copenhagen plant science centreu n i ve r s i t y o f co pe n h ag e n

CPSC Vision paper

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Content

Summary 3

Introduction 4

The CPSC vision 5

Implementation of Copenhagen Plant Science Centre 11

Interactions between CPSC and other national environments 16

Timeline 18

Appendixes

A1. Plant science at U. Copenhagen with bibliometric data for key persons 21

A2. Current, relative infrastructure at U. Copenhagen 30

A3. CV for key persons in the CPSC research areas 33

Cover page: A model of the new buildings for Copenhagen Plant Science Centre published 11 April 2011. In the initial phase the second ‘green’ building from the left will be build. This will provide 6825 m2 for laboratories and teaching facilities.

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Humanity faces a major challenge to ensure sufficient food for its growing population. An additional challenge is the increasing need for diverse plant products for fuel, fibres and chemicals. The University of Copenhagen will address these challenges by combining, in a new Copen-hagen Plant Science Centre (CPSC), strong basic research in i) photosynthesis and mineral nutrition, ii) plant cell walls, iii) membrane transport, iv) bioactive natural prod-ucts, v) biological and environmental interactions and vi) evolutionary and functional genomics. The vision of CPSC is to integrate these research activities so as to under-stand the molecular processes and ecological functions that plants have evolved over at least 450 million years and make use of the knowledge to the benefit of man-kind. CPSC will generate new knowledge on the complex activities of plants - as dynamic individual organisms and in crop populations. Specific CPSC visions include:

• To exploit plant system diversity using synthetic biology approaches to characterize biological components that, upon reassembly into new functional units, enable the synthesis of structurally complex chemicals or systems with desired new properties.

• To gain fundamental knowledge to be used in molecu-lar breeding of crops with stable or increased yields un-der adverse conditions.

• To develop new production systems in the form of in vi-tro immobilized biological systems, or cells and organ-isms engineered with plant pathways that serve soci-etal needs.

• To increase the yield and sustainability of plant produc-tion by optimizing resource use efficiency and popula-tion performance.

• To further develop university teaching in modern plant biology at all levels and produce top candidates for in-dustry and academia.

Summary

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The Board of U. Copenhagen (UC) has decided to create the Copenhagen Plant Science Centre (CPSC). CPSC will be a research centre rooted in one department at the Faculty of Life Sciences (LIFE). The CPSC head will be a highly respected, world-renowned scientist. Inauguration of CPSC is scheduled for the beginning of 2012. Initially the centre will be situated in existing laboratories, but will be housed in the new Plant Science building to be completed in 2015.

This paper outlines a strategic plan for how CPSC will become a world-leading research centre in plant science

with respect to education, basic research, collaboration with industry and knowledge dissemination to the pub-lic and politicians on knowledge based opportunities to-wards sustainable production of food, fibres, materials, energy and medicines using new knowledge based con-cepts.

The present document is edited by Professors Poul Erik Jensen (UC Faculty of LIFE) and Karsten Kristiansen (UC Faculty of SCIENCE) with input from several research-ers at UC.

Introduction

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The CPSC vision

The importance of plantsLife on Earth is sustained by plants. They are the basis for terrestrial ecosystems, have a profound impact on atmospheric chemistry, and support other organisms by using sunlight to convert water and carbon dioxide into organic matter. Centuries of breeding for desired traits has increased the productivity of our most important food crops. However, human population growth neces-sitates that we produce as much food in the next 50 years as we have in the previous 10.000. Furthermore, climate change and the use of marginal lands for crop produc-tion requires that crops be more productive under ex-treme growth conditions, and be more resistant to pests. While these are significant challenges, plants must also be used for many other purposes. The demand for plant biomass for conversion to bio-energy and other high val-ue products is rapidly increasing. The use of plants as en-vironmentally friendly, green factories in a ‘bio-refinery revolution’ needs to be exploited to reduce dependence on petroleum-based production of bioactive molecules, polymers, and chemicals. In the future, plants that con-tain entirely new or increased amounts of health-promot-ing substances will also be important for combating life-style diseases that are escalating healthcare costs. Thus, there is an increasing demand for less processed, healthy foods that retain more vitamins, minerals, bioactive pro-ducts and fibres. Such functional foods will enable the development of customized diets and greatly augment any future benefits of personalized medicines.

