News from the John Innes Centre

Scientists from around the world will benefit from five days’ training at the John Innes Centre on bacteria that cause disease in economically important crops including maize, potato and apple. They will learn the complex techniques required to stitch together the genomes of phytoplasmas. Phytoplasmas are a class of bacteria able to modify their plant [...]

Dr Saskia Hogenhout has received an award for her outstanding research in the field of mycoplasmology. Saskia has been awarded the Derrick Edward Award for outstanding research by a young investigator by the International Organization for Mycoplasmology. Mycoplasmology is the study of a class of bacteria that are associated with a wide variety of diseases [...]

The John Innes Centre Receives Grand Challenges Explorations Grant For Groundbreaking Research in Global Health and Development Norwich, UK – The John Innes Centre (JIC) announced that it is a Grand Challenges Explorations winner, an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Dr Saskia Hogenhout, in collaboration with the Dr. Eduardo Bejarano from [...]

Some summers can be too hot to handle. In 2003, 35,000 people died in Europe as a result of a record heat wave. Too much sun, too much heat and not enough water makes us sick. The same goes for plants. Including ones that feed us and our livestock. Leaves grow more slowly, less water [...]

New and more virulent crop diseases are predicted to emerge as a result of climate change. Scientists from the John Innes Centre and The Sainsbury Laboratory on Norwich Research Park are at the front line of fundamental research to understand the impact of temperature on pathogens, plants and how they interact. They will mine genetic [...]

Pathogens can alter their hosts, for example malaria parasites can make humans more attractive to mosquitoes, but how they do it has remained a mystery. Scientists from the John Innes Centre on Norwich Research Park have identified for the first time a specific molecule from a parasite that manipulates plant development to the advantage of [...]

Aphids are some of the most destructive insect pests of crop plants, not only through the damage they cause from feeding but also through transmitting a variety of economically important diseases.  Part of what makes them so effective is the way they can control some of the activities of plants, suppressing their defences and so [...]

The John Innes Centre (JIC) in Norwich is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr. Saskia Hogenhout, an expert in insect-borne microorganisms that cause disease in plants.  These tiny parasitic bacteria, called phytoplasmas, live in the sap of plants and are spread by insects such as leafhoppers.  Phytoplasmas cause a wide variety of diseases in economically important [...]