Signal perception at the cell surface and transduction of this signal to the cell’s interior is essential to all life forms. Plants have evolved membrane-integral receptor proteins and associated signaling cascades that drastically differ from the well-studied systems in animals. Our aim is to dissect these signaling pathways in mechanistic detail.

A second line of research aims at uncovering the roles of inositol pyrophosphate nutrient messengers in plants. We are interested how these phosphate- and energy-rich molecules are being synthesized/broken down, how they are sensed by specific receptor protein (complexes) and what are their cellular functions and physiological roles in different plant species.

Selected group publications

• Caregnato A^†, Chen H^†, Kvasnica M, Hohmann U, Oklestkova J, Ferrer K, Broger L, Hothorn LA, Strnad M, Hothorn M^* (2026) A mechanistic framework for the recognition of chemically diverse brassinosteroids by BRI1-family receptor kinases. Nature Plants doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-026-02346-0 
• Rico-Resendiz F^†, Pri-Tal O^†, Raia P^†, Moretti A^†, Chen H, Yu J, Broger L, Fuchs C, Hothorn LA, Loubery S, Hothorn M^* (2026) Plant Kelch phosphatases are Ser/Thr phosphatases involved in cell cycle regulation. PNAS doi: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2600591123 | bioRxiv doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.01.06.697939
• Raia P, Lee K, Bartsch SM, Rico-Resendiz F, Portugal-Calisto D, Vadas O, Panse VG, Fiedler D, Hothorn, M^* (2025) A small signaling domain PPIP5K phosphatase activity in phosphate homeostasis. Nat Commun, doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-56937-0  | bioRxiv doi:https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.12.612650
• Laurent F, Bartsch SM, Shukla A, Rico-Resendiz F, Couto D, Fuchs C, Nicolet J, Loubery S, Jessen HJ, Fiedler D, Hothorn M^* (2024) Inositol pyrophosphate catabolism by three families of phosphatases regulates plant growth and development. PLOS Genetics doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1011468 | bioRxiv doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.04.30.591831
• Ried M^†, Wild R^†, Zhu J, Pipercevic J, Sturm K, Broger L, Harmel RK, Abriata LA, Hothorn LA, Fiedler D, Hiller S, Hothorn M^* (2021) Inositol pyrophosphates promote the interaction of SPX domains with the coiled-coil motif of PHR transcription factors to regulate plant phosphate homeostasis. Nature Comms, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20681-4 | bioRxiv doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2019.12.13.875393