Challenges and opportunitiesThe more diversified use of plants and plant-derived prod-ucts in the future requires both higher yields and a radical re-positioning of the roles plants play in our daily lives and industrial processes. During the ‘green revolution’ in the 1970s, the grain yield of major cereals was roughly doubled by breeding and by technological advances. A

new green revolution is required to secure sufficient food for our growing global population in a sustainable bal-ance between environmental impacts and resource ex-ploitation. However, besides increasing grain and biomass yields, a major challenge will be to improve the content of useful chemical constituents in plants and trees. These challenges can only be met by world-class plant science aimed at understanding the molecular processes govern-ing plant growth and development, plant responses to environmental challenges and plant interactions with each other and with other organisms. This provides the platform for harnessing the full potential of plants to help combat some of the major challenges humanity is facing. To do this, we will need knowledge about plant genomes, transcriptomes, proteomes, glycomes, metal-omes and metabolomes, function and evolution of regu-latory pathways and interactions with other plants and organisms. CPSC research will be cross-disciplinary bridg-ing biochemistry, molecular biology, bioinformatics and biophysics. Using synthetic biology approaches, CPSC will exploit the naturally high diversity of plant systems by taking components, whole pathways or regulatory ele-ments from their natural contexts and reassemble them

The challenge of climate change. Climatic conditions favouring plant production are marked in black and green. In regions marked in red, drought is a limiting factor, in regions marked in blue, low temperature is the limiting factor.

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into new, functional modules that perform specific tasks geared towards our goals.

In particular, it will be vital to understand the special plasticity of plants. This plasticity has evolved because, unlike animals, plants are sessile and must exploit the available resources where they are growing. Most plants are thus adapted to change not just their size, shape, and orientation to the sun, but also to make a multitude of subtle biochemical and molecular adjustments. Under-standing the evolutionary and developmental biology and the molecular interactions that underpin this capa-city for fine-tuning is challenging, but its exploitation can direct plant production towards our own goals. Specifi-cally, CPSC aims to advance our fundamental knowledge of plants’ plasticity and versatility to obtain crop plants that a) produce more healthy foods with less input of resources and b) facilitate the development of plants as efficient green factories and as sources of renewable bio-energy. Increased knowledge of the interactions among plant genes, growth, development and evolution as well as their resource use efficiency and population and eco-system behaviour opens up new vistas for the design of more sustainable and efficient plant production systems.

CPSC research areasResearch within CPSC will be based on the following six areas in which U. Copenhagen already has strong research groups. These groups are situated in six departments at three faculties (see Appendix 1). An objective of CPSC is to increase and stimulate synergy between these groups. I. Primary plant productivity will focus on photosynthesis

and mineral nutrition. The research will address light capture and conversion, nutrient acquisition and the functional properties of mineral elements directed to-wards energy generation, and how they can be exploit-ed to produce biomass and chemical building blocks. This will also improve our understanding of the molec-ular basis for the interactions between plants and their environment affecting plant growth, and resource use

Structure of plant photosystem I with light-harvester complexes (LHCII)

Plant cell walls are immensely complex and abundant structures that contain commercially valuable compo-nents. Their optimal utilization requires integrated fundamental and applied research projects. The images shows cell walls labeled with a novel recombinant carbo-hydrate binding module.

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efficiency. The area is relevant to reduce negative ef-fects associated to climate change and food security in-cluding elevated carbon dioxide and extreme climatic events (drought, temperature and adverse soil condi-tions). A clear objective is to provide new crop and tree species and cultivars with improved stress tolerance, and more efficient use of nutrients and water and to avoid the build-up of toxic plant constituents.

II. Plant cell walls are a defining feature of plants and represent a diverse and valuable bio resource of com-plex polymers. Plant cell wall research will combine understanding of the chemical structures and bio-logical roles of highly complex and diverse cell wall components with exploiting the industrial use of cell wall components for fibres, bio-fuels and as starting materials for generation of chemical building blocks to replace those obtained from the petrochemical indus-tries. An important part of the effort will be to define and exploit glycan diversity and evolution in the plant kingdom. This research will address improved plant quality and biomass production for food, feed, energy and biomaterials, and provides the basis for biotech-nology and breeding for improved plant composition in terms of saccharification, content and bio-availabil-ity of minerals and other beneficial food constituents. This area is important for translating basic results from CPSC into value and use for biotech- and biorefinery industries.

