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.
Professional position
- Group Leader, John Innes Centre
Subject groups
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Earth and Environmental Sciences
Agricultural and forest science
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Molecules of Life
Biochemistry and molecular biology, Biophysics and structural biology, Cell biology (incl molecular cell biology), Molecular microbiology
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Cell Biology
Developmental biology, General microbiology (incl bacteriology and virology), Genetics (excluding population genetics)
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Multicellular Organisms
Development and control of behaviour
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Patterns in Populations
Ecology (incl behavioural ecology), Evolution, Organismal animal biology including invertebrate and vertebrate zoology
