Kai Heimel
@kaiheimel.bsky.social
Researcher, father of 2, Heisenberg-Professor and football player. Fungi, plant pathogens, the secretory pathway and the Unfolded Protein Response. University of Göttingen
Reposted by Kai Heimel
Want good Bioinformatics resources for Phytopathogens?
Plant pathology community at @bspp.bsky.social and @britmycolsoc.org.uk please take the time to complete the Phytopathogen Genomics Resources Survey:-
🔗 zurl.co/gKjC1
Your input is important for FungiDB/@veupathdb.org
& Ensembl @ebi.embl.org.
Plant pathology community at @bspp.bsky.social and @britmycolsoc.org.uk please take the time to complete the Phytopathogen Genomics Resources Survey:-
🔗 zurl.co/gKjC1
Your input is important for FungiDB/@veupathdb.org
& Ensembl @ebi.embl.org.
October 30, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Want good Bioinformatics resources for Phytopathogens?
Plant pathology community at @bspp.bsky.social and @britmycolsoc.org.uk please take the time to complete the Phytopathogen Genomics Resources Survey:-
🔗 zurl.co/gKjC1
Your input is important for FungiDB/@veupathdb.org
& Ensembl @ebi.embl.org.
Plant pathology community at @bspp.bsky.social and @britmycolsoc.org.uk please take the time to complete the Phytopathogen Genomics Resources Survey:-
🔗 zurl.co/gKjC1
Your input is important for FungiDB/@veupathdb.org
& Ensembl @ebi.embl.org.
Reposted by Kai Heimel
Please RT:
We have an opening for a junior group leader position in „Phage Biology & Biotechnology“.
www.fz-juelich.de/de/karriere/...
Interested candidates are encouraged to contact me via email for further details.
@spp2330.bsky.social; @mibinet.bsky.social
We have an opening for a junior group leader position in „Phage Biology & Biotechnology“.
www.fz-juelich.de/de/karriere/...
Interested candidates are encouraged to contact me via email for further details.
@spp2330.bsky.social; @mibinet.bsky.social
Junior Group Leader - Phage Biology & Biotechnology
As a leading research institution for microbial biotechnology the Institute of Bio- and Geosciences - Biotechnology (IBG-1, https://www.fz-juelich.de/de/ibg/ibg-1 ) at the Forschungszentrum Jülich foc...
www.fz-juelich.de
October 8, 2025 at 6:50 AM
Please RT:
We have an opening for a junior group leader position in „Phage Biology & Biotechnology“.
www.fz-juelich.de/de/karriere/...
Interested candidates are encouraged to contact me via email for further details.
@spp2330.bsky.social; @mibinet.bsky.social
We have an opening for a junior group leader position in „Phage Biology & Biotechnology“.
www.fz-juelich.de/de/karriere/...
Interested candidates are encouraged to contact me via email for further details.
@spp2330.bsky.social; @mibinet.bsky.social
Reposted by Kai Heimel
We proudly present a new preprint by Leon Pierdzig et al: Wall teichoic acids, glycopolymers specific to Gram-positive bacteria, trigger defense and cell death in Arabidopsis. Cysteine-rich RLKs act as key components in their perception. doi.org/10.1101/2025...
September 22, 2025 at 7:28 AM
We proudly present a new preprint by Leon Pierdzig et al: Wall teichoic acids, glycopolymers specific to Gram-positive bacteria, trigger defense and cell death in Arabidopsis. Cysteine-rich RLKs act as key components in their perception. doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Reposted by Kai Heimel
Please repost -- The Univ. California Davis dept of Plant Pathology is hiring a Fungal biologist / Mycologist
Applications due Dec 1
Application portal: recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07339
Screenshot shows part of the job posting (with alt-text of the same text)
Applications due Dec 1
Application portal: recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07339
Screenshot shows part of the job posting (with alt-text of the same text)
September 22, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Please repost -- The Univ. California Davis dept of Plant Pathology is hiring a Fungal biologist / Mycologist
Applications due Dec 1
Application portal: recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07339
Screenshot shows part of the job posting (with alt-text of the same text)
Applications due Dec 1
Application portal: recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07339
Screenshot shows part of the job posting (with alt-text of the same text)
Reposted by Kai Heimel
We did it! We caught Starship #transposons moving between #fungal species in the lab, including between species separated by ~100my. We think Starships are a mediator of HGT in fungi, akin to conjugative elements in bacteria. Check out the preprint. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
March 7, 2025 at 7:18 AM
We did it! We caught Starship #transposons moving between #fungal species in the lab, including between species separated by ~100my. We think Starships are a mediator of HGT in fungi, akin to conjugative elements in bacteria. Check out the preprint. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Kai Heimel
Only a couple of weeks till the @eseb2025.bsky.social conference!
