Lorenz Oberkofler

Two scientists in lab coats analyzing plant samples in a greenhouse filled with yellow flowers.

📢New paper alert:
🍄 Friendly #fungi hijack #plant regulator to promote #symbiosis - study uncovers #mechanism that helps fungi to colonize plant #roots
👉 Link: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@an-pocheng.bsky.social @carogutj.bsky.social

bioRxiv: A specialized ARGONAUTE enables trans-species RNA interference in plant immunity (2026) Trans-species RNA interference (tsRNAi), in which plants produce small RNAs (sRNAs) to silence target genes in pathogens, has emerged as a promising strategy for disease control. However, whether tsRNAi constitutes an endogenous, regulated immune response remains unclear. Here, we show that ARGONAUTE10 (AGO10) plays a critical role in pathogen-induced tsRNAi. Loss of AGO10 in Arabidopsis abolished pathogen gene silencing during infection, leading to hypersusceptibility to oomycete and fungal pathogens. Importantly, AGO10 rapidly responds to pathogen infection through increased protein accumulation and re-location into discrete cytoplasmic condensates, thus promoting the production of trans-species sRNAs at the pathogen infection sites. This immune responsiveness relies on the N terminal intrinsically disordered region (IDR) of AGO10, which is responsible for sensing and responding to immune activation. Specific features in the IDR partitions AGO10 into two deeply diverged subgroups, AGO10a and AGO10b, with the immune responsiveness and defense function evolutionarily conserved in AGO10a but not AGO10b. Together, these findings establish tsRNAi as a bona fide, evolutionarily conserved immune response and position AGO10 as a signal-responsive hub linking pathogen perception to tsRNAi-based defense.

New Preprint: A specialized ARGONAUTE enables trans-species RNA interference in plant immunity (2026)

https://www.tsl.ac.uk/publications/164506

Motif-based substrate mapping of the receptor-like cytoplasmic kinase BIK1 reveals novel components and regulatory nodes of plant immunity - Nature Plants Cell surface receptors perceive immunogenic elicitors, triggering downstream signalling via receptor-like cytoplasmic kinases such as BIK1. Here the authors define and use the phosphorylation motif of...

Very impressive work identifying novel BIK1 substrates (and immunity players) in Arabidopsis 🔽!

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

Germline fate determination by a single ARGONAUTE protein in Ectocarpus | PNAS ARGONAUTE (AGO) proteins are a highly conserved family of RNA-binding proteins that play central roles in gene regulation and developmental process...

One protein. One pathway. A whole germline fate.

New paper from my postdoc @mpi-bio-fml.bsky.social out in PNAS:
Germline fate determination by a single ARGONAUTE protein in Ectocarpus www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

New OA Article: "Rapid local and systemic jasmonate signalling drives the initiation and establishment of plant systemic immunity" rdcu.be/eYeUZ

Novel reporter captures spatial temporal dynamics of systemic immunity: signal propagation and establishment depend on JAs.

Three #postdoc positions available in my lab @unibz.bsky.social focusing on #genomics of #eriosoma #aphids #psyllids and #phytoplasma please repost

Multi-omics identify hallmark protein and lipid features of small extracellular vesicles circulating in human plasma | Nature Cell Biology Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are an essential signalling entity in human plasma implicated in health and disease. Still, their core protein and lipid componentry, which lie at the centre of EV form and function, remain poorly defined. Here we performed high-resolution density gradient fractionation of over 140 human plasma samples to isolate circulating EVs, and systematically constructed their quantitative proteome (4,500 proteins) and lipidome (829 lipids) landscapes using mass spectrometry. We identified a highly conserved panel of 182 proteins (including ADAM10, STEAP23 and STX7) and 52 lipids (including PS, PIPs, Hex2Cer and PAs), providing a deep survey of hallmark molecular features and biological pathways characteristic to circulating EVs. We also mapped the surfaceome diversity, identifying 151 proteins on the EV surface. We further established a set of 42 proteins and 114 lipids features that served as hallmark features of non-EV particles in plasma. We submit ADAM10 and PS(3

Explore plasma's extracellular vesicles: 4,500 proteins, 829 lipids unraveled. New insights into health & disease pathways! PMID:41315767, Nat Cell Biol 2025, @NatureCellBio https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-025-01795-7 #Medsky #Pharmsky #RNA #ASHG #ESHG 🧪

Happy to share our latest paper: The symbiosome space needs to be continuously cleared from demethylated pectins to keep rhizobia happy. Former PostDoc Chao Su took this story with him when moving back to China and finished it off.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#PlantScience; @uni-freiburg.de

