Fabrizio Menardo
@fmenardo.bsky.social
Genomics, evolution and epidemiology of microbial pathogens. University of Zurich.
Tracking the evolutionary trajectory of a young hybrid plant pathogen. New preprint on how triticale powdery mildew evolved in the ~25 years since its emergence. Congrats to @jigisha1.bsky.social and all coauthors! doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Tracking the evolutionary trajectory of a young hybrid plant pathogen
A common mechanism by which emerging plant pathogens gain the ability to infect new hosts is hybridization. Despite its widespread occurrence, the outcomes of hybridization remain largely unpredictabl...
doi.org
October 13, 2025 at 6:47 AM
Tracking the evolutionary trajectory of a young hybrid plant pathogen. New preprint on how triticale powdery mildew evolved in the ~25 years since its emergence. Congrats to @jigisha1.bsky.social and all coauthors! doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Reposted by Fabrizio Menardo
Check out our new pre-print! ✨
We cloned AvrWTK4, the first wheat powdery mildew effector recognised by a tandem kinase protein, and show that an HMA-like integrated domain in WTK4 acts as pathogen decoy. Discover the whole story on bioRxiv ⬇️
We cloned AvrWTK4, the first wheat powdery mildew effector recognised by a tandem kinase protein, and show that an HMA-like integrated domain in WTK4 acts as pathogen decoy. Discover the whole story on bioRxiv ⬇️
An HMA-like integrated domain in the wheat tandem kinase WTK4 recognises an RNase-like pathogen effector https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.26.672365v1
September 1, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Check out our new pre-print! ✨
We cloned AvrWTK4, the first wheat powdery mildew effector recognised by a tandem kinase protein, and show that an HMA-like integrated domain in WTK4 acts as pathogen decoy. Discover the whole story on bioRxiv ⬇️
We cloned AvrWTK4, the first wheat powdery mildew effector recognised by a tandem kinase protein, and show that an HMA-like integrated domain in WTK4 acts as pathogen decoy. Discover the whole story on bioRxiv ⬇️
Reposted by Fabrizio Menardo
Scientists’ role in defending democracy | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Scientists’ role in defending democracy
The United States’ democratic leadership, commitment to freedom of expression, and investment in the pursuit of knowledge have long enabled its preeminence in science and technology. Yet today we are ...
www.science.org
August 14, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Scientists’ role in defending democracy | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Fabrizio Menardo
📣 NEW PREPRINT 📝
We identified evolutionary origins of many fungal effectors!
We show that fungi secrete lots of antimicrobial proteins, and that some of them were repurposed by plant pathogens for host immune suppression.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
cc @teamthomma.bsky.social
We identified evolutionary origins of many fungal effectors!
We show that fungi secrete lots of antimicrobial proteins, and that some of them were repurposed by plant pathogens for host immune suppression.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
cc @teamthomma.bsky.social
Plant-associated fungi co-opt ancient antimicrobials for host manipulation
Evolutionary histories of effector proteins secreted by fungal pathogens to mediate plant colonization remain largely elusive. While most functionally characterized effectors modulate plant immunity, ...
www.biorxiv.org
August 15, 2025 at 7:47 AM
📣 NEW PREPRINT 📝
We identified evolutionary origins of many fungal effectors!
We show that fungi secrete lots of antimicrobial proteins, and that some of them were repurposed by plant pathogens for host immune suppression.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
cc @teamthomma.bsky.social
We identified evolutionary origins of many fungal effectors!
We show that fungi secrete lots of antimicrobial proteins, and that some of them were repurposed by plant pathogens for host immune suppression.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
cc @teamthomma.bsky.social
Reposted by Fabrizio Menardo
Incredibly proud of this work where we developed a method for understanding the information contained in millions of genomes. Another example of NIH funded research.
📣Online NOW!
