Marc Somssich
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somssich.bsky.social
Marc Somssich
@somssich.bsky.social
3.1K followers 660 following 2.5K posts
Trait Program Manager (Biotic Stress) @KWSGroup.bsky.social

Author @preLights.bsky.social
Editor @ThePlantCell.bsky.social

Web: https://linktr.ee/somssich

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somssich.bsky.social
This week we welcomed @galofir.bsky.social from @mpi-bio-fml.bsky.social at @kwsgroup.bsky.social for our #PlantScience R&D Lecture.
It was a pleasure to finally meet, learn about his #PlantImmunity & #ImmunoGenomics work to uncover evolutionary conserved defense mechanisms, & talk plant science. 👍🤓
Gal Ofir at the KWS Headquarters. He is standing in front of a large world map, which shows KWS' Research Centres and Stations. Behind him, below the map, are four silos containing sugar beet seeds in different stages of processing, from raw, to cleaned, processed and final product. It is visible that the volume filles get's smaller and smaller and with each processing step.
November 14, 2025 at 3:31 PM
somssich.bsky.social
Rick van de Zedde was here at @kwsgroup.bsky.social to talk about his work making sense of the tons of data generated by the #PlantScience NPEC phenotyping platform run by @wurplant.bsky.social & @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social. Very interesting work, including producing smartphone apps for easy use.
Rick van de Zedde on stage at KWS showing an overview image of the NPEC, including the open field, Greenhouse, high-throughput chamber, ecotron, plant-microbe interaction and multi environment modules. A slide showing the publication "Pitfalls and potential of high-throughput plant phenotyping platforms" on how to set up a platform. Have a look here: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2023.1233794/full Rick on stage showing the MoRPH app, created by Wageningen University and Lizard Global to phenotype fruit simply by using a smart phone. In the example shown, an apple is photographed, and the app automatically gives a phenotypic description, including size, shape, colours.
November 7, 2025 at 7:21 AM
somssich.bsky.social
Adding insult to injury, they go on to say that Arabidopsis thaliana COULD be considered an important model too... but not really. "Seats are limited", and how important is food really??

#PlantScience #PlantBlindness
Our colleague Gerry Fink has likened this handful of organisms to the Security Council of the United Nations because, among the world’s multitude of organisms, they garner most of the attention of researchers and dictate the distribution of most of the biomedical research funds that are not targeted to specific diseases. A few other organisms—the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the mustard plant Arabidopsis thaliana, the zebrafish Danio rerio, and the frog Xenopus laevis— may qualify for seats on the council, but membership is limited. But
October 24, 2025 at 8:12 AM
somssich.bsky.social
An article on Model Organisms, published in Science in 2005, lists the Models that together represent "the diversity of life".
Guess which model is missing from the list?

This view is one major reason why it's so difficult to obtain funding for basic plant research.

#PlantBlindness #PlantScience
Almost everything we know about the fundamental properties of living cells—how they grow and divide, how they express their genetic information, and how they use and store energy—has come from the study of model organisms. These simple creatures traditionally include the bacterium Escherichia coli and its bacteriophage viruses, bakers’ yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, and the mouse Mus musculus, each a representative of the diversity of life.
October 24, 2025 at 8:10 AM
somssich.bsky.social
I came across this beautiful obituary for Chris Lamb in @annualreviews.bsky.social, authored by Richard Dixon:

www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

It's very well written, putting his science into perspective & also painting a picture of Chris as a person and mentor.

