Thank you Lothar! 😊

Thank you Robertas! 😊

Looking forward to meeting you there! 😃

A long road to the Cover of Science!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Thank you Johana! 😊

Thank you Peter! 😊

Thank you Charles! 😀

Read the paper 👉 Localized glutamine leakage drives the spatial structure of root microbial colonization | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

(5/5) Very happy to share this journey with amazing collaborators! Huge thanks to our close collaborators Feng Zhou and Yuanjie Tang! Thank you Valérie D. T., Jia P., @kathywippel.bsky.social, Jordan V., Christoph K., @tonnigrubeandersen.bsky.social & many others for making this possible!

(4/5) These findings highlight the fine-scale heterogeneity of nutrient availability along roots and its role in structuring microbial communities.

(3/5) Bacterial mutants unable to sense amino acids failed to locate these hotspots. To probe further, we generated a glutamine-inducible bacterial reporter strain, enabling high-resolution mapping of bacterial metabolic states along the root.

(2/5) We show that microbial colonization follows spatial patterns linked to the integrity of the Casparian strip. When the strip is absent or broken—at elongation zones or lateral root emergence sites—glutamine leaks out, attracting microbes and creating colonization hotspots.

Very excited to see our @nikogeldner.bsky.social lab x Feng Zhou lab work featured on the cover of Science!
(1/5) We reveal how root architecture and nutrient leakage shape spatial patterns of microbial colonization, moving beyond traditional models of uniform exudation.

Totally, that would be a very interesting application! It's definitely worth exploring! 😁

Indeed, could be interesting to test! I am not sure if we have the MYB36loop line in our lab already. Let me check! 😃

Thank you Courtney! The amount of glutamine we detected (leaked from the sgn3myb36 mutant) and applied was in the µM range, and the treatment lasted only 6 hours. Under these conditions, we did not observe any impact of glutamine on plant growth/root development.

See you there 😊

My poster is up and ready at #2025ISMPMI! Curious why bacteria show spatial colonization preferences on roots? If you want to know more, come visit my poster P-248, on Thursday, 13:30–15:15