Dr Alan Wanke
- Research Associate
Contact
Location
- Sainsbury Laboratory
- 47 Bateman Street, Cambridge, CB2 1LR
About
I completed my undergraduate studies in Biological Sciences at the University of Münster (Germany) in 2016. During that time, I focused on protein biochemistry in the context of photosynthesis in the unicellular alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (Bachelor thesis, supervised by Prof. Michael Hippler) and isoprenoid biosynthesis in Russian dandelion roots (Master thesis, supervised by Prof. Dirk Prüfer; Stolze et al., 2017).
After completing my undergraduate studies, I pursued my PhD at the International Max Planck Research School, working in the group of Prof. Alga Zuccaro (University of Cologne, Germany). During my doctoral studies, I explored the role of fungal cell wall β-glucans in plant-fungal interactions. These glucose-based cell wall polymers constitute the major cell wall component of most plant-colonsing fungi and are critical for trans-kingdom communication (Wanke et al., 2021). I investigated the implications of these cell wall components in plant immunity (Wanke, Rovenich et al., 2020) and fungal accommodation (Chandrasekar, Wanke, Wawra et al., 2022; Wanke et al., 2023).
In January 2021, I joined the group of Dr Sebastian Schornack at the Sainsbury Laboratory in Cambridge, where I continue to work on different aspects of plant-fungal interactions.
Research
“Fungi are everywhere but they are easy to miss.” - Merlin Sheldrake
The fossil record documents that the transition of plants from water to land was accompanied by close interactions with different fungi. Today, approximately 90% of all land plants form partnerships with various mycorrhizal fungi. While all of these interactions involve mutualistic carbon-for-nutrient exchange between the host and the fungus, the molecular principles governing reciprocal perception, fungal colonisation of the host tissue, intracellular accommodation, and nutrient transfer vary among different types of mycorrhizas. During my stay at the Sainsbury Laboratory, I am particularly interested in exploring the following research questions:
- What host mechanisms contribute to the compartmentalisation of fungal colonisation to distinct host tissues?
- Does our understanding of mycorrhizal interactions gained from studying arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi also apply to alternative mycorrhizal interactions (e.g. Mucoromycotina Fine Root Endophytes)?