#PlantScience #PlantImmunity
His studies were now raising questions that could only be fully addressed by the application ofthe newly emergingmolecular biology approaches. These were slow to permeate into the plant sciences, and I remember the look ofconfusion on colleagues’ faces when Chris took a swig of his pint of beer and then announced that we needed to adopt cloning approaches. Chris strongly believed in those days that a couple ofpints ofbeer and sev- eral cigarettes in a local pub (either the Happy Man or the Barley Mow at Englefield Green) over lunchtime helped the creative faculties and ensured an optimal design for the experiment. This work led to a series of publications on the mechanisms of induction ofPAL and chal- cone synthase, the first enzyme in the flavonoid pathway that leads to the elicitor-induced bean phytoalexins (41), as well as increased profits for the landlords of the aforementioned pubs. Chris saw this move as an acceptance by the prestigious Salk faculty, which included Nobel laureates Francis Crick and Renato Dulbecco, ofthe maturity and intellectual rigor of the Plant Biology program, and this real- ization resulted in the institute’s administra- tion giving a green light for additional faculty hires. Chris was an outstanding talent spotter, and Joanne Chory was hired in 1988 to start a program on the genetic dissection of photo- morphogenesis, with Detlef Weigel following in 1993, initially working on the genetic dissec- tion of flowering. Chris collaborated with his new hires where appropriate (39, 99), utilized the techniques they were developing, such as T-DNAactivation tagging, in his ownwork (8), and was delighted to see their programs rapidly and independently develop to a stature equal to that of his own. Chris was also attentive to the smaller, more personal details, and was remarkably generous to those who worked in his lab as students, postdoctoral fellows, or visiting scientists; it is notable that he freely allowed many of these people to take the projects they had initiated under his supervision to their new jobs. Another of his major legacies is therefore the number ofcareers he nurtured that are now flourishing at major universities and research institutes throughout the world. There are also the memories that many people have of the sheer fun of doing science with someone who is at once a great leader, a visionary, a lover of the good things in life, and the possessor of a most wonderful sense of humor.
October 17, 2025 at 12:23 PM
somssich.bsky.social
This article was written while I was funded by the European Union under the @horizoneu.bsky.social Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions program.
The EU flag and the sentence Co-funded by the European Union
October 10, 2025 at 6:59 AM
somssich.bsky.social
Our article "Guns in Rosettes: The Arabidopsis chemical weapons arsenal" is finally published @plantphys.bsky.social!
You can download the #OpenAccess PDF here:

doi.org/10.1093/plph...

But real connoisseurs of #AntimicrobialCompounds will want to get the vinyl boxset: #PlantScience #PlantImmunity
A vinyl box with six colored vinyl LPs sticking out of its right side. The Title "Guns in Rosettes" is on top, with the subtitle "The Arabidopsis chemical weapons arsenal" just below. Then there is an Arabidopsis plant with machine guns sticking out. Below is the statement "6-LP LIMITED EDITION COLORED VINYL BOX SET" The back cover of the vinyl box set showing the tracklist: 1. Methionine-derived compounds Aliphatic GSLs 2. Tryptophan-derived compounds (trptonites) Indolic GSLs Camalexin Hycanite (4-OH-ICN) 3. Phenylalanine-derived compounds (phenylpropanoids) Benzenic GSLs Coumarins Hydroxycinnamates Flavonoids 4. Terpenoids (E)-β-caryophyllene α- and β-pinene Thalianin, arabidin, and DMNT And the statement "Recorded live in front of an audience in 2025"
October 9, 2025 at 7:58 AM
somssich.bsky.social
Headliner at the #KWSScienceSlam was Max Koch from @uni-goettingen.de, talking about how he accidentally became famous with beer.

As a side-project, the physicist studied how the POPP! sound is produced when a swing-top beer bottle is opened. #BeerScience

See below for his paper & media coverage.
Max Koch on stage at the KWS ScienceSlam with Host Gina Wied. The Title slide for his presentation shows himself and the headline/title: Visiting Talk: Max Koch - How we became famous with beer. Max Koch presenting. The slide titled "Autumn 2024 -- new 'test case' for our code: homebrewed ginger beer". It shows his lab group in their lab with Max holding up a swing-top beer bottle to a high-speed camera and microphone, about to open it. The other team members use the equipment, such as the computer for the documentation. Next to the photo is a still shot from the video, showing the moment the swing top lid is lifted off the bottle, with gas vapours escaping the bottle.
October 9, 2025 at 5:00 AM
somssich.bsky.social
Nataliia Rybchenko from @kwsgroup.bsky.social Ukraine presented her 'Sunflower' documentary at the #KWSScienceSlam.
Ukraine is the global leader in sunflower oil production, but amid the war, the sunflower has also become a symbol of freedom for Ukraine.