I’m so honored to be one of the keynote speakers, and incredibly excited about the amazing scientific program and the opportunity to meet up with old friends and make new ones!
#eseb2025
I’m so honored to be one of the keynote speakers, and incredibly excited about the amazing scientific program and the opportunity to meet up with old friends and make new ones!
#eseb2025
📢 Meet the speakers: Charissa de Bekker 📢
Charissa de Bekker is an associate professor in the Department of Biology at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.
Read about her here: eseb2025.com/team/chariss...
Charissa de Bekker is an associate professor in the Department of Biology at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.
Read about her here: eseb2025.com/team/chariss...
July 29, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Only a couple of weeks till the @eseb2025.bsky.social conference!
I’m so honored to be one of the keynote speakers, and incredibly excited about the amazing scientific program and the opportunity to meet up with old friends and make new ones!
#eseb2025
I’m so honored to be one of the keynote speakers, and incredibly excited about the amazing scientific program and the opportunity to meet up with old friends and make new ones!
#eseb2025
Reposted by Kai Heimel
#2025ISMPMI Corinna Thurow reveals their exiting findings that transdifferentiation induced by Verticillium dahliae is achieved by the TRADE effector targeting Varicose host scaffold protein.
July 15, 2025 at 11:08 AM
#2025ISMPMI Corinna Thurow reveals their exiting findings that transdifferentiation induced by Verticillium dahliae is achieved by the TRADE effector targeting Varicose host scaffold protein.
Reposted by Kai Heimel
Corinna Thurow is the last talk today before the free afternoon.
Verticillium effector (TRADE) interacts with host varicose protein (VCS). Used a forward screen to figure out insensitive mutants and identified a WIND1 transcription factor.
#2025ISMPMI
Verticillium effector (TRADE) interacts with host varicose protein (VCS). Used a forward screen to figure out insensitive mutants and identified a WIND1 transcription factor.
#2025ISMPMI
July 15, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Corinna Thurow is the last talk today before the free afternoon.
Verticillium effector (TRADE) interacts with host varicose protein (VCS). Used a forward screen to figure out insensitive mutants and identified a WIND1 transcription factor.
#2025ISMPMI
Verticillium effector (TRADE) interacts with host varicose protein (VCS). Used a forward screen to figure out insensitive mutants and identified a WIND1 transcription factor.
#2025ISMPMI
Wonderful new story from our friends and collaborators @UBC Vancouver @ubcbotany.bsky.social @irtgprotect.bsky.social, bringing unanticipated insights into the biology of highly researched fungal pathogens (Botrytis cinerea and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum)
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Distribution of haploid chromosomes into separate nuclei in two pathogenic fungi
Nuclei define eukaryotes, enabling macromolecular compartmentalization and cellular regulation. Each nucleus is believed to contain one or more haploid sets of chromosomes (1N). However, we discovered...
www.science.org
May 16, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Wonderful new story from our friends and collaborators @UBC Vancouver @ubcbotany.bsky.social @irtgprotect.bsky.social, bringing unanticipated insights into the biology of highly researched fungal pathogens (Botrytis cinerea and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum)
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Kai Heimel
I had some absolutely incredible papers come online this week, and I need to take a minute to post about each of them. First, let me tell you about the CarboTag probes for imaging plant cell walls! From the Sprakel lab (a short thread) www.nature.com/articles/s41...
May 1, 2025 at 8:36 PM
I had some absolutely incredible papers come online this week, and I need to take a minute to post about each of them. First, let me tell you about the CarboTag probes for imaging plant cell walls! From the Sprakel lab (a short thread) www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Kai Heimel
New post doc opportunity in our team at Kiel University in the north of Germany. We are looking for a motivated molecular biologists to unravel plant-microbe interactions in grasses. Please see: www.uni-kiel.de/personal/de/...
More to our research and group here: www.environmental-genomics.de
More to our research and group here: www.environmental-genomics.de
Aktuelle Ausschreibungen
Aktuelle Ausschreibungen
www.uni-kiel.de
April 11, 2025 at 1:19 PM
New post doc opportunity in our team at Kiel University in the north of Germany. We are looking for a motivated molecular biologists to unravel plant-microbe interactions in grasses. Please see: www.uni-kiel.de/personal/de/...
