Kei Hiruma

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....

I’m very happy to see my fist article now officially published 🥳 great work by my partner in crime @wolki95.bsky.social and the rest of @teamthomma.bsky.social! Find it here: doi.org/10.1111/nph.... or have a look at the 🧵⬇️

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.

📣 New @biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social preprint, another joint-venture of @wolki95.bsky.social & @antonkraege.bsky.social, co-directed by @nicksnelders.bsky.social. Here’s a 🧵

Our latest work is out! We set out to see if we could recreate soil-nurturing plant growth in vitro. The plants looked happy and we see microbiome-induced cell-type-specific responses! A modest step but a fun challenge 😁

Vanishing Virulence: Investigating pathogenicity loss in a plant pathogenic fungus (TALBOT_T26DTP) | Doctoral Training Partnership What makes a plant killer lose its edge? This project will investigate why fungal pathogens lose virulence when they are grown in laboratory culture away from their host plant. Use cutting-edge…

New PhD opportunity in my group @thesainsburylab.bsky.social through the BBSRC NRP DTP Programme - see details of host to apply below

biodtp.norwichresearchpark.ac.uk/projects/van...

Understanding Host Compatibility in the Marchantia-Phytophthora System (CARELLA_J26DTP) | Doctoral Training Partnership The fossil record demonstrates that filamentous microbes invaded ancient plant cells with intracellular hyphal structures over 450 million years ago. To this day, a rich diversity of extant land plant...

New opportunity to undertake a PhD in my group ⁦‪at the John Innes Centre - if you’re interested in plant immunity and evolution check out the link!

Plant Biotechnology, Volume 42, Issue 3 Published by Japanese Society for Plant Biotechnology. OPEN ACCESS

We are pleased to announce the release of our special issue, “Diverse Symbiotic Relationships between Plants and Microbes in the Phyllosphere and Rhizosphere,” now available in Plant Biotechnology (open access)!
www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/plant...

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

Dynamic shifts in plant-microbe relationships Plant-microbe interactions encompass a continuum from mutualism and commensalism to parasitism. Mutualists confer benefits such as nutrient acquisitio …

I am happy to see this out!

Plant-microbe relationship (mutualistic, commensalistic, parasitic) is not fixed, but rather dynamic, depending on the specific context.
We summarize the current knowledge on this.

Hope you enjoy~

www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/plan...

We proudly present a new preprint by Leon Pierdzig et al: Wall teichoic acids, glycopolymers specific to Gram-positive bacteria, trigger defense and cell death in Arabidopsis. Cysteine-rich RLKs act as key components in their perception. doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Benzoxazinoid-mediated microbiome feedbacks enhance Arabidopsis growth and defense Plants modulate their surrounding microbiome via root exudates and this conditioned soil microbiome feeds back on the performance of the next generation of plants. How plants can perceive this altered...

updated preprint: Intriguingly, Arabidopsis responded with both, improved growth and enhanced defence to a maize-conditioned soil microbiome, and this dual microbiome feedbacks were mediated by priming of the defences. Credits to Katja Stengele et al.!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

WIND1 controls cell fate transition through histone acetylation and deacetylation during somatic embryogenesis https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.07.669221v1

Nitrogen acquisition and selective bacterial attraction through fungal hyphae promote plant growth and health under nitrogen limitation https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.05.668771v1

We have posted our latest preprint. We explore how an endophytic fungus promotes plant growth and fitness under fluctuating nitrogen-limited conditions in both field and laboratory settings, in additively with bacteria attracted to its hyphae. We hope you enjoy it!

Here comes the final version.
Congratulations Erika, Yasu, Ken, and all others involved!
@yasukadota.bsky.social @shirasulab.bsky.social

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

Emergence of isochorismate-based salicylic acid biosynthesis within Brassicales | PNAS Salicylic acid (SA) is a major defense phytohormone. In Arabidopsis thaliana, the isochorismate (IC) pathway is the primary route for pathogen-indu...

I'm very happy that this paper is now published in PNAS!

Isochorismate-based salicylic acid biosynthesis appears to have emerged in the Brassicales after the divergence of C. papaya, likely within the timeframe between the divergence of B. maritima and R. odorata.

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Huge thanks to the amazing team at @currentbiology.bsky.social for highlighting fungi in this special issue. Many excellent reviews and perspectives from so many mycological heroes. Lots of great material to use in teaching/outreach. 🍄

Saprotrophy-to-symbiosis continuum in fungi Fungi are one of the most diverse and ecologically important groups of organisms on Earth. They exhibit remarkable diversity in their ecological roles…

Saprotrophy-to-symbiosis continuum in fungi
I enjoyed writing this piece with Tan Hao for the Current Biology special issue on Fungi
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Our newest special issue is now live! Check it out to discover more about diverse and beautiful Fungi🍄🍄‍🟫🍄 On the cover: the fly agaric, Amanita muscaria, releasing its spores in the early morning light. www.cell.com/current-biol...

