IRTG 2172: PRoTECT: Plant Responses To Eliminate Critical Threats

IRTG 2172: PRoTECT: Plant Responses To Eliminate Critical Threats

Welcome

The International Research Training Group 2172 funded by the DFG is a collaborative program between research groups of the Georg-August-University Goettingen (UGOE) and research groups of the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver.

The IRTG is managed by 8 research groups of the Georg August University Goettingen in close cooperation with 8 research groups of the Department of Botany and the Michael-Smith Laboratories of the UBC in Vancouver. A joint PhD training program and close cooperation within the projects provide international experience and an international network to the doctoral researchers who also spend part of their PhD thesis in Canada.

News

Gagan Gupta Awarded Best Poster Prize at ECFG17

We are pleased to announce that Gagan Gupta received the Best Poster Prize at the 17th European Conference on Fungal Genetics (ECFG17), which took place in Dublin from March 2–5, 2025. ECFG17 is a leading international conference that brings together researchers to discuss current developments in fungal genetics. The conference included 400 talks and 450 poster presentations from researchers worldwide. Members of our IRTG participated as speakers and poster presenters, including PIs Gerhard Braus, Daniela Nordzieke, and Kai Heimel, as well as doctoral researchers Ana Paula Chavez Rodriguez, Ying-Yu Chen, Gagan Gupta, and Disha Rathi. Prof. Braus delivered a concluding talk titled “Tête-à-tête with Fungi.” Special congratulations to Gagan Gupta for being recognized with the Best Poster Prize for his work on the “Conserved Function of a Fusarium Homolog of the Verticillium Effector TRADE for Induction of Host Cell Identity Switches.” Gupta Prize 2025

Qiqi Yan, Ishani Shankar Das, and Andrea Vasquez Chacon were the last to graduate from our second cohort of PhD students on Nov 10th, 13th, and 14th 2023. Congratulations! Qiqi, Ishani, Andrea

