Now out! We show that TEs can be horizontally transferred between fungal species via Starships. Once transferred, these TEs can become active, changing the genome organization and affecting the lifestyle of the recipient fungus. www.nature.com/articles/s41... @oggenfussursula.bsky.social #TEsky

Now up on bioRxiv! Working with @dianzheng.bsky.social and Jan van Kan, we tested how DNA is distributed between nuclei in multinucleate fungal spores. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

The role of two GLYCOALKALOID METABOLISM genes in α-tomatine biosynthesis and basal defense in tomato https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02.16.705890v1

For an easier read, @w-u-r.bsky.social also published an article about the project and our main findings. www.wur.nl/en/news/resi...

Finally, these Neurospora results build on similar results some of the authors demonstrated recently in two plant pathogenic fungi. Since these pathogens are less studied than Neurospora, we have do some experiments before a more formal response. But one is coming! www.science.org/doi/full/10....

Fungal Friends - Some of you may have seen the recent preprint on chromosomes in Neurospora nuclei. I have something to say about that, but waiting while bioRxiv moderates the comment

Can yeast help us fight fungal crop diseases?🌾 A yeast mating platform for multiplex screening of fungal GPCR–ligand interactions www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

It started as a master thesis project by Markus Hiltunen, and ended up in this publication in Science. What a fun project to work on! Thanks Markus - and all other coauthors, too, for a great team work! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

@zombieantdoc.bsky.social spreading the biology of zombie ant fungus in the ESEB plenary. Showing mechanisms of how fungi hijack ant behaviour to help their own dispersal.

🚨 New paper in @natcomms.nature.com After a constructive and rewarding peer-review process (huge thanks to our editors and reviewers) we can finally share it: 🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The RXLR-EER Motif Determines an Unconventional Secretion Pathway Associated with Extracellular Vesicle Production https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.07.663508v1

📜Transposon activity eliminates a crucial fungal secondary metabolite cluster while preserving pathogenicity 🧑‍🔬 Jelmer Dijkstra, Gert H.J. Kema, et al. 📔 @biorxiv-plants.bsky.social 🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #️⃣ #PlantImmunity #FusariumOxysporum #Fusarium #Transposons #FungalGenomics #Fungi

Ever wonder how fungi hijack plant defences? Dr. Jan van Kan (Wageningen University, NL) has spent decades decoding the strategies of necrotrophic pathogens. At #PPATH2025 he will cover the molecular arms race between plants and fungi. Botrytis • Genomics • Resistance breeding buff.ly/mJsUvUO

There are two kinds of people in the world: those who fold the edges of autoclave tape over on itself before sticking, and monsters

Apothecium is shooting ascospores on the lids. Shiny dots are ascospores. You can see all 8 of the ascospores from a single ascus being deposited on the lid.

Botrytis cinerea apothecium is shooting ascospores from ascus!