Ian T. Baldwin How Do Plant Genomes Develop Different Phenotypes Depending on Their Environment?
Ian T. Baldwin is Founding Director of the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, as well as Adjunct Professor at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena and the Brigham Young University (Provo, USA). His research focuses on the traits that enable plants to survive in the real world. In 2002, Baldwin founded the International Max Planck Research School (Jena). He also supports open access publishing as one of the senior editors of the open access journal eLife. The Thomson Reuters Web of Science ranked Ian Baldwin as one of “The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds” in 2015 and he was a highly cited researcher on thomsonreuters.com in 2016.
Area of Research
Molecular Ecology
since 2000
Adjunct Professor
Brigham Young University
since 1999
Adjunct Professor
Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena)
since 1996
2005-2009
Affiliated Professor
Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University of Denmark
2003-2009
Adjunct Scientist
Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research
2002-2009
Adjunct Professor
Cornell University
Section of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
2002-2008
Co-Founder and Director
Virtual Institute for Biotic Interactions
2002-2007
Founder and Director
International Max Planck Research School, Jena
2002-2005
1996-1998
Professor
State University of New York at Buffalo
Department of Biology
1994-1996
Associate Professor
State University of New York at Buffalo
Department of Biology
1989-1994
Assistant Professor
State University of New York at Buffalo
Department of Biology
1989
PhD in Chemical Ecology
Cornell University
Section of Neurobiology and Behavior
1981
Bachelor in Biology
Dartmouth College
- American Association for the Advancement of Science (2016)
- European Molecular Biology Organization EMBO (2014)
- National Academy of Science (USA) (2013)
- Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften Leopoldina (2013)
- Berlin Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften (2001)
- Wissenschaftskolleg Berlin (2000)
Prizes
- Jean-Marie Delwart Award (2014)
- European Research Council (ERC) Senior Researcher Award (2012-2017)
- International Society for Chemical Ecology, Silverstein-Simeone Award (1998)
- Florence Fletcher Botany Prize, Dartmouth College (1980)
Fellowships
- A.D. White Graduate Fellowship, Cornell University (1985-1988)
- National Science Foundation, Predoctoral Fellowship (1985-1988)
- MPG – Establishment of an International Max Planck Research School in Jena, "The Exploration of Ecological Interactions with Molecular and Chemical Techniques"
- MPG – Establishment of a Proteomics Facility in Jena
- MPG – Upgrade of the NMR Facility in Jena
- DFG – FOR 456 – The Role of Biodiversity for Element Cycling and Trophic Interactions: An Experimental Approach in a Grassland Community
- DFG – SPP1152 – Evolution of Metabolic Diversity. The Evolution of Herbivore-Regulated Secondary Metabolism During Polyploid Speciation in Native Nicotiana
- DFG – Graduiertenkollegs: Funktions- und Regenerationsanalyse belasteter Ökosysteme
- EU – Marie Curie Research Training Network - EU Framework 6, Biotic Interactions in the Rhizosphere as Structuring Forces for Plant Communities (BIORHIZ)
- Helmholtz Society – Establishment of a Virtual Institute of Biotic Interactions
- NATO – Using Combinatorial Peptide Libraries to Find Systemin-Like Signals in Nicotiana
- MPG – Partnergroup India, Max Planck Partner Groups at Indian Partner Institutions, Developing a Pest Protection Strategy for Chickpea Based on Proteinase Inhibitor Defenses
- Humboldt Foundation – Programm zur Förderung von Instituts-partnerschaften. Chemistry, Ecological Function and Biological Activity of Acyclic Diterpenoid Glycosides and Related Secondary Metabolites in Different Plants of the Family Solanaceae
- MPG – NGS-Einzelprojekt, Sequencing of the Nicotiana Attenuata Genome
- MPG – MPG Partnergroup of the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology at the Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata
- MPG – MPG Kick-Off Meeting of the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology at the Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata
- EU7 – [IDEAS] European Research Council (ERC) Ecological Performance of Arrhythmic Plants in Nature
- HFSP – (Human Frontier Science Program) Are Roots in the Dark?
- MPG – MPG Partnergroup in Host-Parasite Interactions at the Kunming Institute of Botany
- GLRP – (Global Research Laboratory Program South Korea)
© Maximilian Dörrbecker
Max Planck Society
"The Max Planck Society is Germany's most successful research organization. Since its establishment in 1948, no fewer than 18 Nobel laureates have emerged from the ranks of its scientists, putting it on a par with the best and most prestigious research institutions worldwide. The more than 15,000 publications each year in internationally renowned scientific journals are proof of the outstanding research work conducted at Max Planck Institutes – and many of those articles are among the most-cited publications in the relevant field." (Source)
Institute
Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology
"The Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena investigates the role, diversity and characteristics of chemical signals which control the interactions between organisms and their environment. Scientists from the fields of ecology, biochemistry, organic chemistry, entomology, ethology, and insect physiology work closely together in the Institute in order to understand the complex system of chemical communication. Their research focuses on the co-evolution of plants and insects. The fact that plants usually spend their entire lives in one place forces them to use effective strategies to guarantee that their offspring are spread and also to protect themselves against pests and diseases. To this effect, plants have developed a wide range of chemical signalling compounds that enable them to optimise their adaptation to their respective environments. These so-called allelochemicals are used to, among other things, attract pollinators, fend off herbivores and pests, fight diseases and keep unwelcome competitors away. Plants also synthesise mixtures of many organic substances that have a deterrent or toxic effect on herbivores. As a countermeasure, insects that feed on plants adapt accordingly and, for their part, try to overcome plant defences." (Source)
Map
Once a plant has germinated in a particular location, it cannot change it anymore. This means its growth depends on its location with its particular context, such as soil, herbivores, or sunlight levels. Therefore plants have evolved sophisticated signal transduction systems that allow them to perceive the outside world and then modify their growth, morphology and chemicals production and develop different phenotypes. IAN BALDWIN and his research team investigate how exactly this process happens. As Baldwin describes in this video, the recently published genome of Nicotiana attenuata allows the researchers to examine the possibility that not only protein-coding genes but also non-coding RNA is involved in the regulatory process in the genome. Using RNAi to silence protein-coding genes, they take these engineered plants into the field and observe the differences. Their findings confirm the hypothesis that the small RNA machinery causes the change in phenotype.
LT Video Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.21036/LTPUB10582
Argonaute 8 (AGO8) Mediates the Elicitation of Primary Defense Against Herbivory
- Maitree Pradhan, Priyanka Pandey, Klaus Gase, Murali Shraff, Ravi K. Singh, Avinash Sethi, Ian T. Baldwin and Shree P. Pandey
- Plant Physiology
- Published in 2017
RNA-directed RNA Polymerase 1 (RdR1) Mediates the Resistance of Nicotiana Attenuata to Herbivore Attack in Nature
- Shree P. Pandey and Ian T. Baldwin
- The Plant Journal
- Published in 2007
Wild Tobacco Genomes Reveal the Evolution of Nicotine Biosynthesis
- Shuqing Xu, Thomas Brockmöller, Aura Navarro-Quezada, Heiner Kuhl, Klaus Gase, Zhihao Ling, Wenwu Zhou, Christoph Kreitzer, Mario Stanke, Haibao Tang, E. Lyons, P. Pandey, S. P. Pandey et al
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Published in 2017
