Fungi deploy antimicrobial proteins (AMPs) to compete with microbes, including bacteria. But can bacteria fight back?
We @teamthomma.bsky.social found that some AMP-sensitive bacteria can repress AMP deployment, suggesting an unrecognized bacterial–fungal arms race.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Very happy to share results from the first year of my PhD: we found that the model alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii engages in a mutualistic interaction with Verticillium fungi. With @hroevenich.bsky.social and Urs.
Graphical abstract: 🟢 + 🍄= 💚
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Where do plant pathogen effectors come from? @mesny.bsky.social shows how fungi turned shield 🛡️ into sword ⚔️ to end up with dual-function molecules to disrupt host immunity & protective host microbiota. @ceplas.bsky.social @mibinet.bsky.social @madfungi.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
📣 Major milestone achieved! First @teamthomma.bsky.social @unicologne.bsky.social PhD student graduated 🎉! Congratulations to @wolki95.bsky.social for a stellar defence of a thesis on antimicrobial effectors of Verticillium dahliae that drive niche adaptation #proudPI #PhDone
📣 Massively proud of this ⬇️ great study, led by the brilliant @mesny.bsky.social surprisingly uncovering that many pathogen effectors stem from ancient antimicrobials 🤯 #EffectorWisdom #EvoMPMI
I’m very happy to see my fist article now officially published 🥳 great work by my partner in crime @wolki95.bsky.social and the rest of @teamthomma.bsky.social! Find it here: doi.org/10.1111/nph.... or have a look at the 🧵⬇️
Bacteria evolving to survive the soil battleground 🦠🛡️
Super glad I got to be part of this fascinating study, led by my friend @jinyi-zhu.bsky.social, who’s equally impressive in the lab and at the gym 💪
📣Last week another @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social dropped:
"A fungal pathogen effector that shapes host plant microbiota kills bacteria through lipoteichoic acid binding and membrane disruption" a joint effort by @nicksnelders.bsky.social & @gabriellapetti.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
📣 New preprint on @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social: Bacteria rewire fungal antimicrobial gene expression in microbial arms races
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
This work, led by outstanding @jinyi-zhu.bsky.social, shows that bacteria suppress fungal antimicrobial protein expression to evade antagonism
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...
www.biorxiv.org
Jinyi Zhu
Zoe Prockl
www.biorxiv.org
www.biorxiv.org
Fungal effectors may have evolved from ancient antimicrobials, shaping plant microbiota and immunity during infection.
Fungi deploy antimicrobial proteins (AMPs) to compete with microbes, including bacteria. But can bacteria fight back?
We @teamthomma.bsky.social found that some AMP-sensitive bacteria can repress AMP deployment, suggesting an unrecognized bacterial–fungal arms race.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org
Team_Zuccaro
Fantin Mesny
www.biorxiv.org
www.biorxiv.org
Jinyi Zhu
📣 NEW PREPRINT 📝
We identified evolutionary origins of many fungal effectors!
We show that fungi secrete lots of antimicrobial proteins, and that some of them were repurposed by plant pathogens for host immune suppression.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
cc @teamthomma.bsky.social
During pathogen attack, plants recruit beneficial microbes in a ‘cry for help’ to mitigate disease development. Simultaneously, pathogens secrete effectors to promote host colonisation through vario...
Evolutionary histories of effector proteins secreted by fungal pathogens to mediate plant colonization remain largely elusive. While most functionally characterized effectors modulate plant immunity, ...
Last week, our latest @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social preprint was released, a joint-venture of @antonkraege.bsky.social & @wolki95.bsky.social and co-directed by @nicksnelders.bsky.social a 🧵
1/ Happy to share our latest work, now on bioRxiv! 🌱🍄
We explore how Serendipita indica effectors target root plastids and modulate plastidial metabolism through prion-like domains.
bioRxiv: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
#plastids #plantmicrobe #chloroplasts
#plants
Team Thomma
www.biorxiv.org
Ernesto Llamas
Undermining the cry for help: The phytopathogenic fungus Verticillium dahliae secretes an antimicrobial effector protein to undermine host recruitment of antagonistic Pseudomonas bacteria https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.06.09.658588v1
