Seminar Talks

It is a great pleasure to announce the upcoming PlantMicrobe seminar talk to be given by

Jana Ordon, University of Zurich

on Tuesday, June 30 2026 at 13:00 in person at LMU Martinsried (Room B01.027) and also via Zoom.

"Plant immunity in a microbial world: Immunomodulation by members of the plant microbiota"

Plants interact with a multitude of microorganisms and constantly monitor their surroundings to identify beneficial and harmful colonizers. Unlike microbiota establishment, pathogenic invasion is regularly accompanied by substantial damage. Oligogalacturonides (OGs) are released upon damage from plant cell walls and trigger immune responses. However, the bona fide OG receptor is still unknown. We have identified the receptor kinase REDUCED SENSITIVITY TO OGs 1 (RSO1) in Arabidopsis thaliana, which is required for rapid OG-induced immune responses and for restricting the proliferation of several phytopathogens. We further discovered that, like pathogens, commensal bacteria are also recognized by multiple plasma membrane-localized immune receptors, yet commensal bacteria still proliferate successfully on their hosts. This raises the question of how commensals can establish on plants despite their recognition. We discovered that immunomodulation is widespread within the root microbiota and is mediated by multiple molecular mechanisms. Using newly developed MoBacTag-based DNA barcodes, we revealed that single immunosuppressive determinants can shape root community composition. Thus, immunomodulation, including both immune activation and suppression, is a common feature of the plant microbiota rather than a pathogen-specific characteristic.

The Zoom link will be sent to members via E-Mail.

It is a great pleasure to announce the upcoming PlantMicrobe seminar talk to be given by

Michael Borg, Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen

on Tuesday, July 7th 2026 at 13:00 in person at LMU Martinsried (Room B01.027) and also via Zoom.

Macroalgae are foundation species in marine ecosystems that shape coastal habitats, support biodiversity and drive primary production. Although they share superficially similar lifestyles and ecological roles, macroalgae are highly diverse and span deeply divergent eukaryotic lineages. The largest and most diverse are the red algae (Rhodophyta), a phylum within Archaeplastida that share a common ancestor with green algae and land plants. Despite their ecological and evolutionary importance, the molecular mechanisms controlling red algal development remain poorly understood. This makes red algae a powerful comparative system for investigating whether developmental complexity across eukaryotes, and particularly among their green cousins, is governed by shared, distinct or convergent mechanisms. Here, I will present our recent work establishing Bostrychia moritziana, a member of the most diverse red algal lineage, as a model for studying red algal development and reproduction. I will discuss our analysis of the Bostrychia genome, which has shed light on genome evolution in this group and challenges the prevailing view that red algae have small, compact genomes. Using genetic, epigenomic and transcriptomic approaches, we are mapping the gene regulatory networks and specialised differentiation programs that coordinate transitions through their characteristically complex reproductive life cycles. Together, our findings provide new insight into the genomic adaptations underpinning red algal diversity and position Bostrychia as a powerful model for studying the evolutionary origins and general principles of reproductive and developmental complexity in red algae.

The Zoom link will be sent to members via E-Mail.

It is a great pleasure to announce the upcoming PlantMicrobe seminar talk to be given by

Boas Pucker, University of Bonn

on Tuesday, August 4th 2026 at 13:00 in person at TUM (Room tba) and also via Zoom.

Abstract tba

The Zoom link will be sent to members via E-Mail.