M. Thines

Small-spored Alternaria spp. (section Alternaria) are common on wild tomato species

The study identifies small-spored Alternaria species causing infections on wild tomato species and highlights their genetic diversity.

High nucleotide substitution rates associated with retrotransposon proliferation drive dynamic secretome evolution in smut pathogens

This study shows that retrotransposon proliferation in Ustilago hordei drives high nucleotide substitution rates, particularly affecting secretome gene evolution.

Genomic basis of drought resistance in Fagus sylvatica

This study identifies genomic loci associated with drought resistance in European beech using Pool-GWAS, finding 106 SNPs linked to drought response genes and a predictive SNP-assay with 98.6% accuracy.

Cross-species analysis between the maize smut fungi Ustilago maydis and Sporisorium reilianum highlights the role of transcriptional plasticity of effector orthologs for virulence and disease

This study compares effector gene regulation in two maize smut fungi, showing transcriptional plasticity and functional divergence contribute to disease symptom differences.

Transcriptome analysis in the maize-Ustilago maydis interaction identifies maize-line-specific activity of fungal effectors

The paper identifies maize-line-specific virulence functions of Ustilago maydis effectors through RNA-Seq and CRISPR/Cas9 mutants, revealing auxin-related processes as a target.

Community sequencing on a natural experiment reveals little influence of host species and timing but a strong influence of compartment on the composition of root endophytes in three annual Brassicaceae

The study examines root endophyte communities in Brassicaceae plants, finding that compartment (root vs. soil) strongly influences composition, while host species and timing have minimal impact.

Pseudozyma saprotrophic yeasts have retained a large effector arsenal, including functional Pep1 orthologs

The paper shows that Pseudozyma yeasts retain effector proteins, including Pep1 orthologs, which can restore virulence in a Ustilago maydis mutant, suggesting potential plant pathogenic capabilities.