Plant-Microbe Co-Evolution

Hajk-Georg
Hajk-Georg

Group Interests

This page is currently updated - New group members will appear above shortly. 

Only with highly diverse immune gene repertoires can plant populations cope with myriad pathogen pressures. In Capsella, we have documented intense selection for immune gene diversity. At the same time, a near-clonal A. thaliana lineage has successfully spread throughout North America, populating a wide variety of habitats in the presence of its major microbial pathogens, Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis and Albugo laibachii. Using wild isolates collected on field trips, we are addressing the molecular evolution of both host and pathogens using genome-sequencing based approaches, and use pathogen testing to reveal whether the uniform A. thaliana lineage is less adapted to local pathogen strains than accessions from the species’ native range.

Another major effort in this direction is to understand how microbes shape the immune gene repertoire of A. thaliana. We are using natural populations to establish the links that exist between microbiome composition and genetic diversity of the host. This will be a crucial step in identifying causal agents that drive differentiation of the plant immune system in the wild. In addition, we are using local A. thaliana populations from stands around Tübingen to investigate the dynamics of plant pathogen spread in natural host populations, taking into account that pre-existing microbiomes might alter host susceptibility.

  • Microbiome analyses in natural plant populations
  • Molecular co-evolution of Arabidopsis and its pathogens
  • Effect of microbiome composition on plant colonization by pathogens


Collaboration Partners

References

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Allelochemicals of the phenoxazinone class act at physiologically relevant concentrations

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Epigenome confrontation triggers immediate reprogramming of DNA methylation and transposon silencing in Arabidopsis thaliana F1 epihybrids

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Plants Release Precursors of Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors to Suppress Growth of Competitors

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KH domain protein RCF3 is a tissue-biased regulator of the plant miRNA biogenesis cofactor HYL1

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Chromatin in 3D: progress and prospects for plants

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THO2, a core member of the THO/TREX complex, is required for microRNA production in Arabidopsis

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Century-scale methylome stability in a recently diverged Arabidopsis thaliana lineage

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Genome-wide analysis of local chromatin packing in Arabidopsis thaliana

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Rapid divergence and high diversity of miRNAs and miRNA targets in the Camelineae

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Evolution of DNA methylation patterns in the Brassicaceae is driven by differences in genome organization

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Temporal Control of Leaf Complexity by miRNA-Regulated Licensing of Protein Complexes

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Artificial microRNAs for specific gene silencing in rice

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Coordination of flower maturation by a regulatory circuit of three microRNAs

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Tissue-specific silencing of Arabidopsis SU(VAR)3-9 HOMOLOG8 by miR171a

Manavella P. A., Koenig D., Rubio-Somoza I., Burbano H. A., Becker C. and Weigel D.
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Transposon variants and their effects on gene expression in Arabidopsis

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Epialleles in plant evolution

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Epigenetic variation: origin and transgenerational inheritance

Becker C. and Weigel D.
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Fast-forward genetics identifies plant CPL phosphatases as regulators of miRNA processing factor HYL1

Manavella P. A., Hagmann J., Ott F., Laubinger S., Franz M., Macek B. and Weigel D.
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MIGS: miRNA-induced gene silencing

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Plant secondary siRNA production determined by microRNA-duplex structure

Manavella P. A., Koenig D. and Weigel D.
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24.

Comparative analysis of non-autonomous effects of tasiRNAs and miRNAs in Arabidopsis thaliana

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MicroRNA networks and developmental plasticity in plants

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miRNA control of vegetative phase change in trees

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21.

Negative regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis in Arabidopsis by a miR156-targeted SPL transcription factor

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Spontaneous epigenetic variation in the Arabidopsis thaliana methylome

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19.

A collection of target mimics for comprehensive analysis of microRNA function in Arabidopsis thaliana

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Global effects of the small RNA biogenesis machinery on the Arabidopsis thaliana transcriptome

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17.

On reconciling the interactions between APETALA2, miR172 and AGAMOUS with the ABC model of flower development

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Small RNAs in flower development

Wollmann H. and Weigel D.
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15.

Structure determinants for accurate processing of miR172a in Arabidopsis thaliana

Werner S., Wollmann H., Schneeberger K. and Weigel D.
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14.

miR156-regulated SPL transcription factors define an endogenous flowering pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana

Wang J. W., Czech B. and Weigel D.
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13.

Regulation and functional specialization of small RNA-target nodes during plant development

Rubio-Somoza I., Cuperus J. T., Weigel D. and Carrington J. C.
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12.

Triggering the formation of tasiRNAs in Arabidopsis thaliana: the role of microRNA miR173

Felippes F. F. and Weigel D.
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11.

Control of jasmonate biosynthesis and senescence by miR319 targets

Schommer C., Palatnik J. F., Aggarwal P., Chetelat A., Cubas P., Farmer E. E., Nath U. and Weigel D.
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10.

Dual effects of miR156-targeted SPL genes and CYP78A5/KLUH on plastochron length and organ size in Arabidopsis thaliana

Wang J. W., Schwab R., Czech B., Mica E. and Weigel D.
Plant Cell
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9.

Dual roles of the nuclear cap-binding complex and SERRATE in pre-mRNA splicing and microRNA processing in Arabidopsis thaliana

Laubinger S., Sachsenberg T., Zeller G., Busch W., Lohmann J. U., Ratsch G. and Weigel D.
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8.

Evolution of Arabidopsis thaliana microRNAs from random sequences

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7.

Gene silencing in plants using artificial microRNAs and other small RNAs

Ossowski S., Schwab R. and Weigel D.
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(2008), 53(4) 674-90.
6.

Highly specific gene silencing by artificial miRNAs in rice

Warthmann N., Chen H., Ossowski S., Weigel D. and Herve P.
PLoS One
(2008), 3(3) e1829.
5.

Sequence and expression differences underlie functional specialization of Arabidopsis microRNAs miR159 and miR319

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4.

Target mimicry provides a new mechanism for regulation of microRNA activity

Franco-Zorrilla J. M., Valli A., Todesco M., Mateos I., Puga M. I., Rubio-Somoza I., Leyva A., Weigel D., Garcia J. A. and Paz-Ares J.
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3.

Highly specific gene silencing by artificial microRNAs in Arabidopsis

Schwab R., Ossowski S., Riester M., Warthmann N. and Weigel D.
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2.

Specific effects of microRNAs on the plant transcriptome

Schwab R., Palatnik J. F., Riester M., Schommer C., Schmid M. and Weigel D.
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1.

Control of leaf morphogenesis by microRNAs

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