Professor Uta Paszkowski, Acting Head of the Crop Science Centre and Head of the Cereal Symbiosis research group at the University of Cambridge

Congratulations to Uta Paszkowski from @cropscicentre.bsky.social - elected to the National Academy of Sciences, USA in recognition of her significant contributions to understanding symbiotic relationships between plants & fungi.

@cambridgebiosci.bsky.social
@paszkowskilab.bsky.social

Friend or Foe? How fungi switch between helping and harming plants | Plantae Plants coexist and interact with various microorganisms in the soil environment, including fungi. These associated fungi can not only cause diseases but also establish symbiotic interactions that…

Plant Science Research Weekly -- Friend or Foe? How fungi switch between helping and harming plants (Current Biology) @rujimatsu.bsky.social @keihiruma.bsky.social (Summary by Carlos González Sanz) buff.ly/xfa7e93

#PlantaePSRW

Pseudomonas virulence factor SaxA detoxifies plant glucosinolate hydrolysis products, rescuing a commensal that suppresses virulence gene expression Plants produce a plethora of specialised metabolites that often play important roles in their defence against pathogenic microbes or herbivorous insects. Exposure of leaf colonising microbes to these ...

New Pre-print!

Pseudomonas virulence factor SaxA detoxifies plant glucosinolate hydrolysis products, rescuing a commensal that suppresses virulence gene expression

doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Driven by Kerstin Unger, we find that a "virulence factor" has cool roles in microbe-microbe interactions

Deterministic colonization arises early during the transition of soil bacteria to the phyllosphere and is shaped by plant–microbe interactions - Microbiome Background Upon seed germination, soil bacteria are activated to transition to the plant and eventually colonize mature tissues like leaves. These bacteria are poised to significantly influence plant ...

New paper in Microbiome (with fancy summary video): doi.org/10.1186/s401...

1. Many bacteria can realistically transition from soil to mature leaves.
2. Early stages post-germination shape colonization processes and diversity.
3. P-M-M interactions affect mostly deterministic colonzers.

Enjoy!

Top left panel shows a parasitic plant winding around a host, with the haustoria highlighted in the panel below. On the right is a diagram that shows the role of the mechanosensitive ion channel CcMCA1, and the hyptothetical downstream pathways that transduce the mechanical stimulation into haustorium development, involving auxin and ethylene.

Plant Science Research Weekly April 25 plantae.org/plant-scienc... (2/2) Cryptic giant virus infection; A fungal switch between ally and aggressor; Stopping citrus greening with peptide therapy; A mechanosensitive ion channel helps parasitic plants clamp down.

A plant dual-kinase protein traps a pathogen effector to trigger immunity - Nature Genetics Tandem kinase proteins (TKPs) are key regulators of plant immunity. We found that RWT4, a wheat TKP, confers resistance to the fungal pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae by directly recognizing the effector A...

Story behind our recent paper on tandem kinases is out! Written by @yichangsung.bsky.social. #MPMI #PlantBiology www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Optimising wheat-fungal symbioses for enhanced nutrition and sustainability at University of Sheffield on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - Optimising wheat-fungal symbioses for enhanced nutrition and sustainability at University of Sheffield, listed on FindAPhD.com

I'm looking for a mycorrhiza-motivated PhD student to start this project, fully funded by a Rank Prize Lord Selborne Scholarship, in October 2025 - please contact me via email for more information and forward on to potentially interested people... www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

A fungal transcription factor converts a beneficial root endophyte into an anthracnose leaf pathogen Endophytic fungi colonize healthy plant tissues without disease. Ujimatsu et al. reveal that the fungal transcription factor CtBOT6 triggers the virulence of a root-associated beneficial endophyte by ...

We have identified a fungal transcription factor, CtBOT6, as a key regulator of the diverse lifestyles exhibited by the root-associated endophyte Colletotrichum tofieldiae along the mutualism–parasitism continuum. Congratulation on
@rujimatsu.bsky.social‬!
www.cell.com/current-biol...

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...

A fungal transcription factor converts a beneficial root endophyte into an anthracnose leaf pathogen Endophytic fungi colonize healthy plant tissues without disease. Ujimatsu et al. reveal that the fungal transcription factor CtBOT6 triggers the virulence of a root-associated beneficial endophyte by ...

Thrilled to share my first paper published at Current biology!!
We found that the expression level of one single transcription factor converts beneficial root endophyte into pathogenic guy😈 (1/8) www.cell.com/current-biol...