  • Nagel, A., Leonard, M., Maurus, I., Starke, J., Schmitt, K., Valerius, O., Harting, R. and Braus, G.: The Frq–Frh Complex Light-Dependently Delays Sfl1-Induced Microsclerotia Formation in Verticillium dahliae. J. Fungi, 9(7), 725; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof9070725 (2023)
  • Dreischhoff, S., Das, I.S., Häffner, F., Wolf, A.M., Polle, A., and Kasper, K.H.: Fast and easy bioassay for the necrotizing fungus Botrytis cinerea on poplar leaves, Plant Methods 19, https://doi.org/10.1186/s13007-023-01011-3 (2023)
  • Lewandowska, M., Zienkiewicz, A., Feussner, K., König, S., Kunst, L., and Feussner, I.: Wound induced triacylglycerol biosynthesis is jasmonoyl-isoleucin and abscisic acid independent, Plant Biol., https://doi.org/10.1111/plb.13513 (2023)
  • Maurus I.,Harting R., Herrfurth C., Starke J.,Nagel A., Mohnike L., Chen Y.-Y., Schmitt K., Bastakis E., Süß M. T., Leonard M., Heimel K., Valerius O., Feussner I., Kronstad J. W., Braus G. H.: Verticillium dahliae Vta3 promotes ELV1 virulence factor gene expression in xylem sap, but tames Mtf1-mediated late stages of fungus-plant interactions and microsclerotia formation. PLoS Pathog 19(1): e1011100 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1011100 (2023)
  • Kasper, K.H., Abreu, I., Feussner, K., Zienkiewic, K., Herrfurth, C., Ischebeck, T., Janz, D., Majcherczyk, A., Schmitt, K., Valerius, O., Braus, G.H., Feussner, I., Polle, A.: Multi-omics of xylem sap uncovers dynamic modulation of poplar defenses by ammonium and nitrate. Plant Journal 111: 282-303. DOI:10.1111/tpj.15802 (2022)
  • Maurus, I., Leonard, M., Nagel, A., Starke, J., Kronstad, J.W., Harting, R., and Braus, G.H.: Tomato Xylem Sap Hydrophobins Vdh4 and Vdh5 Are Important for Late Stages of Verticillium dahliae Plant Infection. Journal of Fungi, 8(12):1252 https://doi.org/10.3390/jof8121252 (2022)
  • Nair, A., Goyal, I., Voß, E., Mrozek, P., Prajapati, S., Thurow C., Tietze, L., Tittmann, K., and Gatz, C.: N-hydroxypipecolic acid-induced transcription requires the salicylic acid signaling pathway at basal SA levels. Plant Phys. https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiab433 (2021)
  • De la Torre, A., Jurca, M., Hoffmann, K., Schmitz, L., Heimel, K., Kämper, J., Pérez-Martín, J.: Robust Cre recombinase activity in the biotrophic smut fungus Ustilago maydis enables efficient conditional null mutants in planta. Genetics https://doi.org/10.1093/genetics/iyab152 (2021)
  • Barghahn S., Arnal G., Jain N., Petutschnig E.K., Brumer H. and Lipka V.: Mixed Linkage β-1,3/1,4-Glucan Oligosaccharides Induce Defense Responses in Hordeum vulgare and Arabidopsis thaliana. Front Plant Sci https://doi: 10.3389/fpls.2021.682439 (2021)
  • Lüdke, D., Rohmann, P.F.W. and Wiermer, M.: Nucleocytoplasmic Communication in Healthy and Diseased Plant Tissues. Front Plant Sci 12, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.719453 (2021).
  • Harting, R., Nagel, A., Nesemann, K., Höfer, A. M., Bastakis, E., Kusch, H., Stanley, C. E., Stöckli, M., Kaever, A., Hoff, K. J., Stanke, M., deMello, A. J., Künzler, M., Haney, C. H., Braus-Stromeyer, S. A. and :Pseudomonas Strains Induce Transcriptional and Morphological Changes and Reduce Root Colonization of Verticillium spp. Front. Microbiol., https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.652468 (2021)
  • Harting, R., Starke, J., Kusch H., Pöggeler, S., Maurus, I., Schlüter, R., Landesfeind M., Bulla, I., Nowrousian, M., de Jonge, R., Stahlhut, G., Hoff, K. J., P. Aßhauer, K. P., Thürmer, A., Stanke, A., Daniel, R., Morgenstern, B., Thomma B. P. H. J., Kronstad, J. W., Braus‐Stromeyer, S. A., Braus, G. H.: A 20‐kb lineage‐specific genomic region tames virulence in pathogenic amphidiploid Verticillium longisporum. Mol. Pl. Path. https://doi.org/10.1111/mpp.13071 (2021)
  • Starke, J., Harting, R., Maurus, I., Leonard, M., Bremenkamp. R., Heimel, K., Kronstad, J., and Braus, G.: Unfolded Protein Response and Scaffold Independent Pheromone MAP Kinase Signaling Control Verticillium dahliae Growth, Development, and Plant Pathogenesis. J. Fungi https://doi.org/10.3390/jof7040305 (2021)
  • Lüdke, D., Roth, C., Kamrad, S.A., Messerschmidt, J., Hartken, D., Appel, J., Hörnich, B.F., Yan, Q., Kusch, S., Klenke, M., Gunkel, A., Wirthmueller, L. and Wiermer, M.: Functional requirement of the Arabidopsis importin-α nuclear transport receptor family in autoimmunity mediated by the NLR protein SNC1. Plant J https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.15082 (2021)
  • Ao, K., Tong, M., Li, L., Lüdke, D., Lipka, V., Chen, S., Wiermer, M. and Li, X.: SCFSNIPER7 controls protein turnover of unfoldase CDC48A to promote plant immunity. NewPhytol https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17071 (2021)
  • Mohnike, L., Rekhter, D., Huang, W., Feussner, K., Hainan Tian, H., Herrfurth, C.,Zhang, Y., and Feussner, I.: The glycosyltransferase UGT76B1 modulates N-hydroxy-pipecolic acid homeostasis and plant immunity. The Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koaa045 (2021)

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