📄Estimation of demography and mutation rates from one million haploid genomes
🧑🤝🧑 @jgschraiber.bsky.social @jeffspence.github.io @docedge.bsky.social
📄Estimation of demography and mutation rates from one million haploid genomes
🧑🤝🧑 @jgschraiber.bsky.social @jeffspence.github.io @docedge.bsky.social
Estimation of demography and mutation rates from one million haploid genomes
Samples of millions of genomes provide substantial information about recent demography
and mutation, but standard population-genetic methods make assumptions not met in
these data. We introduce DR EVI...
www.cell.com
August 13, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Incredibly proud of this work where we developed a method for understanding the information contained in millions of genomes. Another example of NIH funded research.
Reposted by Fabrizio Menardo
I am happy to share my second paper with @samyeaman.bsky.social and collaborators! If you are into hybrid zones and tree genomics, this is for you!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
The genomic basis of local adaptation in the white x Engelmann spruce hybrid zone
Hybridization between species can occur along repeated zones of contact, providing a powerful natural laboratory for studying the interplay between migration and selection, and for identifying loci in...
www.biorxiv.org
August 13, 2025 at 9:14 AM
I am happy to share my second paper with @samyeaman.bsky.social and collaborators! If you are into hybrid zones and tree genomics, this is for you!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Fabrizio Menardo
SLiM 5: Eco-evolutionary simulations across multiple chromosomes and full genomes https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.07.669155v1
August 11, 2025 at 9:32 PM
SLiM 5: Eco-evolutionary simulations across multiple chromosomes and full genomes https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.07.669155v1
Reposted by Fabrizio Menardo
Today, our article "The entities enabling scientific fraud at scale are large, resilient, and growing rapidly" is finally published in PNAS. I hope that it proves to be a wake-up-call for the whole scientific community.
reeserichardson.blog/2025/08/04/a...
reeserichardson.blog/2025/08/04/a...
A do-or-die moment for the scientific enterprise
Reflecting on our paper “The entities enabling scientific fraud at scale are large, resilient, and growing rapidly”
reeserichardson.blog
August 4, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Today, our article "The entities enabling scientific fraud at scale are large, resilient, and growing rapidly" is finally published in PNAS. I hope that it proves to be a wake-up-call for the whole scientific community.
reeserichardson.blog/2025/08/04/a...
reeserichardson.blog/2025/08/04/a...
Reposted by Fabrizio Menardo
Reposted by Fabrizio Menardo
"Off-season sex in #Zymoseptoria tritici: little room for late encounters" @biorxivpreprint, sharing our latest study on sexual reproduction in Z. tritici — its epidemiological determinants & impact — may interest those working on plant pathogen dynamics.
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
August 6, 2025 at 7:54 AM
"Off-season sex in #Zymoseptoria tritici: little room for late encounters" @biorxivpreprint, sharing our latest study on sexual reproduction in Z. tritici — its epidemiological determinants & impact — may interest those working on plant pathogen dynamics.
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Reposted by Fabrizio Menardo
Global temperatures would have risen by 12.2 °C (!) since 1990 if everyone in the world had emitted like the wealthiest top 0.1% in world.
Fascinating new study in @natclimate.nature.com by Schöngart et al: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Fascinating new study in @natclimate.nature.com by Schöngart et al: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
May 7, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Global temperatures would have risen by 12.2 °C (!) since 1990 if everyone in the world had emitted like the wealthiest top 0.1% in world.
Fascinating new study in @natclimate.nature.com by Schöngart et al: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Fascinating new study in @natclimate.nature.com by Schöngart et al: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Fabrizio Menardo
"Population genetics of plant fungal threats: Insights from wheat powdery mildew"
I wrote this Primer inspired by the great work of @jigisha1.bsky.social , @fmenardo.bsky.social and colleagues
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
@uclnews.bsky.social @plosbiology.org
I wrote this Primer inspired by the great work of @jigisha1.bsky.social , @fmenardo.bsky.social and colleagues
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
@uclnews.bsky.social @plosbiology.org
Population genetics of plant fungal threats: Insights from wheat powdery mildew
Population genetics studies of microbial pathogens are demonstrating the potential of evolutionary theory to inform decisions that impact society. This Primer explores a recent study on wheat powdery ...
