Sebastian Schornack
Post Doctoral Scientist
Contact details
+44 (0)1603 450054
Email: sebastian.schornack@sainsbury-laboratory.ac.uk
Research interests
My scientific research is centered on plant-pathogen interactions. Plants have to defend themselves against a vast army of "would-be" pathogens. But they manage to ward them off successfully. The molecular principles of this multilayered defense are a hot topic in plant research these times.
My interest started when studying the resistance of tomato towards strains of the bacterial pathogen Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria. I contributed to the cloning of a resistance gene that monitors the presence of foreign invading proteins from the pathogen. Such invading proteins are called effectors and are injected by the pathogen into the host cells to reprogram the metabolism and to attenuate the host defense. The tomato resistance protein Bs4 recognizes the Xanthomonas effector AvrBs4. If not recognized, this effector moves into the nucleus of susceptible plants, binds to DNA and activates the expression of host genes to support the bacterial infection. I was always intrigued, how these so called TAL (transcriptional activator-like) proteins find their target genes and bind to them. Recently, I co-discovered the principle of DNA-binding specificity of this protein class. This is now published in Science Express (free manuscript access: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/rapidpdf/1178811?ijkey=qDIkUUCboP0Xk&keytype=ref&siteid=sci ).
I decided that 2008 is a good year to move on to another pathogen-host system. I am now studying the molecular interplay between Phytophthora infestans, causal agent of potato late blight and its various solanaceous host species. Phytophthora recently gained a lot of interest, as it moved from the dark corner of molecularly inaccessible pathogens to the centre stage of effector research. Sequencing of the Phythophthora infestans genome revealed a tremendous army of potential effectors and it will be fascinating to study what happens if these "soldiers" enter the host cell.
I am using microscopy to look on the cellular level where fluorescently labelled effectors localize. This will give clues about their intentions. If one considers them as spies infiltrating a castle, they probably would weaken the walls or try to reach the headquarters. My recent research is thus focused on effectors that target membrane and nuclear compartments.
Selected Publications
Boch, J, Scholze, H, Schornack S, Landgraf, L, Hahn, S, Kay, S, Lahaye, T, Nickstadt, A, and Bonas, U (2009) Breaking the code of DNA binding specificity of TAL-type III effectors. Science
rated exceptional in Faculty1000: http://f1000biology.com/article/id/1242959
Schornack S, Fuchs R, Huitema E, Rothbauer u, Lipka V, Kamoun S. (2009) Protein mislocalization in plant cells using a GFP-binding chromobody, Plant J. Epub
Song J, Win J, Tian M, Schornack S, Kaschani F, Ilyas M, van der Hoorn RA, Kamoun S. (2009) Apoplastic effectors secreted by two unrelated eukaryotic plant pathogens target the tomato defense protease Rcr3. PNAS, Epub
Schornack S, Minsavage GV, Stall RE, Jones JB, Lahaye T. (2008) Characterization of AvrHah1, a novel AvrBs3-like effector from Xanthomonas gardneri with virulence and avirulence activity. New Phytol. 179(2):546-56.
Schornack S, Meyer A, Römer P, Jordan T, Lahaye T. (2006) Gene-for-gene-mediated recognition of nuclear-targeted AvrBs3-like bacterial effector proteins. J Plant Physiol. 163(3):256-72.
Schornack S, Peter K, Bonas U, Lahaye T. (2005) Expression levels of avrBs3-like genes affect recognition specificity in tomato Bs4- but not in pepper Bs3-mediated perception. Mol Plant Microbe Interact. 18(11):1215-25.
Schornack S, Ballvora A, Gürlebeck D, Peart J, Baulcombe D, Ganal M, Baker B, Bonas U, Lahaye T. (2004) The tomato resistance protein Bs4 is a predicted non-nuclear TIR-NB-LRR protein that mediates defense responses to severely truncated derivatives of AvrBs4 and overexpressed AvrBs3. Plant J. 37(1):46-60.
