Chia-Nan Tao

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...

📣 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....

There is a opening faculty position at Department of Horticulture and Landscape
Architecture, National Taiwan University, Taiwan, where I studied my undergraduate degree.

SALICYLIC ACID SENSOR1 reveals the propagation of an SA hormone surge during plant pathogen advance Salicylic acid (SA) is a key phytohormone that orchestrates immune responses against pathogens, including Pseudomonas syringae bacteria. The timing and extent of SA accumulation are tightly controlled...

FRET sensor for SA developed. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Lost and found: Reconstituting PRR immune function through co-receptor transfer Plant immune receptors hold great promise for engineering broad-spectrum disease resistance, but their effectiveness is very limited by restricted taxonomic functionality (RTF). In this issue of Cell ...

Lost & found: Reconstituting PRR immune function through co-receptor transfer

@isabelmonte.bsky.social highlights work revealing cross-species co-receptor transfer can overcome restricted taxonomic functionality in rice, pointing to strategies for crop protection
www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...

Single-cell multi-omic detection of DNA methylation and histone modifications reconstructs the dynamics of epigenomic maintenance - Nature Methods This work presents scEpi2-seq, a method for simultaneous single-cell profiling of DNA methylation and histone modifications, enabling direct investigation of the interplay between these two epigenomic marks.

Single-cell multi-omic detection of DNA methylation and histone modifications reconstructs the dynamics of epigenomic maintenance www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Neofunctionalized RGF pathways drive haustorial organogenesis in parasitic plants Plant peptide hormones regulate and induce the parasitic plant specialized organ for connecting to and feeding from the host.

Well done, Max! Neofunctionalized RGF pathways drive haustorial organogenesis in parasitic plants | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Pleased to share our new article in Cell Host & Microbe, a collaboration with the group of Zhong Wei at NJAU

Common mycorrhizal networks facilitate plant disease resistance by altering rhizosphere microbiome assembly

Free share link: authors.elsevier.com/c/1lnTD6t8JE...

✨Redefining epigenetic variation in evolution. Our @NaturePlants paper shows gene body DNA methylation as a major force shaping expression, traits, and adaptation in plants. Synergy with Shahzad @ShahzadZaigham & Zilberman Labs—congrats🎉. rdcu.be/eFRJy @MSU_PRI

Systematic discovery and engineering of synthetic immune receptors in plants Plants deploy a diverse array of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), which perceive microbe-associated molecular patterns to activate immune responses. Leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinase subgr...

Very happy to share our latest work “Systematic discovery and engineering of synthetic immune receptors in plants” out in @science.org !

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

Check out our new pre-print! ✨
We cloned AvrWTK4, the first wheat powdery mildew effector recognised by a tandem kinase protein, and show that an HMA-like integrated domain in WTK4 acts as pathogen decoy. Discover the whole story on bioRxiv ⬇️

Drought recovery in plants triggers a cell-state-specific immune activation - Nature Communications Post-drought rehydration triggers a preventive immune response in plants, revealing targets to enhance crop resilience by linking drought stress recovery with improved pathogen resistance.

Our #research on #drought #recovery, now published with @springernature.com in @natcomms.nature.com:
Drought recovery in plants triggers a cell-state-specific immune activation.
doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Read thread below 👇

Exceptional research leaders awarded first Royal Society Faraday Discovery Fellowships | Royal Society Seven pioneering researchers have been announced as the first recipients.

Incredibly honoured & excited to be awarded one of the @royalsociety.org's new Faraday Discovery Fellowships - this means SO much, huge thanks to everyone who has contributed, supported, & encouraged. Loads of mycorrhizal research @sheffielduni.bsky.social to come!🤩 royalsociety.org/news/2025/08...

Figure showing ancestry of global dogs.

Dogs are humanity's best friend—but how long has it been that way? 🐕

This Science study investigated ancient dog genomes, revealing a complicated genetic legacy that reflects a long, shared history with humans.

Learn more on #InternationalDogDay: https://scim.ag/41mQvR6

A multisensor high-temperature signaling framework for triggering daytime thermomorphogenesis in Arabidopsis - Nature Communications Plants encounter high temperatures concomitantly with intense sunlight during the daytime. Here, the authors reveal a concerted chloroplast and nucleus high-temperature signaling framework that gates ...

