Mengshuai Liu

Automated genome mining predicts structural diversity and taxonomic distribution of peptide metallophores across bacteria Automated detection of metallophore biosynthesis reveals that metal-chelating non-ribosomal peptides are widespread, chemically diverse, and deeply rooted in bacterial evolution.

Are you interested in how to predict functions of natural product biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) and their products? And/or do you love metallophores and would love to identify their producers in microbiomes? Check out @zachreitz.bsky.social 's new paper!
elifesciences.org/articles/109... 1/n

Many thanks to the support and contributions from my supervision team and co-authors!!

Understanding the mechanism underlying negative PSF and host-associated microbial interactions is important for improving agricultural sustainability. 4/4

3) though a combination of microbial community profiling and soil nutrient analyses, we link the pronounced negative feedback to an increased abundance of host-specific fungal pathogens, but also to reduced nutrient availability. 3/4

Key: 1) it moves beyond black-box approach of PSF studies by sequencing soil-borne fungal communities at different stages in the experiment;
2) it challenges previous assumptions about the benefits of intercropping in mitigating negative PSF effects - especially not in the edges of strips. 2/4

In this study, we integrates a plant-soil feedback (PSF) experiment with amplicon sequncing to dissect the mechanism underlying negative PSF in strip intercropping. 1/4

Exploring the role of host-specific fungal pathogens in negative plant-soil feedbacks in intercropping - Plant and Soil Aims Intercropping is gaining increasing attention as a way towards developing sustainable agriculture. Positive effects on yield and biodiversity have been reported, but the effects of intercropping ...

New paper out now🌱🍄! Excited to share the final chapter of my PhD work "Exploring the role of host-specific fungal pathogens in negative plant-soil feedbacks in intercropping", publised in Plant and Soil! link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Thanks Akos for sharing my presentation! Welcome any questions & suggestions👩‍💻

Final countdown before the start of the #PMS2025!!! 🪴

Looking forward to seeing you in Antequera (Malaga) on 3-7 November!
Final program at: 6thplantmicrobiomesymposium2025.com/programme/

#Plantscience #MicrobiomeResearch #Bioinformatics

Predicting rhizosphere-competence-related catabolic gene clusters in plant-associated bacteria with rhizoSMASH Nature Communications - Rhizosphere microbiomes are shaped by root exudation of diverse organic compounds. Here, the rhizoSMASH algorithm is introduced, which maps microbial genes involved in their...

Congratulations to #YuzeLi and all co-authors with the publication of rhizoSMASH: a new tool to identify catabolic gene clusters involved in the metabolism of plant root exudates, thus driving rhizosphere colonization. 1/4

rdcu.be/eH8tr

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia impedes Bacillus biocontrol of tomato wilt disease by degrading its lipopeptide antibiotics Abstract. Harnessing antibiotic-producing microorganisms that antagonize pathogens represents a sustainable approach for plant disease management. However,

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia impedes Bacillus biocontrol of tomato wilt disease by degrading its lipopeptide antibiotics

-in #ISMEJournal

academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc...

Ecological function of phenazine in soil - Nature Microbiology Phenazines, antimicrobial secondary metabolites, inhibit Gram-positive bacteria by targeting topoisomerase IV, but Bacillus cohabiting with phenazine-producing Pseudomonas can evolve resistance, enabl...

#News&Views

Phenazines inhibit G+ve bacteria by targeting topoisomerase IV, but Bacillus cohabiting with phenazine-producing Pseudomonas can evolve resistance, enabling synergism for agricultural biocontrol.

#MicroSky @evolvedbiofilm.bsky.social

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

Linalool-triggered plant-soil feedback drives defense adaptation in dense maize plantings High planting density boosts crop yields but also heightens pest and pathogen risks. How plants adapt their defenses under these conditions remains unclear. In this study, we reveal that maize enhance...

Out in @science.org The crazy sequence of events from planting maize in dense fields. Density-dependent linalool release triggers release of compounds into the soil affecting microbes and plants.
Article: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Perspective: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#PlantScience

Such a fun project & massive team effort. We sampled tree cores my 1st yr of grad school then took a year to figure out how to grind wood… ! But we were amazed to find such a complex & unexpected ecosystem inside trees. And we’ve just scratched the surface! We explored 150 trees— 3 trillion to go!

Warming threatens soil health - Nature Ecology & Evolution A global synthesis that combines meta-analysis and controlled experiments reveals that warming alters bacterial life histories, which fuels the spread of antibiotic resistance genes and virulence fact...

Plus see super nice comment by Maddy Thakur:

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

Origin matters: mycorrhizal growth response and induced resistance to pathogens depend on mycorrhizal and pathogen source Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are critical to native plant community ecology and influence plant invasions. Research has focused on nutritional benefits of AMF, although evidence shows that the...

Check out our new paper: Origin matters: mycorrhizal growth response and induced resistance to pathogens depend on mycorrhizal and pathogen source, where we show that mycorrhizal induced resistance occurs within native plant species 🌱 @newphyt.bsky.social

PhD Position on Decoding Plant Microbiota–Host Specificity Using AI Join us to generate data and build AI-driven models to decode plant–microbiota host specificity!

🌱 We're hiring! Join our team as a PhD candidate to explore plant–microbiota host specificity. Plant biology/microbiology background needed; bioinformatics skills a big plus💻! Apply by mid-June. www.uu.nl/en/organisat... #uubeta #plantmicrobiome #microbiota

Our newest research in @nature.com

We built a robot (!) to track plant-fungal trade networks. By following half a million fungal highways & nutrient flows within them, we discovered how plants & fungi build hyper-efficient supply chains

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
📹 @sasaspacal.bsky.social

Building microbial synthetic communities: get inspired by the design of synthetic plant communities In the last decade, the generation of host-associated microbial culture collections has allowed the fine disentangling of complex relationships between commensal microbes and their hosts, and within-...

Happy to share this viewpoint, written together with @fabriceroux7.bsky.social and Fabienne Vailleau @lipme-toulouse.bsky.social

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

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