Sign in

Gabriel Mendoza-Rojas

@gabmrojas.bsky.social
31 followers 33 following 7 posts

PhD student at altegoerlab.de, Heinrich-Heine University 🇩🇪 | Alumni Pohl Milon’s Lab - UPC 🇵🇪 | Biochemistry and Structural biology: Fungal GPCRs

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Gabriel Mendoza-Rojas
Team Thomma @teamthomma.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
📣 Now announcing the journal publication 📄 of our work in @newphyt.bsky.social on how Verticillium undermines the plant's 🌱 "cry for help": terrific work by @antonkraege.bsky.social & @wolki95.bsky.social doi.org/10.1111/nph....
doi.org
Undermining the cry for help: the phytopathogenic fungus Verticillium dahliae secretes an antimicrobial effector protein to undermine host recruitment of antagonistic Pseudomonas bacteria
During pathogen attack, plants recruit beneficial microbes in a ‘cry for help’ to mitigate disease development. Simultaneously, pathogens secrete effectors to promote host colonisation through vario...
25226
Reposted by Gabriel Mendoza-Rojas
Team Thomma @teamthomma.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
📣 New @biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social preprint, another joint-venture of @wolki95.bsky.social & @antonkraege.bsky.social, co-directed by @nicksnelders.bsky.social. Here’s a 🧵
12822
Gabriel Mendoza-Rojas @gabmrojas.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
Importantly, this research would not have been possible without funding from DFG, IRTG2466, CEPLAS & CRC1535 👀 Feedback and comments are warmly welcome! @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social #GPCR #FungalBiology #PlantPathology #PhDLife
020
Gabriel Mendoza-Rojas @gabmrojas.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
I’m so grateful to the amazing @faltegoer.bsky.social team behind this work, and big thanks to our international collaborators: - Min & @billerbecks.bsky.social. Peptide–GPCR screening (Imperial College London) - Orlando & Manav. Single-cell tracking & quantitative biology (NC State University)
120
Gabriel Mendoza-Rojas @gabmrojas.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
The Gpe1–Pit2 system is conserved in smut fungi, suggesting a co-evolutionary arms race. A hint towards a broader relevance of peptide communication in fungi? We will find out, stay tuned! (4/5)
110
Gabriel Mendoza-Rojas @gabmrojas.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
The system mimics the fungal pheromone signaling pathway (Ste2 in yeast). But with a twist: host enzymes control the activation. (4/5)
110
Gabriel Mendoza-Rojas @gabmrojas.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
We solved the crystal structure of Pit2 and found that it forms a homodimer that buries the activating peptide. This explains why Gpe1 is only activated after host entry — a beautifully designed infection switch by nature, which drives fungal proliferation (3/5)
110
Gabriel Mendoza-Rojas @gabmrojas.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
The story begins with Pit2, a previously described secreted protein from U. maydis. Once inside the plant, Pit2 is cleaved by apoplastic host proteases (PLCPs), releasing a hidden peptide. This peptide directly activates Gpe1 — a previously uncharacterized GPCR and Pit2 genomic neighbour. (2/5)
110
Gabriel Mendoza-Rojas @gabmrojas.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
🧵How does a pathogen know it has entered its host? New preprint!🎉It’s a pleasure to share my first first-author preprint from my PhD journey! We uncover a novel co-evolved peptide–GPCR system in the fungus Ustilago maydis that senses host entry and triggers infection (doi.org/10.1101/2025...) (1/5)
2198