III. Membrane transport and cell compartmentalization are fundamental to processes such as primary and secondary metabolism, nutrient acquisition, waste household and signal transduction. Communication within the plant, between plants and between plants and other organisms and their environment take place across biological membranes. Major research topics are the structure and function of membrane pumps that catalyze short-distance transmembrane transport of ions or organic molecules against thermodynamic gra-dients, and mechanisms of long-distance transport of

signals and solutes facilitated by plasmodesmata. This knowledge facilitates the generation of plants with in-creased tolerance to abiotic and biotic stresses and for targeted solutions to environmental problems such as phytoremediation.

IV. Plants are master chemists and produce an enormous variety of compounds. Among these are the bioactive natural products serving as herbivore and pest deter-rents, pollinator attractants, UV light protectants, me-tabolic buffers and sinks balancing primary metabo-lism, and enabling plants to communicate with their environment. Many of these compounds are also used as drugs, spices, flavours, fragrances, dyes and nutra-ceuticals. Plants normally produce only small amounts of desirable bioactive compounds. Research on bioac-tive natural products aims to elucidate and optimize their functions within the plant, and to provide de-tailed knowledge of the evolution and regulation of their synthesis. Using the approaches of synthetic bio-logy, modules identified will be combined in new ways to create biobased production systems of structurally complex chemical compounds e.g. for use as drugs.

V. Biological and environmental interactions in crop and plant communities address plants’ abilities to re-sist pests, to utilize other organisms such as nitrogen-fixing bacteria, mychorrizae, natural enemies of their pests, and to interact, both positively and negatively with other plants. Focus will be on the mechanisms of interactions with the environmental factors (soil and climate) and biological factors such as microbes, insects, fungi and neighbouring plants. This topic inte-grates many aspects of the other five areas. Research will focus on allocation of resources to different plant functions, including defence, competition and yield production. Other focal areas will be host susceptibility or resistance and signalling to induce defence mecha-nisms against weeds, pests and diseases.

VI. Understanding how plants perceive and transduce sig-

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nals, how their gene expression is regulated in space and time, and how their innate immune system pro-vides resistance to pathogens are goals of functional and evolutionary genomics. Plant and human models will be used to identify novel immune components. Gene regulation by non-coding RNAs will also be ad-dressed in studies of small RNA guided gene regulation and their roles in stress adaptation and plant-patho-gen interactions. Establishing the National Sequencing Centre and BGI Europe at U. Copenhagen will provide sequencing power to take plant evolutionary and de-velopmental biology to the next level. To this end, ge-nome and RNA sequencing projects will study evolv-ability and the contribution of non-coding RNAs to this fundamental property of biological systems.

VisionsThe vision for basic research at CPSC is to combine efforts in the above areas to understand, augment and harness the unique properties plants have evolved with respect to molecular processes and ecological plasticity. CPSC will create new knowledge on complex functions of plants – as individual organisms and in crop populations – by exploiting new interfaces with genomics, bioinformat-ics, biochemistry, chemistry, biophysics and nano-science. The knowledge will be used in optimizing primary plant productivity and form the basis for synthetic biology in higher plants.

The CPSC visions for basic research are:• To use synthetic biology to exploit plant systems diversi-

ty and identify and characterize biological components that, upon reassembly into new combinations, enables the design and synthesis of structurally complex chemi-cals or systems with desired new properties.

• To facilitate the development of plants as efficient green factories to produce polymers and fine chemi-cals.

• To gain fundamental knowledge that can be exploited in molecular breeding to develop crops with stable or

increased yields under adverse growth conditions.• To develop new production systems in the form of in

vitro immobilized biological systems, or cells and or-ganisms engineered with plant pathways that serve the needs of society.

• To increase the yield and sustainability of plant produc-tion by optimizing resource use efficiency and popula-tion performance.

