Francis M. Martin

Amid the global soil health crisis, microbiome engineering is key for restoration. This study by Senka Causevic et al. examines how habitat filtering shapes soil microbiota transplant outcomes and how synthetic communities can steer resident microbiome development.
isme-microbes.org/habitat-filt...

Mycena haematopus #FungiFriends #FungiFriday

In mind-bending twist, ‘magic’ mushrooms evolved twice independently Study identifies entirely new suite of enzymes that can make psilocybin

In mind-bending twist, ‘magic’ mushrooms evolved twice independently

www.science.org/content/arti...

Congrats to Executive Director @tobykiers.bsky.social on being named a 2025 #MacFellow by the MacArthur Foundation (buff.ly/HOU1qb7). Also called the “Genius Grant,” it’s one of the largest awards in the US, honoring exceptionally talented and creative individuals.

Shout out to fellow awardees! 👏

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...

SALICYLIC ACID SENSOR1 reveals the propagation of an SA hormone surge during plant pathogen advance

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

Habitat filtering more than microbiota origin controls microbiome transplant outcomes in soil url: academic.oup.com/ismej/articl...

We are pleased to announce this new ECR award generously supported by @newphyt.bsky.social Foundation for travel to ICOM2026. Details 👇

White lawyer's wig stands—
soon dissolving into ink,
morning's brief artwork

The shaggy ink cap

Comment une forêt peut-elle émettre plus de CO₂ qu’elle n’en capture ? Entre 1990 et 2010, la capacité de stockage des forêts a chuté d’environ 30 %. Tour d’horizon, de l’Amazonie à l’Afrique centrale, en passant par des forêts tempérées et boréales.

Comment une forêt peut-elle émettre plus de CO2 qu’elle n’en capture ?

theconversation.com/comment-une-...

Fungal endophytes Organisms are commonly grouped into ecological guilds that reflect their shared resource use and similar ecological roles. The guild concept has been …

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 🌿 Excited to share our Primer on fungal endophytes, the elusive members of the fungal kingdom that defy easy classification. Neither pathogens nor symbionts in the strict sense, they challenge how we define ecological guilds. @umr-iam.bsky.social

~12 years after we coined it EPP1 with @oswaldovaldesl.bsky.social one afternoon when we were postdoc with @jeanmichelane.bsky.social!

Congrats @melaniekrich.bsky.social @tatiana-vernie.bsky.social et al. for the hard work!

EPP1 is the fourth member of the Common Symbiosis Pathway 🍄🌱!

Decomposition of plant, fungal and tea litter in Picea abies forests with and without a history of clear-cutting Litter decomposition is coupled to carbon (C) sequestration through C release to the atmosphere, C transformation and nutrient release to the soil. We…

Decomposition of plant, fungal and tea litter in Picea abies forests with and without a history of clear-cutting
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Pour la cueillette des champignons, ne vous fiez pas aux applis pour les identifier Quand vous partez à la cueillette de champignons, ne vous fiez pas aux applications de reconnaissance sur smartphone pour les identifier et adoptez les bons gestes pour éviter les intoxications.

Pour la cueillette des champignons, ne vous fiez pas aux applis pour les identifier

New OA Article: "Increasing tree size across Amazonia" rdcu.be/eJOz7

With a highlight @nature.com : "Trees of the Amazon are becoming even mightier - Forest giants are becoming bigger and more common than they once were"
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

A mobile DELLA controls Medicago truncatula root cortex patterning to host arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi Cell division and specification are crucial for plant development and coping with diverse environmental cues. Most land plants rely on symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi to cope with soil nutrient limitations by forming arbuscules in root inner cortex cells. What determines the AM susceptibility of these inner cortex cells is currently unknown. Here we show that DELLA transcriptional regulators control the number of inner cortex cells with an AM-susceptible identity at the root stem cell niche of Medicago truncatula in a dose-dependent manner. Genetic analyses suggest that this activity converges with the well-known mobile SHORT-ROOT transcription factor regulating ground tissue development. Furthermore, we show that MtDELLA1 protein moves from the stele/endodermis to the cortex in the mature part of the root to facilitate arbuscule formation. We propose that the formation of a root inner cortex cell identity controlled by mobile DELLA and SHORT-ROOT is a fundamental basis for AM symbiosis.

Beautiful work from Erik Limpens, Ton Bisseling and coll. in @natplants.nature.com. A must read! -> A mobile DELLA controls Medicago truncatula root cortex patterning to host arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi | Nature Plants

Root anatomy governs bi-directional resource transfer in mycorrhizal symbiosis Plants form mycorrhizal symbioses to enhance nutrient acquisition, yet the biophysical principles governing carbon and nutrient exchange remain unclear. Here, we develop a theory of bi-directional carbon–nutrient transfer that integrates root anatomy, energetic costs, and mycorrhizal positioning. We show that nutrient uptake per unit carbon or energy investment declines with increasing root diameter due to higher carbon demands across thicker cortical tissues. Mycorrhizal fungi mitigate this constraint by enabling more carbon-efficient nutrient uptake, particularly when arbuscules are positioned in inner cortical layers. This spatial optimization minimizes the carbon cost of transporting nutrients to the stele. Our framework reconciles anatomical variation, symbiotic structure, and functional efficiency across root types and mycorrhizal strategies and offers a new lens for understanding the coevolution between roots and mycorrhizal fungi.

