M. Franceschetti

Genetic basis of historical pea mutants that hyper-accumulate iron

This paper identifies mutations in BRUTUS and OPT3 genes responsible for iron hyper-accumulation in pea mutants, providing insights into iron signaling and potential strategies for crop biofortification.

The Piks allele of the NLR immune receptor Pik breaks the recognition of AvrPik effectors of the rice blast fungus

The paper characterizes the Piks allele of the rice immune receptor Pik, showing it does not recognize known AvrPik effectors of the rice blast fungus, suggesting a novel recognition mechanism.

Effector target-guided engineering of an integrated domain expands the disease resistance profile of a rice NLR immune receptor

The paper engineers rice NLR receptors to recognize new effector variants by incorporating effector targets, enhancing disease resistance against blast fungus.

The Fe-S cluster assembly factors NFU4 and NFU5 are primarily required for protein lipoylation in mitochondria

This study identifies NFU4 and NFU5 as essential for mitochondrial protein lipoylation, with specific roles in lipoate biosynthesis for dehydrogenases.

Multiple variants of the blast fungus effector AVR-Pik bind the HMA domain of the rice protein OsHIPP19 with high affinity.

The paper identifies how multiple AVR-Pik variants bind OsHIPP19 with high affinity, revealing structural differences that enhance binding compared to Pik-1's HMA domain.

The allelic rice immune receptor Pikh confers extended resistance to strains of the blast fungus through a single polymorphism in the effector binding interface

This paper identifies a single amino acid change in the Pikh allele of a rice immune receptor that extends resistance to multiple strains of the blast fungus through enhanced effector binding.

The Medicago truncatula Vacuolar Iron Transporter-Like proteins VTL4 and VTL8 deliver iron to endosymbiotic bacteria at different stages of the infection process

This study identifies VTL4 and VTL8 as iron transporters in Medicago truncatula that deliver iron to rhizobia at different stages of nodule development.

Protein engineering expands the effector recognition profile of a rice NLR immune receptor

This study uses structure-guided engineering to expand the effector recognition of a rice NLR receptor, showing improved binding and immune response to variant effector proteins.

Cross-reactivity of a rice NLR immune receptor to distinct effectors from the blast pathogen leads to partial disease resistance

This study shows that a rice NLR receptor can recognize a structurally similar effector from a different pathogen, leading to partial resistance.

Lessons in effector and NLR biology of plant-microbe systems

The paper examines three effectors from the rice blast fungus and their corresponding rice NLR immune receptors to highlight general concepts of plant-microbe interactions and identify 12 lessons in effector and NLR biology.