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Curriculum Vitae
Name:
Date of Birth:
Nationality:
Marital status:
Gerardus (Gerrit) Theodorus Simon Beemster
21/04/63
Dutch
Married, 2 children
Current address (work):
Department of Plant Systems Biology, VIB/University of Ghent,
Technologiepark 927, B- 9052, Gent, Belgium.
Degrees:
1/9/96:
Ph.D. Plant Sciences, Australian National University.
25/8/91: B.Sc. Horticulture, Wageningen Agricultural University, The Netherlands.
Research Interests:
The focus of my research is on the role of cell division in plant growth regulation. While
rapid progress is made at identifying the genes and associated proteins that regulate the plant
cell cycle, much less is clear about how this regulatory mechanism functions in the context of
intact multicellular organisms. One of the bottlenecks has been the absence of appropriate
methods to investigate the relationship between cell division and (organ) growth with at
sufficient spatial and temporal resolution. Based on existing kinematic theory, I developed
such methods for leaves and primary root tips of the model plant Arabidopsis. We now use
transcription and metabolomic profiling techniques to analyze the molecular changes
associated with the transitions between proliferating, expanding and mature stages of the
leaves. This information is used for building regulatory networks, centered around auxin
signaling to cell cycle regulation for dynamic simulation of the growth process. Most
recently, we are setting up a platform to transfer our expertise and knowledge of growth
regulation to crop species. For this we are focusing on rice and corn and on the effect of
adverse environmental conditions drought and cold on leaf growth.
Academic Career:
1/01/2003 - :
Group leader Leaf Development and Growth control, Laboratory of
Plant Genetics, University of Gent, Belgium
1/06/98 – 31/12/2002: Post-doctoral fellow with Prof D. Inzé, Laboratory of Plant Genetics,
University of Gent, Belgium: Molecular and kinematic investigations
into the role of the cell cycle in the regulation of whole organ growth
rates in Arabidopsis thaliana.
1/12/97 – 31/5/98:
Visiting Fellow with Dr J Masle, Environmental Biology Group,
RSBS, Australian National University, Canberra Australia: The
cellular basis of the growth response of Arabidopsis thaliana roots
encountering increased mechanical resistance to penetration.
1/9/97 – 30/11/97:
Visiting Fellow with Prof H Lambers, Department of Plant Ecology
and Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, University of Utrecht,
The Netherlands: The role of cell division and cell expansion in
determining differences in relative growth rates between fast and slow
growing species.
1/9/95 – 31/8/97:
Post-doctoral Fellow with Dr TI Baskin, Department of Biological
Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, USA: Kinematic
investigations into the role of cell division and cell expansion in the
regulation of elongation rates of Arabidopsis thaliana seedling root
growth.
2/1/92 - 31/8/95:
Ph.D. scholar with Dr J Masle, Dr RE Williamson and Prof GD
Farquhar, Environmental Biology and Plant Cell biology groups,
RSBS, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia: Effects of
soil resistance to root penetration on leaf expansion in wheat.
1/9/91 – 31/12/91:
Demonstrator for the introductory course “Programming in Pascal”,
Department of Informatics, Wageningen Agricultural University, The
Netherlands.
1/9/85 - 31/8/91:
B.Sc. in Horticulture, Wageningen Agricultural University, The
Netherlands. Majors (each including a 4 – 8 month research project) in
Horticulture, Plant Physiology, Virology and Informatics and a 9
month practical period “Tropical Entomology” conducted in Brazil.
Awards and distinctions:
1/6/98: European Committee: TMR (Training and Mobility of Researchers) Post-doctoral
Fellowship (2 years).
1/9/95: Post-doctoral Fellowship from the Molecular Biology Program at the University of
Missouri, Columbia (2 years).
2/1/92: Overseas Post-graduate Research Scholarship from the Australian Government.
2/1/91: STIR travel-grant for a 6-month undergraduate research in the R.S.B.S. at the
A.N.U.
31/8/86: Honorary distinction “Cum Laude” for the Propeadeutic Exam at the Wageningen
Agricultural University.
Publications:
1. Fleury, D., Himanen, K., Cnops, G., Nelissen, H., Boccardi, T.M., Maere, S.,
Beemster, G.T.S., Neyt, P., Anami, S., Robles, P., Micol, J.L., Inze, D., and
Van Lijsebettens, M. (2007). The Arabidopsis thaliana homolog of yeast
BRE1 has a function in cell cycle regulation during early leaf and root growth.