I never thought about this... Very interesting model -> Root anatomy governs bi-directional resource transfer in mycorrhizal symbiosis | Nature Communications

Good morning
Happy new week

Caloboletus calopus - Bitter Beech Bolete

Every day is #UKFungusDay for me.

Le langage des arbres Christophe Galfard reçoit la poète Laura Vasquez et les deux scientifiques Francis Martin et Marie-Béatrice Bogeat.

www.radiofrance.fr/franceinter/... Les champignons mycorhiziens à l’honneur ! 🍄‍🟫🌳 @fmartin54.bsky.social

@inrae-france.bsky.social sur @franceinter.fr
Le langage des arbres
C. Galfard reçoit la poète L. Vasquez et les chercheurs @fmartin54.bsky.social @umr-iam.bsky.social et M.-B. Bogeat @umrsilva.bsky.social
⤵️ www.radiofrance.fr/franceinter/podcasts/big-bang/big-bang-du-samedi-04-octobre-2025-4196457

A group of three puffballs, large one on the left, smaller one on the right and small one in the centre. Growing on pine needle woodland floor

puffballs #fungi

A pink fungus with whitish pink stem and conical cap. At its base and slightly to the left is a smaller on. On the right, is a small brown fungi. They are growing in a beech woodland floor old leaves and a beechmast to the left

Rosy bonnet #fungi

A confocal microscopy image shows root-colonizing bacteria clustering around an emerging lateral root, where localized glutamine leakage induces spatially confined reporter activity.

Using precise spatial and temporal analysis, researchers in Science provide insight into how bacteria around the root interact both with the plant and with each other.

Learn more in this week's issue: https://scim.ag/3WgNajk

Russula sp. surrounded by the extremely poisonous Inocybe geophylla - White Fibrecap. They’re popping up everywhere. #FungiFriends

How did North American and European fungi end up in Argentine forests?

New research in @newphyt.bsky.social from UE @nahpo.bsky.social and @martin-nunez.bsky.social looks underground at how non-native tree species and their fungal partners have spread.

Read here: buff.ly/919OOs0

On the cover of New Phytologist volume 248, issue 3: Nectar collecting at the tip of the stigma in Agapetes lacei (Ericaceae).

🆕 Our #Latestissue is online now!

📚 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14698137...

Highlights include:
🌱 #Nectar, the original cocktail
🌱 An updated history of TDIF-PXY signalling
🌱 #Autophagy in plant-virus-insect #interactions

#PlantScience

Back home in Berlin after an exciting 4 weeks in China, and very happy to hold my book in my hands for the first time.

Bleeding Fairy caps (Mycena haematopus) also known as Burgundydrop Bonnets, Bleeding Fairy Helmets. Found these today on a very mossy log in The Scottish Wildlife Trusts' Duddingston and Bawsinch Nature Reserve. #Fungi #Mushrooms #Mycology #Nature #FungiFriends #Photography #Nikon #iPhone @scotwildlife.bsky.social

Bleeding Fairy caps (Mycena haematopus) also known as Burgundydrop Bonnets, Bleeding Fairy Helmets. Found these today on a very mossy log in The Scottish Wildlife Trusts' Duddingston and Bawsinch Nature Reserve. #Fungi #Mushrooms #Mycology #Nature #FungiFriends #Photography #Nikon #iPhone @scotwildlife.bsky.social

Bleeding Fairy caps (Mycena haematopus) also known as Burgundydrop Bonnets, Bleeding Fairy Helmets. Found these today on a very mossy log in The Scottish Wildlife Trusts' Duddingston and Bawsinch Nature Reserve. #Fungi #Mushrooms #Mycology #Nature #FungiFriends #Photography #Nikon #iPhone @scotwildlife.bsky.social

Used an iPhone with the camera flipped to selfie mode to get under the cluster of mushrooms and capture the beautiful form and structure of the caps.

Bleeding Fairy caps (Mycena haematopus) aka Burgundydrop Bonnets, Bleeding Fairy Helmets. Found these today on a very mossy log in The Scottish Wildlife Trusts' Duddingston and Bawsinch Nature Reserve. #Fungi #Mushrooms #Mycology #Nature #Photography #Nikon #iPhone @scotwildlife.bsky.social

Pour des forêts à croissance rapide, favorisez les arbres à croissance lente La vitesse de croissance des arbres va de pair avec leur capacité à séquestrer le CO₂. Mais les espèces les plus rapides sont aussi souvent plus fragiles face aux stress environnementaux.

Pour des forêts à croissance rapide, favorisez les arbres à croissance lente
theconversation.com/pour-des-for...

...and if you missed it, here are 60 phylogenetically diverse brown algae genomes
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...