John Innes Centre

Prof Anne Osbourn

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Curriculum Vitae

  • 1982 BSc Botany, University of Durham (First Class).
  • 1985 PhD, Department of Genetics, University of Birmingham.
  • 1985 Research Associate, John Innes Institute, Norwich, UK.
  • 1987 Research Fellow, Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich, UK
  • 1999 Group Leader, Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich, UK
  • 2005 Group Leader, Dept. of Metabolic Biology, John Innes Centre
  • 2006 - 2008 Head, Dept. of Metabolic Biology, John Innes Centre
  • 2006 - present Honorary Professor, University of East Anglia, UK
  • 2008 - present Institute Strategic Programme Leader, Plant and Microbial Metabolism

Anne Osbourn

Programme Leader

Metabolic Biology

Contact details

anne.osbourn@jic.ac.uk

Research interests

Plants produce a huge array of natural products (secondary metabolites).  These compounds are exploited by humans as sources of drugs, flavouring agents, fragrances and for a wide range of other applications.   The natural function of plant-derived natural products is in ecological interactions, where they provide protection against attack by herbivores and microbes and serve as attractants for pollinators and seed-dispersing agents.  They may also contribute to competition and invasiveness by suppressing the growth of neighbouring plant species (a phenomenon known as allelopathy). 

Our primary interests are in understanding the function and synthesis of plant-derived natural products and the origins of metabolic diversity.  This research impacts on other fundamental aspects of biology such as chromosome structure and gene regulation, genome plasticity, diversification of function of enzymes and multi-component pathways and adaptive evolution.  

The Osbourn group works with crop and model plants, using a wide range of multidisciplinary approaches that include genetics, genomics, computational biology, cell biology, protein and small molecule biochemistry. 

Recent Publications

Chu H. Y., Wegel E., Osbourn A. (2011)
From hormones to secondary metabolism: the emergence of secondary metabolic gene clusters in plants
Plant Journal 66 (1) 66-79
DOI:10.1111/j.1365-313X.2011.04503.x
Field B., Fiston-Lavier A. S., Kemen A., Geisler K., Quesneville H., Osbourn A. (2011)
Formation of plant metabolic gene clusters within dynamic chromosomal regions
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 108 (38) 16116-16121
DOI:10.1073/pnas.1109273108
Inagaki Y. S., Etherington G., Geisler K., Field B., Dokarry M., Ikeda K., Mutsukado Y., Dicks J., Osbourn A. (2011)
Investigation of the potential for triterpene synthesis in rice through genome mining and metabolic engineering
New Phytologist 191 (2) 432-448
Osbourn A., Goss R. J. M., Field R. A. (2011)
The saponins – polar isoprenoids with important and diverse biological activities
Natural Product Reports 28 1261-1268
Patel S. M., Fuente M. D., Ke S., Guimarães A. M., Oliyide A. O., Ji X., Stapleton P., Osbourn A., Pan Y., Bowles D. J., Davis B. G., Schatzlein A., Yang M. (2011)
High throughput discovery of heteroaromatic-modifying enzymes allows enhancement of novobiocin selectivity.
Chemical Communications 47 (38) 10569-10571
DOI:10.1039/c1cc13552j
Cruz-Cruz C. A., Ramírez-Tec G., García-Sosa K., Escalante-Erosa F., Hill L., Osbourn A. E., Peña-Rodríguez L. M. (2010)
Phytoanticipins from banana (Musa acuminata cv. Grande Naine) plants, with antifungal activity against Mycosphaerella fijiensis, the causal agent of black Sigatoka
European Journal of Plant Pathology 126 459-463
DOI:10.1007/s10658-009-9561-9
Delis C., Krokida A., Georgiou S., Pena-rodriguez L. M., Kavroulakis N., Ioannou E., Roussis V., Osbourn A. E., Papadopoulou K. (2010)
Role of lupeol synthase in Lotus japonicus nodule formation
New Phytologist 189 (1) 335-346
DOI:10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03463.x
Field B., Osbourn A. (2010)
Operons
Nature Chemical Biology 6 (5) 359
Mugford S. T., Osbourn A. (2010)
Evolution of serine carboxypeptidase-like acyltransferases in the monocots.
Plant Signaling and Behavior 5 (2) 193-195
Osbourn A. (2010)
Gene clusters for secondary metabolic pathways: An emerging theme in plant biology
Plant Physiology 154 (2) 531-535
Osbourn A. (2010)
Secondary metabolic gene clusters: evolutionary toolkits for chemical innovation.
Trends in Genetics 26 (10) 449-457
DOI:10.1016/j.tig.2010.07.001
Qin B., Eagles J., Mellon F. A., Mylona P., Peña-Rodriguez L., Osbourn A. E. (2010)
High throughput screening of mutants of oat that are defective in triterpene synthesis.
Phytochemistry 71 (11-12) 1245-52
DOI:10.1016/j.phytochem.2010.05.016
Tucker S. L., Besi M., Galhano R., Franceschetti M., Goetz S., Lenhert S., Osbourn A., Sesma A. (2010)
Common genetic pathways regulate organ-specific infective behaviour in the rice blast fungus
Plant Cell 22 (3) 953-972