Our research aims to identify and understand molecular mechanisms of microbe-plant interactions. Focus is on effector proteins of biotrophic microbes, which suppress host immunity and plant metabolism.
Within CEPLAS, we are interested to i) study the role of plant cysteine proteases in immunity and how they are modulated by microbial effectors and ii)elucidate how organ-specific factors of both plant and colonizing microbe contribute to interaction outcomes.

1. Eitzen K, Sengupta P, Kroll S, Kemen E, Doehlemann G (2021) A fungal member of the Arabidopsis thaliana phyllosphere antagonizes Albugo laibachii via a GH25 lysozyme. Elife 10. doi: 10.7554/eLife.65306.
2. Zuo W, Ökmen B, Depotter JRL, Ebert MK, Redkar A, Misas Villamil J, Doehlemann G (2019) Molecular Interactions Between Smut Fungi and Their Host Plants. Annu Rev Phytopathol 57:411-430. doi: 10.1146/annurev-phyto-082718-100139.
3. Misas Villamil JC, Mueller AN, Demir F, Meyer U, Ökmen B, Schulze Hüynck J, Breuer M, Dauben H, Win J, Huesgen PF, Doehlemann G (2019) A fungal substrate mimicking molecule suppresses plant immunity via an inter-kingdom conserved motif. Nat Commun 10(1):1576. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-09472-8.
4. Ziemann S, van der Linde K, Lahrmann U, Acar B, Kaschani F, Colby T, Kaiser M, Ding Y, Schmelz E, Huffaker A, Holton N, Zipfel C, Doehlemann G (2018) An apoplastic peptide activates salicylic acid signalling in maize. Nat Plants 4(3):172-180. doi: 10.1038/s41477-018-0116-y.
5. Redkar A, Hoser R, Schilling L, Zechmann B, Krzymowska M, Walbot V, Doehlemann G (2015) A Secreted Effector Protein of Ustilago maydis Guides Maize Leaf Cells to Form Tumors. The Plant cell 27(4):1332-1351.

Interview at CEPLAS Faces