Lab Members
Dr. Silke Robatzek - Group Leader
Silke studied Biology in Göttingen where she initially worked on plant physiology with a focus on gibberellin biosynthesis. For her PhD she joined the group of Imre Somssich at the Max-Planck-Institut für Pflanzenzüchtungsforschung (MPIPZ) and addressed the role of WRKY transcription factors during plant defense and senescence. She then moved to Basel, Switzerland, and did her postdoctoral research at the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research (Novartis) on flagellin sensing and FLS2. She continued her research on FLS2 at the Botanical Institute, University Basel, where she discovered flagellin-mediated endocytosis of FLS2. Silke re-joined the MPIPZ 2005, where she set up her own research group focussing on microbe-induced signaling and endocytosis in Arabidopsis. In 2009 she took a group leader position at the Sainsbury Laboratory (TSL) in Norwich, UK, and is studying the dynamics of membrane trafficking in plant immunity. Silke obtained 2010 her “venia docendi” in plant cell biology at the University Basel. Her current research is supported by the SPP1212 "Plant-Micro" (http://www.plant-micro.de/), and the ERA-PG "PROSIG" (http://www.erapg.org) initiatives. "If we are to understand plant-microbe interactions, we need to investigate the associated subcellular adaptations at the molecular level."
Martina Beck -Postdoctoral Fellow
Martina studied Biology in at the University Bonn, Germany and did her PhD at the Institute of Cellular and Molecular Botany in Bonn. She joined the Robatzek lab in February 2010. To better understand the role of endosomal/ membrane trafficking in plant immunity, she combines genetics and cell biology and applies high throughput confocal image analysis. Martina successfully obtained a fellowship of the German Research Foundation (DFG).
martina.beck@sainsbury-laboratory.ac.uk
Gildas Bourdais - Postdoctoral Fellow
Gildas studied Plant Biology in France and did his PhD at the Seed Biology Laboratory at INRA of Versailles and AgroParisTech in Paris. He joined the Robatzek lab in June 2009 within the ERA-PG project “PROSIG” (http://www.erapg.org). His main topic is to investigate stomata closure in plant immunity.
Malick Mbengue - Postdoctoral Fellow
Malick studied Plant Biology in France and did his PhD in the group of J. Cullimore and C. Gough at the “Laboratoire des Interactions Plantes Micro-organisme” in Toulouse. He joined the Robatzek group in October 2010. His main topic is to investigate the role of FLS2 interacting proteins in PAMP-triggered immunity.
malick.mbengue@sainsbury-laboratory.ac.uk
Ji Zhou - Postdoctoral Fellow
Ji completed his BEng in computer controlling at Shanghai University of Engineering Sciences (SUES) in 1999 and worked in Shanghai as a bilingual IT professional for over three years. In 2005, he received an MSc in Information Systems at University of East Anglia (UEA) UK and worked as a main systems analyst in Norwich Union until 2009. Ji did his PhD in Computer Science at UEA and joined the Robatzek lab in late spring 2011. Presently, he focuses on 2D/3D image analysis and other related software development.
ji.zhou@sainsbury-laboratory.ac.uk
Thomas Spallek - Post Doctoral Fellow
Thomas studies Biology in Konstanz, Germany. He joined the Robatzek lab at the MPIPZ Cologne for his diploma thesis and continued with his PhD thesis in the frame of the SPP1212 “Plant-Micro” (http://www.plant-micro.de/). He transferred to TSL and addresses mechanisms of plant immunity by genetic analysis.
thomas.spallek@sainsbury-laboratory.ac.uk
Yi-Ju Lu - PhD Student
Yi-Ju studied plant pathology and microbiology and graduated with a master degree at National Taiwan University. She joined the Robatzek lab at the MPIPZ Cologne within the IMPRS program and moved to TSL. During her PhD thesis she studies plant membrane trafficking.
yi-ju.lu@sainsbury-laboratory.ac.uk
Damar Tri Anggoro - Msc Student
Damar studies Life Sciences (Molecular Plant Biology) in HAN University of Applied Sciences, Nijmegen Netherlands. He obtained an ERASMUS stipend to join the Robatzek Lab at TSL and will undertake a 6 months master project on FLS2 signaling in stomatal closure with Gildas Bourdais.
Damar.Tri-Anggoro@sainsbury-laboratory.ac.uk
James Strutt - Internship student
James is a Biology student at Imperial College London. He joined the Robatzek Lab at TSL as a placement student for the year, learning practical technique and undertaking a small project addressing FLS2 function in collaboration with Martina Beck.
James.Strutt@sainsbury-laboratory.ac.uk
Heidrun Häweker - Technician
Heidrun started working at the MPIPZ Cologne within the frame of ZIGIA. In the Robatzek lab she is working on different aspects of FLS2-mediated immunity, which she continues at TSL.
