Lab members
Leonie Luginbuehl
Group Leader
Leonie did her PhD at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, where she investigated the role of GRAS-domain transcription factors in reprogramming roots during the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis. Her work identified a lipid biosynthesis and export pathway that provides AM fungi with fixed carbon. As a Herchel Smith Fellow at the Department of Plant Sciences in Cambridge, she studied the cell type specific regulation of photosynthesis gene expression in leaves of C3 and C4 plants using single cell sequencing approaches. In September 2022, she started her own group as an Assistant Professor at the University of Cambridge.
Anusree Saha
Postdoctoral Researcher
Anusree got her PhD from University of Hyderabad in India, where she worked extensively to understand the role of ribosomal protein genes in abiotic and biotic stress tolerance in rice. She then worked in India as an Assistant Professor for three years before moving to the UK. In 2023, she joined Niab in Cambridge as a postdoctoral researcher focusing on understanding the role of strigolactones in wheat nitrogen responsiveness. Anusree is now a postdoc in the Luginbuehl lab, where she will be exploring the molecular mechanisms that allow plants to regulate carbon transfer to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. She will also test whether carbon allocation, and therefore the cost–benefit balance of the symbiosis, can be manipulated by genetic engineering of host plants.
Isobel Magrath
PhD student
Isobel did her undergrad degree at the University of Syndey and the Australian National University. She worked as a research assistant in Caitlin Byrt's lab at ANU for a few years, investigating the various functions of plant aquaporins, before coming to Cambridge for a PhD. In her PhD, Isobel studies how carbon is allocated to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi by the model legume, Medicago truncatula.
John Palmer
PhD student
In 2024, John completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Cambridge. Previously he completed a research project in Jake Harris’ group focusing on developing tools for epigenome engineering. In his PhD, John is investigating the roles of gene regulatory mechanisms and the chromatin environment during AM symbiosis. In his spare time John likes to paint and attempt to DJ (but not at the same time).
Brigid Wong
PhD student
Brigid completed her undergraduate degree at Imperial College London and her master’s degree at the University of Cambridge, before continuing to do a PhD. In her previous projects, she characterised chitin receptor expression in barley, and the diversity of endo/ectomycorrhizal fungi across habitats. In her PhD, she will study the effect of carbon availability on rice during AM symbiosis. She enjoys visiting exhibitions, galleries, and nature.
Amy Cotterell
MPhil student
Amy did her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at the University of Bristol, with a year in industry at GSK. At GSK, she worked on developing enzymatic pathways for the sustainable production of pharmaceuticals. While for her final year project at Bristol, she modelled the interactions and structure of kinesin-1 using AlphaFold. For her MPhil, Amy is looking at transcriptional regulation of lipid transport to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in rice. Outside of study she loves to spend time in nature, whether that’s up a tree, on a run, or admiring lichens with a hand lens.
Ruth Donald
Research Assistant
Ruth did her PhD at the University of Warwick where she studied protein targeting into the thylakoid lumen, being the first to identify that more than one pathway operates to target nuclear-encoded proteins to this destination (the Sec and Tat pathways). She has held post-doctoral positions at the University of Aukland and the University of Cambridge and has held a Royal Society University Research Fellowship. At Cambridge she studied protein-targeting and assembly into the Cytochrome bf complex and targeting of chloroplast-encoded proteins. She also worked in Plant Physiology using rice transformation to study how efficient C4 photosynthesis evolved from the ancestral C3 pathway. Ruth joined the lab as a Research Assistant in May 2025 to manage production of transgenic rice to study factors involved in nutrient exchange during symbiosis.
Nadine Anders
Roving Researcher
Nadine did her PhD at the Centre for Molecular Biology of Plants (ZMBP) in Tübingen, studying the role of the large ARF-GEF GNOM in endosomal trafficking of auxin-efflux carrier PIN1 in plant development. This was followed by postdoctoral research in the Department of Biochemistry in Cambridge identifying and characterising biosynthesis enzymes of the plant cell wall polysaccharide xylan and the molecular determinants of xylan interaction with cellulose and lignin. In 2025, she started as a Roving Researcher providing support to scientists on leave across the School of Biological Sciences.
Lee Cackett - Postdoctoral researcher
Alice Monksfield - Part II student
Stella Pozzi - Part II student
Leo Li - Master's student
Bertie Titley - Part II student