Team Thomma
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teamthomma.bsky.social
Team Thomma
@teamthomma.bsky.social
2.8K followers 990 following 160 posts
Alexander von Humboldt Professor of Evolutionary Microbiology
@UniCologne & @CEPLAS_1, studying how fungi interact with plants and their environment. He/him. 💛🖤
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teamthomma.bsky.social
Team Thomma @teamthomma.bsky.social · Oct 30
📣 Now announcing the journal publication 📄 of our work in @newphyt.bsky.social on how Verticillium undermines the plant's 🌱 "cry for help": terrific work by @antonkraege.bsky.social & @wolki95.bsky.social doi.org/10.1111/nph....
Undermining the cry for help: the phytopathogenic fungus Verticillium dahliae secretes an antimicrobial effector protein to undermine host recruitment of antagonistic Pseudomonas bacteria
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...
doi.org
Reposted by Team Thomma
elisabethbik.bsky.social
Thousands of scientists inflate their CVs with self-published studies that cost millions of dollars of public money
1 in 8 'special issues' is filled with articles written by the editor, particularly at the publisher MDPI
@manuelansede.bsky.social
english.elpais.com/science-tech...
Thousands of scientists inflate their CVs with self-published studies that cost millions of dollars of public money
An analysis of 100,000 special issues of academic journals reveals that one in eight is filled with articles written by the editor, particularly at the publisher MDPI
english.elpais.com
January 25, 2026 at 7:41 PM
Reposted by Team Thomma
borjana-a.bsky.social
Dear #Root / #PlantScientists 🧪,
Do you know of any #ProgrammedCellDeath #PCD genes that are specific for #RootHairs only?
The 🌱 species does not matter. RP pls.
#PlantScience #PlantResearch 🧬👩‍🔬
January 22, 2026 at 7:51 AM
Reposted by Team Thomma
amarques.bsky.social
📢 Three new #bioRxiv preprints from our team on holocentric chromosomes.

Together, they connect centromere repeat evolution, karyotype dynamics, and meiotic recombination outcomes, revealing how holocentric genomes evolve and function. 🧬👇
January 21, 2026 at 2:45 PM
Reposted by Team Thomma
spribille.bsky.social
Almost lost amidst the cow excitement (cow-motion?) was that @currentbiology.bsky.social featured a brilliant paper on #lichen fungi in this week’s issue by Victoria Keller et al. including @veera-t-nogerius.bsky.social — what is not to lichen about this new double ascomycete living arrangement
January 21, 2026 at 6:11 PM
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plantphys.bsky.social
Autophagy restricts symbiosis-associated cell death and regulates colonization by Serendipita indica in Arabidopsis (Patricia Zecua-Ramirez , Nick Dunken , et al) doi.org/10.1093/plph... #PlantScience @aspbofficial
January 21, 2026 at 2:26 PM
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twistedbacteria.bsky.social
🦠

The impact of phenotypic heterogeneity on fungal pathogenicity and drug resistance

#fungi #mycology #DrugResistance #pathogens

academic.oup.com/femsre/artic...
The impact of phenotypic heterogeneity on fungal pathogenicity and drug resistance
This review discusses the contribution of phenotypic heterogeneity in fungi to pathogenesis and antifungal drug resistance.
academic.oup.com
January 21, 2026 at 2:45 PM
Reposted by Team Thomma
johninnescentre.bsky.social
PRESS RELEASE - Innovations in spatial imaging could unlock higher wheat yields

Researchers at the John Innes Centre and @earlhaminst.bsky.social are pioneering powerful single-cell visualisation techniques that could unlock higher yields of global wheat 🌾

www.jic.ac.uk/press-releas...
January 20, 2026 at 9:46 AM
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asiya-gusa.bsky.social
Sharing our lab’s first publication! Probing clinical isolates of Cryptococcus, a disease-causing fungus of the lungs and brain, we found multiple heat-mobile elements that ‘jump’ in the genome at body temperature (!) with the ability to drive adaptive changes. journals.plos.org/plosgenetics...
January 17, 2026 at 12:33 PM
Reposted by Team Thomma
evanowack.bsky.social
The symbiont-harboring trypanosomatid Angomonas deanei is Parasite of the Month. 🙂
authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...
Short graphical abstract summarizing key facts about Angomonas: its habitat in the digestive tract of insects; the cellular organization of the flagellate containing a single cytoplasmic endsymbiont with associated glycosomes; synchronized cell cycles of host and endosymbiont; the discovery of endosymbiont-targeted host proteins (ETPs) by mass spectrometry; differential subcellular localization of the ETPs; and the endosymbiont division machinery of dual genetic origin.
January 17, 2026 at 7:59 AM
Reposted by Team Thomma
spicybotrytis.bsky.social
Ever wondered if diverse plant species respond similarly when infected by the same exact pathogen? Infect different asterids and rosids with the same Botrytis genotypes and teh short answer, quite differently.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

@annajomu.bsky.social @ccaseys.bsky.social

(1/3)
A multi-plant transcriptomic atlas reveals conserved and lineage specific defense architectures in response to Botrytis cinerea
Generalist pathogens pose a challenge to plant immunity by infecting diverse hosts while harboring extensive intraspecific genetic variation. Whether evolutionary distant plant lineages rely on a shar...
www.biorxiv.org
January 15, 2026 at 10:52 PM
Reposted by Team Thomma
femsmicro.org
In 2026, FEMS will introduce a number of important updates across its journals portfolio as part of a wider refresh.

We’ve shared more about what’s changing, and why, in our latest update: buff.ly/NU89NNk
January 16, 2026 at 10:07 AM
Reposted by Team Thomma
frunzkelab.bsky.social
Happy to share our recent preprint:
"DNA-intercalating antiphage molecules trigger abortive infection through mutual destruction and synergize with bacterial immunity"

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

@spp2330.bsky.social, @mibinet.bsky.social, @dfg.de @hhu.de @fzj.bsky.social
January 14, 2026 at 8:57 AM
Reposted by Team Thomma
coweatherman.bsky.social
Oh look, more evidence of MDPI and Frontiers being troublesome publishers that you should avoid.
hansonmark.bsky.social Mark A. Hanson @hansonmark.bsky.social · 14d
We've got ISSUES. Literally.

We scraped >100k special issues & over 1 million articles to bring you a PISS-poor paper. We quantify just how many excess papers are published by guest editors abusing special issues to boost their CVs. How bad is it & what can we do?

arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563

A 🧵 1/n
January 13, 2026 at 12:33 PM
Reposted by Team Thomma
hansonmark.bsky.social
We've got ISSUES. Literally.

We scraped >100k special issues & over 1 million articles to bring you a PISS-poor paper. We quantify just how many excess papers are published by guest editors abusing special issues to boost their CVs. How bad is it & what can we do?

arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563

A 🧵 1/n
January 13, 2026 at 8:27 AM
Reposted by Team Thomma
somssich.bsky.social
If you're interested in #PlantScience R&D work at a plant breeding company: @kwsgroup.bsky.social is hosting its annual R&D TalentCampus here in Einbeck on May 29th.