Stellen für Akademisches Personal | Allgemeine und angewandte Entomologie (Prof. Schuler Hannes) Kompetenzzentrum für Pflanzengesundheit: Vergleichendes Bewertungsverfahren für 1 Stelle/n als „Tecnologo“ erster Ebene mit befristetem Arbeitsvertrag (A)

We are looking for a postdoc to establish our Cell imaging laboratory for investigating plant stress factors. The postdoc will develop and optimize #CLSM technologies including fluorescence lifetime measurements and life imaging @unibz with @simonjunterholzner.bsky.social
Please repost

AGO5 restricts virus vertical transmission in plant gametophytes The propagation of a viral infection from a host parent to its progeny is known as vertical transmission, or seed transmission in plants. It allows viral infections to rapidly spread locally via polle...

Preprint alert! It is my great pleasure to announce the first manuscript from the lab, a story that started @gmivienna.bsky.social and was mainly accomplished by the intrepid @gesahoffmann.bsky.social at @mpi-mp-potsdam.bsky.social. A brief thread with our findings
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Hi passionate 🌱🔬 the #MBP2026 by @plantsciencedbg.bsky.social is entering its last registration week. Take some time and 🏄‍♀️ to: https://www.pflanzen-molekularbiologie.de/conference-molecular-biology-of-plants/registration

Hi passionate 🌱🔬 the #MBP2026 by @plantsciencedbg.bsky.social is entering its last registration week. Take some time and ASAP 🏄‍♀️ to: www.pflanzen-molekularbiologie.de/conference-m... . Please repost, like, & spread the word.

Electrostatic changes enabled the diversification of an exocyst subunit via protein complex escape - Nature Plants The evolutionary diversification of an exocyst subunit was enabled by electrostatic shifts leading to its dissociation from the ancestral complex.

My main work as postdoc @plantophagy.bsky.social lab in @gmivienna.bsky.social is out in @natplants.nature.com 🌱🎉

We asked how can protein complexes diversify without compromising their function and explored this question using the plant #exocyst complex.

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

A strong quality for a good researcher is the ability to sometimes ignore small details, and sometimes delves into them with the greatest care, and more importantly to being able to switch wisely between the two modes.

Congratulations!!

A single-cell, spatial transcriptomic atlas of the Arabidopsis life cycle - Nature Plants This study presents an extensive single-nucleus and spatial transcriptomic atlas of the Arabidopsis life cycle that represents ten distinct developmental time points inclusive of six diverse organs.

From a gene’s single cell expression–through spatial localization–to novel function, and beyond!
Now out @natplants.nature.com
We built a comprehensive spatial-transcriptomic atlas of Arabidopsis, revealing cell-type identities across organs in unprecedented detail
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Finally a method to identify plant RNA-binding proteins! 🧬 This enables so much new biology to discover from immunity to development! 🤯 🪴 Established by the incredible Victor Sanchez with @havandenburg.bsky.social @uva.nl Congratulations!!

New preprint: In situ Architecture of #Plasmodesmata.

Using #cryoET, #AlphaFold & proteomics, we uncover the native organization of plant intercellular nanopores.

🔗 doi.org/10.1101/2025...

🧪🧵1/n
#teamtomo #PlantScience #Physcomitrium #Arabidopsis #cryoEM

Awesome talk!

Still halfway through the last one... damn. Congratulations!

Just back from the #COST Action meeting in Hamburg, where I had the chance to present some of our research on fungal extracellular vesicles and sRNA transport.
Always a pleasure to exchange ideas and reconnect with the #exRNA community!

Early registration for iMMM in Munich (16.-18. September) is open for another 3 weeks ! Make sure to sign up 3 days of mycorrhizal mayhem 🌱🍄 #PlantScience

doo.net/en-us/widget...

🎓 2 Fully Funded PhD Positions in Agricultural Biotechnology (Entomology) at Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy Discover two fully funded PhD opportunities in Agricultural Biotechnology (Entomology) at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy. Conduct advanced pest and parasitoid research in one of Europe's most dynamic agricultural regions. Apply by June 11, 2025!

🎓 2 Fully Funded PhD Positions in Agricultural Biotechnology (Entomology) at Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy

Discover two fully funded PhD opportunities in Agricultural Biotechnology (Entomology) at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy. Conduct advanced pest and parasitoid research…

Awesome story! Congratulations to @santyy31.bsky.social and thank you for the great time together @LMU

New exciting research from the Weiberg lab!

Welcome immigrants from X interested in science to the friendlier skies of @bsky.app, as documented by a new @nature.com survey (but you already knew that 😉)
"Bluesky is much better for science. There is much less toxicity, misinformation, and distractions."
www.nature.com/articles/d41...