Ka Wai Ma
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kawaima.bsky.social
Ka Wai Ma
@kawaima.bsky.social
250 followers 180 following 28 posts
Used to be a serial plant killer. Still is. Also known as an assistant research fellow at the institute of Plant and Microbial Biology (IPMB), Taipei, Taiwan, working on plant microbiota / plant microbiome and plant innate immunity
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kawaima.bsky.social
Ka Wai Ma @kawaima.bsky.social · Feb 20
Congratulations to Jana Ordon and all coauthors!!! Our new study is published in @natureplants.bsky.social
"Conserved immunomodulation and variation in host association by Xanthomonadales commensals in Arabidopsis root microbiota" (0/n)
rdcu.be/eauzt
Conserved immunomodulation and variation in host association by Xanthomonadales commensals in Arabidopsis root microbiota
Nature Plants - The authors show that immunosuppression is highly conserved in the bacterial order Xanthomonadales. This feature, which preceded their specialization as host-adapted pathogens,...
rdcu.be
Reposted by Ka Wai Ma
luckystrike1984.bsky.social
Was great visiting Ka-Wai @kawaima.bsky.social at Academia Sinica, Taiwan. Thanks for having me and for all the joyful, fruitful, and productive discussions!!
November 14, 2025 at 11:44 PM
kawaima.bsky.social
Are you expecting a new age of microbiome engineering
Metagenomic editing of commensal bacteria in vivo using CRISPR-associated transposases
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Metagenomic editing of commensal bacteria in vivo using CRISPR-associated transposases
Although metagenomic sequencing has revealed a rich microbial biodiversity in the mammalian gut, methods to genetically alter specific species in the microbiome are highly limited. Here, we introduce ...
www.science.org
November 14, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Reposted by Ka Wai Ma
evolvedbiofilm.bsky.social
Evolution of One Species Increases Resistance to Invasion in a Simple Synthetic Community

Microbial Ecology

link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Evolution of One Species Increases Resistance to Invasion in a Simple Synthetic Community - Microbial Ecology
The species that make up a microbial community determine its potential function. A major goal of microbial ecology is to make assemblages of microbes — synthetic communities — with targeted applicatio...
link.springer.com
October 21, 2025 at 6:11 AM
Reposted by Ka Wai Ma
gittacoaker.bsky.social
My department at UC Davis is hiring a mycologist, broadly interpreted. Please repost, share, and consider applying. recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07339
Assistant Professor of Plant Pathology
University of California, Davis is hiring. Apply now!
recruit.ucdavis.edu
September 22, 2025 at 5:36 PM
kawaima.bsky.social
A bacterial signal coordinates plant-microbe fitness trade-off to enhance sulfur deficiency tolerance in plants: Cell Host & Microbe www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...
A bacterial signal coordinates plant-microbe fitness trade-off to enhance sulfur deficiency tolerance in plants
Mukherjee et al. report fitness trade-off between plants and the rhizosphere microbiome under sulfur deficiency, mediated by the tri-peptide signal glutathione. Competition among rhizosphere bacteria ...
www.cell.com
October 1, 2025 at 2:35 AM
Reposted by Ka Wai Ma
benfield1.bsky.social
Discovery of a chromatin-associated complex (CACG) of ~16 proteins that negatively regulates the expression of nutrient-starvation-induced gene. CACG is of course controlled by TOR! #PlantScience www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Nutrient-driven TOR signalling controls a chromatin-associated complex for orchestrating plant growth and stress tolerance - Nature Plants
A chromatin-associated complex, which is dynamically regulated by TOR kinase at the translational level, functions to suppress the transcription of stress-responsive genes marked by histone acetylation, thereby coordinating plant growth and stress tolerance.
www.nature.com
September 30, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Reposted by Ka Wai Ma
evolvedbiofilm.bsky.social
Super cool Pseudomonas-Bacillus interaction paper in @natmicrobiol.nature.com from Yun Chen
with @gabrieleberg.bsky.social

