Projects per year
Organisation profile
Organisation profile
The Sainsbury Laboratory is committed to the highest standard of fundamental and applied scientific research into molecular plant-microbe interactions.
We favour daring, collaborative, long-term research and value scientific integrity through open science and transparency.
We deploy the latest technologies to combat plant diseases and accelerate breeding.
Our discoveries translate to scientific solutions that tackle crop losses caused by existing and emerging plant diseases, particularly in low-income countries.
The Sainsbury Laboratory provides an outstanding training environment that prepares talented postgraduate students, postdoctoral scientists, and early career group leaders to excel in their careers.
Our alumni continue to make ground-breaking discoveries that address real-world challenges.
Research topics at The Sainsbury Laboratory include
- plant disease resistance genes
- the biology of pathogen effector proteins
- innate immune recognition in plants
- signalling and cellular changes during plant-microbe interactions
- plant and pathogen genomics
- and biotechnological approaches to crop disease resistance.
The Sainsbury Laboratory is generously supported by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation and by the University of East Anglia. Funding is also awarded to the laboratory by BBSRC, ERC and other research grant funding bodies through competitively won research grants and, for some research programmes, by commercial companies.
Each of our scientific groups have projects that take fundamental scientific discoveries from the laboratory to the field with the aim of reducing worldwide losses to crop diseases. Current projects include the discovery, engineering and deployment of novel immune receptors in crops, as well as genome editing tools that will enable the generation of novel alleles for crop improvement.
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Profiles
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Stephen Bornemann
- The Sainsbury Laboratory - Student Director (TSL)
- School of Biological Sciences - Honorary Professor
Person: Honorary, NBI Staff
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PIKOBODIES: Made-to-order plant disease resistance genes using receptor-nanobody fusions
Kamoun, S., MacLean, D., Menke, F., Smoker, M. & Youles, M.
1/11/23 → 31/10/28
Project: Research
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Potato PCN Resistance: Cloning effective resistances against potato cyst nematodes
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
1/07/23 → 30/06/26
Project: Research
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SEPBLAST: Determining the molecular basis of septin-dependent plant infection by the blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae
Talbot, N. & Ma, W.
1/10/22 → 30/09/27
Project: Fellowship
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Complexity of the lichen symbiosis revealed by metagenome and transcriptome analysis of Xanthoria parietina
Tagirdzhanova, G., Scharnagl, K., Sahu, N., Yan, X., Bucknell, A., Bentham, A. R., Jégousse, C., Ament-Velásquez, S. L., Onuț-Brännström, I., Johannesson, H., MacLean, D. & Talbot, N. J., 24 Feb 2025, In: Current Biology. 35, 4, p. 799-817.e5 19 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
Live cell imaging of plant infection provides new insight into the biology of pathogenesis by the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae
Quime, B. G., Ryder, L. S. & Talbot, N. J., Mar 2025, In: Journal of Microscopy. 297, 3, p. 274-288 15 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Open AccessFile4 Downloads (Pure) -
Mechanisms of regulated cell death during plant infection by the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae
Wengler, M. R. & Talbot, N. J., 10 Jan 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Cell Death and Differentiation.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Open Access
Datasets
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Metabolic efficiency affects the seminal relationship between pathogen growth rate and virulence - Dataset.xlsx
Lindsay, R. (Creator), Gudelj, I. (Creator), Holder, P. (Creator) & Talbot, N. (Creator), Figshare, 7 Mar 2923
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.15052347.v3
Dataset
Prizes
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Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa)
Talbot, Nicholas (Recipient), 2018
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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