Alumni
Denise Altenbach - Postdoctoral Fellow 2006-2007
Denise studied Biology and did her PhD working on the biosynthesis of fructans at the University Basel, Switzerland. After a short period in industry, she joined the Robatzek lab at the MPIPZ. Her project involved the identification FLS2 endocytic regulators. She left the lab to take a position at Bioreba.Maik Böhmer- Postdoctoral Fellow 2006
Maik studied Biology in Marburg and did his PhD at the MPIPZ in the group of Tina Romeis. For a short period of time he has joined the Robatzek lab where he addressed interactions of FLS2 and microbe-derived effector proteins. He went on for a postdoc position at the University of San Diego.Nicolas Frei dit Frey - Postdoctoral Fellow 2007-2010
Nicolas studied Biology in France at the Orsay University and did his PhD at the Institute of Plant Sciences, in the CNRS campus of Gif sur Yvette. He joined the Robatzek lab at the MPIPZ Cologne to investigate FLS2 endosomes and progressed to identify FLS2 endocytic regulators.Vera Göhre - Postdoctoral Fellow 2006-2010
Vera studied Biochemistry and did her PhD addressing Photosynthesis in algae at the University Geneva, Switzerland. She joined the Robatzek lab at the MPIPZ as a member of the SFB 670 “cell-autonomous immunity” and has moved to TSL. She worked on FLS2 posttranslational modifications and focused on flg22-induced responses by biochemical analysis. She went on as a postdoctoral fellow establishing her independent line of research at the University Dusseldorf.Petra Köchner - Technician 2005-2009
Petra has a long working career at MPIPZ. She was joining the Robatzek lab from early on, and was supporting various projects.Thomas Liebrand - MSc Student 2009
Tom is a student of Plant Biotechnology at the Wageningen University, The Netherlands. He joined the Robatzek lab at the MPIPZ Cologne in May 2009 for a six months internship. His study aimed dissect Cf-4 mediated immunity in tomato. He continues this project and took a PhD position at the Wageningen University.Sophia Mersmann - PhD Student / Post Doctoral Fellow 2006-2010
Sophia studied in Regensburg and Munich and did her degree in Biology. She joined the Robatzek lab at the MPIPZ Cologne as a PhD within the IMPRS program. She continued as a postdoctoral fellow at TSL focusing on early responses during PAMP-triggered immunity.Susanne Salomon - PhD Student / Post Doctoral Fellow 2006-2010
Susanne studied in Bayreuth, Germany and did her degree in Biochemistry. She joined the Robatzek lab at MPIPZ as a PhD student within the frame of the IMPRS program. She continued as a postdoctoral fellow at the MPIPZ Cologne investigating membrane trafficking by genetic analysis.Sebastian Schaaf- Bachelor Student 2007
Sebastian is a student of Biology at the University Cologne, Germany. He started in the Robatzek lab at the MPIPZ Cologne as a practical trainee in May 2007 and extended his time for a bachelor thesis. In collaboration with Kurt Stüber from the IT Group he developed software tools for confocal imaging analysis.Awarded
PhD degree November 2011: Congratulations to Thomas Spallek!!
(from left): Thomas Liebrand, Matthieu Joosten, Thomas, Vera, Silke, Susanne
PhD degree June 2010: Congratulations to Madlen Vetter!!
(from left): Madlen, Juliette, Silke
PhD degree Oct 2009: Congratulations to Sophia Mersmann!!
PhD degree June 2009: Congratulations to Susanne Salomon!!
PhD degree June 2009: Congratulations to Susanne Salomon!!
Group Activities
SR Group enjoying Malaga 2010 (Bollero meeting)
(from left): Yi-Ju, Martina, Malick, Silke, Thomas, Gildas
SR Group at TSL
BBQ at Silke’s home: (from left, back): Malick, Gildas, Heidrun, Yi-Ju, Rosa, Martina, James, Silke, Emily (summer student); (from left, front): Martin (future postdoc), Ji, Will (associated PhD student)
(from left): Heidrun, Thomas, Silke, Gildas, Malick, Martina, Yi-Ju
SR Group at TSL - lab outing 2010
(from left): Thomas, Sophia, Vera, Yi-Ju, Martina, Heidrun, Gildas, Silke
SR Group at the MPIPZ Cologne 2009
(from left): Thomas, Sophia, Heidrun, Petra, Nicolas, Yi-Ju, Gildas, Susanne, Tom, Silke and Vera.
SR Group at the MPIPZ Cologne 2008
(from left): Sophia, Stephanie, Susanne, Heidrun, Nicolas, Petra, Silke, Vera, Yi-Ju, Thomas and Madlen (PhD student, collaboration with Juliette de Meaux Group).
Bollero Meeting Buchberg 2007
Members of the Robatzek group from the MPIZ Cologne (Denise, Vera, Sophia, Madlen, Thomas and Silke) at the 2nd "Bollero" retreat. The group of Thomas Boller (Basel) invited the groups of Jürg Felix (Tübingen), Birgit Kemmerling (Tübingen) and Cyril Zipfel (Norwich) to Buchberg, Switzerland, for discussions about PAMP-triggered immunity in plants.