More to our research and group here: www.environmental-genomics.de
More to our research and group here: www.environmental-genomics.de
Reposted by Kai Heimel
Please check out our Commentary on the recent PNAS paper from the @charlesmelnyk.bsky.social lab about systemic signals in Phtheirospermum japonicum:
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org
March 18, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Please check out our Commentary on the recent PNAS paper from the @charlesmelnyk.bsky.social lab about systemic signals in Phtheirospermum japonicum:
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Kai Heimel
Michael Feldbrugge introducing Rrm4-endosome-mediated transport of mRNA for spatial regulation of translation, vital for morphogenetic proteins such as septins for deployment in specific sub-cellular domains #ECFG17
March 5, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Michael Feldbrugge introducing Rrm4-endosome-mediated transport of mRNA for spatial regulation of translation, vital for morphogenetic proteins such as septins for deployment in specific sub-cellular domains #ECFG17
Reposted by Kai Heimel
Next, @kaiheimel.bsky.social on pathogenicity of Ustilago. MAT-locus signalling and the pheromone pathway is involved in orchestrating appressoria formation and effector production. Very cool!
#ecfg17
#ecfg17
March 4, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Next, @kaiheimel.bsky.social on pathogenicity of Ustilago. MAT-locus signalling and the pheromone pathway is involved in orchestrating appressoria formation and effector production. Very cool!
#ecfg17
#ecfg17
Reposted by Kai Heimel
March 2, 2025 at 1:17 AM
Reposted by Kai Heimel
Why do RBPs need multiple RNA-binding domains? We show transcriptome-wide that the endosomal mRNA transporter Rrm4 uses its three RRMs to differentiate functional binding sites from accessory ones. Great collaboration with @koenig-lab.bsky.social and Zarnack lab
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Dissecting the RNA binding capacity of the multi-RRM protein Rrm4 essential for endosomal mRNA transport
RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) utilize multiple RNA-binding domains (RBDs) to engage with extensive mRNA networks. Understanding the intricate interplay of modular RBDs is essential for uncovering RBP fu...
www.biorxiv.org
March 1, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Why do RBPs need multiple RNA-binding domains? We show transcriptome-wide that the endosomal mRNA transporter Rrm4 uses its three RRMs to differentiate functional binding sites from accessory ones. Great collaboration with @koenig-lab.bsky.social and Zarnack lab
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Kai Heimel
Hello Bluesky Community,
I am new to bluesky and trying out my first steps.
Looking forward for nice interactions
I am new to bluesky and trying out my first steps.
Looking forward for nice interactions
February 28, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Hello Bluesky Community,
I am new to bluesky and trying out my first steps.
Looking forward for nice interactions
I am new to bluesky and trying out my first steps.
Looking forward for nice interactions
Reposted by Kai Heimel
Such a great opportunity to present our research at #CMINorwich2025 in front of a room filled with microbiologists with such diverse and exciting research interests.
Great to welcome Clarissa de Bekker to #CMINorwich25 - fascinating fungal-insect-plant interactions
February 26, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Such a great opportunity to present our research at #CMINorwich2025 in front of a room filled with microbiologists with such diverse and exciting research interests.
Reposted by Kai Heimel
Very excited to be part of this great work spearheaded by Nick Wierckx and his team @fz-juelich.de, @hhu.de enabling microbial upcycling of nylon published in Nature Microbiology!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@mibinet.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@mibinet.bsky.social
February 10, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Very excited to be part of this great work spearheaded by Nick Wierckx and his team @fz-juelich.de, @hhu.de enabling microbial upcycling of nylon published in Nature Microbiology!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@mibinet.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@mibinet.bsky.social
Reposted by Kai Heimel
Unser Senat hat sich heute dafür ausgesprochen, dass Axel Schölmerich übergangsweise mit der Wahrnehmung der Aufgaben eines Präsidenten beauftragt werden soll. Der ehemalige Rektor der @ruhr-uni-bochum.de war in verschiedenen Rollen in der akademischen Selbstverwaltung tätig. Mehr: s.gwdg.de/ZnoURD
February 5, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Unser Senat hat sich heute dafür ausgesprochen, dass Axel Schölmerich übergangsweise mit der Wahrnehmung der Aufgaben eines Präsidenten beauftragt werden soll. Der ehemalige Rektor der @ruhr-uni-bochum.de war in verschiedenen Rollen in der akademischen Selbstverwaltung tätig. Mehr: s.gwdg.de/ZnoURD
Reposted by Kai Heimel
In the original article, we explored how #KillerYeast protect themselves from self-intoxication. For the ionophore toxin #K2, Rianne found that its immunity is encoded within its secretion signal peptide.
