Gilles van Wezel
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gillesvanwezel.bsky.social
Gilles van Wezel
@gillesvanwezel.bsky.social
1K followers 400 following 84 posts
Infectious diseases & antibiotics; https://C4D-global.org; Microbial life; Leiden University; NIOO-KNAW; Imagine; Scientific account; Opinions are my own.
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gillesvanwezel.bsky.social
Genes for the biosynthesis of plant natural products are clustered on plants, as discussrd (and published) by @anneosbourn.bsky.social
January 29, 2026 at 3:16 PM
gillesvanwezel.bsky.social
looking forward to the talk by @anneosbourn.bsky.social on Plant Natural Products and esp triterpenes. Anne is todays speaker in the @led3hub.bsky.social seminar series.
January 29, 2026 at 3:07 PM
Reposted by Gilles van Wezel
stephanhacker2.bsky.social
2025 was a year full of great scientific discoveries and breakthroughs. Here, I want to highlight 10 papers that got me really excited. Of course, this is a highly subjective selection and I am sure I am forgetting some papers that I would love to include, but here it goes: (1/12)
January 4, 2026 at 6:44 AM
gillesvanwezel.bsky.social
last walk of the year in parc Elswout.
December 31, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Reposted by Gilles van Wezel
niooknaw.bsky.social
New publication: Disentangling the molecular mechanisms of disease suppression by endophytic #Flavobacterium sp. 98, by @xinyapan.bsky.social @gillesvanwezel.bsky.social @raaijmakersjm.bsky.social and others. #plantmicrobiome #plantgrowth
doi.org/10.1016/j.mi...
Graphical abstract Pan et al. (2026).
December 19, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Reposted by Gilles van Wezel
marnixmedema.bsky.social
Kudos to #yijunzhu #hannahaugustijn and #victoriapascal for getting this out, and thanks to @gillesvanwezel.bsky.social #dylandodd and #michaelfischbach for the collaboration!
Try it out now on gutsmash.bioinformatics.nl
gutSMASH
gutsmash.bioinformatics.nl
December 13, 2025 at 7:41 AM
Reposted by Gilles van Wezel
iandealidbury.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc... Endophytic adaptation in Flavobacterium sp. 98 @xinyapan.bsky.social @vcarryon.bsky.social @gillesvanwezel.bsky.social ✌🏽 lysoPE story could be cool
Hypoxia Induces Phenotypic and Metabolic Shifts in Endophytic Flavobacterium sp. 98
Abstract. Oxygen plays a crucial role in shaping microbial physiology, functions, and behavior. Endophytic bacteria, residing within plant tissues, inhabit
academic.oup.com
December 10, 2025 at 11:30 PM
Reposted by Gilles van Wezel
matthutchings.bsky.social
Enrichment of root-associated Streptomyces strains in response to drought is driven by diverse functional traits and does not predict beneficial effects on plant growth

journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Enrichment of root-associated Streptomyces strains in response to drought is driven by diverse functional traits and does not predict beneficial effects on plant growth
Understanding how root microbes respond to drought is crucial for improving crop resilience. This study finds that Streptomyces responses are strain-specific and functionally diverse, with traits and ...
journals.plos.org
November 30, 2025 at 8:09 AM
Reposted by Gilles van Wezel
plosbiology.org
GlcNAc build-up acts as a key metabolic signal in #Streptomyces, but how does it triggers developmental responses? @gillesvanwezel.bsky.social &co show that the enzyme NagS dehydrates GlcNAc-6P into a reactive intermediate, triggering a toxicity-based checkpoint @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/44pE08I
Top: (Top row) Sensitivity of S. coelicolor mutants to GlcNAc. Spores (5 × 105 CFU) of S. coelicolor M145 and its mutant derivatives ∆nagB, SMA11, ∆nagB∆nagS, ∆nagB∆nagSC (∆nagB∆nagS expressing nagS) and ∆nagB∆nagSE (∆nagB∆nagS with empty plasmid pSET152) were streaked on MM agar plates with 1% mannitol (Mann) and 1% mannitol plus 10 mM GlcNAc (GlcNAc). (Bottom row) NagS and its role in GlcNAc sensing. Spores of M145 and ∆nagS were plated on MM and R5 with 0, 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 150, and 200 mM GlcNAc. Note that nagS mutants hardly respond to GlcNAc. Bottom: Model for the metabolic control of development by GlcNAc and NagS. During late vegetative growth of streptomycetes, the old vegetative or substrate hyphae are degraded in a process of programmed cell death (PCD), to produce the nutrients required to build the aerial mycelium (see mycelial drawings on the right). Mycelial lysis results in breakdown of the cell-wall, leading to the accumulation of GlcNAc-6P, which is a major nutritional signal for the onset of development and antibiotic production. NagS converts GlcNAc-6P into 6P-chromogen I (denoted as X-Ac-6P), which in turn is deacetylated by NagA into a toxic metabolite (denoted as X-6P) that resembles ribose. The toxic metabolite promotes cell lysis, thus releasing more GlcNAc-6P that serves as substrate for NagS and NagA. A salvage pathway then switches off the toxic pathway again. For this, GlcNAc-6P is converted by NagA and NagB into Fructose-6P (Fru-6P), which enters the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP), thereby producing 6-phosphogluconate (6-PG), a metabolic inhibitor of NagS. Thus, production of toxic metabolites ceases and the transition to aerial growth can be initiated. Arrows with round ends represent inhibition, dashed arrow shows proposed activity.
November 28, 2025 at 2:01 PM
gillesvanwezel.bsky.social
thanks @angelahuttner.bsky.social for a very inspiring talk LUMC Leiden.
The house in the image you showex was built in 1612, and Rembrandt van Rhijn was 6 years old by then and lived at the bridge in the back, 200 m away. Always when I see the house I think of how Rembrandt will have painted it!
November 28, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Reposted by Gilles van Wezel
plosbiology.org
GlcNAc build-up acts as a key metabolic signal in #Streptomyces, but how does it triggers developmental responses? @gillesvanwezel.bsky.social &co show that the enzyme NagS dehydrates GlcNAc-6P into a reactive intermediate, triggering a toxicity-based checkpoint @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/44pE08I
Top: (Top row) Sensitivity of S. coelicolor mutants to GlcNAc. Spores (5 × 105 CFU) of S. coelicolor M145 and its mutant derivatives ∆nagB, SMA11, ∆nagB∆nagS, ∆nagB∆nagSC (∆nagB∆nagS expressing nagS) and ∆nagB∆nagSE (∆nagB∆nagS with empty plasmid pSET152) were streaked on MM agar plates with 1% mannitol (Mann) and 1% mannitol plus 10 mM GlcNAc (GlcNAc). (Bottom row) NagS and its role in GlcNAc sensing. Spores of M145 and ∆nagS were plated on MM and R5 with 0, 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 150, and 200 mM GlcNAc. Note that nagS mutants hardly respond to GlcNAc. Bottom: Model for the metabolic control of development by GlcNAc and NagS. During late vegetative growth of streptomycetes, the old vegetative or substrate hyphae are degraded in a process of programmed cell death (PCD), to produce the nutrients required to build the aerial mycelium (see mycelial drawings on the right). Mycelial lysis results in breakdown of the cell-wall, leading to the accumulation of GlcNAc-6P, which is a major nutritional signal for the onset of development and antibiotic production. NagS converts GlcNAc-6P into 6P-chromogen I (denoted as X-Ac-6P), which in turn is deacetylated by NagA into a toxic metabolite (denoted as X-6P) that resembles ribose. The toxic metabolite promotes cell lysis, thus releasing more GlcNAc-6P that serves as substrate for NagS and NagA. A salvage pathway then switches off the toxic pathway again. For this, GlcNAc-6P is converted by NagA and NagB into Fructose-6P (Fru-6P), which enters the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP), thereby producing 6-phosphogluconate (6-PG), a metabolic inhibitor of NagS. Thus, production of toxic metabolites ceases and the transition to aerial growth can be initiated. Arrows with round ends represent inhibition, dashed arrow shows proposed activity.
November 27, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Reposted by Gilles van Wezel
christlet.bsky.social
I enjoyed reading this! www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
On the role of phase separation in the biogenesis of membraneless compartments | The EMBO Journal
EMBO Press is an editorially independent publishing platform for the development of EMBO scientific publications.
www.embopress.org
November 14, 2025 at 11:14 AM
Reposted by Gilles van Wezel
niooknaw.bsky.social
New publication: #Serotonin modulation of #metabolism and #stress response in Pseudomonas fluorescens, by @gillesvanwezel.bsky.social and others.
doi.org/10.1186/s129...
Figure 2 in Waclawiková and others (2025): "Serotonin metabolism protects P. fluorescens from oxidative stress possibly via upregulation of phenylalanine and tyrosine catabolic pathways. A RNA-seq experimental design. B Heat map of the genes that are significantly regulated (at 10 and 12 h) in the presence of serotonin as compared to the untreated control. Data represent log2(fold change). FDR ≤ 0.05, fold change ≥ 2. GSEA analysis of upregulated genes from stimulation with serotonin (FDR ≤ 0.05, fold change ≥ 2) after 10 h and 12 h. Data show -log2(p value) for specific GO biological pathways (bar graphs on the left); number of genes involved in the regulated pathways (bar graphs in the middle); and, expression patterns of individual genes involved in the regulated pathways (graphs on the right). C Volcano plots of differentially abundant proteins after 12 h (left panel) and 24 h (right panel) of stimulation with serotonin in P. fluorescens. D Overview of phenylalanine, tyrosine and arginine catabolic pathway and its regulation by serotonin on the RNA and protein level"
November 14, 2025 at 8:31 AM
gillesvanwezel.bsky.social
@widdowquinn.bsky.social Sandra and I just booked Marillion in Pompeii on 26 July. are you guys going?
November 12, 2025 at 1:48 PM
gillesvanwezel.bsky.social
we just booked this next level @marillion.com concert in #Pompeii
November 12, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Reposted by Gilles van Wezel
vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu
Switzerland is joining Horizon Europe!

