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Postdoctoral researcher Plant microbe interactions AG Döhlemann University of Cologne

Maurice König

An immune signal can hide inside a precursor protein. 🌱 Phytocytokines are cut free by proteases - from proteins with related, unrelated, or unclear functions. The challenge: predicting which protease acts where, when, and at which site. Read more in our review: doi.org/10.1111/tpj....

27d

Many thanks to @theplantjournal.bsky.social editorial team and reviewers for their support and feedback.

Many thanks to everyone involved - especially @jomivi.bsky.social @Gunther Doehlemann and @Hermanyanto Laia — for the great support, scientific input, and team effort!

Happy to be part of this collaborative work from the Zuccaro lab 🌱 Prion-like fungal PEPSI effectors target plastids and modulate host metabolism during root symbiosis, including the PEPSI6–DXR interaction. PEPSI6 also connects to phytocytokine biology through possible CAP/CAPE-like processing.

1mo

Science Shared: May 16 www.botany.one/science-shar... This week: hybrids everywhere, plasmodesmata in many places, and more. #Botany #PlantScience

Plants use immunogenic peptides to coordinate immunity. Pathogens can mimic them to hijack defense. 🌱 We compare phytocytokines with animal cytokines and ask how these signals are made, released, mimicked, and controlled in space and time. doi.org/10.1111/tpj....

One highlight from our review: peptide signals can be copied or rerouted to redirect plant responses. 🌱 Bacteria, fungi and nematodes tap into phytocytokine pathways via mimics or altered release - steering infection, colonization and symbiosis. Read more about it here: doi.org/10.1111/tpj....

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Maurice König

1mo

Metabolic Engineering Boosts Strigolactone Production in Nicotiana benthamiana and Uncovers a Novel P450 Function https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.04.02.716082v1

Maurice König

Thank you to @izzysaurlab.bsky.social, @teamthomma.bsky.social, and their teams for hosting our next two MadFungi workshops, "Expression in Barley Protoplasts" and "Expression of Antimicrobial Proteins," at @unicologne.bsky.social. It was a great week with all of our MadFungi PhD candidates! 🍄

Maurice König

www.biorxiv.org

2mo

1mo

Maurice König

Botany One

Spatial organization of plant defense at the infection front https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.04.01.715938v1

MadFungi

2mo

bioRxiv Plant Bio

Proud to share our new paper on how prion-like fungal effectors target plastids and modulate host metabolism during root symbiosis. Exciting collaborative work uncovering PEPSI effectors and the interaction of one of them with DXR in plants. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... bsky.app/profile/eell...

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