08/12/2026
Congratulations to Plant Sciences student and PST Ambassador Jacob Hicks! Jacob is pursuing the Breeding, Biology, Biotechnology emphasis within Plant Sciences.
Two unique programs allowed Jacob Hicks to jumpstart his research journey when he arrived on the University of Missouri campus two years ago: the Brazeal Scholarship and the FRIPS Program. This summer, another program allowed Hicks to build on the important work he began as a freshman.
Through the Cherng Summer Scholars program, Hicks, a junior plant sciences major, has spent the summer researching plants in the nightshade family, which includes tomatoes, potatoes and peppers. These plants contain genes involved in producing compounds called acylsugars. Those sugars help defend the plants against various threats, like insects, viruses, fungi and even some environmental stresses. While the compounds share a basic structure, small variations can give them different functions.
Hicks worked to identify the coding sequence for that first gene, ASAT1, which provides instructions for an enzyme that helps build acylsugars. He conducted his research through the laboratory of Craig Schenck, an assistant professor of biochemistry.
“Many of the plants in this family are major agricultural crops,” Hicks said. “It would be very advantageous if we could figure out ways to better defend them in agricultural settings. Our work aims to understand the basic science of how the acylsugars are produced because of the real-world implications.”
Learn more about his work: https://honors.missouri.edu/news/2026/08/digging-into-the-defenses-of-plants/
Mizzou College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources
Mizzou Plant Science & Technology
