Two researchers from the Faculty of Science receive ENW-M grant

Martijn van Zanten and Christian Kaiser, both affiliated with the Faculty of Science at Utrecht University, have been awarded an ENW-M grant from NWO. M-grants are intended for innovative, high-quality, fundamental research and/or studies involving matters of scientific urgency.

dr. Martijn van Zanten (UU) & dr. Mark Sterken (WUR)

Deciphering plant temperature dose-responsiveness to develop climate warming-resilient crops

Crop performance declines due to global warming. In this project, we will elucidate and validate the molecular processes and plant traits that determine at which temperature a plant performs optimally. We will use snowdrops, plants that are particularly well adapted to extreme temperatures in their natural habitat, and variants of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana that are collected from the sub-tropics to the Arctic Circle. The results can be used to improve the yields of crops suffering from global warming and thereby help securing future crop yields.

We will use state-of-the-art techniques to analyse DNA and the unique capabilities of the Netherlands Plant Eco Phenotyping Center (NPEC) to map genes, molecular processes, and plant traits that together determine the temperature at which a plant performs optimally. With the knowledge gained we can develop crops that are more resilient to climate change by shifting the temperature optimum of the plants.

prof. Christian Kaiser (UU)

Unraveling tangles of neurodegeneration

Clumping together of biomolecules into aggregates is a hallmark of many neurodegenerative diseases. Why these aggregates kill brain cells remains unknown, but it is clear that these aggregates mainly contain two types of biomolecules: proteins and RNAs. Understanding how these molecules come together and what the properties of these aggregates are promises to open new avenues for developing treatments. Here, we will use so-called optical tweezers, a technique that uses laser beams to create mechanical forces, to understand how disease-causing RNAs form aggregates with themselves and with proteins. These studies may help to guide the development of drugs that combat neurodegenerative diseases.