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Harnessing microbiology to tackle global challenges

Professional headshot photo of Prof Saskia Hogenhout

Prof Saskia Hogenhout

Group Leader

Research themes:
Plant-Microbe Interactions
Contact details:
saskia.hogenhout@jic.ac.uk
Part of

Biography

Saskia A. Hogenhout, a biochemist, investigates interactions among plants, insects, and microbes once deemed experimentally intractable. She pioneered research on how insect-transmitted bacterial parasites (phytoplasmas) modulate plant development, enhancing their attractiveness to insect carriers. By dissecting the role of secreted proteins (effectors), she established phytoplasma effector biology. Her work led to the discovery of a new targeted protein degradation pathway and inspired global research on insect-vectored pathogens.

In addition to her work on parasites, Saskia has pioneered innovative methodologies and provided genomic resources that streamlined research on plant interactions with insects, specifically vectors of plant pathogens. Using modern genomics techniques, she identified virulence proteins within insect saliva that alter plant defence responses and impact pathogen transmission efficiency.

Saskia is a Group Leader at the John Innes Centre and an EMBO member. She has been elected to serve on boards of several (inter)national scientific societies, including the British Society for Plant Pathology and International Society of Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions. She is also a member of the Royal Entomological Society, British Biochemical Society, and British Genetics Society.

Saskia obtained her MSc at de Vrije University, Amsterdam in 1994 and her PhD at Wageningen University and Research Centre in 1999. She was appointed as Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University, USA in 1999 and obtained tenure as Associate Professor in 2005. She moved her research group to the John Innes Centre, UK, in June 2007, and became Honorary Professor at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK, in 2013.