Recognizing Plant Physiology first authors: Elisabeth Grund

Elisabeth Grund, first author of Plant NLRs with integrated domains: Unity makes strength

Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher at the LIPM, INRA Occitanie-Toulouse, France

Education: PhD in Phytopathology (specialization: Fungal genetics) from Claude Bernard University Lyon 1, France; MSc in Applied and Molecular Botany, University of Hamburg, Germany; BSc in Biosciences / Life Sciences, University of Münster (WWU)

Non-scientific Interests: Travelling, listening to music, reading, swimming, windsurfing, skiing

Brief bio: My scientific interest in plant pathogens and their impact on plant fitness appeared early during my studies and I gained my first research experiences working on phytopathogenic fungi, viruses and viroids. I performed my doctoral studies in the Bayer Joint Laboratory (University of Lyon 1 – CNRS – BAYER S.A.S.) in Lyon, France under the supervision of Dr. Marc-Henri Lebrun.  During my doctoral studies, my research focused on the Mps1 MAP kinase pathway and its downstream targets in the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae. In 2016, I joined the group of Dr. Deslandes at the LIPM (INRA- Occitanie-Toulouse) as a postdoctoral researcher, where I investigate receptor signaling dynamics of RRS1-RPS4 NLR pair at the chromatin during effector-triggered immunity in A. thaliana. This work will help to elucidate which genes are involved in the immune response conferred by RRS1/RPS4 prior and after effector recognition.