Tolga Bozkurt

The EPS-I exopolysaccharide transforms Ralstonia wilt pathogen biofilms into viscoelastic fluids for rapid dissemination in planta | PNAS Ralstonia solanacearum species complex (RSSC) pathogens cause destructive plant wilt diseases of a wide variety of crops, leading to significant ag...

I'm excited to see this out after hearing Matt give a nice seminar a few months ago. Ralstonia is such an interesting pathogen! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Exciting PhD positions on plant immunity and engineering plant disease resistance with an excellent supervisor @jiorgoskourelis.bsky.social. Strongly recommend.👇

Membrane contact sites between chloroplasts and the pathogen interface underpin plant focal immune responses Chloroplast tethering to the pathogen interface via membrane contact sites promotes focal callose deposition and strengthens plant immunity.

Membrane contact sites between chloroplasts and the pathogen interface underpin plant focal immune responses (Enoch Lok Him Yuen, Zachary Savage, Vojtěch Pražák, et al) doi.org/10.1093/plce... #PlantScience

Recent paper from @tolgaboz.bsky.social’s group at @imperiallifesci.bsky.social focuses on membrane contact sites between chloroplasts and the pathogen interface and their role in immunity 🎉
Delighted to have helped 🔬

Let's keep in touch: How membrane contact sites drive immune responses Inside every cell, a pulsating network of molecular messengers orchestrates life's most critical conversations. While vesicular trafficking facilitates lon

Let's keep in touch: How membrane contact sites drive immune responses url: academic.oup.com/plcell/artic...

Huge congratulations to Nick Eilmann, our undergrad intern and tutee, for winning two BSPP awards — the Undergraduate Exam Award 2025 and the Undergraduate Project Prize 2025!

Landscape - The Forest of Biologists

Just planted in @jcellsci.bsky.social 🌳 😍

An A. thaliana mutant lacking all nine #ATG8 isoforms provides genetic evidence for functional specialization of #ATG8 in plants

forest.biologists.com/landscape/?i...

Congratulations to all involved 🎉

Delighted to have helped a bit with some FLIM-FRET, and amazed at how much chloroplasts do.

Caroline Dean.

'I feel privileged to do science every day – it is wonderful to be able to follow a passion and be paid for it! It is flexible and absorbing. I would recommend it to everyone.'

In Profile: Caroline Dean

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

#LatestIssue #PlantScience

Our latest work on how chloroplasts contribute to immunity: Membrane contact sites between chloroplasts and the pathogen interface underpin plant focal immune responses url: academic.oup.com/plcell/artic...

News in plant immunology Contents Coordinated Ca2+ influx cascades for quantitative control of plant immunity Coordinated Ca2+ influx cascades for quantitative control of plant immunity Written by Dmitry Lapin, J…

Many thanks to Dr. Dmitry Lapin for writing a highlight of our collaborative study and sharing it on his lab’s website.

Learn more about coordinated Ca²⁺ influx cascades for quantitative control of plant immunity here:

phoenix-plant.com/highlights-o...

Big cheers to Edward on his last day with us . Thanks for being an awesome BSPP summer intern — we’ll miss having you around! #BSPP #PlantScience

Loved Naomi Nakayama’s talk-truly original research! #PlantBio2025

A mesmerizing time-lapse of the Sun in ultraviolet light, captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft over a month.

-Credits: NASA

🦠🧍‍♀️From bacterial to human immunity.

We report in @science.org the discovery of a human homolog of SIR2 antiphage proteins that participates in the TLR pathway of animal innate immunity.
Co-led wt @enzopoirier.bsky.social by D. Bonhomme and @hugovaysset.bsky.social

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

I’m very grateful and excited to start our ARIA-funded project on redesigning plant immunity!

Research Associate in Programmable Plant Immunity at Imperial College London Apply for the Research Associate in Programmable Plant Immunity role on jobs.ac.uk, the top job board for academic positions in higher education. View details and apply now.

Plz RT. We are looking for a postdoc to join our collborative project on AI-guided bioengineering of plant immune receptors @tolgaboz.bsky.social and @jiorgoskourelis.bsky.social labs: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNV032/r...

Thank you to AmirAli Toghani @amiralito.bsky.social, Raoul Frijters, Tolga Bozkurt @tolgaboz.bsky.social, Ryohei Terauchi, and Sophien Kamoun @kamounlab.bsky.social for the wonderful supports!

Poster at #ISMPMI2025 from collaborations with @sainburylab.bsky.social #Proteomics group: P011 ( @isabelmonte.bsky.social ), P073 ( @HeeKungAng group), P086 & P034 (Zipfel group) P101 ( @tolgaboz.bsky.social ) and P130 ( @jonathandgjones.bsky.social and XiaoLin)

Dynamic localization of a helper NLR at the plant–pathogen interface underpins pathogen recognition | PNAS Plants employ sensor–helper pairs of NLR immune receptors to recognize pathogen effectors and activate immune responses. Yet, the subcellular local...