Phenazines shape Gram+ abundance & influence Bacillus cell biology

Phenazines contribute to microbiome dynamics by targeting topoisomerase IV
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
September 11, 2025 at 2:04 PM
kawaima.bsky.social
Our review article on the "Potential and challenges for application of microbiomes in agriculture" is published
@theplantcell.bsky.social [1/n]
doi.org/10.1093/plce...
Potential and challenges for application of microbiomes in agriculture
Abstract. The plant microbiome can promote plant health and productivity through a multitude of mechanisms. Our understanding of plant–microbiome interacti
doi.org
September 2, 2025 at 2:10 AM
kawaima.bsky.social
To my friends of the MPMI community, is there a way to minimize microbial aggregation e.g. Streptomyces during the culturing step?
August 29, 2025 at 12:51 AM
Reposted by Ka Wai Ma
pacyc184.bsky.social
Adaptive pangenomic remodeling in the Azolla cyanobiont amid a transient microbiome | The ISME Journal | Oxford Academic https://academic.oup.com/ismej/advance-article/doi/10.1093/ismejo/wraf154/8216778?login=true
Adaptive pangenomic remodeling in the Azolla cyanobiont amid a transient microbiome
Abstract. Plants fix nitrogen in concert with diverse microbial symbionts, often recruiting them from the surrounding environment each generation. Vertical
dx.doi.org
August 19, 2025 at 2:26 AM
kawaima.bsky.social
A defined microbial community reproduces attributes of fine flavour chocolate fermentation
nature.com/articles/s41...
rdcu.be/eBN14
A defined microbial community reproduces attributes of fine flavour chocolate fermentation - Nature Microbiology
An in-depth microbiological and metagenomic analysis of Colombian farm and fermentation facilities resulted in the design of a defined microbial community that can reproduce the flavour of fine chocol...
nature.com
August 22, 2025 at 1:19 AM
Reposted by Ka Wai Ma
seppekuehnlab.bsky.social
New paper in @nature.com! With @kiseokmicro.bsky.social , Siqi Liu, Kyle Crocker, Jojo Wang, Mikhail Tikhonov & Madhav Mani — a massive dataset and simple model reveal a few conserved regimes that capture how soil microbiome metabolism responds to perturbations. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
July 17, 2025 at 6:36 AM
Reposted by Ka Wai Ma
gittacoaker.bsky.social
Excited this paper is finally published! We focused on the inner concave surface of LRR RKs to expand bacterial flagellin perception in plants. Selection indicates expanded perception is more common than previously thought. Experiments led by @jerrytli.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Unlocking expanded flagellin perception through rational receptor engineering - Nature Plants
Receptor kinase FLS2 detects the flg22 epitope of bacterial flagellin. Here the authors identify key residues on FLS2’s concave surface that enable expanded perception of flg22 variants, allowing the ...
www.nature.com
July 29, 2025 at 1:18 AM
Reposted by Ka Wai Ma
somssich.bsky.social
📜 Unlocking gene regulatory networks for crop resilience and sustainable agriculture

🧑‍🔬 Richalynn Leong, Xin He, Bob Sebastiaan Beijen, @dinglab.bsky.social, et al.

📔 @natbiotech.nature.com

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#️⃣ #PlantScience #PlantImmunity #Agronomy #PlantStress #PlantGenomics
Unlocking gene regulatory networks for crop resilience and sustainable agriculture - Nature Biotechnology
Gene regulatory networks are crucial for understanding complex gene regulation in plants and could advance crop improvement for more sustainable and climate-resilient agricultural practices.
www.nature.com
July 7, 2025 at 1:55 PM
kawaima.bsky.social
Do you know bacteria also have 'fight and flight' responses. I wrote an article summarizing the beautiful work of Carmen Beuzon.
rdcu.be/eu8be