doi.org/10.1016/j.celr…
doi.org/10.1016/j.celr…
February 3, 2025 at 8:42 PM
In the original article, we explored how #KillerYeast protect themselves from self-intoxication. For the ionophore toxin #K2, Rianne found that its immunity is encoded within its secretion signal peptide.
doi.org/10.1016/j.celr…
doi.org/10.1016/j.celr…
Reposted by Kai Heimel
Had a great trip to @irtgprotect.bsky.social Göttingen. Heard about exciting science and was amazed by the amount of plant pathologists there! Thanks Daniela Nordzieke for the invitation and @volkerlipka.bsky.social @kaiheimel.bsky.social @thomas-spallek.bsky.social @ifeussner.bsky.social
January 31, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Had a great trip to @irtgprotect.bsky.social Göttingen. Heard about exciting science and was amazed by the amount of plant pathologists there! Thanks Daniela Nordzieke for the invitation and @volkerlipka.bsky.social @kaiheimel.bsky.social @thomas-spallek.bsky.social @ifeussner.bsky.social
Reposted by Kai Heimel
@tbadet.bsky.social and I have a preprint out on transposon silencing in fungi!
Genome size evolution is fascinating and showcases the dynamic nature of transposon activation.
What we understand less are the dynamics of transposon defense systems encoded by the genomes.
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Genome size evolution is fascinating and showcases the dynamic nature of transposon activation.
What we understand less are the dynamics of transposon defense systems encoded by the genomes.
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
January 16, 2025 at 9:09 PM
@tbadet.bsky.social and I have a preprint out on transposon silencing in fungi!
Genome size evolution is fascinating and showcases the dynamic nature of transposon activation.
What we understand less are the dynamics of transposon defense systems encoded by the genomes.
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Genome size evolution is fascinating and showcases the dynamic nature of transposon activation.
What we understand less are the dynamics of transposon defense systems encoded by the genomes.
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Reposted by Kai Heimel
Our story on the mechanism of mitochondrial and nuclear tRNA 3' processing is finally out in NSMB. 😇
We discover how a unique problem caused by high mutation rates in mitochondria of bilaterian animals is solved by a compensatory evolutionary innovation.
doi.org/10.1038/s41594-024-01445-w
We discover how a unique problem caused by high mutation rates in mitochondria of bilaterian animals is solved by a compensatory evolutionary innovation.
doi.org/10.1038/s41594-024-01445-w
Molecular basis of human nuclear and mitochondrial tRNA 3′ processing - Nature Structural & Molecular Biology
Bhatta et al. use biochemistry and cryogenic electron microscopy to elucidate the mechanism of human tRNA 3′ processing. Their results show how mitochondria-specific subunits of RNase Z compensate for...
www.nature.com
January 15, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Our story on the mechanism of mitochondrial and nuclear tRNA 3' processing is finally out in NSMB. 😇
We discover how a unique problem caused by high mutation rates in mitochondria of bilaterian animals is solved by a compensatory evolutionary innovation.
doi.org/10.1038/s41594-024-01445-w
We discover how a unique problem caused by high mutation rates in mitochondria of bilaterian animals is solved by a compensatory evolutionary innovation.
doi.org/10.1038/s41594-024-01445-w
Reposted by Kai Heimel
To all colleagues who share an interest in sphingolipids, endomembrane trafficking & membrane domain formation, pathogen-induced cell polarization and entry control, here is another potentially interesting preprint: biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
Identification of INOSITOL PHOSPHORYLCERAMIDE SYNTHASE 2 (IPCS2) as a new rate-limiting component in Arabidopsis pathogen entry control
INOSITOL PHOSPHORYLCERAMIDE SYNTHASE 2 (IPCS2) is involved in the biosynthesis of complex sphingolipids at the trans-Golgi network (TGN). Here, we demonstrate a role of IPCS2 in penetration resistance...
biorxiv.org
January 14, 2025 at 9:48 AM
To all colleagues who share an interest in sphingolipids, endomembrane trafficking & membrane domain formation, pathogen-induced cell polarization and entry control, here is another potentially interesting preprint: biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...