People

Gero Steinberg
(Professor of Cell Biology, Director of the Bioimaging Centre)

Initially I studied freshwater ecology, classical botany and zoology and marine chemistry in Kiel. Consequently, my first paper was on deep see flagellates (work done during a short stay in 1989 with Prof. David Patterson, Bristol, UK). However, at the end of my studies I became interested in the complexity of the cell and did an ultra-structural study on cell-cell contacts in plants (with Prof. R. Kollmann, Kiel, Germany). From there I moved to the lab of Prof. Manfred Schliwa (Munich, Germany), where I did my PhD on fungi, molecular motors and the cytoskeleton (1991-1995). This step was significant, and after a Post-Doc in the lab of Prof. J. Richard McIntosh (Boulder, USA, 1995-1996), I combined all interests when moving to the institute of Prof. Regine Kahmann (Munich, Germany, 1997-2000) where I did my Habilitation in Genetics and Cell Biology (2001). From 2000 to 2007 I worked at the Max-Planck Institute for terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg (Germany), now focussing on motors and the cytoskeleton in a fungus that infects plants. Since 2007 I am Professor of Cell Biology in Exeter and director of the Bioimaging Center in the School of Biosciences. Nowadays, I am most interested in answering basic cell biological questions by making use of the technical advantages of our fungal model organism.

G.Steinberg@exeter.ac.uk
0044-1392-263476

Steffi Treitschke (PhD student)

After a 3 month Internship in the biotechnology company 'Diazyme Laboratories Division, General Atomics', San Diego (USA) I started my studies in Biology in Kaiserslautern (Germany). During that time I became interested in the mechanisms by which a fungus infects plants and causes plant diseases. Consequently, I did my Diploma (=Master) thesis in the group of Prof. Matthias Hahn (Kaiserslautern, Germany) in the department of phytopathology, working on the establishment of RNAi-mediated gene silencing in the grey mold fungus Botrytis cinerea.

In September 2006 I joined the lab of Prof. Gero Steinberg, and since then I am investigating the molecular basis of intracellular transport and its role in pathogenicity in the corn smut fungus Ustilago maydis. The combination of Cell Biology and Phytopathology approaches is very interesting for me. I find it most fascinating that modern light microscopy, in combination with molecular genetics, allows the observation of transport processes in living cells. At the moment, I am working at the Max-Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg (Germany) as well as in Exeter (UK).

treitsch@mpi-marburg.mpg.de
0049-6421-178533

Martin Schuster (PhD student)

I studied biology at the University of Marburg (Germany). In the beginning I was interested in microbiology, biochemistry and parasitology. During my diploma thesis I focused on the nicotinate catabolism in proteobacteria (Dr. A.J. Pierik, Marburg, Germany). After that I moved to Prof. K. Forchhammer (Giessen, Germany) group to work on the Global Carbon/Nitrogen regulation and signal transduction system in cyanobacteria. At the end of 2006 I started my PhD in the Lab of Prof. G. Steinberg (Marburg, Germany). Today my research interest is focused on molecular motors in the fungus Ustilago maydis.

ms351@exeter.ac.uk
0044-1392-269178

Samantha Mitchell (technician)

After studying Biomedical Sciences at Sheffield Hallam University for 3 years I took a position as Laboratory Technician at Hessle High School (Hull, UK) and worked there for 8 years. After a move to the South West I took the job of Technician here at Exeter University where I deal with the day-to-day running of the lab.

I am also currently investigating the function and localization of an unknown Ustilago protein with very high homology to a human protein with a potential role in disease.

Samantha.Mitchell@exeter.ac.uk
0044-1392-269178

Dr Magdalena Martin-Urdiroz (Post-Doc)

I studied Biology at the University of Cordoba (Spain) where I started my PhD in 2002 in the group of Prof. M. Isabel G. Roncero. My PhD was focused on chitin synthases and their role in the pathogenic process of the vascular wilt fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici. In August 2008, I started as a postdoctoral researcher in the group of Prof. Gero Steinberg at the University of Exeter (United Kingdom) where I am working on membrane trafficking and its relation with pathogenicity in the corn smut fungus Ustilago maydis. This project allows me the integration of the topics I find more interesting: fungal cell biology, pathogenicity and microscopy.

Dr Jerome Collemare (Post-Doc)

During my education, I first studied the molecular determinants of pathogenicity of the wheat leaf blotch fungus Mycosphaerella graminicola, setting up a transposon-mediated random mutagenesis tool (Dr. Langin's group and Dr. Dufresne, University of Paris Sud, Orsay, France). I then moved to the laboratory of Dr. Marc-Henri Lebrun (UMR5240 CNRS/UCB/INSA/BAYER CropScience, Lyon, France) for my PhD and first post-doc. During that period, my research was focused on understanding the role of secondary metabolites in the pathogenicity of the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea.