journals.plos.org
May 6, 2025 at 9:41 AM
"Population genetics of plant fungal threats: Insights from wheat powdery mildew"
I wrote this Primer inspired by the great work of @jigisha1.bsky.social , @fmenardo.bsky.social and colleagues
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
@uclnews.bsky.social @plosbiology.org
I wrote this Primer inspired by the great work of @jigisha1.bsky.social , @fmenardo.bsky.social and colleagues
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
@uclnews.bsky.social @plosbiology.org
Reposted by Fabrizio Menardo
Agricultural diseases threaten sustainable food production. @jigisha1.bsky.social @fmenardo.bsky.social & co show that the population structure of #Blumeria #WheatPowderyMildew can be predicted by prevailing wind patterns (& reveal genes under recent selection) @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/43qfH9F
May 6, 2025 at 7:44 AM
Agricultural diseases threaten sustainable food production. @jigisha1.bsky.social @fmenardo.bsky.social & co show that the population structure of #Blumeria #WheatPowderyMildew can be predicted by prevailing wind patterns (& reveal genes under recent selection) @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/43qfH9F
Very happy to see our paper online: "Population genomics and molecular epidemiology of wheat powdery mildew in Europe". Congrats to @jigisha1.bsky.social and all coauthors! doi.org/10.1371/jour...
Population genomics and molecular epidemiology of wheat powdery mildew in Europe
Agricultural diseases are a major threat to sustainable food production. This study of wheat powdery mildew, a disease caused by the fungus Blumeria graminis, shows that the population structure can b...
doi.org
May 5, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Very happy to see our paper online: "Population genomics and molecular epidemiology of wheat powdery mildew in Europe". Congrats to @jigisha1.bsky.social and all coauthors! doi.org/10.1371/jour...
Reposted by Fabrizio Menardo
Very excited with @tobybarilbio.bsky.social to share this preprint about his latest work on TEs!
We knew that TEs were very pretty active in this global fungal pathogen of wheat.
Now with nearly 2000 Illumina genomes available, we could finally ask questions about historic TE activation waves.
We knew that TEs were very pretty active in this global fungal pathogen of wheat.
Now with nearly 2000 Illumina genomes available, we could finally ask questions about historic TE activation waves.
April 9, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Very excited with @tobybarilbio.bsky.social to share this preprint about his latest work on TEs!
We knew that TEs were very pretty active in this global fungal pathogen of wheat.
Now with nearly 2000 Illumina genomes available, we could finally ask questions about historic TE activation waves.
We knew that TEs were very pretty active in this global fungal pathogen of wheat.
Now with nearly 2000 Illumina genomes available, we could finally ask questions about historic TE activation waves.
Reposted by Fabrizio Menardo
The collaborative paper on adding selection to stdpopsim is out! Learn about how to easily simulate realistic population genomic data with background selection and sweeps, plus some benchmarking of methods for demographic history, DFE, and sweep inference. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Accessible, realistic genome simulation with selection using stdpopsim
Selection is a fundamental evolutionary force that shapes patterns of genetic variation across species. However, simulations incorporating realistic selection along heterogeneous genomes in complex de...
www.biorxiv.org
March 24, 2025 at 4:09 PM
The collaborative paper on adding selection to stdpopsim is out! Learn about how to easily simulate realistic population genomic data with background selection and sweeps, plus some benchmarking of methods for demographic history, DFE, and sweep inference. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Our paper on the evolution of fungicide resistance in wheat powdery mildew is now published! Congrats to all coauthors! doi.org/10.1111/mpp....
Genomic Surveillance and Molecular Evolution of Fungicide Resistance in European Populations of Wheat Powdery Mildew
Mutations conferring fungicide resistance to wheat powdery mildew emerged multiple times and are characterised by distinct geographic ranges in Europe and neighbouring regions.
doi.org
March 20, 2025 at 8:51 AM
Our paper on the evolution of fungicide resistance in wheat powdery mildew is now published! Congrats to all coauthors! doi.org/10.1111/mpp....