Cyril Zipfel group

The Cyril Zipfel group studies the molecular basis of plant innate immunity. We aim at deciphering the signaling events linking perception of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) to the establishment of immunity.

Publications

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- Published: 30.03.24
Authors: Biermann D, von Arx M, Xhelilaj K, Sere D, Stegmann M, Wolf S, Zipfel C, Gronnier J (2024)

A RALF-Brassinosteroid morpho-signaling circuit regulates Arabidopsis hypocotyl cell shape
- Published: 18.01.24
Authors: Snoeck S, Lee HK, Schmid MW, Bender KW, Neeracher MJ, Fernández-Fernández AD, Santiago J, Zipfel C (2024)

Leveraging co-evolutionary insights and AI-based structural modeling to unravel receptor-peptide ligand-binding mechanisms
- Published: 13.12.23
Authors: Goto Y, Kadota Y, Mbengue M, Lewis JD, Matsui H, Maki N, Sklenar J, Derbyshire P, Shibata A, Ichihashi Y, Guttman DS, Nakagami H, Suzuki T, Menke FLH, Robatzek S, Desveaux D, Zipfel C, Shirasu K (2023)

The leucine-rich repeat receptor kinase QSK1 is a novel regulator of PRR-RBOHD complex and is employed by the bacterial effector HopF2Pto to modulate plant immunity

Group leader

Cyril Zipfel

Bio

My group studies the molecular basis of plant innate immunity. We aim at deciphering the signaling events linking perception of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) to the establishment of immunity. We use the leucine-rich repeats receptor kinases EFR and FLS2, which perceive bacterial EF-Tu and flagellin, respectively, as model pattern recognition receptors (PRRs).

Our work also aims at understanding how plant receptor kinases work at the molecular level and how signaling specificity is achieved between different receptor kinase-mediated signaling pathways involved in immunity and growth.

We are also exploring how outcomes of our research can be used to engineer sustainable broad-spectrum disease resistance in crops.

The group is based both at TSL and at the University of Zurich (Switzerland). In addition to our own research, we also collaborate with researchers across TSL and contribute to joint research programmes.

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