Very exciting: the natural #diversity across S. pennellii accessions supports the hypothesis for a role of NAC29 in #resistance: two accessions with premature STOP codons are indeed highly susceptible to sclerotinia! So, we hypothesize that NAC29 divergence might play a role in QDR evolution!

We also observed significant regulatory plasticity of the putative QDR-TFs and their downstream networks as exemplified by #spNAC29 (OG0005445). It is central in the S. pennellii QDR network, but not in any of the other species. A first hint that #cooption might drive QDR!

By generating species-wise gene coexpression #networks ( #WGCNA) and gene regulatory networks, we compared the QDR-driving networks of S. pennellii and S. lycopersicoides. We observed some overlap between both networks, but also a considerable number of species-specific nodes.

We then observed that regulatory pattern do not resemble the degree of QDR. We could confirm this observation with a pan-species gene coexpression network. #Gene-expression pattern do not follow a gradient of QDR. This supports the hypothesis of diversified QDR-regulation.

We used #orthogroups to observe the QDR-regulation in this pan-species panel. Interestingly, we found strong evidence that resistance-associated reprogramming is species-specific! Only a few DEOGs are shared across all species!

Next, we wanted to understand how one of those QDR mechanisms (lesion doubling time) is controlled and whether conserved or divergent regulatory patterns underlie this #resistance phenotype.
We conducted a #phylotranscriptomic study on our most favourite Solanum species:

Und bestärkt weiterhin die Abkehr vom Anspruch der 'Natürlichkeit' in #landwirtschaft Produktionssystemen!

Urs Niggli fordert eine grundlegende Revision d. direkten #Pflanzenschutz im ökologischen Landbau🌾🍄 Vielversprechende Diskussionen auf der #DPST25

After some time (and a lot of rain), #Phytophthora finally reached the experiment. Some plants died within only a few days. But more importantly, about 1/3 of our accessions are still going strong! 💪🌿

Through Gene Regulatory Network analysis, we identified a shared transcription factor likely coordinating the defense response: WRKY6.

Interestingly, the resistant genotype shows constitutively high WRKY6 expression. Almost as if it's primed.
7/n

This raised the question: does longitudinal regulation of these genes differ between resistant and susceptible genotypes?

Clustering based on Bayesian and Dirichlet statistics revealed that key genes were expressed earlier in the resistant genotype and delayed in the susceptible ones!
6/n

Zooming in on the timepoint just before infection onset, we observed the expression of several notable genes in the resistant genotype.
These included classic pathogenesis-related genes like PR1 and PR4, as well as genes involved in oxidative stress responses.
5/n

Next, we profiled gene expression across time series in three genotypes.
Interestingly, we observed relatively little early infection-induced gene expression: most strong differential expression occurred only after infection was well established.
4/n

We then set out to characterize host-derived factors controlling the lag phase.
Using the PhenoVation PlantExplorer Pro, we validated lag phase duration phenotypes by tracking Fv/Fm as a proxy for photosynthetic stress.
This allowed us to pinpoint early physiological changes between genotypes.
3/n

On Wednesday, I successfully defended my doctoral thesis @uni-kiel.de and followed the tradition by climbing Meteor to celebrate!
I’m deeply grateful for the incredible support and mentoring from @rstam.bsky.social and for my amazing colleagues, family, and friends!

first weather test: passed! 💨🌧️
all S. chilense accessions survived a super windy & rainy weekend: not a single loss!
tough wild tomatoes. they’re even thriving

#plantscience #StressTolerance #Solanaceae #SciComm

🌱 Back to the wild!
We’ve just started a field trial with Solanum chilense at the @uni-kiel.de Botanical Garden.
Can’t wait to watch our wild tomatoes tackle the Northern German summer. 🍅
Stay tuned for our next field-trial updates!
#SChilense #FieldTrial #PlantScience #Kiel

Milestone reached! I just submitted my PhD thesis at @uni-kiel.de
Special thanks belongs to the whole AG @rstam.bsky.social for making this journey such a joy🍅🌿
Stay tuned for more exciting science on #tomato #resistance to be published! 🚀

Exciting times at AG @rstam.bsky.social
Our second (and last) lab move to our new building begins!
Looking forward to state of the art lab spaces 🚀🍅🌿