If you find more interest after reading this short summary, the original article is here
rdcu.be/eu8ng
Coordinated action by individuals orchestrates infection through the division of labour
Nature Reviews Microbiology - In this Journal Club, Ka-Wai Ma discusses a paper that establishes that phenotypic heterogeneity and division of labour promote plant infection.
rdcu.be
July 7, 2025 at 10:29 AM
kawaima.bsky.social
Friends from the MPMI committee. Your vote matters. The race is really tight, but I will testify based on personal experience that Wenbo is actively contributing to the MPMI committee, an advocate for diversity and a supporter for early career scientists including me. www.ismpmi.org/members/Page...
Wenbo Ma
Wenbo MaThe Sainsbury Laboratory, United KingdomView Statement​​IS-MPMI has been a cornerstone of my journey as a scientist and leader, from attending my first Congress in 2005 (Mérida, Mexico), to se...
www.ismpmi.org
May 16, 2025 at 9:11 AM
Reposted by Ka Wai Ma
t3sss.bsky.social
Pseudomonas syringae subpopulations cooperate by coordinating flagellar and type III secretion spatiotemporal dynamics to facilitate plant infection
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Pseudomonas syringae subpopulations cooperate by coordinating flagellar and type III secretion spatiotemporal dynamics to facilitate plant infection - Nature Microbiology
Single-cell gene expression analysis reveals phenotypic heterogeneity to enable bacterial specialization over the course of plant colonization.
www.nature.com
April 2, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Reposted by Ka Wai Ma
plantaeofficial.bsky.social
Plant Science Research Weekly -- A broad-spectrum antimicrobial peptide identified from Burkholderia bacterium (Plant Biotechnology Journal) (Summary by Yee-Shan Ku) plantae.org/a-broad-spec...

#PlantaePSRW
A broad-spectrum antimicrobial peptide identified from Burkholderia bacterium | Plantae
Microbial pesticides are widely applied to improve crop production, but the active molecules are largely unexplored. In a recent study, Mohamed et al., identified an antimicrobial peptide (AMP) from…
plantae.org
March 31, 2025 at 4:15 PM
kawaima.bsky.social
‼️we are pleased to share the first work coming from my lab on biorxiv.

Misregulation of the jasmonate signaling pathway leads to altered plant microbiota interaction and plant stress responses biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

1/n
Misregulation of the jasmonate signaling pathway leads to altered plant microbiota interaction and plant stress responses
The model plant Arabidopsis thaliana hosts diverse microbial communities collectively known as the microbiota. The plant microbiota is generally taxonomically structured. Some of the members can promo...
biorxiv.org
April 1, 2025 at 1:44 AM
Reposted by Ka Wai Ma
cp-cell.bsky.social
Now online! Crop root bacterial and viral genomes reveal unexplored species and microbiome patterns
Crop root bacterial and viral genomes reveal unexplored species and microbiome patterns
Comprehensive bacterial and viral genome collections from crop roots uncover a large number of unexplored species and highlight conserved patterns within root microbiomes. Genomes and isolates are accessible at www.cropmicrobiome.com.
dlvr.it
March 12, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Reposted by Ka Wai Ma
jeanmichelane.bsky.social
Great review from @angelakent.bsky.social and @sierrathescientist.bsky.social on the nitrogen problem in agriculture and microbial solutions

sco.lt/5Xwiu0
Navigating nitrogen sustainability with microbiome-associated phenotypes | Plant-Microbe Symbiosis
Crop microbiomes promote plant health through various mechanisms, including nutrient provisioning. However, agriculture neglected the importance of these microbiome-associated phenotypes (MAPs) in con...
sco.lt
March 17, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Reposted by Ka Wai Ma
microsos.bsky.social
🌱Announcing 3 More Keynote Speakers for #PMS2025! 🌱

🔬 Manuel Delgado Baquerizo – IRNAS-CSIC
🌱 María J. Pozo – Estación Experimental del Zaidín (CSIC)
🌍 Lucas William Mendes – University of Sao Paulo

Join us at #PMS2025 in Malaga in November. Register now: 6thplantmicrobiomesymposium2025.com
March 17, 2025 at 11:53 AM
Reposted by Ka Wai Ma
evolvedbiofilm.bsky.social
Plant growth promotion through repression of defenses by leaf microbiota

@cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social Preview by Benjamin Gourion on the recent (below) publication from Gabriel Castrillo

www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...
March 17, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Reposted by Ka Wai Ma
plantevolution.bsky.social
Congratulations to Jeff Dangl, Jonathan Jones & Brian Staskawicz, winners of the 2025 Wolf Prize in Agriculture! Well done, my friends!
www.youtube.com/live/gU8VBaR...
March 10, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Reposted by Ka Wai Ma
rootscientists.bsky.social
📢 The deadline to submit your abstract for #Rhizosphere6 has been extended to this Friday March 14! Looking forward to see you there!
March 12, 2025 at 6:47 AM