The vision for recruitment of young researcher is to fos-ter gifted inter-disciplinary students and researchers to drive future innovation. CPSC will bring their talents to a team that transforms new ideas into useful results. Exist-ing and future groups in CPSC are expected to serve as a magnet that attracts basic and innovative investigators to facilitate the development of new professional interac-tions and research agenda. It is anticipated that this new institutional arrangement between SCIENCE, LIFE and PHARMA will foster the nascent development of new frontiers of science that will be much broader and have deeper impact than classical domains of research. Thus, CPSC should have the consolidated resources to nurture research within the six main research areas. These areas should not be considered as rigid barriers but simply serve as a launch pad for new discoveries.

The vision for teaching and education is that CPSC ac-tively participates in and continuously develops first class teaching at all levels (B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph.D.) within cur-rent education programs at U. Copenhagen (biology, biochemistry, biology-biotechnology, agronomy, forestry and natural resources) and offers excellent and interna-tional research environment for post doctoral fellows. CPSC wants to produce highly qualified candidates that fulfil the needs of the plant biotechnology industry and agriculture.

Success criteria• Be among the five top plant science centers in the

world based on academic achievements.

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• Provide solutions to increase food and biomass yield in crop plants and trees.

• Use synthetic biology to develop novel functional mo-du les, pathways and products.

• The development of projects at the interface between plant molecular biology, nano-science and biophysics.

• Recruit some of the best plant researchers in the world to CPSC.

• Build strong links between basic and applied research with industry white biotechnology and biorefineries

and thereby facilitate rapid knowledge transfer to in-dustry.

• Obtain large public and/or private funding for research projects and state-of-the-art infrastructure.

• Develop state-of-the-art teaching, education and re-search training within all areas of modern plant bio-logy resulting in production of scientists that gain key positions at other universities, in industry and at gov-ernmental institutions.

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Schematic representation of the six interconnected research areas which share a common vision and a strong infrastructure consisting of state-of-the-art technology platforms, service personnel, and laboratories. Shown are also the other strong research areas at U. Copenhagen with which CPSC will interact and collaborate.

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Excellent research is created within research groups by dedicated researchers and CPSC will facilitate this. The aim of CPSC is to attract and support excellent research groups and to further inspire existing research environ-ments. Location within the centre facilitates and inspires group interactions and facilitates new cross-disciplinary research initiatives. To do this, the following initiatives are proposed.

New CPSC initiativesThe best way to reach longer-term (10-15 years) CPSC

Implementation of CPSC

goals is to competitively employ the best researchers who will be productive over the next generation. In addition, CPSC will need a social dimension to foster inter-disci-plinarily and collaborations across research groups and faculties. The following three initiatives are designed to reach these goals.

CPSC Excellence programmeTo establish, within the next 5 years, 3-4 start-up and/or consolidator grants for excellent younger researchers (less than 45 years old). Each grant would be ~1 million Euro and can be requested by internal or external appli-

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cants to establish or consolidate research groups within CPSC. Applications will be evaluated by an international review panel. Successful applicants will be required to es-tablish a PhD course or a Summer School course, and are also expected to contribute to teaching in other courses offered at U. Copenhagen. It is expected that 1-2 of these start-up/consolidator grant holders later will qualify for future U. Copenhagen excellence programmes and other major grants from external sources such as the Danish Na-tional Research Foundation and ERC.

Funding of cross-disciplinary research projectsTo increase cross-disciplinary, inter-faculty activities, funds (initially 1.4 million Euros over 5 years) should be granted for research projects involving scientists from the LIFE, SCIENCE or PHARMA faculties to perform research within CPSC. As above, applications for these grants will be evaluated by an international review panel on the ba-sis of their research excellence and collaborative poten-tial. It is envisioned that these grants will primarily fund PhD students and post-docs. Co-financing for this initia-tive from other sources such as external grants should be encouraged.

Strengthening the culture for scientific and social eventsTo stimulate exchange of ideas, knowledge, technolo-gies and research strategies within CPSC, monthly semi-nars will be established. These seminars will include 2-3 talks followed by social activities. This forum should also be used to create networks with research groups outside CPSC. An organizing committee will be established and the necessary funding provided.

