Gilles van Wezel

@gillesvanwezel.bsky.social @marnixmedema.bsky.social @lonegram.bsky.social @medinadiscovery.bsky.social @aberdeenchem.bsky.social @cleverflick.bsky.social @erinninnovation.bsky.social @naturalis.bsky.social @wurplant.bsky.social @bahnestechmann.bsky.social @eu-openscreen.bsky.social @ethz.ch

Genes for the biosynthesis of plant natural products are clustered on plants, as discussrd (and published) by @anneosbourn.bsky.social

talk is also enjoyed by @evolvedbiofilm.bsky.social 🙂

looking forward to the talk by @anneosbourn.bsky.social on Plant Natural Products and esp triterpenes. Anne is todays speaker in the @led3hub.bsky.social seminar series.

great post, thanks.

2025 was a year full of great scientific discoveries and breakthroughs. Here, I want to highlight 10 papers that got me really excited. Of course, this is a highly subjective selection and I am sure I am forgetting some papers that I would love to include, but here it goes: (1/12)

last walk of the year in parc Elswout.

Graphical abstract Pan et al. (2026).

New publication: Disentangling the molecular mechanisms of disease suppression by endophytic #Flavobacterium sp. 98, by @xinyapan.bsky.social @gillesvanwezel.bsky.social @raaijmakersjm.bsky.social and others. #plantmicrobiome #plantgrowth
doi.org/10.1016/j.mi...

Kudos to #yijunzhu #hannahaugustijn and #victoriapascal for getting this out, and thanks to @gillesvanwezel.bsky.social #dylandodd and #michaelfischbach for the collaboration!
Try it out now on gutsmash.bioinformatics.nl

congrats Xinya. Thanks for involving us in this great piece of work!

Hypoxia Induces Phenotypic and Metabolic Shifts in Endophytic Flavobacterium sp. 98 Abstract. Oxygen plays a crucial role in shaping microbial physiology, functions, and behavior. Endophytic bacteria, residing within plant tissues, inhabit

academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc... Endophytic adaptation in Flavobacterium sp. 98 @xinyapan.bsky.social @vcarryon.bsky.social @gillesvanwezel.bsky.social ✌🏽 lysoPE story could be cool

admittedly it was for a PhD defense act...

Endozoi què?

keep trying

ja die loting.... sloeg helemaal nergens op. Die vredesprijs voor Trump ook, absurd.

de bezuinigingen zijn idd (deels) debatable. Qua programma's, de omroepen krijgen budget en maken zelf de keuzes en die zijn heel interessant. Programma's die populair zijn gaan naar de commercielen. De culturele programma's delven wellicht het onderspit. Daar moet je goed naar kijken.

Enrichment of root-associated Streptomyces strains in response to drought is driven by diverse functional traits and does not predict beneficial effects on plant growth Understanding how root microbes respond to drought is crucial for improving crop resilience. This study finds that Streptomyces responses are strain-specific and functionally diverse, with traits and ...

Enrichment of root-associated Streptomyces strains in response to drought is driven by diverse functional traits and does not predict beneficial effects on plant growth

journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Top: (Top row) Sensitivity of S. coelicolor mutants to GlcNAc. Spores (5 × 105 CFU) of S. coelicolor M145 and its mutant derivatives ∆nagB, SMA11, ∆nagB∆nagS, ∆nagB∆nagSC (∆nagB∆nagS expressing nagS) and ∆nagB∆nagSE (∆nagB∆nagS with empty plasmid pSET152) were streaked on MM agar plates with 1% mannitol (Mann) and 1% mannitol plus 10 mM GlcNAc (GlcNAc). (Bottom row) NagS and its role in GlcNAc sensing. Spores of M145 and ∆nagS were plated on MM and R5 with 0, 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 150, and 200 mM GlcNAc. Note that nagS mutants hardly respond to GlcNAc. Bottom: Model for the metabolic control of development by GlcNAc and NagS. During late vegetative growth of streptomycetes, the old vegetative or substrate hyphae are degraded in a process of programmed cell death (PCD), to produce the nutrients required to build the aerial mycelium (see mycelial drawings on the right). Mycelial lysis results in breakdown of the cell-wall, leading to the accumulation of GlcNAc-6P, which is a major nutritional signal for the onset of development and antibiotic production. NagS converts GlcNAc-6P into 6P-chromogen I (denoted as X-Ac-6P), which in turn is deacetylated by NagA into a toxic metabolite (denoted as X-6P) that resembles ribose. The toxic metabolite promotes cell lysis, thus releasing more GlcNAc-6P that serves as substrate for NagS and NagA. A salvage pathway then switches off the toxic pathway again. For this, GlcNAc-6P is converted by NagA and NagB into Fructose-6P (Fru-6P), which enters the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP), thereby producing 6-phosphogluconate (6-PG), a metabolic inhibitor of NagS. Thus, production of toxic metabolites ceases and the transition to aerial growth can be initiated. Arrows with round ends represent inhibition, dashed arrow shows proposed activity.