Documentary:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2u2U...
Nataliia Rybchenko on stage presenting her documentary on Sunflower production in Ukraine. The slide behind her shows Sunflowers on the right, and text on the left. The text says: "The idea behind the film: The sunflower is more than a strategic crop, it's a symbol of resilience, heritage, and life - a land that keeps giving, even in dark times. Stories of science, business, culture, and emotion reveal its meaning. Our film's title, 'Sunflower: Meanings that seed the future', reflects this. Nataliia Rybchenko on stage. The slide behind her shows a sunflower field and the the title 'Sunflower in Ukraine: A pillar crop amid challenges' Below are some facts: Sunflower is among Ukraine's top 3 profitable crops, Ukraine is global leader in sunflower oil production and exports, 27 % of the arable land is no longer available due to occupation, landmines, active war, 30 % of sowing area is at risk because of proximity to the active combat zones of the war.
October 9, 2025 at 4:46 AM
somssich.bsky.social
People: "Things used to be better."

Scientist: "When did it start getting worse?"

People: "When I was born."

From "The illusion of moral decline" by Adam Mastroianni.
shorturl.at/FFEDV
A graph showing violin plots. On the y axis is the perceived morality of people from 0 to 8. On the x axis the time points 40 years before my birth, 20 years before my birth, at my birth, 20 years past my birth, today. The morality value is constant until birth, and then declines.
October 4, 2025 at 1:41 PM
somssich.bsky.social
The merchandise one gets on a KWS field trip.
A hand holding a sugar beet at the edge of a carrot field.
September 16, 2025 at 12:59 PM
somssich.bsky.social
What a statement... (see screenshots)

Great article by @derekseveri.bsky.social et al. on the importance of including "real world" conditions in #PlantScience work, to ensure that one is actually studying plant biology and not just plant behavior in a lab environment.

www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...
The use of a highly simplified environment may incur consid- erable collateral damage for all of plant biology; with the current status quo for in- door cultivation, especially of small ephemeral plants such as A. thaliana, similar artificial conditions are replicated around the world, and there is a substan- tial risk that the phenotypes in this envi- ronment become confused with the base- line of what is ‘‘normal’’ for these plants.
August 22, 2025 at 5:29 AM
somssich.bsky.social
Very interesting interview with #PlantScience Pioneer Peter Langridge:

"[...] one point I emphasized was the importance of understanding the literature" 👌

"Understanding the history of your field is crucial, even if it means going back many years." 👍

www.mdpi.com/about/announ...
I recently gave a talk to early career researchers, and one point I emphasized was the importance of understanding the literature. There’s a tendency to overlook older publications, and this can lead to problems. A lot of solid foundational science from the 1950s or 1960s is often ignored by younger researchers, who typically don’t go back that far in their literature searches. The issue is further compounded by the reliance on secondary sources, where older publications are cited, but often inaccurately. There have been several instances where a paper is cited, but upon checking, it’s clear that the citation is incorrect or misinterpreted. Understanding the history of your field is crucial, even if it means going back many years. And many of these older papers may not be easily accessible anymore, which is another challenge.
August 13, 2025 at 5:49 AM
somssich.bsky.social
The new issue of @newphyt.bsky.social features a profile of Caroline Dean:

👉 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

#PlantScience #PlantEpigenetics #PlantLuminaries
Caroline Dean sitting on a bench in front of some greenery.
August 1, 2025 at 9:56 AM
somssich.bsky.social
Today, we had @gittacoaker.bsky.social here for the @kwsgroup.bsky.social #PlantScience lecture. Always nice to hear the latest research on the flagellin pathway. Check out her preprint on the rational design of an FLS2 receptor domain with expanded pathogen recognition profile:
shorturl.at/uxAoj
A seminar room. There are three people seen from behind on the left side. Opposite them on the other side of a table are Stefan Meldau and Gitta Coaker. All people are facing a screen which shows a bacterium, the flg22 epitope in its flagellum and the LRR receptor domain of FLS2.
July 11, 2025 at 6:22 PM
somssich.bsky.social
Here's another nice Letter to @nature.com:

It's recommended to carry a flask of cocaine solution at all times, in case you (or somebody) get's stung by a bee or wasp.