Use of mutants to shut down NLR activity but not localization and structure formation so it can be observed.

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... Dynamic localization of a helper NLR at the plant–pathogen interface underpins pathogen recognition | PNAS

A person giving a scientific talk at a pit lectern with conference logo. A fluorescent microscope image of plant cell is shown on a slide

Unsurprisingly beautiful microscope images from @tolgaboz.bsky.social, which you can browse in this preprint #2025ISMPMI

Tldr; NLRs can target different membrane interfaces, not just the plasma membrane.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... A helper NLR targets organellar membranes to trigger immunity

Competence for transcellular infection in the root cortex involves a post-replicative, cell-cycle exit decision in Medicago truncatula Imaging deep root tissues with a combination of cell-cycle reporters reveals that a cortical cell file traversed by symbiotic bacteria exhibits reduced proliferative potential and enters a prolonged G...

Happy to share our newest paper fresh from the press. Have a look, how cells prepare to host symbiotic infections. We really appreciate the reviewers comments. Enjoy the microscopy and other experiments by the lead PostDoc Morgane Batzenschlager & collaborators. elifesciences.org/articles/88588

Exploring the diversity of plant model organisms Increasing plant genome research, together with advanced transformation technology, enables researchers to address their research questions more effec…

I'm very pleased to present the @cp-devcell.bsky.social Voices on plant model organism: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti.... While we appreciate the diversity of plant models, one often questions which model is the "best"?

It's been a really fun ride to put this Voices together, and huge thanks to all authors contributed: @seedrevolutionlab.bsky.social John Bowman @michaelraissig.bsky.social @philippaborrill.bsky.social Sabeeha Merchant; Feng Qin; Enoch Lok Him Yuen; @tolgaboz.bsky.social; Fang Xie

Research Associate in Programmable Plant Immunity at Imperial College London Apply for the Research Associate in Programmable Plant Immunity role on jobs.ac.uk, the top job board for academic positions in higher education. View details and apply now.

Plz RT. We are looking for a postdoc to join our collborative project on AI-guided bioengineering of plant immune receptors @tolgaboz.bsky.social and @jiorgoskourelis.bsky.social labs: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNV032/r...

Nice paper though it fails to mention very relevant articles on plant #autophagy from @tolgaboz.bsky.social lab. Here's one of them: europepmc.org/article/MED/... #plantblindness

A necrotizing toxin enables Pseudomonas syringae infection across evolutionarily divergent plants Grenz et al. interrogate the Pseudomonas syringae species complex for its capacity to infect evolutionarily divergent host plants. Their results demonstrate that broad host isolates from phylogroup 2 rely on the lipopeptide toxin syringomycin to promote host necrosis and enhance bacterial growth in plants.

Very happy to share the final version of our work on the evolution of broad host virulence in Pseudomonas out now @cellhostmicrobe It’s just in time for the holidays 🎄🦠 www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...

Preserving the Biologically Coherent Generic Concept of Phytophthora, ‘Plant Destroyer’ | Phytopathology® Phytophthora is a long-established, well known and globally important genus of plant pathogens. Phylogenetic evidence has shown that the biologically distinct, obligate biotrophic downy mildews evolve...

Just out, First Look version:
Preserving the Biologically Coherent Generic Concept of #Phytophthora, ‘Plant Destroyer’ | #PhytoPathology
apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/10.1094/...

#Oomycetes #Taxonomy #Phylogeny #Cladistics #Paraphyly #PlantBiosecurity #ScientificCommunication #PlantDiseaseManagement

Preserving the Biologically Coherent Generic Concept of Phytophthora, ‘Plant Destroyer’ | Phytopathology® Phytophthora is a long-established, well known and globally important genus of plant pathogens. Phylogenetic evidence has shown that the biologically distinct, obligate biotrophic downy mildews evolve...

Our community consensus position on conserving the genus #Phytophthora: Preserving the Biologically Coherent Generic Concept of Phytophthora, ‘Plant Destroyer’ | Phytopathology® apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/10.1094/...

Ergosterol‐induced immune response in barley involves phosphorylation of phosphatidylinositol phosphate metabolic enzymes and activation of diterpene biosynthesis Lipids play crucial roles in plant–microbe interactions, functioning as structural components, signaling molecules, and microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs). However, the mechanisms underly...

Latest story from Pia Saake: Plant Lipids Mediate Immune Responses to Fungal Lipids in Barley!

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....