Hey #TeamTomo β¦would you like to try some π¦ICECREAM!? Our @unibas.ch colleagues over at the @ivandokmanic.bsky.social lab have developed a stunningly effective tool to de-noise and de-wedge your tomograms. The contrast and details will give you brain freeze! π¨βοΈπ€―
Please try, we need feedback π§ͺπ§Άπ§¬π¬
23.10.2025 17:57 β π 44 π 16 π¬ 1 π 1
What happens when the cell's powerhouse gets stressed out? πͺπ₯΅ Great visualization in this #Mitochondria #TeamTomo study! Congrats @denkenny.bsky.social @ruferbus.bsky.social & crew π§ͺ π§Άπ§¬ π¬
09.10.2025 09:15 β π 25 π 5 π¬ 0 π 0
Time for a thread!π§΅ How different is the molecular organization of thylakoids in βhigherβ plantsπ±? To find out, we teamed up with @profmattjohnson.bsky.social to dive into spinach chloroplasts with #CryoET βοΈπ¬. Curious? ..Read on!
#TeamTomo #PlantScience π§ͺ π§Άπ§¬ πΎ
elifesciences.org/articles/105...
1/π§΅
25.09.2025 18:00 β π 135 π 42 π¬ 3 π 6
I am excited to share our new preprint on the CAGE complex, a mysterious hollow protein complex that I first saw years ago while surveying Tetrahymena ciliary lysate www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #cilia #protistsonsky π§¬π§ͺ
23.09.2025 17:08 β π 167 π 54 π¬ 7 π 13
Was lucky to see this presented at the NYC cryoEM meeting earlier this year - super cool stuff!
22.08.2025 21:37 β π 30 π 10 π¬ 0 π 1
Manipulation of the nucleotide pool in human, bacterial and plant immunity - Nature Reviews Immunology
Modification of the nucleotide pool is emerging as key to innate immunity in animals, plants and bacteria. This Review explains how immune pathways conserved from bacteria to humans manipulate the nuc...
NEW Review from @soreklab.bsky.social @dinahoch.bsky.social explains how immune pathways manipulate the availability of nucleotides, chemically modify nucleotides to generate immune signalling molecules, and produce altered nucleotides that poison viral replication
#immunosky #microsky #phagesky
29.07.2025 14:52 β π 29 π 14 π¬ 0 π 0
Thank you, JC! π
17.07.2025 05:49 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Thank you, Sam!π
17.07.2025 03:33 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
And a special shout-out to @kamounlab.bsky.social for his unwavering support on this journey exploring AVRcap1b from Phytophthora infestans β the infamous Irish potato famine pathogen. π₯π¦
10/10
16.07.2025 12:27 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Huge thanks to Ben and all our fantastic co-authors (βͺ@adelineharant.bsky.social @mpcontreras.bsky.social @Liang-Yu Hou @Chih-Hang Wu βͺ@kamounlab.bsky.socialβ¬) who made this story possible.
Hereβs that amazing movie by Ben again!
9/10
16.07.2025 12:27 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Our model: Once activated, dissociated NRC protomers assemble in a stepwise manner to form a full hexameric resistosome. AVRcap1b blocks this process, capturing NRC assembly intermediates and relocating them via the TOL-ESCRT pathway.
Effector biology rocks! #EffectorWisdom
8/10
16.07.2025 12:27 β π 5 π 2 π¬ 1 π 0
Remember TOL? How does it bind to AVRcap1b compared to SlNRC3? Turns out, they bind to opposite interfaces on AVRcap1b! This supports a dual-targeting mechanism, with the effector linking βimmune suppressionβ to βmembrane traffickingβ
π§ SlNRC3βAVRcap1b (cryoEM)
𧬠AVRcap1bβTOL (PDB:9RDC)
7/10
16.07.2025 12:27 β π 4 π 2 π¬ 1 π 0
It turns out we could use AVRcap1b as a molecular trap to capture other NRC assembly intermediates. One AVRcap1b truncation captured an SlNRC3 assembly intermediate with four protomers.
Cool! NRC resistosomes assemble in a stepwise process!
6/10
16.07.2025 12:27 β π 2 π 1 π¬ 1 π 0
Through its L-shaped structure, AVRcap1b sterically blocks the SlNRC3 resistosome by forming contacts with three protomers (half the hexameric resistosome)!
5/10
16.07.2025 12:27 β π 2 π 2 π¬ 1 π 0
Whatβs this intriguing complex? Together with Ben, we purified the AVRcap1b-SlNRC3 complex from our favourite plantβthe Aussie wonder Nicotiana benthamiana aka benthiβand resolved this beautiful cryo-EM structure and see how AVRcap1b wraps around three SlNRC3 protomers!
4/10
16.07.2025 12:27 β π 6 π 3 π¬ 1 π 0
What sort of complex does AVRcap1b form with activated NRCs? Blue Native-PAGE assays revealed an intermediate complex. Instead of the expected NRC hexamer, we saw an intriguing smaller band that contains both tomato NRC3 and Phytophthora AVRcap1b π€
3/10
16.07.2025 12:27 β π 2 π 1 π¬ 1 π 0
It turned out AVRcap1b associates only with the activated NRCs, but not their resting state. Check this super co-IP experiment from our previous paper:
bsky.app/profile/kamo...
2/10
16.07.2025 12:27 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Weβre building on the recent structure of L-shaped AVRcap1b effector in complex with a host TOL9 protein. This effector bridges TOL9 and NRC helpers to suppress immunity π
bsky.app/profile/mpco...
2/10
16.07.2025 12:27 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
π¨ New @biorxivpreprint alert! π¨
We are thrilled to share our latest findingsβbuilding on our earlier work on suppressors of helper NLRs of the NRC familyβa Phytophthora infestans L-shaped effector captures resistosome assembly intermediates of tomato NRC3!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
1/10
16.07.2025 12:27 β π 30 π 12 π¬ 3 π 0
A co-IP masterclass. Courtesy of Madhu
@jmadhuprakash.bsky.social
10.07.2025 18:12 β π 4 π 1 π¬ 0 π 1
A plant pathogen effector blocks stepwise assembly of a helper NLR resistosome https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.14.664264v1
14.07.2025 14:02 β π 5 π 3 π¬ 0 π 1