CPSC leadership and organizationCPSC should have the status of a research center rooted in a single department at The Faculty of Life Sciences (LIFE). The hosting department serves CPSC with accounting, HR and administrative assistance.

There are currently three departments at LIFE in which plants, plant science, agronomy, forestry etc are major research activities: Forest & Landscape, Dept. of Plant Biology and Biotechnology, and Dept. of Agricul-ture and Ecology. A merger between the latter two de-partments is a possible scenario.

CPSC will be organized and managed at three levels: 1) Centre steering committee, 2) Head of Centre and 3) Theme leaders.

Steering committee: The center Steering Committee (SC) represents the highest level of decision making in the center, and will decide management issues, including technical and financial planning, control and exploita-tion. The SC will be composed of the theme leaders (see below), the Head of Centre and the Head of the host De-partment. The SC will meet every 3 months, and be re-sponsible for overseeing that goals are meet.

The steering committee will establish an Advisory Board (AB) composed of the Head of Department(s), the Vice-Deans for research from LIFE, SCIENCE and PHARMA, and two members representing internationally strong sci-entific and innovative environments. The AB will partici-pate in one annual centre meeting, and be consulted on

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the evaluation of the centre. AB tasks will be to advise on the scientific development of the centre.

Head of Centre: The Head of Centre should be a new hire. The potential candidate should be a world leading sci-entist. In addition to outstanding scientific qualifications, the profile of the head should include strong leadership and a strong commitment to engage in the listed CPSC initiatives and contribute actively to development of CPSC. The head will initially receive a start-up grant of 4 million Euros. The head of Centre will have a Chief oper-

ating officer (COO) responsible for the daily operation of the centre and collaborations with the host department. The COO reports to the Centre head.

Theme leaders: The theme leaders will initially be: Jan K. Schjørring, William Willats, Michael G. Palmgren, Birger Lindberg Møller, Jacob Weiner, and John Mundy, repre-senting the 6 research areas that form the initial founda-tion for CPSC.

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Peter Brodersen, John Mundy and Morten Petersen will physically remain at the SCIENCE faculty and be the con-tact to other biological disciplines at the SCIENCE faculty. In this way a bridge between the Department of Biology and CPSC is ensured. To ensure interactions, a researcher from the Dept. of Biology is proposed as a member of the steering committee.

The Danish National Natural History Museum and Department of Agriculture and Ecology and its research group in plant systematics and biodiversity are an impor-tant basic resource for some of the research areas in CPSC. Currently, a working group with botanical scientists from the PHARMA, LIFE and SCIENCE faculties are aiming at developing joint teaching in plant systematics and biodi-versity in relevant education programs at the tree facul-ties.

CPSC Infrastructure

Current infrastructure at U. CopenhagenThe following infrastructure and technology platforms are available to plant researchers at U. Copenhagen (see Appendix A2 for a full description). • Centre for Advanced Bioimaging (CAB)• Centre for Advanced Metabolomics and Profiling

(CAMP)• Centre for analysis of mineral elements (CHIME)• Glycoarray technology platform• National Sequencing Centre • Centre for applied bioinformatics• Biocluster computing• The National DNA and Tissue Bank• Gene banks (Algae)• Laboratory for Innovation of Plants

To realise CPSC and lift plant sciences at U. Copenhagen into the world elite will depend on state-of-the-art, com-plementary facilities and equipment within bioimaging, carbohydrate microarrays, metabolite profiling, ionom-ics, transcriptomics, high-through-put (HTP) screens, and

expression platforms for enzymes, transporters and tran-scription factors. Establishment of conventional and con-tainment glasshouses, controlled environment suites etc are also crucial for the CPSC.

In future it will be necessary to establish a phenomics platform for automated, HTP phenotyping of individual plants and of populations with natural variation, intro-duced mutations or transgenes. This platform would en-able selection of plants carrying rare gene combinations that may offer desired traits or be useful for design of new production systems or specific purposes within synthetic biology. The phenomics platform includes green houses and growth chambers with dynamic climate control (light, temperature, carbon dioxide) and field experiments. The platform comprises automated systems to monitor phe-notypes, growth and development, water potentials and spectral signatures of specific bioactive compounds throughout the plant life cycle. As many genes and gene products perform functions together with other gene de-rived activities, biological interactions are manifested as the overall output from complex networks of intercon-nected metabolic and signaling pathways. The ability to precisely identify a single plant in a large population that carries the optimal phenotype is necessary to facilitate the development of future crop plants.

