Departmental homepageProfessor Paszkowski received her master's degree in Plant Molecular Biology from the University of Cologne and then conducted a PhD in Plant Biotechnology at the ETH Zurich. After two postdoctoral positions, one of which was in industry, she started her own group at the University of Lausanne before moving to the University of Cambridge in 2012 where she leads the Cereal Symbiosis Group.
Professor Paszkowski is a Director of Studies for Plant Sciences in college. At University she teaches in Part IA Physiology of Organisms, Part IB Plant and Microbial Sciences and is also course organiser and lecturer on the Part II module on Microbes: Genomes, Evolution and Lifestyles.
The research interest of the Cereal Symbiosis Group focuses on the molecular mechanisms underpinning the interaction between cereal crops and beneficial soil-borne fungi. Besides being fascinated by the highly dynamic and extraordinary intimacy of this inter-organismic association, a huge motivation is also to explore the potential of the symbiotic interaction as fertiliser replacement for sustainable agriculture.
Gutjahr C*, Gobbato E*, Choi J, Riemann M, Johnston M, Summers W, Carbonnel S, Mansfield C, Yang SY, Nadal M, Acosta I, Takano M, Jiao WB, Schneeberger K, Kelly K and Paszkowski U (2015) “Rice perception of symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi requires the karrikin receptor complex.” Science 350(6267):1521
Sawers RJH, Ramírez-Flores MR, Olalde-Portugal V and Paszkowski U (2018) "The impact of domestication and crop improvement on arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis in cereals: insights from genetics and genomics." New Phytol 220(4):1135
Chiu CH, Roszak P, Orvosova M and Paszkowski U (2022) Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi induce lateral root development in angiosperms via a conserved set of MAM Preceptors. Curr Biol 32(20):4428
Sgroi M, Hoey D, Medina Jimenez K, Bowden SL, Hope M, Wallington EJ, Schornack S, Bravo A, Paszkowski U (2024) The receptor-like kinase ARK controls symbiotic balance across land plants. Proc Natl Acad Sci 121(30): e2318982121
