Thorben Krüger

Tomorrow I’ll be presenting some exciting findings from our recent work, including results from our new Plant Cell publication, at the WALII virtual symposium. 🌱 🧐
Hope to see you there at 4 PM CET!
#plantresearch #seedresilience #climatechange #seedresearch #womaninscience

New Article: "Pathogen-induced condensation of the guard cell RNA-binding protein SAIR1 fine-tunes translation for immunity" rdcu.be/eP4kN

SAIR1 forms phosphorylation-regulated condensates in guard cells, which link PAMP–MPK3/6 signalling to stomatal immunity.

This Halloween, we have a spooky evolutionary story for you.
The brainchild of @delaconcepcionjc.bsky.social, Nick Irwin and our fantastic collaborators is now out in @natplants.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Here’s why I love this work — and why I think you’ll enjoy it too. 👇

Electrostatic changes enabled the diversification of an exocyst subunit via protein complex escape - Nature Plants The evolutionary diversification of an exocyst subunit was enabled by electrostatic shifts leading to its dissociation from the ancestral complex.

My main work as postdoc @plantophagy.bsky.social lab in @gmivienna.bsky.social is out in @natplants.nature.com 🌱🎉

We asked how can protein complexes diversify without compromising their function and explored this question using the plant #exocyst complex.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Algal pyrenoids—condensates that mediate ~1/3 of Earth’s CO2 fixation—change size and number as cells divide. Our data suggest a simple control mechanism: a kinase that continuously ejects material from the condensate! ☀️🌍🔬💧 #Biophysics #Photosynthesis
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Figure 1 from Kinoshita and Finkemeier article showing gas-exchange measurements of petiole-cut Arabidopsis leaves in the whole plant chambers of the LI-6800 system. Panel A shows a schematic diagram of the method i.e. petiole cutting on wet paper and insertion of leaves into a parafilm-sealed dish containing water. Panels B-E are graphs that show C02 assimilation and transpiration rates under different conditions tested

Chamber of Secrets?

Kinoshita @strnk17desejp.bsky.social & Finkemeier @ifink-lab.bsky.social present an alternative method to precisely measure CO2 assimilation rate & transpiration of #Arabidopsis leaves in whole-plant chambers

Open Access🔗 doi.org/10.1093/pcp/...

#PlantPhysiology
#PlantScience

🌱🧬 New paper "Advances in seed 'omics" is out and available as advance access article in @jxbotany.bsky.social.
Covers how omics tech is revolutionising seed research - single-cell and multi-omics integration towards climate-resilient crops.
La Trobe and Zhejiang University. doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

🚀 Our new paper is out @natmethods.nature.com!

Kuffer & Marzilli engineered conditionally stable MS2 & PP7 coat proteins (dMCP & dPCP) that degrade unless bound to RNA, enabling ultra–low-background, single-mRNA imaging in live cells.

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧬 www.addgene.org/John_Ngo/

Very cool story out about NRT1.1 also serving as ABA receptor to integrate nitrate and ABA responses in plants ! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
@cellpress.bsky.social

7 years ago,I sat outside @zmbp-tuebingen.bsky.social,gathering the courage to begin a new chapter as a group leader. Now in Bochum, I still need that courage to face challenges—both inside & outside the lab—but after all I’m grateful that I still find joy in what I do. #happybirthday #theustunlab

Photoexcited CRY1 physically interacts with ATG8 to regulate selective autophagy of HY5 and photomorphogenesis in Arabidopsis (Lu Jiang , Shilong Zhang , et al) doi.org/10.1093/plce... #PlantScience

Ancestral P-body proteins rewired for autophagic recycling in the early land plant Marchantia polymorpha Processing bodies (P-bodies) are conserved ribonucleoprotein (RNP) granules central to RNA metabolism across eukaryotes. Although the mechanisms underlying their assembly are well understood, the path...

If you’re enjoying some calm while others are on holiday, here’s a #NEW #preprint to dive into — led by the brilliant @vbcscitraining.bsky.social student A. Abdrakhmanov:
👇 A quick thread + link:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Letter to the editor: a robust technique for gas exchange measurements using petiole-cut Arabidopsis leaves in a whole plant chamber Satoru Naganawa Kinoshita, Iris Finkemeier; Letter to the editor: a robust technique for gas exchange measurements using petiole-cut Arabidopsis leaves in

Thrilled to share our latest short technical paper in PCP!
We propose an alternative leaf-level gas exchange measurement method with petiole-cut leaves and whole plant chamber, enabling the measurements even with the small Arabidopsis plants.🌱
track.smtpsendmail.com/9032119/c?p=...

