Adaptive evolution of filamentous plant pathogens

Thorsten Langner

Plant pathogens are in constant coevolutionary conflict with their hosts. Selective forces imposed by the host plants have shaped the pathogen genomes and left molecular signatures in virulence related proteins. We use a multidisciplinary approach, including comparative genomics, evolutionary biology, genetics, as well as biophysics and structural biology to dissect the mechanisms that facilitate chromosome-scale, structural genomic variation, and the impact of these variants on molecular plant-pathogen coevolution.

Our research revolves around three main aspects:

1. Genome evolution and structural variation
2. Molecular evolution and function of virulence effectors
3. Plant immunity