But even back then there were these boring people with "medical degrees", claiming that cocaine injection is "not free of risk" 😉
As we are now in the thick of the wasp season, it may interest some of the readers of NATURE to know that cocaine is a remedy for wasp or bee stings. It acts apparently not only as a temporary local anæsthetic, but seems also to have the power of destroying the poison of the sting. I happened to have some 1/6th grain cocaine tabloids for hypodermic injection when a lady was badly stung by a wasp a year or two ago. Such stings have a great effect on her, not only producing a very large and painful swelling, but making her feel more or less unwell for two or three days. One tabloid dissolved in a few drops of water, and applied with the finger at once, almost removed the pain; a second, applied an hour or two after, completed the cure. A few days later I found the cocaine equally effective in the case of a young girl who had been severely stung. Since then I have kept a small bottle of a strong solution of cocaine ready for use, and it has always proved effective. It should, of course, be applied as soon as possible, but only two days ago I found that it gave great relief seven or eight hours after the sting. J. F. D. Donnelly As no one has answered the question asked by Sir J. F. D. Donnelly in your issue of September 8, will you allow me to say that the hypodermic injection of cocaine, or indeed its use in any form, is never quite free from risk. As with most other drugs there is an element of idiosyncrasy, which sometimes produces unexpected and unpleasant results. I believe these occur more frequently, when the drug is injected, than when it is simply applied to the mucous membrane; and when they do occur, they are very alarming. I know that some dentists have given up the practice of injecting cocaine into the gums before extraction on this account, and having been present once when it was done, I should not consent to it again. What we have to remember with regard to the use of all powerful drugs is this, that a few individuals under all conditions, and nearly all under certain conditions, are specially susceptible to their action, and that we cannot determine à priori either the individuals so predisposed, or the conditions which render susceptible those not specially predisposed. These drugs must therefore be used with caution, and not be regarded as wholly innocuous. - M.D. Oxon
July 7, 2025 at 2:09 PM
somssich.bsky.social
Yes, he is writing out of the Grand Hotel.
Author information of A. B. Basset, showing the affiliation as Grand Hotel, Alassio, Italy.
July 4, 2025 at 8:51 AM
somssich.bsky.social
I really like the old Letters to @nature.com, back when they were actual Letters, not research articles.

Like this one (1904), in which A. B. Basset implores scientists to use "the genius of the English language" rather than, say, the primitive German with its "barbaric" compound words. 😬😁
I BELIEVE the phrase that “language was given us to conceal our thoughts” only holds good in diplomacy, and it may therefore be reasonably expected that a professor of science should endeavour to teach his pupils to express themselves in clear, concise and literary English. The German language lends itself to a process known as word-building, and for aught I know to the contrary, the word “Schwefelkohlenstoff” may be good, literary German. But this process is altogether foreign to the genius of the English language, and I cannot imagine a more barbaric or misleading conglomeration of verbiage than the phrase “chalk-stuff-gas.” Chalk is popularly associated with lime, or, to speak more accurately, with calcium, and to call a substance “chalk-stuff-gas” which does not contain an atom of calcium appears to me a misuse of language, especially as CO2 can be prepared in various ways without using any substance containing calcium, or what is popularly known as “chalk” or “lime.” It seems to me that it would be difficult to invent a more suitable phrase than “carbon dioxide,” since it expresses in terse and pointed language the chemical composition of the gas. A. B. Bassett
July 4, 2025 at 5:55 AM
somssich.bsky.social
After we heard about tomatos in Einbeck, Keith Slotkin told us about #Transposons live from St. Louis. He updated us on how he developed TATSI (www.nature.com/articles/s41...) further, and how this resulted in his new genome editing company Spearhead Bio (danforthtechnology.com/spearhead-bio/).
Two screens. On the right, Keith Slotkin can be seen giving a talk. On the left is his slide showing examples of effects transposons have in biology, such as the colour of moths to fit into their surroundings.
June 2, 2025 at 7:14 PM
somssich.bsky.social
This week's #PlantScience lecture brought @rstam.bsky.social & @sev1panier.bsky.social here to Einbeck to talk about their #PlantGenomics work on wild tomatos.
Very cool work on understanding R gene diversity and QDR in the wild & on a population level.
#PlantImmunity
I'll link some papers below. 👇
The cover slide of Remco Stam's talk. The Title is "Natural variation in plant pathosystems: a path toward durable resistance".
June 2, 2025 at 7:08 PM
somssich.bsky.social
Next, we wanted to map the activation of antimicrobial compound production pathways.

But, I felt that I should first write an overview article on all such compounds in Arabidopsis.

I did so with two big shots in the field for @plantphys.bsky.social.

𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘀 𝗣𝗗𝗙 𝗼𝗿 𝟭𝟴𝟬-𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗺 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗩𝗶𝗻𝘆𝗹!
An image of rosette leaves on which guns and toxins in vials are placed. The background is green with chemical forumlae. The text under the leaves reads "Guns in Rosettes - The chemical weapons arsenal of Arabidopsis" and "Mark & Tony feat. Lt. Dän".
May 30, 2025 at 9:53 AM
somssich.bsky.social
We then used the reporters to create a first map of the plant immune system, based on local activation of #Phytohormones #Jasmonate #SalicylicAcid & #Ethylene in response to #Fusarium colonization.

shorturl.at/V3QWV

This work was completed @mpipz.bsky.social with @horizoneu.bsky.social funding.
Model showing the two distinct response zones. F. oxysporum infects an A. thaliana root tip via the meristematic zone, where it colonizes the vasculature (purple cells=colonized zone). The tissue around this zone undergoes immediate programmed cell death (dark gray cells). As the colonization front (light purple line) progresses in the vasculature, so does a cell death front (black line) across all tissues. In an attempt to prevent the fungus from infecting more tissue and spreading through the vasculature to all parts of the plant, the plant triggers the HR in a small, spatially confined group of cells immediately adjacent to the colonization front (yellow cells), the HR zone. HR is activated by SA in combination with ET, ROS, and DAMP signaling. Slightly removed from the HR and colonized zones, the plant launches a second line of defense to combat the spread of the pathogen in the defense response zone (orange cells). This response is dependent on WRKY11 and JA/ET biosynthesis and signaling. JA and SA are mutually antagonistic, thereby establishing the two spatially separate zones of distinct action. WRKY11 is furthermore a negative regulator of basal resistance. Upon colonization by F. oxysporum, the plant therefore represses WRKY11 in all tissues other than the vasculature, therefore releasing basal resistance genes in these tissues from repression and allowing these cells to activate basal immunity in the case of spread of the infection. Long-distance signaling via the PEP pathway further contributes to this. The Eu flag and the sentence Co-funded by the European Union
May 30, 2025 at 9:53 AM
somssich.bsky.social
To visualize where exactly in the plant certain #PlantImmunity pathways respond to infection, we needed fluorescent reporters. So, we spent the Covid-19 pandemic cloning plant immune system promoters (PIPs):
shorturl.at/ybTfb

75 (in image) are available as #GreenGate donors on @addgene.bsky.social.
An example of a plant cell, showing the compartments Cell Wall, Apoplast, Plasma Membrane, Cytoplasm and Nucleaus, and plant immune system pathways conecting them. For several of the pathways we have cloned reporters. They are marked with numbers.
May 30, 2025 at 9:53 AM
somssich.bsky.social
I also found that the #PlantCellWalls field is not for me, so I decided to move on.
But not before writing a review on the field, this time as an "At a Glance" article for @jcellsci.bsky.social, so once again the Company of @biologists.bsky.social published my career-step-summary.

shorturl.at/TjtYz
May 30, 2025 at 9:53 AM
somssich.bsky.social
But at least we got a short paper on #PlantCellWalls, #PlantGravitropism and #Phytohormones out in @plantcellphysiol.bsky.social.

shorturl.at/t69rU

Nonetheless, the support from the @dfg.de was fantastic (highly recomment their PostDoc Fellowship!), and I had a great time as postdoc in Australia.
Three petri dishes with Arabidopsis seedlings. In the plate labeled "Control", the seedlings stand upright. In the plate labeled "EBL", a brassinosteroid phytohormones, the plants are all flat on the surface. On the last dish, labeled "BRZ", an inhibitor or Brassinosteroids, they are short, but most stand up again.
May 30, 2025 at 9:53 AM