Warm temperature and mild water stress cooperatively promote root elongation Hayes and Leong et al. show that warm temperature and mild water stress synergistically enhance root elongation in Arabidopsis. The response is mediated by SnRK2.2/2.3 and COP1 through regulation of H...

Warm temperature and mild water stress cooperatively promote root elongation: Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...
Led by Scott Hayes and @minnieleong.bsky.social
@pph-wur.bsky.social @wurplant.bsky.social

Proteome profiling of plant Cajal bodies uncovers kingdom-specific components https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.10.664108v1

If you want to hear about our latest work at @suaybuestuen.bsky.social's lab on pathogen manipulation of host translation and P-bodies at #2025ISMPMI, pass by my presentation today at 12:20 in the concurrent session "Effector interference mechanism" (Room M+N).

Parallel evolution of salinity tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana accessions from Cape Verde Islands Plants from the Cape Verde Islands evolved parallel mutations to protect from high salinity.

Our story about salinity tolerance in the Cape Verde islands is out in Science Advances! @science.org. Two independent mutations in the same gene conferred salt resistance to Arabidopsis plants!

Check it out here!

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Cell-to-cell translocation of florigen is inhibited by low ambient temperature through abscisic acid signaling in Arabidopsis thaliana
www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....
#plantscience

Are you going for the most stylish persons award as well?

Confocal image showing a nucleus of a maize endosperm cell expressing proNAC130:NL-mCherry counterstained with DAPI.

Our latest on cell death and our second on maize: Using single-nucleus RNAseq of maize endosperm, Nicolas Doll (now @rdplab.bsky.social‬) shows that KIL transcription factors promote endosperm cell death to facilitate embryo growth - with a genomic imprinting twist! academic.oup.com/plcell/advan...

Was super fun to present our recent work on protein translation and bacterial infection in the proteostasis session at #ICAR2025 Thanks to the organizers again!

Must read for all who use Nicotiana benthamiana as a platform: “Causes and consequences of experimental variation in Nicotiana benthamiana
transient expression”
#plantscience

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Antagonism as a foraging strategy in microbial communities In natural habitats, nutrient availability limits bacterial growth. We discovered that bacteria can overcome this limitation by acquiring nutrients by lysing neighboring cells through contact-dependen...

Thrilled to share our new paper in @science.org describing our discovery that bacteria can switch from competitors to bonafide predators when resources run dry—arming nanoscale “spears” (T6SS) to stab & consume neighbours.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

#MicroSKy #Microbiology

Control of seed-to-seedling transition by an upstream open reading frame in ABSCISIC ACID DEFICIENT2
www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....
#plantscience

Ribosomes modulate transcriptome abundance via generalized frameshift and out-of-frame mRNA decay Zhang et al. identify a regulatory mechanism for how cells adapt to nutrient scarcity through widespread −1 ribosomal frameshifts, culminating in accelerated mRNA decay. This process, dependent on codon optimality and conserved across species, establishes direct feedback coupling the translation of new proteins with the stability of the mRNA that encodes for them.

Ribosomes modulate transcriptome abundance via generalized frameshift and out-of-frame mRNA decay

📢 It's online (and open access) @newphyt.bsky.social
🍅
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
"Autophagy restricts tomato fruit ripening via a general role in ethylene repression"

& why timing is everything...
Let's dig into it 👇
#plantscience
#autophagy
@volcaniinstitute.bsky.social

Delighted to share one piece of my postdoc work in preprint: Through forward genetic screening for suberin deposition in root endodermis, we identified SUBER GENE 1 (SBG1) by GWAS as a novel regulator for suberization by interacting with Type One Protein Phosphatase. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

🌱 10 days left to apply: join us for a 3y postdoc in the GEH funded project "Optimising crop root growth and function for enhanced drought resilience in legume-sorghum intercropping" - karriere.hochschule-rhein-waal.de/jobposting/a...

Herbivory-induced green leaf volatiles increase plant performance through jasmonate-dependent plant–soil feedbacks - Nature Plants This study reports that herbivory-induced volatiles can trigger plant–soil feedbacks that boost performance and yields of cereals in the field.

New paper on leaf volatiles and plant soil feedbacks determining maize performance. Pretty crazy stuff. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Gibberellin signaling regulates pectin biosynthesis in Arabidopsis
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#plantscience