Yu Sugihara

@YuSugiharaY

Researcher at The Sainsbury Laboratory;
Evolution | Population genetics | Plant-microbe interactions

Norwich, UK yusugihara.github.io Joined July 2020

1.2K Following 1.1K Followers 3.6K Posts

Latest posts 5

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Yu Sugihara @YuSugiharaY Oct 8

Excited to share our latest work! 🍅

Two evolutionarily distinct immune receptors recognize the same viral target, yet differ in their recognition spectra.

A fascinating example of convergent evolution in plant immunity!

Jogi Madhuprakash @JMadhuprakash Oct 8

🍅 Tomato brown rugose fruit virus spread worldwide.

For >60 years, one resistance gene protected tomatoes. This virus broke through.

A second gene confers resistance. Same viral target? Convergent evolution?

Preprint: biorxiv.org/content/10.648…

#EvoMPMI #NLRbiology

(1/9) 🧵

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Yu Sugihara @YuSugiharaY Sep 9

Fantastic work by Juan and the team driving this exciting story forward! Preprint coming soon! 🌱🔥

Juan Azcue @juazcue Sep 9

One gene. No helper needed. 🌱🧬

We used AlphaFold 3 to discover single-gene NLR immune receptors in grasses 🌾 — then bioengineered SOLO1 to recognise a new target 🎯. #ECPP2026 #PPATH2026

📌 Poster below
🔗 doi.org/10.5281/zenodo…

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Yu Sugihara @YuSugiharaY Jul 16, 2025

🎉 Exciting news during #2025ISMPMI
Our AlphaFold 3 sensor vs helper NLR paper is now published in @NewPhyt!

Big thanks to the reviewers for their constructive feedback 🙏

📖 Check out the peer-reviewed version here 👇
🔗 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/np…

x.com/YuSugiharaY/st…

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com Can AI modeling of protein structures distinguish between sensor and helper NLR immune receptors? Click on the article title to read more.

Yu Sugihara @YuSugiharaY Dec 2, 2024

Please check our latest paper on using @GoogleDeepMind AlphaFold 3 to study NLR immune receptors. Here we use AI-guided structural modelling to distinguish between sensor and helper NLRs! 👇🧵 (1/10) #EvoMPMI #NLRbiology #PlantPath #PlantSci
doi.org/10.1101/2024.1…

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Yu Sugihara @YuSugiharaY Jul 11, 2025

Thrilled to join #ISMPMI2025! 🌿🧬

Can AIphaFold 3 tell sensor vs helper NLRs? 🤖

📍 P-452 | Tue 15 Jul | 09:55-11:30
Can’t be there? Grab the poster on Zenodo 👉 doi.org/10.5281/zenodo…
#OpenMPMI #OpenScience

zenodo.org Can AI modelling of protein structures distinguish between sensor and helper NLR immune receptors? NLR proteins are intracellular immune receptors present across all kingdoms of life, with exceptional diversification in plants. In plant immunity, paired NLRs consist of sensors, which detect...

Yu Sugihara @YuSugiharaY Apr 10, 2025

🎉 Excited to share that our work is now published in @PLOSGenetics!
The helper NLR NRC3 evolved to evade inhibition by the cyst nematode effector SS15 over 19 million years ago.
Check out the peer-reviewed version of our paper👇
🔗doi.org/10.1371/journa…
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journals.plos.org Helper NLR immune protein NRC3 evolved to evade inhibition by a cyst nematode virulence effector Author summary Plants have immune systems that protect them from various pathogens, including bacteria, fungi and nematodes. This immune system harnesses proteins called NLRs (nucleotide-binding and...

Yu Sugihara @YuSugiharaY Jun 17, 2024

Very excited to share our latest preprint about coevolutionary dynamics between NLRs and their inhibitor!
Solanaceae helper NLR NRC3 evolved to evade the inhibition by cyst nematode effector SS15 over 19 Mya (1/12) #EvoMPMI #NLRbiology #PlantPath #PlantSci
doi.org/10.1101/2024.0…

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