Professor Mark Banfield
Group Leader Advancing Plant Health (APH) Programme Lead Advancing Plant Health (APH)
Mark’s research focuses on plant/microbe interactions at the molecular and cellular level.
The Mark Banfield lab explores the structure and function of intracellular disease resistance proteins (NLRs) – plant receptors which detect non-self molecules released by pathogens on infection.
They also investigate how host-translocated pathogen effector proteins function to promote disease. Understanding the genetic and structural changes involved in plant/microbe interactions informs novel approaches to the challenge of breeding disease resistance in crops such as potato and rice.
The Banfield Lab benefits from close links with colleagues at The Sainsbury Laboratory on the Norwich Research Park.
Selected Publications
-
Zdrzalek R, Xi Y, Langner T, Bentham AR, Petit-Houdenot Y, De la Concepcion JC, Harant A, Shimizu M, Were V, Talbot NJ, Terauchi R, Kamoun S, Banfield MJ (2024)Bioengineering a plant NLR immune receptor with a robust binding interface toward a conserved fungal pathogen effector.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of AmericaPublisher's version: 0027-8424
-
Maidment JHR, Shimizu M, Bentham AR, Vera S, Franceschetti M, Longya A, Stevenson CEM, De la, Bialas A, Kamoun S, Terauchi R, Banfield M (2023)Effector target-guided engineering of an integrated domain expands the disease resistance profile of a rice NLR immune receptor.eLifePublisher's version: 2050-084X
-
De la Concepcion JC, Fujisaki K, Bentham AR, Cruz Mireles, Sanchez de, Shimizu M, Lawson DM, Kamoun S, Terauchi R, Banfield MJ (2022)A blast fungus zinc-finger fold effector binds to a hydrophobic pocket in host Exo70 proteins to modulate immune recognition in rice.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of AmericaPublisher's version: 0027-8424