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. 

Current Vacancies

Post No.Job TitleClosing Date
1002441Postdoctoral Researcher20-May-2013

Recent Publications

Mugford S. T., Louveau T., Melton R., Qi X., Bakht S., Hill L., Tsurushima T., Honkanen S., Rosser S. J., Lomonossoff G. P., Osbourn A. (2013)
Modularity of Plant Metabolic Gene Clusters: A Trio of Linked Genes That Are Collectively Required for Acylation of Triterpenes in Oat.
Plant Cell
DOI:10.1105/tpc.113.110551
Owatworakit A., Townsend B., Louveau T., Jenner H., Rejzek M., Hughes R. K., Saalbach G., Qi X., Bakht S., Roy A. D., Mugford S. T., Goss R. J., Field R. A., Osbourn A. (2013)
Glycosyltransferases from oat (Avena) implicated in the acylation of avenacins.
Journal of Biological Chemistry 288 (6) 3696-704
DOI:10.1074/jbc.M112.426155
Field B., Osbourn A. (2012)
Order in the playground: Formation of plant gene clusters in dynamic chromosomal regions.
Mobile Genetics Elements 2 (1) 46-50
DOI:10.4161/mge.19348
Kliebenstein K., Osbourn A. (2012)
Making new molecules - evolution of pathways for novel metabolites in plants
Current Opinions in Plant Biology 15 (4) 415-423
Osbourn A. E., O'Maille P. E., Rosser S. J., Lindsey K. (2012)
Synthetic biology. 4th New Phytologist Workshop, Bristol, UK, June 2012.
New Phytologist 196 (3) 671-7
DOI:10.1111/j.1469-8137.2012.04374.x
Osbourn A., O'Maille P., Rosser S., Lindsey K. (2012)
Synthetic Biology: 4th New Phytologist Workshop, Bristol, UK June 2012
New Phytologist 196 671-677
DOI:10.1111/j.1469-8137.2012.04374.x
Osbourn A., Papadopoulou K., Field B., Qi Y., Wegel E. (2012)
Finding and analysing plant metabolic gene clusters
Methods in Enzymology:Natural Product Biosynthesis by Microorganisms and Plants, Part C
Elsevier
517 (6) 113-138
DOI:10.1016/B978-0-12-404634-4.00006-1
Sainsbury F., Saxena P., Geisler K., Osbourn A., Lomonossoff G. (2012)
Using a virus-derived system to manipulate plant natural product biosynthetic pathways
Methods in Enzymology: Natural Product Biosynthesis by Microorganisms and Plants, Part C
Elsevier
Vol. 517 (9) 185-202
DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-404634-4.00009
Xue Z., Duan L., Liu D., Guo J., Ge S., Dicks J., O'Maille P., Osbourn A., Qi X. (2012)
Divergent evolution of oxidosqualene cyclases in plants
New Phytologist 193 (4) 1022-1038
DOI:10.1111/j.1469-8137.2011.03997.x
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
Field B., Fiston-Lavier A. S., Kemen A., Geisler K., Quesneville H., Osbourn A. E. (2011)
Formation of plant metabolic gene clusters within dynamic chromosomal regions.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 108 (38) 16116-21
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