in Programmable Plant Immunity at Imperial College London Apply for the Research Associate in Programmable Plant Immunity role on jobs.ac.uk, the top job board for academic positions in higher education. View details and apply now.

Plz RT. We are looking for a postdoc to join our collborative project on AI-guided bioengineering of plant immune receptors @tolgaboz.bsky.social and @jiorgoskourelis.bsky.social labs: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNV032/r...

Diversification of the "EDVID" packing motif underpins structural and functional variation in plant NLR coiled-coil domains · Nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat receptors (NLRs) are critical in plant immunity and display remarkable allelic diversity. Coiled-coiled NLRs (CC-NLRs) are the most widespread group of these r...

Excited to share the first preprint from my lab @mpi-mp-potsdam.bsky.social in Potsdam! Huge thanks to @o-sulkowski.bsky.social and the whole team for their hard work and dedication.

📄 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

A hierarchical immune receptor network in lettuce reveals contrasting patterns of evolution in sensor and helper NLRs Nucleotide-binding domain and leucine-rich repeat immune receptors (NLRs) are known for their rapid evolution, even at the intraspecific level, yet the rates of evolution differ significantly across v...

🧵 🥬 Lettuce begin! Super excited to share our new manuscript on contrasting patterns of evolution in sensor and helper NLRs in the NRC network! Tune in for some plant immunology and molecular evolution… 🌱🧬💻 (1/14)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

www.freepatentsonline.com/y2025/003458...
Pikobodies can directly target effectors, not only GFP or mCherry. An impressive technology from @jiorgoskourelis.bsky.social @clemmar.bsky.social @kamounlab.bsky.social

Abstract submission is now open for the IS-MPMI meeting in Cologne, Germany in July. You could consider submitting to the “Structure Informed Synthetic Biology: From Design to Function” session co-chaired by myself and @jiorgoskourelis.bsky.social 😁. Submission deadline 11 March.

De novo designed proteins neutralize lethal snake venom toxins - Nature Deep learning methods have been used to design proteins that can neutralize the effects of three-finger toxins found in snake venom, which could lead to the development of safer and more accessible an...

This pretty much settles it: we're entering the era of low-cost, on-demand binders for everything

Excited to see what people build now that "inject a llama with some junk and bleed it a month later" is no longer the cutting-edge tech
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Our first annual lab Christmas/New Year dinner together with @jiorgoskourelis.bsky.social lab. Amazing food, fantastic company, and a wonderful team. Excited for another year of great discoveries ahead!

Bioengineering of plant NLR (nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat) immune receptors to enhance disease resistance at Imperial College London on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - Bioengineering of plant NLR (nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat) immune receptors to enhance disease resistance at Imperial College London, listed on FindAPhD.com

📢 PhD Opportunity in my lab on Plant Immune Receptor Bioengineering at @imperiallifesci.bsky.social
🌱 Start: October 2025
📅 Deadline: 12th January 2025
🇬🇧 Open to UK students
💰 Fully funded
ℹ️ More info: tinyurl.com/w6ap9v9f
❗ #PlantImmunity #PlantPathology
🙏 Please share with interested candidates!

Subtilase SBT5.2 inactivates flagellin immunogenicity in the plant apoplast - Nature Communications Plants recognize bacteria by perceiving a 22-residue epitope in flagellin. Plant-secreted SBT5.2 subtilases are found to inactivate this epitope, leading to elicitor removal and reducing costly immuni...

🌿 Excited to share our latest research on how host proteases regulate immune activation!

Read more about how SBT5.2 releases and inactivates flg22: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
rdcu.be/d1UsT

Congratulations to all involved!
#PlantImmunity #PlantPathology #PlantChemeticsLab

New!!!👇 #NLRbiology Kudos @amiralito_ @ryoheiterauchi @YuSugiharaY

Can AI modelling of protein structures distinguish between sensor and helper NLR immune receptors? NLR immune receptors can be functionally organized in genetically linked sensor-helper pairs. However, methods to categorize paired NLRs remain limited, primarily relying on the presence of non-canoni...

Can AI modelling of protein structures distinguish between sensor and helper NLR immune receptors?

biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...

A nucleoside signal generated by a fungal endophyte regulates host cell death and promotes root colonization The intracellular colonization of plant roots by the beneficial fungal endophyte Serendipita indica follows a biphasic strategy, including a host cell…

📜 A nucleoside signal generated by a fungal endophyte regulates host cell death and promotes root colonization

🧑‍🔬 Nick Dunken, @algazuccaro.bsky.social, et al.

📔 Cell Host & Microbe

🔗 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

#️⃣ #PlantScience #PlantImmunity

Quantitative light element (sodium and potassium) profiling in plant tissues using monochromatic X-ray fluorescence analysis Accurately determining the elemental composition of plant tissues is essential for physiological studies on plant stress, including salinity tolerance. However, high-throughput routine analysis of lig...

