Saskia Hogenhout (John Innes Centre) is the 2019 recipient of the British Society of Plant Pathology’s RKS Wood Prize. The prize is named and awarded in honor of Professor RKS Wood to acknowledge his role in driving the establishment of the discipline “Physiological Plant Pathology”. The prize celebrates excellent science in the study of plant disease biology and its application in the protection of plants against pathogens.
1. What area(s) of molecular plant-microbe interactions do you feel your research has impacted most?
Genomics and mechanistic molecular research on insect-microbe-plant systems traditionally viewed as non-tractable, notably leafhopper-transmitted phytoplasma bacteria and the notorious aphid insect pests. Also, demonstrating that bacterial effectors act beyond suppressing plant immunity by reprogramming plant development and enhancing susceptibility to insect vectors. And, contributing evidence that phytoplasma effector genes lie on mobile genetic elements, knowledge that has been used in comparative phylogenomics analyses to show that effector genes move horizontally across phytoplasma genomes.
2. What advice do you have for young scientists aspiring to achieve the level of science that has major impact?
Take leadership in pursuing your passion, be open to and creatively use opportunities that are presented to you, enjoy learning, seek advice from your colleagues, at all levels, without losing sight of your own goals, be grateful for all you achieved so far, and be patient.
3. When you were a postdoc, what had the largest influence on your decision to enter your specific research area in your permanent position? Was this a “hot topic” at the time, or did you choose to go in a different direction?
I always have been intrigued by how parasites communicate with their hosts. Upon my PhD graduation, I considered to do a postdoc on Plasmodium (Malaria) - mosquitoes interactions and I wrote a research proposal for this. But then I got an opportunity to start my own research program on molecular insect-plant interactions at The Ohio State University. When Prof Lowell (Skip) Nault told me about his research program on spiroplasmas and phytoplasmas, I was sold. The rest is history.