Further evidence that sugar in the plates changes the plant biology you study. Best to avoid putting sugar in the agar, unless you want to study what sugar in the agar does to plants. This paper uses sugar in the agar to study what sugar does. www.nature.com/articles/s41... #plantresearch

A defined microbial community reproduces attributes of fine flavour chocolate fermentation - Nature Microbiology An in-depth microbiological and metagenomic analysis of Colombian farm and fermentation facilities resulted in the design of a defined microbial community that can reproduce the flavour of fine chocol...

Cool application of microbiome in food science

Using metagenomics on Colombian cacao, they mapped how microbes influence chocolate flavors. Then they built a defined microbial consortium that replicates premium chocolate flavors -- validated by trained tasters!

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

Congrats! Really nice to see this preprint comes out. All the hard work paid off!

From recall to reset: the role of DNA (de)methylation in modulating plant immune memory Epigenetic reprogramming is increasingly recognised as a driver of plant immune memory, yet its molecular basis remains poorly understood. Using a chemically inducible transgene in Arabidopsis, we tra...

Very excited to finally share the main findings from my PhD, now out as a preprint!

We developed an epigenetic system to understand how plants remember and forget past infections - a phenomenon known as immune memory 🌱🧬🧠

Highlights below! 1/9

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

Warm temperature suppresses plant systemic acquired resistance by intercepting N‐hydroxypipecolic acid biosynthesis Elevated temperature impacts plant immunity at the primary infection site, but how it affects immune preparedness for future infections remains unclear. Here we report that warm temperature suppresse...

Today we report how plant immune preparedness against future infections is negatively intercepted by elevated temperatures! @theplantjournal.bsky.social #OpenAccess

This work was initiated by my first MSc student Alyssa Shields. @laurierbiology.bsky.social

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

A root-based N-hydroxypipecolic acid standby circuit to direct immunity and growth of Arabidopsis shoots - Nature Plants Root microorganisms can trigger the release of immune-stimulating N-hydroxypipecolic acid from Arabidopsis roots by manipulating a standby circuit of its continuous synthesis and immobilization. N-hyd...

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

To make sure that we don’t interact with questionable microbes, at #2025ISMPMI the audience is sterilized by a heavy dose of UV light from above.

Pseudomonas syringae subpopulations cooperate by coordinating flagellar and type III secretion spatiotemporal dynamics to facilitate plant infection - Nature Microbiology Single-cell gene expression analysis reveals phenotypic heterogeneity to enable bacterial specialization over the course of plant colonization.

see also their very elegant publication #2025ISMPMI www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Fig. 1 Schematic representation of plant–microbe interactions and microbial metabolism that influence root development and nutrient uptake.

✨ Paper spotlight ✨

Microbial drivers of root plasticity
doi.org/10.1111/nph....

(🧵 1/6) Plant roots have evolved mechanisms to adjust their development within the highly heterogeneous soil matrix, integrating local environmental conditions into their endogenous developmental programs.

Cis-regulatory variation in ISOCHORISMATE SYNTHASE 1 modulates systemic salicylic acid biosynthesis and systemic acquired resistance in plants https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.17.664945v1

#PlantSciJobs #PlantSciJob

VACANCY

Optical Microscopy Specialist

Come work alongside the plant and microbial scientists at JIC and help us explore the biological frontier at the tissue, cell and subcellular scale!

Hey #2025ISMPMI! 🌱
We ofcourse all aim to do great & successful science!
However, it doesn't always work out the way we hope, but we rarely hear about those stories..
So let's change that!
Find me at my poster P-102 on Tuesday and let's discuss "failed" science, and what we can still learn from it!

Excited to present at @mpmijournal.bsky.social

Can BIR proteins link PTI and ETI?

Using AlphaFold & evolutionary insights, we dive into how BIRs balance immunity with CSA1 as a key regulator of cell death & receptor complex homeostasis.

P-441 | Mon 14 July | 13:30–15:15

#2025ISMPMI

I will be there present my poster at tomorrow’s poster session. Find me at P-011 where I will tell you about the story of Marchantia BIR protein and how may it help plant fighting against evil bacteria.
#2025ISMPMI

Fine me tomorrow at the poster session. I will be at P-011!