Dr Thorsten Langner

Postdoctoral Scientist
Sophien Kamoun Group

I am intrigued by fungal plant pathogens and the mechanisms they use in order to infect their host plants.

To overcome plant immunity these pathogens deploy effector proteins, which get translocated into the host’s apolast or cytoplasm where they “reprogram” the plant or suppress immune responses. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of effector trafficking, function as well as adaptation to new hosts is what drives me forward.

In the current project I focus on effector protein adaptation and specialization in interactions of the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae with different host grasses after a host jump.