Jessica Erickson

Dr. Jessica Erickson is a Junior Group Leader at the University of Tübingen’s Center for Integrative Biological Signaling Studies (ZMBP), within the Department of General Genetics. Her research focuses on bacterial pathogens’ manipulation of plant apoplast environments, particularly through secreted proteins like those from Xanthomonas. She leads the Bacterial Apoplast Modulators Lab, studying virulence mechanisms and plant immune responses.

Academically, she holds a Ph.D. from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and postdoctoral experience at the Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry. Her career includes independent project leadership funded by the DFG’s Walter Benjamin Program. Current projects leverage molecular biology, biochemistry, and computational approaches, using Arabidopsis and Nicotiana benthamiana as model systems.

Research interests include effector protein function, microtubule dynamics, and stromule formation in plant cells. Her lab collaborates broadly, with publications in PLOS Pathogens, Plant Cell Physiol, and Plant Physiology. Open positions exist for bachelor/master’s theses, emphasizing plant-bacteria interaction studies.

Key grants include DFG support for her independent research and infrastructure for multiplex gene editing. The lab’s future work aims to dissect how bacterial proteins reprogram plant apoplast environments to enable disease progression.