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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.

thorsten.langner@tsl.ac.uk
+44 (0) 1603 450054

Publications

Bentham AR, Petit-Houdenot Y, Win J, Chuma I, Terauchi R, Banfield MJ, Kamoun S, Langner T (2021)

A single amino acid polymorphism in a conserved effector of the multihost blast fungus pathogen expands host-target binding spectrum. bioRxiv preprint Mar 16, 2021 doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.15.435478

Langner T, Harant A, Gomez-Luciano LB, Shrestha RK, Malmgren A, Latorre SM, Burbano HA, Win J, Kamoun S (2021)

Genomic rearrangements generate hypervariable mini-chromosomes in host-specific isolates of the blast fungus. PLoS Genet. 2021 Feb 16;17(2):e1009386. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1009386.

Białas A, Langner T, Harant A, Contreras MP, Stevenson CEM, Lawson DM, Sklenar J, Kellner R, Moscou MJ, Terauchi R, Banfield MJ, Kamoun S (2020)

Two NLR immune receptors acquired high-affinity binding to a fungal effector through convergent evolution of their integrated domain. bioRxiv preprint Jan 27, 2021 doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.26.428286

Oikawa K, Fujisaki K, Shimizu M, Takeda T, Saitoh H, Hirabuchi A, Hiraka Y, Białas A, Langner T, Kellner R, Bozkurt TO, Cesari S, Kroj T, Maidment JHR, Banfield MJ, Kamoun S, Terauchi R (2020)

The blast pathogen effector AVR-Pik binds and stabilizes rice heavy metal-associated (HMA) proteins to co-opt their function in immunity. bioRxiv preprint Dec 02, 2020 doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.01.406389

Petit-Houdenot Y, Langner T, Harant A, Win J, Kamoun S (2020)

A Clone Resource of Magnaporthe Oryzae Effectors That Share Sequence and Structural Similarities Across Host-Specific Lineages. Mol Plant Microbe Interact. 2020 May 27. doi: 10.1094/MPMI-03-20-0052-A.

Langner T, Harant A, Gómez-Luciano LB, Shrestha RK, Win J, Kamoun S (2020)

Genomic rearrangements generate hypervariable mini-chromosomes in host-specific lineages of the blast fungus. bioRxiv preprint Jan 11, 2020 doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.01.10.901983

Aschenbroich J, Hussnaetter KP, Stoffels P, Langner T, Zander S, Sandrock B, Bölker M, Feldbrügge M, Schipper K (2019)

The germinal centre kinase Don3 is crucial for unconventional secretion of chitinase Cts1 in Ustilago maydis.

Langner T, Kamoun S, Belhaj K (2018)

CRISPR Crops: Plant Genome Editing Toward Disease Resistance. Annu Rev Phytopathol. 2018 Jul 5. doi: 10.1146/annurev-phyto-080417-050158.

Langner T, Białas A, Kamoun S (2018)

The Blast Fungus Decoded: Genomes in Flux. MBio. 2018 Apr 17;9(2). pii: e00571-18. doi: 10.1128/mBio.00571-18.

Białas A, Zess EK, De la Concepcion JC, Franceschetti M, Pennington HG, Yoshida K, Upson JL, Chanclud E, Wu CH, Langner T, Maqbool A, Varden FA, Derevnina L, Belhaj K, Fujisaki K, Saitoh H, Terauchi R, Banfield MJ, Kamoun S (2018)

Lessons in Effector and NLR Biology of Plant-Microbe Systems. Mol Plant Microbe Interact. 2018 Jan;31(1):34-45. doi: 10.1094/MPMI-08-17-0196-FI. Epub 2017 Nov 16.

Bialas A, Zess EK, De la Concepcion JC, Franceschetti M, Pennington HG, Yoshida K, Upson JL, Chanclud E, Wu C-H, Langner T, Maqbool A, Varden FA, Derevnina L, Belhaj K, Fujisaki K, Saitoh H, Terauchi R, Banfield MJ, Kamoun S (2017)

Lessons in effector and NLR biology of plant-microbe systems. bioRxiv preprint Aug 2, 2017 doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/171223

Langner T, Göhre V (2015)

Fungal chitinases: function, regulation, and potential roles in plant/pathogen interactions. Curr Genet. 2015 doi: 10.1007/s00294-015-0530-x

Langner T, Öztürk M, Hartmann S, Cord-Landwehr S, Moerschbacher B, Walton JD, Göhre V (2015)

Chitinases are essential for cell separation in Ustilago maydis. Eukaryot Cell. 14(9):846-57. doi: 10.1128/EC.00022-15.

Job History

2015 – 2015 Postdoctoral Researcher, Heinrich-Heine University, Duessledorf, Germany

2011 – 2015 PhD Student, Heinrich-Heine University, Duessledorf, Germany

2013 – 2013 PhD Student (research stay), Michigan State University, East Lansing; US

2010 – 2011 Internship, Novartis, Basel, Switzerland

2009 – 2010 Diploma Thesis, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany