Schornack Group
Professor Sebastian Schornack
Research Group Leader
Email: sebastian.schornack@slcu.cam.ac.uk
Office Phone: 01223 761145
Research Interests
Plants constantly engage in interactions with microbial organisms. These interactions can either be detrimental such as those with the economically relevant fungus-like oomycete Phytophthora infestans, the causal agent of the Irish Potato Famine or beneficial to supply phosphate such as in symbiotic interactions with mycorrhizal fungi that occur in most plant species.
Both, pathogenic and mutualistic symbioses follow structurally similar developmental processes to establish intracellular interfaces. It is generally accepted that both, plants and microorganisms contribute to the formation of dedicated accommodation structures. However, we know little about the underlying molecular mechanisms that drive differentiation of host cells and tissues to form intracellular interfaces.
Red fluorescent Phytophthora colonising a Medicago truncatula (barrel medic) root
The Schornack group aims to characterise the extent to which beneficial and detrimental microorganisms employ similar plant developmental processes for colonization. To this end we plan to assess the overlap between Mycorrhiza processes and root infection by the biotrophic pathogen Phytophthora palmivora and will characterize genetic elements with common functions. Furthermore, we will elucidate the role of microbial effectors for development of plant cells into intracellular accommodation structures. This work will reveal the boundaries between symbiosis and pathogenesis and will provide novel insights into plant development driven by biotic cues.
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Selected Publications
Guyon, A., Staps, T., Badot, L., *Schornack, S. (2025) Mutualist-pathogen co-colonisation modulates phosphoinositide signatures at host intracellular interfaces, Cell Reports. DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2025.116702
*Strullu-Derrien, C., Wightman, R., McDonnell, L.P., Evans, G., Fercoq, F., Kenrick, P., Ferrari, A.C., *Schornack, S. (2025) An arbuscular mycorrhiza from the 407-million-year-old Windyfield chert identified through advanced fluorescence and Raman imaging, New Phytologist. DOI: 10.1111/nph.70655
Brumm, S., Gavrin, A., Macleod, M., Chesneau, G., Usländer, A., *Schornack, S. (2025) Functional divergence of plant SCAR/WAVE proteins is determined by intrinsically disordered regions, Science Advances, 11(21), eadt6107. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adt6107
Hoey, D.J., Carella, P., Yang, W., *Schornack, S., (2024) An environment-responsive SCLA-type GRAS protein controls reproductive strategy in Marchantia polymorpha, bioRxiv. DOI: 10.1101/2024.11.08.622648
Yuen, E.L.H., Tumtas, Y., Chan, L.I., Ibrahim, T., Evangelisti, E., Tulin, F., Sklenar, J., Menke, F., Kamoun, S., Bubeck, D.,*Schornack, S. and *Bozkurt, T.O. (2024) A pathogen effector co-opts a host RabGAP protein to remodel pathogen interface and subvert defense-related secretion, Science Advances, 10(40), eado9516. DOI:10.1126/sciadv.ado9516
Schornack, S., & Kamoun, S. (2023). EVO-MPMI: From fundamental science to practical applications. Current Opinion in Plant Biology, 76, 102469. DOI: 10.1016/j.pbi.2023.102469
Teulet, A., Quan, C., Evangelisti, E., Wanke, A., Yang, W., and *Schornack, S. (2023) A pathogen effector FOLD diversified in symbiotic fungi, New Phytologist, 239(3), 1127-1139. DOI: 10.1111/nph.18996
Evangelisti, E., Guyon, A., Shenhav, L. and *Schornack, S. (2023) FIRE mimics a 14-3-3-binding motif to promote Phytophthora palmivora infection, Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, 36(3), 315-322. DOI: 10.1094/MPMI-12-22-0251-R
*Bonfanti, A., Smithers, E.T., Bourdon, M., Guyon, A., Carella, P., Carter, R., Wightman, R., Schornack, S., Jönsson, H. and Robinson, S. (2023) Stiffness transitions in new walls post-cell division differ between Marchantia polymorpha gemmae and Arabidopsis thaliana leaves, PNAS, 120 (41), e2302985120. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2302985120
*Evangelisti, E., Turner, C., McDowell, A., Shenhav, L., Yunusov, T., Gavrin, A., Servante, E.K., Quan, C., *Schornack, S. (2021) Deep learning-based quantification of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in plant roots, New Phytologist, 232(5), 2207-2219. DOI: 10.1111/nph.17697
Timoneda A, Yunusov T, Quan C, Gavrin A, Brockington SF, Schornack S (2021) MycoRed: Betalain pigments enable in vivo real-time visualisation of arbuscular mycorrhizal colonisation. PLoS Biol 19(7): e3001326. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001326
Carella, P., Gogleva, A., Tomaselli, M., Alfs, C., and Schornack, S. (2018) Phytophthora palmivora establishes tissue-specific intracellular infection structures in the earliest divergent land plant lineage. PNAS (Online Early: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1717900115) Previously on bioRxiv (2017, Pre-Print). doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/188912. Watch the video about this research.
Evangelisti E., Gogleva A., Hainaux H., Doumane M., Tulin F., Quan C., Yunusov T., Floch K., Schornack S. (2017) Time-resolved dual transcriptomics reveal early induced Nicotiana benthamiana root genes and conserved infection-promoting Phytophthora palmivora effectors. BMC Biol. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-017-0379-1
Rey T., Chatterjee A.,Buttay M., Toulotte J., Schornack S. (2014) Medicago truncatula symbiosis mutants affected in the interaction with a biotrophic root pathogen. New Phytol. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.13233
Wang E., Schornack S., Marsh J.F., Gobbato E., Schwessinger B., Eastmond P., Schultze M., Kamoun S., Oldroyd G.E. (2012) A Common Signaling Process that Promotes Mycorrhizal and Oomycete Colonization of Plants. Curr Biol. 22(23). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2012.09.043
Bozkurt, T.O.*, Schornack, S.*, Win, J., Shindo, T., Oliva, R., Cano, L.M., Jones, A.M.E., Huitema, E., van der Hoorn, R.A.L., Kamoun, S. (2011) Phytophthora infestans effector AVRblb2 prevents focal secretion of a plant immune protease, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 108(51), * shared first authors https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1112708109
Chaparro-Garcia A., Wilkinson R.C., Gimenez-Ibanez S., Findlay K., Coffey M.D., Zipfel C., Rathjen J.P., Kamoun S.*, Schornack S.* (2011) The Receptor-Like Kinase SERK3/BAK1 Is Required for Basal Resistance against the Late Blight Pathogen Phytophthora infestans in Nicotiana benthamiana. PLoS ONE 6(1). * shared corresponding authors https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0016608
Schornack S.*, van Damme M.*, Bozkurt T.O., Cano L.M., Smoker M., Thines M., Gaulin E., Kamoun S., Huitema E. (2010): Ancient class of translocated oomycete effectors targets the host nucleus. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 107(40). * shared corresponding authors https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1008491107
Selected reviews
Carella, P., andSchornack, S.(2017) Manipulation of bryophyte hosts by pathogenic and symbiotic microbes. Plant and Cell Physiology, pcx182, https://doi.org/10.1093/pcp/pcx182
Fawke, S., Doumane, M., Schornack, S. (2015): Oomycete Interactions with Plants: Infection Strategies and Resistance Principles, Microbiol Mol Biol Rev. https://doi.org/10.1128/mmbr.00010-15
Rey T., Schornack S. (2013): Interactions of beneficial and detrimental root-colonizing filamentous microbes with plant hosts. Genome Biol. 14(6). Review. https://doi.org/10.1186%2Fgb-2013-14-6-121
Schornack S., Moscou M.J., Ward E.R., Horvath D.M. (2013): Engineering Plant Disease Resistance Based on TAL Effectors. Annu Rev Phytopathol. 51. Review. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-phyto-082712-102255
Schornack S., Huitema E., Cano L.M., Bozkurt T.O., Oliva R., Van Damme M., Schwizer S., Raffaele S., Chaparro-Garcia A., Farrer R., Segretin M.E., Bos J., Haas B.J., Zody M.C., Nusbaum C., Win J., Thines M., Kamoun S. (2009): Ten things to know about oomycete effectors. Mol Plant Pathol. 10(6). Review. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1364-3703.2009.00593.x
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