We are uniting two research powerhouses.

For cutting-edge innovation that will boost our energy security, digital transformation, health and so much more.

Today is a good day for science, and for our EU-Switzerland partnership.
November 10, 2025 at 2:58 PM
gillesvanwezel.bsky.social
in Cordoba, Spain after the excellent #PMS2025 meeting in Antequera. Used a parking app but with wrong (NL) numberplate. We got a fine but amazingly could pay it off by paying 6 euros att the vending machine. Attached some photos from the beautiful Mezquita.
November 8, 2025 at 12:06 PM
gillesvanwezel.bsky.social
time for another pint at the Eagle in Cambridge. RIP James Watson and
thanks for your inspiration that changed the life of so many scientists.
November 7, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Reposted by Gilles van Wezel
evolvedbiofilm.bsky.social
Changsha in 🇨🇳 is selected for the next Plant-Microbiome symposium in 2027
#PMS2025 ➡️ #PMS2027
November 7, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Reposted by Gilles van Wezel
evolvedbiofilm.bsky.social
Talk and Poster prizes at #PMS2025
Well done all presenters!!! 👏
including @courtneyherms.bsky.social @hueihsuantsai.bsky.social and @dgarrs.bsky.social
November 7, 2025 at 11:58 AM
Reposted by Gilles van Wezel
asaflevylab.bsky.social
What a fun meeting in Malaga!
#pms2025

Thanks for organizing Victor et al.!!!
November 7, 2025 at 11:42 AM
gillesvanwezel.bsky.social
the 7th Plant Microbiome Synposium will be held in Changsha, China in 2027. Looking forward to it!
November 7, 2025 at 11:58 AM
gillesvanwezel.bsky.social
Jos Raaijmakers thanks @vcarryon.bsky.social and his team for a totally incredible meeting in Antequeran Thanks Vic et al, it was a supermeeting. After ISBA2025 I know how much work it is! Have a well deserved little break.
November 7, 2025 at 11:48 AM
gillesvanwezel.bsky.social
@vcarryon.bsky.social closes the #PMS2025 meeting in Antequera, thanking the amazing Cruz Ruiz and her Acoeventis team and his fabulous local scientific team in Malaga.
November 7, 2025 at 11:45 AM
gillesvanwezel.bsky.social
The last talk of #PMS2025 by Adam @adamoss.bsky.social from the lab of @vcarryon.bsky.social. Besides a great scientist Adam also organized a lot of the meeting.
November 7, 2025 at 11:36 AM