Madeleine Baker

1/ ✨ New preprint alert ✨

It is my pleasure to share:
"Stepwise evolution of the developmental and symbiotic functions of DELLA in land plants"

Here we investigated the role of the single GRAS transcription factor DELLA in #MyMarchantia

doi.org/10.64898/202...

#PlantScience
A thread...

Thank you Camille !! 🎉

Thank you !! 😁

Thank you Malick! 🤗

A novel pathosystem between Aeschynomene evenia and Aphanomyces euteiches reveals new immune components in quantitative legume root-rot resistance. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.11.698850v1

Root cross-section of Aeschynomene evenia infected with Aphanomyces euteiches. Mycelium is stained green.

New year, new #pathosystem!
Yes, #Aeschynomene evenia can be used as a model to study #legume_Immunity — together with #Aphanomyces euteiches, the pea grower’s worst nightmare.
Check out our preprint on bioRxiv : www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/... . Special congrats to @madeleinebaker.bsky.social !

🎉Why is this exciting?
Understanding genes like AeRLCK2 and AeCRK could help us engineer crops that resist pathogens without compromising beneficial symbiosis.
A step toward more resilient legumes! 🍀
🙏Huge thanks to @baptistebio.bsky.social, @jacquet-chris.bsky.social & all other co-authors 🙌

9/9

🌟 AeRLCK2 & AeCRK2: new players in immunity & symbiosis
Mutations in two Nod-independent symbiotic genes heightened disease resistance.⚡

8/9

😇👿Overlapping and diverging transcriptomic responses in immunity & symbiosis
Identification of a core transcriptomic response to biotic interaction along with oppositely regulated genes, welcoming or fighting friend or foe.

7/9

📊We found a natural diversity of resistance with resistant and susceptible accessions
✅ A valuable resource for studying quantitative resistance.

6/9

🛡️ A transcriptomic defense-like response is induced after inoculation and overlaps with the legume model Medicago truncatula
Transcriptomic analyses reveal that A. euteiches infection triggers a transcriptomic response in A. evenia. DEGs are enriched in immune signaling and metabolic pathways🧬

5/9

🏠 A. evenia is a host to A. euteiches
✅Inoculation induces root browning, biomass loss, and pathogen colonization.
✅SEM images confirm zoospore germination and hyphal penetration as early as 1 day post inoculation !!
✅Oospore formation confirms A. euteiches completed life cycle.

4/9

🤷What’s new?
Unlike many model legumes, Aeschynomene evenia forms symbiosis with rhizobia without Nod factors! This makes it a unique model to explore how plants balance immunity and symbiosis with specific, Nod-independent pathways. 🦠🤝🌱

3/9

❓Why does this matter?
With no effective chemical control against Aphanomyces euteiches, genetic resistance is the best strategy for sustainable management. 🌱💡

2/9

A novel pathosystem between Aeschynomene evenia and Aphanomyces euteiches reveals new immune components in quantitative legume root-rot resistance. Legumes are pivotal for sustainable agriculture, yet their productivity is hindered by soilborne pathogens such as Aphanomyces euteiches . This study introduces Aeschynomene evenia as a novel model to...

🚨 New preprint alert! 🚨
Excited to share my first preprint from my PhD! 🎉
We introduce a novel Aeschynomene evenia – Aphanomyces euteiches pathosystem to explore links between quantitative resistance and symbiosis in legumes. 🌱🔬
🧾 www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...

🧵 Thread:

1/9

Exploring fern pathosystems and immune receptors to bridge gaps in plant immunity - BMC Biology Land plants include angiosperms, gymnosperms, bryophytes, lycophytes, and ferns, each of which may deploy distinct strategies to resist pathogens. Here, we investigate fern-pathogen interactions by characterizing novel pathosystems and analyzing the diversity of fern immune receptors. A collection of fern species was inoculated with a diverse set of filamentous microbes, and disease symptoms were assessed. We further leveraged published genome mining tools to analyse the diversity of receptor-like kinases, receptor-like proteins (RLKs/RLPs) and nucleotide-binding and leucine-rich repeats (NLRs), along with key immune signalling components, in ferns. Our results reveal that ferns exhibit a range of responses to pathogens, including putative non-host resistance and more specific resistance mechanisms. Among ten ferns tested, Pteris vittata displays the broadest spectrum of pathogen compatibility. Genome mining indicates that ferns encode a diverse repertoire of putative immune receptors, antimicrobial peptides, and mediators of systemic acquired resistance. Ferns possess numerous RLKs/RLPs, resembling those required for cell-surface immunity in angiosperms. They also encode diverse NLRs, including sub-families lost in flowering plants. These findings provide insights into disease resistance evolution and open promising perspectives for crop protection strategies.

1\ bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
🌿🌿Our article on fern immunity has been peer-reviewed 🌿🌿
Thanks to @madeleinebaker.bsky.social @kellerjeanphd.bsky.social @maximebonhomme.bsky.social @pierremarcdelaux.bsky.social and @jacquet-chris.bsky.social

a quick thread 🧵 1/4

Ready for the poster session at #2025ISMPMI !
Please come chat about quantitative resistance to Aphanomyces in a new legume pathosystem ! 🌿🛡️
Thanks to @sfp-france.bsky.social for helping me be here !
P-182

Well arrived at #2025ismpmi with @madeleinebaker.bsky.social (Poster P-182) @nicolasfreiditfrey.bsky.social (talk at symbiosis concurrent session) and @katharinamel1.bsky.social (P-407)

All set up for the poster session tomorrow #2025ISMPMI Please join if you wanna know more about transcription factor complexes that play roles during AMS in #MyMarchantia P-407

And, also see posters P-089 @baptistebio.bsky.social and P-182 @madeleinebaker.bsky.social

A plant Lysin Motif Receptor-Like Kinase plays an ancestral function in mycorrhiza | PNAS Arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) with soilborne Glomeromycota fungi was pivotal in the conquest of land by plants almost half a billion years ago. In flo...

I’m very happy that my main PhD work, under the supervision of @malick-mbengue.bsky.social, found a home in @pnas.org
Two days before my PhD defence! 🎉 (1/6)

Huge congrats @paduba.bsky.social !!!! 🎉

Very cool study on convergent evolution of ectomycorrhizal symbiosis in plants, and a very cool thread by the first coauthor @fabianvanbeveren.bsky.social

@lrsv-toulouse.bsky.social

⬇️

Very excited to share this preprint ! 🎉

Have a look and see what we got up to with our fern 🌿 and pathogen 🦠 collection at the @lrsv-toulouse.bsky.social ! ✨

Thanks to everyone involved 🥰