Lara Van Dijck

Job Alert! We're hiring a BIOINFORMATICIAN / NGS SPECIALIST to support our new Molecular Biodiversity Lab in the @terra-cluster.org at @unituebingen.bsky.social. Like the idea to use your skills for understanding biodiversity? To work on diverse questions in a wonderful place? Apply!
Please repost!

Guns in Rosettes: The Arabidopsis chemical weapons arsenal Arabidopsis remains one of the best studied models today and has a number of remarkable chemical defense systems which actively engage, interact and preven

Fun review of Arabidopsis anti-pathogen metabolism with @somssich.bsky.social and @tonnigrubeandersen.bsky.social.

Started to make a complete catalogue and had to focus. Even with all this knowledge, we still haven't studied most Arabidopsis enzymes or metabolites doi.org/10.1093/plph...

Call for a tenure-track position at our Department of Plant Molecular Biology in Lausanne! We are searching for promising early-career researchers in the broad field of plant-organismal interactions. Deadline: November 30, 2025 - Please re-post!

career5.successfactors.eu/career?caree...

Roots: metabolic architects of beneficial microbiome assembly Abstract. The increasing demand for sustainable agricultural practices has driven a renewed interest in plant–microbiome interactions as a basis for the ne

🔬🌱Our review “Roots: metabolic architects of beneficial microbiome assembly” led by PhD candidate Melissa Uribe Acosta @plantphys.bsky.social discusses plant mechanisms of root microbiome selection. Co-authors: @cornepieterse.bsky.social Jiayu Zhou Alberto Pascale.
academic.oup.com/plphys/artic...

2/2 @hotvegetables.bsky.social now solved this mystery, showing that this locus is responsible for natural variation in root architecture in response to commensal Pseudomonas — likely due to local adaptation
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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

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...

🚨 New paper alert!

Our work is published in PNAS! @junli-wang.bsky.social @mpipz.bsky.social

In this study, we uncover how NLR-assembled and canonical Ca2+ ion channels cooperate to confer robust resistance against disease in plants.

Check it out here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Great to see this really cool story (see quoted post) published in @newphyt.bsky.social!

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Congratulations @laravdijck.bsky.social, @parkergroup.bsky.social!

Plant-Scopoletin-Fungal Endophyte-Iron

#PlantScience #Coumarin #PlantImmunity #PlantNutrition

Plants often struggle to obtain sufficient iron from the soil. Plant metabolites, in concert with root microbes, can enhance iron availability. Here, a root fungal endophyte improves Arabidopsis iron nutrition in synergy with plant-derived coumarins.

Cooperation between a root fungal endophyte and host‐derived coumarin scopoletin mediates Arabidopsis iron nutrition Iron acquisition is a critical challenge for plants, especially in iron-deficient soils. Recent research underscores the importance of root-exuded coumarins in modulating the root microbiome communi.....

Super excited to share that my PhD research paper is finally out!
@newphyt.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1111/nph....

@parkergroup.bsky.social

Plant-associated fungi co-opt ancient antimicrobials for host manipulation Evolutionary histories of effector proteins secreted by fungal pathogens to mediate plant colonization remain largely elusive. While most functionally characterized effectors modulate plant immunity, ...

📣 NEW PREPRINT 📝

We identified evolutionary origins of many fungal effectors!
We show that fungi secrete lots of antimicrobial proteins, and that some of them were repurposed by plant pathogens for host immune suppression.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

cc @teamthomma.bsky.social

Parker Group alumni, from the early 2000s to 2025, the best folks! Grateful for everyone who helped shape the science over the years #2025ISMPMI
Thanks @federicalocci.bsky.social for taking the picture

Pseudomonas intra-genus competition determines the protective function of synthetic bacterial communities in Arabidopsis thaliana The plant microbiome can protect its host against detrimental bacterial strains. This study shows that competition among Pseudomonas bacteria in synthetic bacterial communities determines how well the...

Our paper on Pseudomonas intra-genus competition in SynComs on Arabidopsis roots is now out @plosbiology.org ! 🎉
If you want to chat about the story, visit poster 374 tomorrow, Thursday #2025ISMPMI

journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Great talk at #2025ISMPMI by @federicalocci.bsky.social on a TN protein in systemic resistance. So happy to catch up on @parkergroup.bsky.social projects!

