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Ka Wai Ma

@kawaima.bsky.social

240 followers 170 following 27 posts

Used to be a serial plant killer. Still is. Also known as an assistant research fellow at the institute of Plant and Microbial Biology (IPMB), Taipei, Taiwan, working on plant microbiota / plant microbiome and plant innate immunity

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Ka Wai Ma @kawaima.bsky.social · Feb 20

Congratulations to Jana Ordon and all coauthors!!! Our new study is published in @natureplants.bsky.social
"Conserved immunomodulation and variation in host association by Xanthomonadales commensals in Arabidopsis root microbiota" (0/n)
rdcu.be/eauzt

Conserved immunomodulation and variation in host association by Xanthomonadales commensals in Arabidopsis root microbiota

Nature Plants - The authors show that immunosuppression is highly conserved in the bacterial order Xanthomonadales. This feature, which preceded their specialization as host-adapted pathogens,...

rdcu.be

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Reposted by Ka Wai Ma

Gitta Coaker @gittacoaker.bsky.social · 23d

My department at UC Davis is hiring a mycologist, broadly interpreted. Please repost, share, and consider applying. recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07339

Assistant Professor of Plant Pathology

University of California, Davis is hiring. Apply now!

recruit.ucdavis.edu

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Ka Wai Ma @kawaima.bsky.social · 15d

A bacterial signal coordinates plant-microbe fitness trade-off to enhance sulfur deficiency tolerance in plants: Cell Host & Microbe www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...

A bacterial signal coordinates plant-microbe fitness trade-off to enhance sulfur deficiency tolerance in plants

Mukherjee et al. report fitness trade-off between plants and the rhizosphere microbiome under sulfur deficiency, mediated by the tri-peptide signal glutathione. Competition among rhizosphere bacteria ...

www.cell.com

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Reposted by Ka Wai Ma

Ben Field 🌿 @benfield1.bsky.social · 16d

Discovery of a chromatin-associated complex (CACG) of ~16 proteins that negatively regulates the expression of nutrient-starvation-induced gene. CACG is of course controlled by TOR! #PlantScience www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Nutrient-driven TOR signalling controls a chromatin-associated complex for orchestrating plant growth and stress tolerance - Nature Plants

A chromatin-associated complex, which is dynamically regulated by TOR kinase at the translational level, functions to suppress the transcription of stress-responsive genes marked by histone acetylation, thereby coordinating plant growth and stress tolerance.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Ka Wai Ma

Ákos T Kovács @evolvedbiofilm.bsky.social · Sep 11

Super cool Pseudomonas-Bacillus interaction paper in @natmicrobiol.nature.com from Yun Chen
with @gabrieleberg.bsky.social

Phenazines shape Gram+ abundance & influence Bacillus cell biology

Phenazines contribute to microbiome dynamics by targeting topoisomerase IV
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Ka Wai Ma @kawaima.bsky.social · Sep 3

Many thanks Sebastian, let's hope it can stand the test of time!

Ka Wai Ma @kawaima.bsky.social · Sep 2

P.S. I would love to include the following article in the review if it is out earlier. "A defined microbial community reproduces attributes of fine flavour chocolate fermentation" [5/n]
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A defined microbial community reproduces attributes of fine flavour chocolate fermentation - Nature Microbiology

An in-depth microbiological and metagenomic analysis of Colombian farm and fermentation facilities resulted in the design of a defined microbial community that can reproduce the flavour of fine chocol...

www.nature.com

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Ka Wai Ma @kawaima.bsky.social · Sep 2

I hope you enjoy reading it and big congrats to all the coauthors especially Charles @hotvegetables.bsky.social and Paul [4/n]

Ka Wai Ma @kawaima.bsky.social · Sep 2

We then discuss current challenges and factors to be considered for the practical application including and end with a discussion on the recent development of machine learning algorithms for data-driven classification and prediction of plant-microbiome interaction outcomes [3/n]

Ka Wai Ma @kawaima.bsky.social · Sep 2

We provide an update on the beneficial roles of plant microbiome for improving plant growth, nutrition, stress tolerance and taste of fermented product [2/n]

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Ka Wai Ma @kawaima.bsky.social · Sep 2

Our review article on the "Potential and challenges for application of microbiomes in agriculture" is published
@theplantcell.bsky.social [1/n]
doi.org/10.1093/plce...

Potential and challenges for application of microbiomes in agriculture

Abstract. The plant microbiome can promote plant health and productivity through a multitude of mechanisms. Our understanding of plant–microbiome interacti

doi.org

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Ka Wai Ma @kawaima.bsky.social · Aug 29

To my friends of the MPMI community, is there a way to minimize microbial aggregation e.g. Streptomyces during the culturing step?

