Martin Stegmann

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Professor at Ulm University

Plant endogenous peptides are crucial for diverse aspects of plant physiology. Among them, C-TERMINALLY ENCODED PEPTIDEs (CEPs) have recently emerged as important regulators of plant growth and stress responses. CEPs are divided into two major subgroups: group I CEPs and the less studied group II CEPs. We recently demonstrated that group I CEPs coo...

The receptor kinase FERONIA (FER) is a susceptibility factor for biotrophic powdery mildew fungal pathogens in Arabidopsis thaliana, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown. FER is required for the perception of endogenous RAPID ALKALINIZATION FACTOR (RALF) peptides to control various aspects of plant growth, development and...

Plant endogenous signaling peptides shape growth, development and adaptations to biotic and abiotic stress. Here, we identify C-TERMINALLY ENCODED PEPTIDEs (CEPs) as immune-modulatory phytocytokines in Arabidopsis thaliana. Our data reveals that CEPs induce immune outputs and are required to mount resistance against the leaf-infecting bacterial pat...

Small proteins represent a significant portion of the cargo transported through plant secretory pathways, playing crucial roles in developmental processes, fertilization, and responses to environmental stresses. Despite the importance of small secreted proteins, substantial knowledge gaps persist regarding the regulatory mechanisms governing their...

Plant cells survey and modulate their cell wall to control their shape and anisotropic growth. Signaling mediated by the plant steroid hormones brassinosteroids (BR) plays a central role in coordinating cell wall status and cell growth, and alterations in the cell wall BR feedback loop leads to life-threatening defects in tissue and cellular integr...

The study of immunomodulatory peptides, both of exogenous and endogenous origin, attracted increasing attention over the last years. Numerous methods are widely used to study the sensitivity of plants to peptide elicitation, ranging from measuring early to late induced responses. Seedling growth inhibition is a prominent and easy-to-measure output...

Cell surface pattern recognition receptors sense invading pathogens by binding microbial or endogenous elicitors to activate plant immunity. These responses are under tight control to avoid excessive or untimely activation of cellular responses, which may otherwise be detrimental to host cells. How this fine-tuning is accomplished is an area of act...

Little is known about plant genetic and biochemical components that coordinate immune responses with growth and environmental cues. C-TERMINALLY ENCODED PEPTIDEs (CEPs) control plant development and nitrogen demand signaling. Here, we identified CEP4 as an immune-modulatory peptide (phytocytokine) in Arabidopsis thaliana. CEP4 and related CEPs are...

A signaling complex comprising members of the LORELEI (LRE)-LIKE GPI-anchored protein (LLG) and Catharanthus roseus RECEPTOR-LIKE KINASE 1-LIKE (CrRLK1L) families perceive RAPID ALKALINIZATION FACTOR (RALF) peptides and regulate growth, reproduction, immunity, and stress responses in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Genes encoding these proteins...

Endogenous signalling peptides play diverse roles during plant growth, development and stress responses. Research in recent years has unravelled peptides with previously known growth-regulatory function as immune-modulatory agents that fine-tune pattern-triggered immunity (PTI). Moreover, peptides that are long known as endogenous danger signals we...

Plant immune responses must be tightly controlled for proper allocation of resources for growth and development. In plants, endogenous signaling peptides regulate developmental and growth-related processes. Recent research indicates that some of these peptides also have regulatory functions in the control of plant immune responses. This classifies...

Cell-surface pattern recognition receptors sense invading pathogens by binding microbial or endogenous elicitors to activate plant immunity. These responses are under tight control to avoid excessive or untimely activation of cellular responses, which may otherwise be detrimental to host cells. How this fine-tuning is accomplished is an area of act...

Spatial partitioning is a propensity of biological systems orchestrating cell activities in space and time. The dynamic regulation of plasma membrane nano-environments has recently emerged as a key fundamental aspect of plant signaling, but the molecular components governing it are still mostly unclear. The receptor kinase FERONIA (FER) controls li...

Endogenous plant signalling peptides regulate developmental and growth-related processes. Recent research indicates that some of these peptides are classified as phytocytokines as they have regulatory functions during plant immune responses. However, the mechanistic basis for phytocytokine-mediated immune modulation remains largely elusive. Here, w...

Cell surface receptors survey and relay information to ensure the development and survival of multicellular organisms. In the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, the Catharanthus roseus RLK1-like receptor kinase FERONIA (FER) regulates myriad of biological processes to coordinate development, growth and responses to the environment. We recently showe...

A signaling complex comprising members of the LORELEI (LRE)-LIKE GPI-anchored protein (LLG) and Catharanthus roseus RECEPTOR-LIKE KINASE 1-LIKE ( Cr RLK1L) families perceive RAPID ALKALINIZATION FACTOR (RALF) peptides and regulate growth, reproduction, immunity, and stress responses in Arabidopsis. Genes encoding these proteins are members of multi...

Receptor kinases (RKs) of the Catharanthus roseus RLK1-like (CrRLK1L) family have emerged as important regulators of plant reproduction, growth and responses to the environment1. Endogenous RAPID ALKALINIZATION FACTOR (RALF) peptides2 have been proposed as ligands for several CrRLK1L members1. The mechanistic basis of this perception, however, is u...

Controlling organ growth and development is crucial for all multicellular organisms and is controlled by plasma membrane localized receptor kinases (RKs) across kingdoms, including animals and plants. A central RK in plants is FERONIA (FER), which perceives endogenous rapid alkalinization factor (RALF) peptides to regulate a plethora of biological...

In this Letter, an incorrect version of the Supplementary Information file was inadvertently used, which contained several errors. The details of references 59-65 were missing from the end of the Supplementary Discussion section on page 4. In addition, the section 'Text 3. Y2H on ICD interactions' incorrectly referred to 'Extended Data Fig. 4d' ins...

The cells of multicellular organisms receive extracellular signals using surface receptors. The extracellular domains (ECDs) of cell surface receptors function as interaction platforms, and as regulatory modules of receptor activation. Understanding how interactions between ECDs produce signal-competent receptor complexes is challenging because of...

How the pollen tube is regulated to deliver sperm cells to produce seeds is characterized

Small peptides allow rapid responses RALFs (rapid alkalinization factors), a family of small peptides in plants, are produced in response to rapidly changing conditions. Stegmann et al. studied the agility and diversity built into this signaling network. Some RALFs, such as RALF23 and its relative RALF33, are activated by proteolytic cleavage. Othe...

Components of the vesicle trafficking machinery are central to the immune response in plants. The role of vesicle trafficking during pre-invasive penetration resistance has been well documented. However, emerging evidence also implicates vesicle trafficking in early immune signaling. Here we report that Exo70B1, a subunit of the exocyst complex whi...

The three closely related PUB proteins PUB22, PUB23 and PUB24 were described as important regulators for PTI signaling and plant immunity. To find cellular targets regulated by the action of the PUB triplet we performed a yeast two-hybrid screen to identify candidate target proteins of PUB22. We could identify Exo70B2 as a target protein of PUB22,...

Plant pathogens are perceived by pattern recognition receptors, which are activated upon binding to pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). Ubiquitination and vesicle trafficking have been linked to the regulation of immune signaling. However, little information exists about components of vesicle trafficking involved in immune signaling and...

Sphingolipids are important membrane components and also regulate cell proliferation and apoptosis. We detected a fast increase of the free sphingobase t18:0 (phytosphinganine) in Arabidopsis leaves after inoculation with an avirulent strain of the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pathovar tomato, characterized by host cell death reactions....