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Selected publications

Research articles

Maekawa T*, Kashkar H, and Coll N (2022) Dying in self-defence: a comparative overview of immunogenic cell death signalling in animals and plants. Cell Death and Differentiation. doi: 10.1038/s41418-022-01060-6. Review. *co-corresponding author

Bauer, S., Yu, D., Lawson, A. W., Saur, I. M. L., Frantzeskakis, L., Kracher, B., Logemann, E., Chai, J., Maekawa, T., Schulze-Lefert, P. (2021) The leucine-rich repeats in allelic barley MLA immune receptors define specificity towards sequence-unrelated powdery mildew avirulence effectors with a predicted common RNase-like fold. PLoS Pathogens, PLoS Pathog 17(2): e1009223. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. ppat.1009223.

Mahdi, L.K., , Huang, M., Zhang, X., Nakano, R.T., Kopp, L. B., Saur, I.M., Jacob, F., Kovacova, V., Lapin, D., Parker, J.E., Murphy, J.M., Hofmann, K., Schulze-Lefert, P., Chai, J., and Maekawa, T.* (2020). Discovery of a family of mixed lineage kinase domain-like (MLKL) proteins in plants and their role in innate immune signalling. Cell Host Microbe, Oct 13.  *Corresponding author

Saur IM, Bauer S, Kracher B, Lu X, Franzeskakis L, Müller MC, Sabelleck B, Kümmel F, Panstruga R, Maekawa T, Schulze-Lefert P. (2019) Multiple pairs of allelic MLA immune receptor-powdery mildew AVRA effectors argue for a direct recognition mechanism. Elife. 2019 Feb 19;8. pii: e44471.


Maekawa T*, Kracher B, Saur IM, Yoshikawa-Maekawa M, Kellner R, Pankin A, von Korff M, Schulze-Lefert P (2019) Subfamily-Specific Specialization of RGH1/MLA Immune Receptors in Wild Barley. Mol Plant Microbe Interact. 2019 Jan;32(1):107-119. *corresponding author.


Frantzeskakis, L., Kracher, B., Kusch, S., Yoshikawa-Maekawa, M., Bauer, S., Pedersen, C., Spanu, P.D., Maekawa, T*., Schulze-Lefert, P*., Panstruga, R* (2018). Signatures of host specialization and a recent transposable element burst in the dynamic one-speed genome of the fungal barley powdery mildew pathogen. BMC Genomics. 22;19(1):381. doi: 10.1186/s12864-018-4750-6. *Co-corresponding author.


Jacob, F., Kracher, B., Mine A., Seyfferth C., Blanvillain-Baufumé., S., Parker, J.E., Tsuda, K., Schulze-Lefert, P.*, and Maekawa, T*. (2018). A dominant-interfering camta3 mutation compromises primary transcriptional outputs mediated by both cell surface and intracellular immune receptors in Arabidopsis thaliana. New Phytol. 217(4): 1667–1680. *Co-corresponding authors.


Lu X, Kracher B, Saur IM, Bauer S, Ellwood SR, Wise R, Yaeno T, Maekawa T*, Schulze-Lefert P*. (2016) Allelic barley MLA immune receptors recognize sequence-unrelated avirulence effectors of the powdery mildew pathogen. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 113(42):E6486-E6495. * Co-corresponding author


Pedersen C, Ver Loren van Themaat E, McGuffin LJ, Abbott JC, Burgis TA, Barton G, Bindschedler LV, Lu X, Maekawa T, Wessling R, Cramer R, Thordal-Christensen H, Panstruga R, Spanu PD. (2012) Structure and evolution of barley powdery mildew effector candidates. BMC Genomics. 13:694.


Maekawa T*, Kracher B, Vernaldi S, Ver Loren van Themaat E, Schulze-Lefert P* (2012). Conservation of NLR-triggered immunity across plant lineages. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 109(49):20119-23.  * Co-corresponding author


Takeda N*, Maekawa T*, Hayashi M. Nuclear-localized and deregulated calcium- and calmodulin-dependent protein kinase activates rhizobial and mycorrhizal responses in Lotus japonicus. (2012) Plant Cell. 24(2):810-22.  *Co-first author


Maekawa T*, Cheng W*, Spiridon LN, Töller A, Lukasik E, Saijo Y, Liu P, Shen QH, Micluta MA, Somssich IE, Takken FL, Petrescu AJ, Chai J, Schulze-Lefert P. (2011) Coiled-coil domain-dependent homodimerization of intracellular barley immune receptors defines a minimal functional module for triggering cell death. Cell Host Microbe.  9(3):187-99. *Co-first author


Spanu PD, Abbott JC, Amselem J, Burgis TA, Soanes DM, Stüber K, Ver Loren van Themaat E, Brown JK, Butcher SA, Gurr SJ, Lebrun MH, Ridout CJ, Schulze-Lefert P, Talbot NJ, Ahmadinejad N, Ametz C, Barton GR, Benjdia M, Bidzinski P, Bindschedler LV, Both M, Brewer MT, Cadle-Davidson L, Cadle-Davidson MM, Collemare J, Cramer R, Frenkel O, Godfrey D, Harriman J, Hoede C, King BC, Klages S, Kleemann J, Knoll D, Koti PS, Kreplak J, López-Ruiz FJ, Lu X, Maekawa T, Mahanil S, Micali C, Milgroom MG, Montana G, Noir S, O'Connell RJ, Oberhaensli S, Parlange F, Pedersen C, Quesneville H, Reinhardt R, Rott M, Sacristán S, Schmidt SM, Schön M, Skamnioti P, Sommer H, Stephens A, Takahara H, Thordal-Christensen H, Vigouroux M, Wessling R, Wicker T, Panstruga R. (2010) Genome expansion and gene loss in powdery mildew fungi reveal tradeoffs in extreme parasitism. Science. 10;330(6010):1543-6.


Review articles
Jacob F, Vernaldi S, Maekawa T*. (2013) Evolution and Conservation of Plant NLR Functions. Front Immunol. 4:297. Review.  * Corresponding author
Griebel T*, Maekawa T*, Parker JE. (2014) NOD-like receptor cooperativity in effector-triggered immunity. Trends Immunol. 35(11):562-70. *co-first author, Review.


Maekawa T, Kufer TA, Schulze-Lefert P. (2011) NLR functions in plant and animal immune systems: so far and yet so close. Nat Immunol. 18;12(9):817-26. Review.

Invited commentary
Maekawa T*, Schulze-Lefert P*. (2017) Caught in the jump. Science, 357(6346):31-32    *Equally contributed

Editorial article
Xue J-Y,  Takken FL, Nepal MP,  Maekawa T,  Shao ZQ  (2020) Editorial: Evolution and Functional Mechanisms of Plant Disease Resistance. Front. Genet. | doi: 10.3389/fgene.2020.593240