Plant Cell 19, 417-432.
2. Rymen, B., Fiorani, F., Kartal, F., Vandepoele, K., Inze, D., and Beemster,
G.T.S. (2007). Cold nights impair leaf growth and cell cycle progression in
maize through transcriptional changes of cell cycle genes. Plant Physiol 143,
1429-1438.
3. Barroco, R.M., Peres, A., Droual, A.M., De Veylder, L., Nguyen le, S.L., De
Wolf, J., Mironov, V., Peerbolte, R., Beemster, G.T.S., Inze, D., Broekaert,
W.F., and Frankard, V. (2006). The cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor
Orysa;KRP1 plays an important role in seed development of rice. Plant
Physiol 142, 1053-1064.
4. Beemster, G.T.S., Vercruysse, S., De Veylder, L., Kuiper, M., and Inze, D.
(2006). The Arabidopsis leaf as a model system for investigating the role of
cell cycle regulation in organ growth. J Plant Res 119, 43-50.
5. Fiorani, F., and Beemster, G.T.S. (2006). Quantitative analyses of cell division in
plants. Plant Mol Biol 60, 963-979.
6. Eloy, N.B., Coppens, F., Beemster, G.T.S., Hemerly, A.S., and Ferreira, P.C.
(2006). The Arabidopsis anaphase promoting complex (APC): regulation
through subunit availability in plant tissues. Cell Cycle 5, 1957-1965.
7.Tsukaya, H., and Beemster, G.T.S. (2006). Genetics, cell cycle and cell
expansion in organogenesis in plants. J Plant Res 119, 1-4.
8. Beemster, G.T.S., De Veylder, L., Vercruysse, S., West, G., Rombaut, D., Van
Hummelen, P., Galichet, A., Gruissem, W., Inze, D., and Vuylsteke, M.
(2005). Genome-wide analysis of gene expression profiles associated with
cell cycle transitions in growing organs of Arabidopsis. Plant Physiol 138, 734743.
9. Beemster, G.T.S., Mironov, V., and Inze, D. (2005). Tuning the cell-cycle engine
for improved plant performance. Curr Opin Biotechnol 16, 142-146.
10. Swarup, R., Kramer, E.M., Perry, P., Knox, K., Leyser, H.M., Haseloff, J.,
Beemster, G.T.S., Bhalerao, R., and Bennett, M.J. (2005). Root
gravitropism requires lateral root cap and epidermal cells for transport and
response to a mobile auxin signal. Nat Cell Biol 7, 1057-1065.
11. Vandepoele, K., Vlieghe, K., Florquin, K., Hennig, L., Beemster, G.T.S.,
Gruissem, W., Van de Peer, Y., Inze, D., and De Veylder, L. (2005).
Genome-wide identification of potential plant E2F target genes. Plant Physiol
139, 316-328.
12. Vanneste, S., De Rybel, B., Beemster, G.T.S., Ljung, K., De Smet, I., Van
Isterdael, G., Naudts, M., Iida, R., Gruissem, W., Tasaka, M., Inze, D.,
Fukaki, H., and Beeckman, T. (2005). Cell cycle progression in the pericycle
is not sufficient for SOLITARY ROOT/IAA14-mediated lateral root initiation in
Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Cell 17, 3035-3050.
13. Vlieghe, K., Boudolf, V., Beemster, G.T.S., Maes, S., Magyar, Z.,
Atanassova, A., de Almeida Engler, J., De Groodt, R., Inze, D., and De
Veylder, L. (2005). The DP-E2F-like gene DEL1 controls the endocycle in
Arabidopsis thaliana. Curr Biol 15, 59-63.
14. Baskin, T.I., Beemster, G.T.S., Judy-March, J.E., and Marga, F. (2004).
Disorganization of cortical microtubules stimulates tangential expansion and
reduces the uniformity of cellulose microfibril alignment among cells in the
root of Arabidopsis. Plant Physiol 135, 2279-2290.
15. Boudolf, V., Vlieghe, K., Beemster, G.T.S., Magyar, Z., Torres Acosta, J.A.,
Maes, S., Van Der Schueren, E., Inze, D., and De Veylder, L. (2004). The
plant-specific cyclin-dependent kinase CDKB1;1 and transcription factor
E2Fa-DPa control the balance of mitotically dividing and endoreduplicating
cells in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell 16, 2683-2692.