Want to learn more about fungal-coumarin-iron interactions in the rhizosphere? Come to my poster 240 on Thursday
#2025ISMPMI

Aaron Lawson - Up and coming protocol for recombinant protein complex expression (powdery mildew MLA-Avr) using Nbenth #2025ISMPMI

#ICAR2025
Thank you to all who participated in today's workshop! I'm still pondering our final question, since to some extent we are "preaching to the choir". How do we get the folks in the room who really need to be there?
What are your thoughts?

Starting the scientific program of #ICAR2025 with an amazing keynote by Jane Parker @parkergroup.bsky.social on the structural basis of plant immunity! Looking forward to 5 days of fantastic Arabidopsis and plant science at the #Bijlokesite in Ghent!

Really happy to see my PhD work out. Big thanks to @tonnigrubeandersen.bsky.social and everyone involved. I hope you enjoy reading it :)

Thank you!!

Cooperation between a root fungal endophyte and host-derived coumarin scopoletin mediates Arabidopsis iron nutrition Iron acquisition is a critical challenge for plants, especially in iron-deficient soils. Recent research underscores the importance of root-exuded coumarins in modulating the root microbiome community...

Curious about my PhD research @parkergroup.bsky.social? The paper is available as preprint on bioRxiv now!
🔬 The interaction between scopoletin and fungal endophyte F80 rescues plant growth under iron-limiting conditions by resolving the iron mobility bottleneck.
📝 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Over the last couple of years I have been writing individual chapters of what I call

𝗔 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲

Each chapter covers a specific, basic, but for some reason special and interesting aspect of #PlantScience research.

Have a look here 👇🧵

The post shows a picture of Ram after successfully passing her viva on a green background with words congratulating him on acquiring the PhD title.

Celebrating a new PhD at @mpipz.bsky.social! 🎓 Dr. Ram Sevak Raja Kumar defended her thesis in @hacquardst.bsky.social’s lab. Congrats, and all the best for what’s next! 🌟 #PhDone #PlantScience

We present MetaFlowTrain, an easy-to-build, highly parallelized, and cost-effective fluidic system for studying microbial exometabolites and their roles in modulating microbe–microbe–host interactions. Kudos to @chesneau-g.bsky.social @mpipz.bsky.social
Give it a try: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Postdoctoral Researcher - VIB OverviewThe group of Specialized Metabolism, led by Prof. Alain Goossens at the VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology, and the metabolic engineering researc

Recruitment time! You're a junior postdoc and want to discover and produce bioactive fungal metabolites that are involved in the chemical warfare between fungi and plants? Then apply here!
jobs.vib.be/j/108923/pos...

Reminder: the abstract submission deadline has been extended to March 26. Don’t miss this opportunity—submit your abstract today!

Submit now: www.ismpmi.org/Events/2025C...
#2025ISMPMI #PlantMicrobeInteractions #ScienceConference

European Union takes giant leap forward toward embracing technologically-enhanced agriculture, advances de-regulation of gene edited crops On Friday 14 March 2025, Member States' representatives (Coreper) endorsed the Council's negotiating mandate on the regulation on plants obtained by new genomic techniques (NGTs) and their food and fe...

European Union takes giant leap forward toward embracing technologically-enhanced agriculture, advances de-regulation of gene edited crops geneticliteracyproject.org/2025/03/17/e...

The post shows a picture of Henriette after successfully passing his viva on a green background with words congratulating him on acquiring the PhD title.

We are happy to announce another PhD success at @mpipz.bsky.social! 🎉 Dr. Henriette Läßle has passed her viva in Jane Parkers’s lab. Huge congrats, Dr. Läßle, and best of luck with your next steps! 🚀🌱🎓

#PhDSuccess #PlantScience #PhDone

Deadline extended! You wanted more time, and we heard you. The #2025ISMPMI Congress abstract submission deadline is now March 26.

Don’t miss your chance to present your research and connect with top scientists! Submit now: www.ismpmi.org/Events/2025C...

Jeff Dangl and Jonathan Jones in front of a boat named ZIGZAGZIG.

#PlantScienceClassics #7: The ZigZag Model. 15 years ago @jonathandgjones.bsky.social & Jeff Dangl published their review integrating Pattern/PAMP-Triggered Immunity (PTI) & Effector-Triggered Immunity (ETI) into one unified model of ‘The plant immune system’. doi.org/10.1038/natu...