Martijn van Zanten

Martijn van Zanten is an Associate Professor in the Institute of Environmental Biology at Utrecht University's Faculty of Science, where he leads the Plant Stress Resilience research group. He also serves as the Manager of the Bachelor program in Biology since 2020. His work focuses on understanding plant responses to temperature stress, with an emphasis on thermomorphogenesis and acclimatization mechanisms.

His research interests span plant abiotic stress, temperature signaling, epigenetics, molecular and quantitative genetics, and plant development. He investigates how plants adapt to non-optimal temperatures using model and crop species such as Arabidopsis thaliana, lettuce, and tomato. His lab employs molecular biology, comparative genomics, and bioinformatics to uncover the genetic and epigenetic networks that govern plant resilience under climate change conditions.

The recent publications reflect a strong focus on temperature signaling pathways, stomatal regulation under heat, epigenetic control via histone deacetylation (e.g., HDA9), and stress integration mechanisms. Key themes include thermomorphogenesis, PIF4 signaling, and the role of protein kinases and phosphatases in temperature responses. Many studies use innovative tools like thermal gradient tables and high-throughput phenotyping to dissect plant responses across temperature spectra.

Scientific Awards:

• No explicit awards mentioned in the provided texts.

Advising and Grants:
While specific student names are not listed, he leads a research group and supervises graduate students. He secured a prestigious NWO VENI grant (Grant no. 863.11.008) as a Principal Investigator (2012–2014). He has also held an EMBO Long-term Fellowship and declined a Rubicon fellowship in favor of it. His leadership in education includes managing the Biology Bachelor program and teaching courses such as Applied Plant Biology and Genes to Organisms.

Labs and Research Teams:
He leads the Plant Stress Resilience group at Utrecht University, collaborating with national and international researchers. The group investigates molecular mechanisms of plant acclimatization, with a focus on chromatin dynamics, signal transduction, and phenotypic plasticity under combined abiotic stresses.