Sarah Thorne

What is your research background and your current research interests?

My research focuses on the role of silicon in plants. Silicon is not regarded as an essential element for most plant species, but it can be very beneficial with improving their tolerance to a range of abiotic and biotic stresses. My PhD focused on natural genotypic variation in silicon accumulation in wheat landraces, aiming to determine whether increased silicon uptake is associated with enhanced drought tolerance. My current post-doc work investigates whether silicon fertilisation can be used to improve plant resistance to pathogens.

Are there any particular projects that you are particularly proud of or excited about? 

This seems to happen a lot, but at the very end of my PhD, we obtained some particularly interesting results showing that plants can direct silicon accumulation to leaves that have been damaged (simulating herbivory). I was lucky to be able to carry on the project for the first part of my post doc. 

More recently, we published a meta-analysis quantifying the effect of silicon fertilisation on pathogen resistance.

I am currently involved in an exciting collaborative project, broadly linked to my PhD work on variation in silicon accumulation that I'm really excited about, but I can't share the details just yet! 

What do you think are the most high-potential or important future directions for the type of research that you do?

There's been a lot of research published showing a correlation between silicon fertilisation and improved stress tolerance in plants, however, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Advancing the field will require a stronger focus on understanding the underlying mechanisms - only then will we be able to reliably and optimally apply silicon fertilisers in a way that's good for both the plant and farmers.

What are your links to the Institute for Sustainable Food?

Silicon fertilisers are often proposed as a more environmentally benign method of enhancing crop stress tolerance. Depending on the exact source of silicon, they could be a good alternative to conventional inputs such as chemical pesticides in agriculture. As we look to safeguard future food security, crops will need to withstand increasingly stressful and unpredictable conditions, and silicon fertilisation might be one strategy to help with that.

Can you tell us a fun fact about you?

I'm a really keen runner, mostly fell running. No matter the weather, most weekends I can be found running in the Peak District, the muddier the better!