GlcNAc build-up acts as a key metabolic signal in #Streptomyces, but how does it triggers developmental responses? @gillesvanwezel.bsky.social &co show that the enzyme NagS dehydrates GlcNAc-6P into a reactive intermediate, triggering a toxicity-based checkpoint @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/44pE08I

say hi!

thanks @angelahuttner.bsky.social for a very inspiring talk LUMC Leiden.
The house in the image you showex was built in 1612, and Rembrandt van Rhijn was 6 years old by then and lived at the bridge in the back, 200 m away. Always when I see the house I think of how Rembrandt will have painted it!

@lennartschada.bsky.social

Top: (Top row) Sensitivity of S. coelicolor mutants to GlcNAc. Spores (5 × 105 CFU) of S. coelicolor M145 and its mutant derivatives ∆nagB, SMA11, ∆nagB∆nagS, ∆nagB∆nagSC (∆nagB∆nagS expressing nagS) and ∆nagB∆nagSE (∆nagB∆nagS with empty plasmid pSET152) were streaked on MM agar plates with 1% mannitol (Mann) and 1% mannitol plus 10 mM GlcNAc (GlcNAc). (Bottom row) NagS and its role in GlcNAc sensing. Spores of M145 and ∆nagS were plated on MM and R5 with 0, 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 150, and 200 mM GlcNAc. Note that nagS mutants hardly respond to GlcNAc. Bottom: Model for the metabolic control of development by GlcNAc and NagS. During late vegetative growth of streptomycetes, the old vegetative or substrate hyphae are degraded in a process of programmed cell death (PCD), to produce the nutrients required to build the aerial mycelium (see mycelial drawings on the right). Mycelial lysis results in breakdown of the cell-wall, leading to the accumulation of GlcNAc-6P, which is a major nutritional signal for the onset of development and antibiotic production. NagS converts GlcNAc-6P into 6P-chromogen I (denoted as X-Ac-6P), which in turn is deacetylated by NagA into a toxic metabolite (denoted as X-6P) that resembles ribose. The toxic metabolite promotes cell lysis, thus releasing more GlcNAc-6P that serves as substrate for NagS and NagA. A salvage pathway then switches off the toxic pathway again. For this, GlcNAc-6P is converted by NagA and NagB into Fructose-6P (Fru-6P), which enters the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP), thereby producing 6-phosphogluconate (6-PG), a metabolic inhibitor of NagS. Thus, production of toxic metabolites ceases and the transition to aerial growth can be initiated. Arrows with round ends represent inhibition, dashed arrow shows proposed activity.

GlcNAc build-up acts as a key metabolic signal in #Streptomyces, but how does it triggers developmental responses? @gillesvanwezel.bsky.social &co show that the enzyme NagS dehydrates GlcNAc-6P into a reactive intermediate, triggering a toxicity-based checkpoint @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/44pE08I

Taxi's ook. Elke (!) taxi heeft een fietsenrek.

en ooit was Bluesky de plek waar wetenschappers heen gingen om alle politieke gedoe voor even achter zich te laten.

in Billund?

It irritates me no end that most growth funds favour high TRL level projects. When I argue to include a call for explorative science, preferably only accessible to young PI's I get laughed at by industry. While ASML invested 35M without any bias. We need to onboard and train the next generation.

Summit is another matter but also another goal. But we fully agree I think. Open Competition and Vernieuwingsimpulse should indeed be much bigger than a few mega grants. By increasing OC and VI.

het beeld is wel heel scheef. Zwaartekracht is ten eerste voor 10 jaar. En was 18 M, te verdelen over 6 gelijke WPs en 14 PIs. Dat is 1.8 M per jaar voor 14 mensen (130 K per jaar). We moeten zeker goed naar funding kijken maar ook met oog op wetenschappelijke kwaliteit.

witte man..... wit ook vooral. Die Wierd toch.

je hebt nog steeds een verkeerd beeld. In een goed consortium plan je dat de jonge PIs de lead nemen zodra t begint en tevens de grote ideeen samen uitwerken. Sowieso werk je met toptalenten en die pikken het sowieso niet als je hun vertelt wat ze moeten doen.