Ken Shirasu

植物の“センサー”を探る研究者が目指すもの 2025年9月に科学雑誌『Science』に発表された、植物の免疫受容体「SCORE」の発見。SCOREは85%以上の細菌やカビ、昆虫に共通する「低温ショックタンパク質（CSP）」を検知し、免疫反応を誘導します。

www.riken.jp/pr/closeup/2...

How do plants fight disease? 🌱 #NASmember Jane Parker studies NLR proteins that help plants sense attackers and launch powerful immune defenses. She shares her latest findings on how these proteins signal plants to resist disease in a new @pnas.org QnAs: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Name badges all ready for kick off at the Stromlo Plant Pathogen (and Pests!) conference in Canberra at @biologyanu.bsky.social #strompath2025

Privileged to have @yasukadota.bsky.social present at the Stromlo conference on the SCORE receptors … brilliant story. #strompath25

Transposable elements are vectors of recurrent transgenerational epigenetic inheritance DNA methylation loss at transposable elements (TEs) can affect neighboring genes and be epigenetically inherited in plants, yet the determinants and significance of this additional system of inheritan...

Out First Release in @science.org this week:

A large scale analysis of the epigenetics of transposable elements in Arabidopsis shows transgenerational stability

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

#PlantScience

How parasitic plants avoid being parasitized | Plantae It’s not too difficult to envision how a plant recognizes something very different from itself, like a bacterium, oomycete, or fungus. It’s a bit less obvious how a plant recognizes another plant as…

Plant Science Research Weekly -- How parasitic plants avoid being parasitized (Science) @shirasulab.bsky.social (Summary by Mary Williams @PlantTeaching.bsky.social) buff.ly/KEgzFe5

#PlantaePSRW

Congrats, Tatsuya!

An illuminated Corpus Clock, featuring a large golden chronophage (time-eater) on top, located at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. The clock face is intricately designed with multiple circular layers and glowing lights.

In case you missed it, the clocks went back last night in the UK 🕰️

Do you think Chronophage at @corpuscambridge.bsky.social is enjoying the extra hour?

📸 Lloyd Mann

Carnivorous plants lack genes to host arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi When friends abandon them, some plants go on a killing spree.

botany.one/2025/10/carn...

Read PCP Editors Satoko Yoshida and Takayuki Tohge's exciting collaborative work on parasitic plants (below).

And watch out for PCP's upcoming special issue on #ParasiticPlants (organised by Satoko Yoshida, Atsushi Okazawa, Thomas Spallek and Kaori Yoneyama) - out next year...!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eswp...

It’s been 14 years since I uploaded a video on YouTube showing that Striga does not infect other members of the Orobanchaceae family.JSPS Fellow Simon came to Japan and carried out mutant screening to find mechanism and it was 10 years ago that the mutant was finally obtained. A long journey.

Glucosylation of endogenous haustorium-inducing factors underpins kin avoidance in parasitic plants Parasitic plants rarely attack themselves, suggesting the existence of a kin-avoidance mechanism. In the root parasitic plant Phtheirospermum japonicum, prehaustorium formation is triggered by host-se...

Simon's mutant finally published! Well done, Satoko' lab with Harro, Tobimatsu, Tohge collaborations. Glucosylation of endogenous haustorium-inducing factors underpins kin avoidance in parasitic plants | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Orobanche cumana in the USA!

I had the honour of giving a talk at the Biochemical Society conference and finally received the medal. Grateful once again to everyone who made this possible! #BiochemEvent

Pomelo on tatami as the cover of RIKEN Research www.riken.jp/medialibrary...

In Other Journals Editors’ selections from the current scientific literature

In Other Journals | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

We’re delighted to share that our paper has been just accepted in PCP!

We analyzed fungus–fungus competition that suppresses pathogenic colonization in Arabidopsis roots.Special thanks to Duke, Hiroyuki, Yuki, Nanami, and everyone who contributed!
t.co/obQyD1rzI1

Rewriting the code of plant immunity go.nature.com/475WgV7

These ‘ghost flowers’ thrive without photosynthesis. One scientist is learning how Japanese botanist Kenji Suetsugu studies plants that steal carbon and nutrients from soil fungi

Seeking ghosts www.science.org/content/arti...

Open rank faculty positions available at MSU Plant Resilience Institute. Apply online at: https://tinyurl.com/yy2kvt3n

Only 10 days left to apply to the MSU Plant Resilience Institute for a faculty position.We're looking for 1 junior and 1 senior faculty. Applications submitted after 10/15 cannot be considered. Join us! It's a very collaborative, fun, innovative group of plant biologists. Apply at: lnkd.in/eRyDv_Pi

Lots of hard work from Gabriel Ferreras Garrucho, Chai Hao Chiu and Tania Chancellor @cropscicentre.bsky.social @camplantsci.bsky.social .
Let us know what you think!

Defining the pre-symbiotic transcriptional landscape of rice roots Plants interact with a plethora of organisms in the rhizosphere, with outcomes that range from detrimental to beneficial. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis is the most ubiquitous beneficial plant ...

It's been a busy time in the Paszkowski lab!

First, a pre-print on how rice distinguishes friend (AM fungi)🍄 from foe (pathogens)👾: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

And second, a review on single-cell omic approaches to understand the spatially and temporally complex AM symbiosis 🔬: doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

NEW ARTICLE FROM THE LAB 🎉🍀🧫

Groundbreaking work performed by @hueihsuantsai.bsky.social and all!

Please, go have a read! Congrats to making it to the cover!!!

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

Wounding activates the HSFA1 transcription factors to promote cellular reprogramming in Arabidopsis https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.29.679115v1

Amazing work by the Santiago lab @unil.bsky.social. The malectin-LRR receptor kinase IGP1 senses cello-oligomers to alert the plant immune system & enhance disease resistance. Very nice discovery & mechanism.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

(Part 2)

“From my first visit, I was struck by the energy and excitement...It feels like being a graduate student again, chasing curiosity wherever it leads."

@hhmi.org Investigator David Stern will join the Stowers Institute in Feb. 2026 from @hhmijanelia.bsky.social.

Read more: bit.ly/4np96Fb

(Part 1) Hear from @hhmi_news Investigator David Stern about his research program and what he's uncovering in the lab.

Stern will join the Institute in February 2026, bringing his lab and HHMI appointment to Kansas City. @hhmi.org

Read more: bit.ly/4np96Fb

It's official! We are moving to Stowers!
Very exciting opportunity to expand our studies of insect-plant interactions. We have many opportunities available in biochemistry, development, behavior, genetics, evolution, genomics, AI, and even pest control. Interested in any of these things? Reach out!

Discovery and engineering of synthetic RLKs | Plantae Receptor-like kinases (RLKs) are abundant genes that have diversified and expanded throughout plant evolution, with most plants having hundreds or more RLKs. In this exciting new paper, Ngou et al.

Plant Science Research Weekly -- Discovery and engineering of synthetic RLKs (Science) @shirasulab.bsky.social @brunongou.bsky.social @yasukadota.bsky.social @BrunoNgou (Summary by Mary Williams @PlantTeaching.bsky.social) buff.ly/JlJKjJE

#PlantaePSRW