16. West, G., Inze, D., and Beemster, G.T.S. (2004). Cell cycle modulation in the
response of the primary root of Arabidopsis to salt stress. Plant Physiol 135,
1050-1058.
17. Beemster, G.T.S., Fiorani, F., and Inze, D. (2003). Cell cycle: the key to plant
growth control? Trends Plant Sci 8, 154-158.
18. Saibo, N.J., Vriezen, W.H., Beemster, G.T.S., and Van Der Straeten, D.
(2003). Growth and stomata development of Arabidopsis hypocotyls are
controlled by gibberellins and modulated by ethylene and auxins. Plant J 33,
989-1000.
19. Autran, D., Jonak, C., Belcram, K., Beemster, G.T.S., Kronenberger, J.,
Grandjean, O., Inze, D., and Traas, J. (2002). Cell numbers and leaf
development in Arabidopsis: a functional analysis of the STRUWWELPETER
gene. Embo J 21, 6036-6049.
20. Beemster, G.T.S., De Vusser, K., De Tavernier, E., De Bock, K., and Inze, D.
(2002). Variation in growth rate between Arabidopsis ecotypes is correlated
with cell division and A-type cyclin-dependent kinase activity. Plant Physiol
129, 854-864.
21. De Veylder, L., Beeckman, T., Beemster, G.T.S., de Almeida Engler, J.,
Ormenese, S., Maes, S., Naudts, M., Van Der Schueren, E., Jacqmard, A.,
Engler, G., and Inze, D. (2002). Control of proliferation, endoreduplication
and differentiation by the Arabidopsis E2Fa-DPa transcription factor. Embo J
21, 1360-1368.
22. De Veylder, L., Beeckman, T., Beemster, G.T.S., Krols, L., Terras, F.,
Landrieu, I., van der Schueren, E., Maes, S., Naudts, M., and Inze, D.
(2001). Functional analysis of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors of
Arabidopsis. Plant Cell 13, 1653-1668.
23. De Veylder, L., Beemster, G.T.S., Beeckman, T., and Inze, D. (2001). CKS1At
overexpression in Arabidopsis thaliana inhibits growth by reducing meristem
size and inhibiting cell-cycle progression. Plant J 25, 617-626.
24. Beemster, G.T.S., and Baskin, T.I. (2000). Stunted plant 1 mediates effects of
cytokinin, but not of auxin, on cell division and expansion in the root of
Arabidopsis. Plant Physiol 124, 1718-1727.
25. Fiorani, F., Beemster, G.T.S, Bultynck, L., and Lambers, H. (2000). Can
meristematic activity determine variation in leaf size and elongation rate
among four Poa species? A kinematic study. Plant Physiol 124, 845-856.
26. Baskin, T.I., Beemster, G.T.S. (1998) On the "post-mitotic isodiametric growth
zone" in roots. In HE Flores, J Lynch, D Eissenstat, eds, Radical Biology,
Advances and Perspectives on the Function of Plant Roots. ASPP press,
Rockville MD, pp 23-33.
27. Beemster, G.T.S., and Baskin, T.I. (1998). Analysis of cell division and
elongation underlying the developmental acceleration of root growth in
Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Physiol 116, 1515-1526.
28. Beemster, G.T.S., Masle, J. (1996) Effects of soil resistance to root penetration
on leaf expansion in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.): Composition, number and
size of epidermal cells in mature blades. Journal of Experimental Botany 47:
1651-1662.
29. Beemster, G.T.S., Masle, J. (1996) The role of apical growth around the time of
leaf initiation in determining leaf width at maturity in wheat seedlings (Triticum
aestivum.L.) with impeded roots. Journal of Experimental Botany 47: 16791688.
30. Beemster, G.T.S., Masle, J., Williamson, R.E., Farquhar, G.D. (1996) Effects
of soil resistance to root penetration on leaf expansion in wheat (Triticum
aestivum L.): Kinematic analysis of leaf elongation. Journal of Experimental
Botany 47: 1663-1678.
Patent:
Method for enhancing and/or improving plant growth and yield or modifying plant
architecture (PCT/EP00/02441[WO00/56905]).
Preparation date C.V.: 6/11/2007