Since August 2008, I work in the laboratory of Prof. Gero Steinberg on the early endosomes long-distance motility in the corn smut fungus Ustilago maydis. This research project is very exciting because it should increase our knowledge about the functioning of eukaryotic cells like neurons. This work relies on fluorescence microscopy, which is a very nice tool for such science and is in great accordance with my short-film making hobby.

Yvonne Roger (PhD)

In November 2003, I began my studies of biology at the University of Marburg (Germany). The main subjects of my studies were Developmental Biology, Cell Biology and Genetics. I did my diploma thesis in the group of Professor Renate Renkawitz-Pohl (Marburg, Germany) in the department of Developmental Biology. In this thesis I focused on the development of muscles from Drosophila melanogaster. In February 2009, I started my PhD in the group of Professor Gero Steinberg at the University of Exeter (United Kingdom) where I focus on the long-distance transport in the fungus Ustilago maydis.

yr210@exeter.ac.uk
0044-1392-269178

Anna Lewandowska (PhD student)

My interest in biology started when I was 12 and biology became my favourite subject at school. Back then I took part in many contests that required  biology knowledge and  I wanted to be a cardiovascular surgeon.  However  when  I was in my final year of high school my priorities changed. I became very interested in molecular biology and genetics, so I decided to study biology at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland. During a 5-year-course (2003-2008) I focused on plant cell biology, especially on the transcription levels of  Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco nuclei. I really enjoyed working in a lab on a project, so I decided that it should be my future. I moved to Exeter and in October 2008 I joined Professor Gero Steinberg's lab to do a PhD.

I also have to say that I'm a very big fan of jazz, rock, and rock 'n' roll music, which is something I can't live without. I'm especially grateful to my parents for introducing me to Pink Floyd and The Police. I also love U2. Apart from that I'm really enjoying my stay in England and travelling around the South West.

al312@exeter.ac.uk
0044-1392-269178

Ewa Bielska (PhD)

I studied Biotechnology at University of Wroclaw in Poland. My master thesis "Interactions of spectrin with phospholipids" was based on protein-lipids interactions and gave one of the first insights into interactions of spectrin with membrane lipid rafts. Then I moved into industry and worked as a Research Scientist in Molecular Biology and Protein Technology teams in a drug discovery company Scottish Biomedical in Glasgow. I was involved in many biochemical projects using bacterial systems. During that time my passion for the science increased even more and decided to move back to academy. In February 2009 I joined the lab of Prof. Gero Steinberg, and since then I am investigating the Kinesin-3 motor protein in Ustilago maydis.

eb309@exeter.ac.uk
0044-1392-269178

Dr. Nina Lehr (PostDoc)

I studied biology at the University of Kaiserslautern, Germany, focussing on secondary metabolites from fungi (2000-2005). For my PhD I then moved to the University of Tuebingen where I joined the graduate college "Graduate College 685 infection biology: human- and plant pathogenic bacteria and fungi". There I worked on plant-microbe interactions under the supervision of Prof. R. Hampp and Dr. Mika Tarkka (2005-2008), investigating the interactions between Norway spruce, the phytopathogen Heterobasidion ssp. and soil bacteria. After a 2 months visit of the lab of Prof. Fred Asiegu at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) (Uppsala, Sweden) in 2006 I joined his lab in Helsinki, Finland in 2009 as a postdoctoral researcher in order to continue working on the Heterobasidion pathosystem. During that time I spent 2 months in the lab of Prof. Foster, Bristol, UK, where I acquired knowledge in fungal transformations.

Recently I joined Prof. Steinberg’s lab at the University of Exeter, UK, where I am working on endocytosis in Ustilago maydis. The combination of molecular biology and cell biology together with techniques such as microscopy is very exciting for me.

n.lehr@exeter.ac.uk
0044-1392-269178

Dr Sreedhar Kilaru (Post-Doc)

After completion of Bachelor's degree (1996-1999) in Microbiology and Biochemistry at Nagarjuna University, India, I studied Masters degree (1999-2001) in Biotechnology at Bharathidasan University, India. Since then I am interested in exploitation of fungal species for biotechnological applications. Accordingly I moved to the lab of Prof. Ursula Kuees at Georg-August University of Goettingen, Germany, where I did my PhD (2002-2005) on fungal Biotechnology, i.e., overexpression of Coprinopsis cinerea laccases for biotechnological applications. From 2005 to 2009, I worked as post-doctoral research associate in the lab of Prof. Gary Foster and Dr. Andy Bailey at University of Bristol, where I established the molecular tools for an uncharacterized basidiomycete species which produce a pharmaceutically important secondary metabolite. Since February 2009, I am working in the lab of Prof. Gero Steinberg and focusing on the regulation of long distance dynein motility in the model basidiomycete fungus Ustilago maydis. As the mutations in dynein regulators leads to motor neuron diseases, the outcome of this project provides a better understanding about these diseases.

S.Kilaru@exeter.ac.uk
0044-1392-269178