Nominator's project description
| Professor van Wijk is internationally known for his outstanding work in proteomics in plants. Proteomics involves the use of cutting edge methods from chemistry and physics to study the abundance and characteristics of protein. His research is exemplified on the one hand by high technical proficiency and on the other hand by focused application to important biological questions related to photosynthesis. He is particularly renowned for his large scale systems comparative analysis of leaf development and cell-specific differentiation in leaves of species that perform photosynthesis solely via the Calvin-Benson cycle, and in species that additionally have a so-called C4 cycle. The C4 cycle is a cycle of carboxylation and decarboxylation of organic acids, linked to their movement between specialised cell types. It allows carbon dioxide to be concentrated inside the leaf, thus facilitating a higher rate of photosynthesis while decreasing the loss of water. His research provides important insights into how this is achieved, and provides one of the foundations for worldwide efforts to introduce this beneficial pathway into crop plants like rice and wheat.
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Publications (partial selection)
| 2017 | Kristina Majsec, Nazmul Bhuiyan, Qi Sun, Sunita Kumari, Vivek Kumar, Doreen Ware, Klaas J. van Wijk, K.J.: The Plastid and Mitochondrial Peptidase Network in Arabidopsis thaliana: A Foundation for Testing Genetic Interactions and Functions in Organellar Proteostasis. . In: The Plant Cell, 2017, 2687-2710 |
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| 2014 | Klaas J. van Wijk, Giulia Friso, Dirk Walther, Waltraud X. Schulze: Meta-analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana phospho-proteomics data reveals compartmentalization of phosphorylation motifs. . In: The Plant Cell, 2014, 2367-2389 |
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