More info here:
www.kws.com/corp/en/care...
Four Images: A scientist in a lab looking at a pipetting robot, a greenhouse with lots of pots containing plants, a scientist with drones and other euipment in a field, and a tractor driver with lots of high-tech equipment in the cockpit. The text is: TalentCampus@KWS May 29, 2026 A look behind the scenes: All KWS research and development departments open their doors The headline and text says: May 29, 2026 in Einbeck, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Seeding the future – breeding combines sciences and talents The image is a wheel showing all the R&D contributions to plant breeding, incl. Molecular Biology Experimental Fields Cell Biology Breeding Phytopathology Chemical Analytics Greenhouse Phenotyping Digitalization Highlights of the program Information stands Breeders of our main crops explain their work From sowing to harvesting: all the special machines of a breeding station Digital tools for field trialing Root phenotyping: how roots grow in the soil Phenotyping with drones: multispectral from a bird's eye view Phytopathology: insects, fungi, nematodes and other pathogens Chemical Analytics and process analysis Catch crops - concepts for agriculture, soil health, CO2 balance Biological seed treatment Breeding technologies – data and genomics specialists support breeding Genome Editing: new breeding technologies and their application at KWS Regulatory Affairs: paving the way to approval From lab to market: how KWS protects intellectual property Marker lab: examine the DNA The art of engineering for seed production Career opportunities at KWS Hands-on activities The start of a new generation of varieties: crossing plants by hand Tissue culture: placing plant parts on a special diet in vitro Leaf harvest for the marker lab Live view of root growth: navigate a camera through the soil
January 13, 2026 at 9:35 AM
Reposted by Team Thomma
pierremarcdelaux.bsky.social
Latest preprint from the lab!
biorxiv-plants.bsky.social bioRxiv Plant Bio @biorxiv-plants.bsky.social · 15d
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
January 12, 2026 at 8:34 AM
Reposted by Team Thomma
zoebernasconi.bsky.social
Our new article is now online on @natplants.nature.com! ✨
We identified and characterised AvrPm4 and SvrPm4, a pair of powdery mildew effectors controlling avirulence on the wheat kinase fusion resistance protein Pm4 🌾 check it out ➡️ www.nature.com/articles/s41...
January 12, 2026 at 3:27 PM
Reposted by Team Thomma
bedutilh.bsky.social
PhD position in Jena! Unique German-French collaboration to work on integrating phage genomic modules into VirJenDB.org - make sense of #phages, #big_data, #front_end, #back_end, #database. Please apply here 👇
jobs.uni-jena.de/jobposting/c...
PhD student bioinformatics: Phage genomic modules: data mining, visualisation, and databasing
jobs.uni-jena.de
January 12, 2026 at 11:41 AM
Reposted by Team Thomma
metalichen.bsky.social
⚡️Fully funded #PhD position in my lab at Stockholm University / SciLifeLab! If you’re interested in #lichens, #symbiosis, fungal biology, or meta-omics, please apply. Deadline Feb 1. Read more here: su.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
Black field with a macro image of a bright orange lichen Xanthoria in one of the corner. Little diagrams showing a structure of a lichen thallus with different layers in grey and green, a phylogenetic tree, and an alphafold generated structure of a protein. White text says "PhD position in Stockholm University / SciLifeLab. Lichen Biology, Symbiosis, Microbial Ecology & Evolution,Meta-omics Fully funded for 4 years. Start Apr-Sep 2026. Deadline for application: Feb 1st."
January 12, 2026 at 2:15 PM
Reposted by Team Thomma
delaconcepcionjc.bsky.social
With the new year, is my time to say bye to @gmivienna.bsky.social as I move to @zmbp-tuebingen.bsky.social in Tuebingen. I will start my solo Group Leader career as a Emmy Norther fellow. Thanks to everyone that helped on the way. I will be advertising PhD and Postdoc positions soon, stay tuned!
January 11, 2026 at 1:04 PM
Reposted by Team Thomma
kamounlab.bsky.social
A new twist on the apoplastic interactions taking place between Phytophthora infestans and tomato 🍅

Kudos Jie Huang @jieoxford et al. doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
January 11, 2026 at 11:52 AM
Reposted by Team Thomma
izzysaurlab.bsky.social
Wei Shi @wshisky.bsky.social & Merle‘s work is online. Wei really pushed this work from scratch and Merle linked it to MLA diversification…3rd (co-)first author paper in her PhD. Very proud PI!
And only possible through collaboration with G. Döhlemann, @grandpahiro.bsky.social &, Matt Platre. (1/x)
Targeting of the barley cell-surface receptor SRF3 by the Blumeria hordei effector AVRA13 overlaps with AVRA13 recognition by MLA and the induction of NLR-mediated cell death.
Pathogens secrete effector proteins to promote virulence. Despite their recognition by barley Mla resistance genes, the structurally-related Blumeria hordei ( Bh ) AVRA effectors are maintained in the...
doi.org
January 10, 2026 at 6:31 AM
Reposted by Team Thomma
janelangdale.bsky.social
This more than anything makes an academic career worthwhile - seeing other people achieve their goals
carmen-agro.bsky.social Carmen S. Cañizares @carmen-agro.bsky.social · 17d
Very grateful to all my mentors and colleagues who have supported me over the years, especially to #Palacioslab, @poolelaboxford.bsky.social, #SRUK/CERU, @janelangdale.bsky.social & the @royalsociety.org for the incredible opportunity to start my #juniorPI journey at @biology.ox.ac.uk!! #AcademicMum
January 9, 2026 at 10:15 PM
Reposted by Team Thomma
plantevolution.bsky.social
Out after peer review, led by @shanshanwang3.bsky.social.
Gating of immune responses in Arabidopsis mesophyll cells: after initial response, immune gene expression stays hi in some cells, while during PTI other cells reinitiate a growth-related program.
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
January 8, 2026 at 10:59 AM
Reposted by Team Thomma
apmweber.bsky.social
BARVISTA visualises gene expression in the barley shoot apical meristem with single-cell resolution

@edgardemesa.bsky.social @usadellab.bsky.social @simonrdg.bsky.social @isaiavardanega.bsky.social @plantgen-hhu.bsky.social @hhu.de @ceplas.bsky.social

www.plabipd.de/projects/han...
January 8, 2026 at 10:47 AM