New Preprint!
Excited to share our method for profiling light elements in plant tissues using XRF. Fast, cost-effective, and no extraction needed—perfect for stress-related studies in plants.

Read more: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

#PlantScience #XRF #Innovation

GOHREP and PLESI: guides to navigate through your research projects Students can struggle to articulate the goals and rationale behind their research projects and navigate through the day to day challenges of laboratory research. GOHREP and PLESI can be helpful…

Thank you Simon @SimonStael for hosting me today in Uppsala to talk to the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences @_SLU students about GOHREP and how to science in general. Great discussions! kamounlab.medium.com/gohrep-and-p...

Reintroducing myself on Bluesky @adsteinbrenner.bsky.social -- I'm a plant biologist at UW Seattle (just recently made Associate Professor!)

We study the plant immune system with a special interest in recognition of chewing herbivores and host-pest molecular evolution.

Last few days to apply for a PhD studentship in my group @thesainsburylab.bsky.social

biodtp.norwichresearchpark.ac.uk/projects/ide...

📣 PhD opportunity at @thesainsburylab.bsky.social Norwich, UK.
"Investigating host penetration by the rice blast fungus" with Dr Frank Menke and Nick Talbot
@FrankMenke.bsky.social @talbotlabtsl.bsky.social

Apply before 25 Nov 2024! ⬇️
biodtp.norwichresearchpark.ac.uk/projects/inv...

Activation of plant immunity through conversion of a helper NLR homodimer into a resistosome Plants use NLR immune receptors, which often require downstream "helper" NLRs, for pathogen defense. This study identifies and structurally characterizes the mechanisms of NLR activation, showing that...

📄 NEW PUBLICATION: Activation of plant immunity through conversion of a helper NLR homodimer into a resistosome
@amiralito.bsky.social @mpcontreras.bsky.social @kamounlab.bsky.social @m_selvaraj @mhz1989 @HsuanPai1

www.tsl.ac.uk/publications...
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Had a fantastic visit to Tübingen! Enjoyed discussions with the wonderful people at MPI @galofir.bsky.social @plantevolution.bsky.social (anyone else on this platform 🤔?). A big thank you to Shanshan Wang for nominating me for a prestigious seminar series. Special thanks to Honour for the tour!

Postdoctoral Researcher (Faulkner Group) | John Innes Centre An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Postdoctoral Researcher to join the Faulkner Group at the John Innes Centre, working on cutting-edge science in the field of Cell and Developmental Biology.

We're looking for a postdoc to join our team. If you are fascinated by mechanisms of cell-to-cell communication in plants, get in touch to find out more. #PlantScience

www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/po...

New Article: "The complete genome assembly of Nicotiana benthamiana reveals the genetic and epigenetic landscape of centromeres" rdcu.be/d0h6Q

...revealing the structure, epigenetic landscape and evolutionary dynamics of its centromeres following allotetraploidization. #PlantScience

Diversification of molecular pattern recognition in bacterial NLR-like proteins - Nature Communications Avs proteins are bacterial anti-phage pattern recognition receptors evolutionarily related to eukaryotic NLRs. Here, Béchon et al show that a single bacterial Avs can recognize different phage protein...

One bacterial NLR recognizing three different phage proteins vis direct interaction! How cool is that?

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

Diversification of molecular pattern recognition in bacterial NLR-like proteins - Nature Communications Avs proteins are bacterial anti-phage pattern recognition receptors evolutionarily related to eukaryotic NLRs. Here, Béchon et al show that a single bacterial Avs can recognize different phage protein...

Happy to see our paper out @ Nat Comm

We discovered a bacterial NLR-like pattern recognition receptor that can sense 3 different viral proteins as a signature for infection. This explains its broad defense against different phage families

Congrats Nathalie Béchon!

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

Uitzending - Plantenlaboratorium Om ervoor te zorgen dat iedereen op de aardbol genoeg te eten heeft zullen we heel slim met ons voedsel om moeten gaan. Tirsa gaat naar een hightech plantenlaboratorium in Utrecht. Daar wordt uitvoeri...

First steps on Bluesky.... Let's test how it works by re-sharing Klokhuis Dutch national kids TV broadcast on our Netherlands Plant Ecophenotyping Centre: hetklokhuis.nl/tv-uitzendin... #PlantScience

Plant pattern recognition receptors: from evolutionary insight to engineering - Nature Reviews Genetics Genomic and pangenomic data are yielding insights into the evolution of plant pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) and their molecular triggers. Recent advances in in silico and in vivo methods, along...

New paper from Simon Snoeck, Oliver Johanndrees, Thorsten Nürnberger & Cyril Zipfel.

"Plant pattern recognition receptors: from evolutionary insight to engineering"

#PlantScience #PlantImmunity