Reposted by Ka Wai Ma

Tominaga K. (tomiken) @pacyc184.bsky.social · Aug 19

Adaptive pangenomic remodeling in the Azolla cyanobiont amid a transient microbiome | The ISME Journal | Oxford Academic https://academic.oup.com/ismej/advance-article/doi/10.1093/ismejo/wraf154/8216778?login=true

Adaptive pangenomic remodeling in the Azolla cyanobiont amid a transient microbiome

Abstract. Plants fix nitrogen in concert with diverse microbial symbionts, often recruiting them from the surrounding environment each generation. Vertical

dx.doi.org

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Ka Wai Ma @kawaima.bsky.social · Aug 22

A defined microbial community reproduces attributes of fine flavour chocolate fermentation
nature.com/articles/s41...
rdcu.be/eBN14

A defined microbial community reproduces attributes of fine flavour chocolate fermentation - Nature Microbiology

nature.com

Reposted by Ka Wai Ma

SeppeKuehnLab @seppekuehnlab.bsky.social · Jul 17

New paper in @nature.com! With @kiseokmicro.bsky.social , Siqi Liu, Kyle Crocker, Jojo Wang, Mikhail Tikhonov & Madhav Mani — a massive dataset and simple model reveal a few conserved regimes that capture how soil microbiome metabolism responds to perturbations. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Ka Wai Ma @kawaima.bsky.social · Jul 29

Great work and congrats Gitta!!! Maybe one day we can modulate immune signaling by de novo design of proteins and receptors to recognize pathogens as you need!

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Reposted by Ka Wai Ma

Gitta Coaker @gittacoaker.bsky.social · Jul 29

Excited this paper is finally published! We focused on the inner concave surface of LRR RKs to expand bacterial flagellin perception in plants. Selection indicates expanded perception is more common than previously thought. Experiments led by @jerrytli.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Unlocking expanded flagellin perception through rational receptor engineering - Nature Plants

Receptor kinase FLS2 detects the flg22 epitope of bacterial flagellin. Here the authors identify key residues on FLS2’s concave surface that enable expanded perception of flg22 variants, allowing the ...

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Ka Wai Ma

Marc Somssich @somssich.bsky.social · Jul 7

📜 Unlocking gene regulatory networks for crop resilience and sustainable agriculture

🧑‍🔬 Richalynn Leong, Xin He, Bob Sebastiaan Beijen, @dinglab.bsky.social, et al.

📔 @natbiotech.nature.com

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#️⃣ #PlantScience #PlantImmunity #Agronomy #PlantStress #PlantGenomics

Unlocking gene regulatory networks for crop resilience and sustainable agriculture - Nature Biotechnology

Gene regulatory networks are crucial for understanding complex gene regulation in plants and could advance crop improvement for more sustainable and climate-resilient agricultural practices.

www.nature.com

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Ka Wai Ma @kawaima.bsky.social · Jul 7

Do you know bacteria also have 'fight and flight' responses. I wrote an article summarizing the beautiful work of Carmen Beuzon.
rdcu.be/eu8be

If you find more interest after reading this short summary, the original article is here
rdcu.be/eu8ng

Coordinated action by individuals orchestrates infection through the division of labour

Nature Reviews Microbiology - In this Journal Club, Ka-Wai Ma discusses a paper that establishes that phenotypic heterogeneity and division of labour promote plant infection.

rdcu.be

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Ka Wai Ma @kawaima.bsky.social · May 16

Friends from the MPMI committee. Your vote matters. The race is really tight, but I will testify based on personal experience that Wenbo is actively contributing to the MPMI committee, an advocate for diversity and a supporter for early career scientists including me. www.ismpmi.org/members/Page...

Wenbo Ma

Wenbo MaThe Sainsbury Laboratory, United KingdomView StatementIS-MPMI has been a cornerstone of my journey as a scientist and leader, from attending my first Congress in 2005 (Mérida, Mexico), to se...

www.ismpmi.org

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Ka Wai Ma @kawaima.bsky.social · Apr 7

Thank you Paloma!!!

Ka Wai Ma @kawaima.bsky.social · Apr 7

Thanks Tatsuya. Looks like your team is expanding too!!!

Reposted by Ka Wai Ma

T3SS @t3sss.bsky.social · Apr 2

Pseudomonas syringae subpopulations cooperate by coordinating flagellar and type III secretion spatiotemporal dynamics to facilitate plant infection
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Pseudomonas syringae subpopulations cooperate by coordinating flagellar and type III secretion spatiotemporal dynamics to facilitate plant infection - Nature Microbiology

Single-cell gene expression analysis reveals phenotypic heterogeneity to enable bacterial specialization over the course of plant colonization.

www.nature.com

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Ka Wai Ma @kawaima.bsky.social · Apr 2

Thanks Pepe, hope to see you in Cologne this summer!!!

Reposted by Ka Wai Ma

Plantae.org @plantaeofficial.bsky.social · Mar 31

Plant Science Research Weekly -- A broad-spectrum antimicrobial peptide identified from Burkholderia bacterium (Plant Biotechnology Journal) (Summary by Yee-Shan Ku) plantae.org/a-broad-spec...

#PlantaePSRW

A broad-spectrum antimicrobial peptide identified from Burkholderia bacterium | Plantae

Microbial pesticides are widely applied to improve crop production, but the active molecules are largely unexplored. In a recent study, Mohamed et al., identified an antimicrobial peptide (AMP) from…

plantae.org

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Ka Wai Ma @kawaima.bsky.social · Apr 1

Microbial imbalance and the upregulation of the JA pathway is associated with altered plant responses to pathogen and an abiotic stressor. Together, we show that proper regulation of the JA pathway is key for homeostatic interaction between plant host and the microbiota.
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