CPSC researchers will use different plants for experi-mentation. Crop plants will be a focus, but model plants such as Arabidopsis thaliana, Lotus japonicus, mosses, green algae and cyanobacteria, and will be used when knowledge gained from their study advances research on crops. Research advances often require work with organ-isms not belonging to the plant kingdom or adaptations of technologies originally developed for completely dif-ferent purposes. CPSC aims to facilitate such develop-ments.

Investment plan It is expected that CPSC will form the basis for successful funding from large private and public funding agencies to support the following:

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• A phenomics platform, including GMO growth cham-bers, green houses, field set-ups, robotics, etc: 100 mil-lion DKK (13.4 million Euro).

• A spectroscopy and HTP metabolomics facilities linking up to proteomics, mass spectrometry and NMR spec-troscopy: 100 million DKK (13.4 million Euro).

• GMO approved plant transformation, regeneration, growth, storage and analysis facilities: 50 million DKK (6.7 million Euro).

• Large research programs within CPSC with external aca-demic and/or private partners: 1100 million DKK (147 million Euro).

Potential funding sources: The Danish National Research Foundation, Danish Research Councils, Ministry of Science and Technology (Infrastructure), Novo Nordisk Founda-tion, Villum Foundation, Danish Industry and other pri-vate national and international foundations.

In the longer term (5-15 years) substantial external funding in the order of 1 billion DKK obtained via nego-tiation with possible private donors of large-scale fund-ing will be needed to secure world-class competiveness and achievements.

Overview of the LIFE faculty with the planned 4 new buildings inspired from cell biology.

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Interaction between CPSC and plant research in Denmark Other Departments and research groups with a focus in plant science are located at the University of Aarhus, Uni-versity of Aalborg and at Denmark’s Technical University (DTU). There will be some overlap between the work of CPSC and that at Departments of the Faculty of Agri-culture at Aarhus University (AU), and 4 other research groups at AU, Aalborg U (AAU) and Denmark’s Technical University (DTU). However, the focus of CPSC is different from that at the AU Faculty of Agriculture in that CPSC re-search is anchored in basic research. AU does have a basic botanical research group and a prominent research group in plant biology led by Jens Stougaard (10 persons). The research in Jens’ group is complementary to that of CPSC.

At DTU, the Novo Nordisk Foundation “Center for Biosustainability” was recently granted funding with 700 million DKK (94 million Euros) over 10 years. This center will focus on metabolic engineering, computer-aided de-sign of cell factories, bio-based chemistries, metagenom-ics, and heterologous expression of genes in microbes. In addition the centre will integrate research activities on mathematical modeling, bioinformatics, state-of-the-art high-throughput technologies, molecular biology and fermentation technology. In the center, plants are a source of genes whose expression in microbial cells en-ables efficient production of complex chemicals desired medical uses. The identification of relevant plant genes will be carried out in the section for “Plant Pathway Discovery” headed by Birger Lindberg Møller, UC-LIFE, whereas the sections for “Bacterial and Fungal Cell Fac-tories” will optimize the microbial cell factories. All plant work in the NNF center will be carried out at UC-LIFE and within CPSC. The products to be produced are typically high value compounds required in much smaller amounts in comparison to materials derived from plant biomass.

Interactions between CPSC and other national environments

The activities in the “Center for Biosustainability” and CPSC is complementary and it is envisaged that the re-search in CPSC will augment intimate collaboration with the NNF “Center for Biosustainability” at DTU.

Interaction between CPSC and other areas at U. CopenhagenInteractions and collaborations with the biochemistry, biology, biophysics, chemistry and microbiology research environments at U. Copenhagen are expected. Numerous collaborations within one or more of the CPSC research areas have already been established for example within analytical chemistry, drug development, cell biology, na-no-science and biophysics.

CPSC can specifically benefit from close collaboration with The Scandinavian Culture Collection of Algae and Protozoa (http://www.sccap.dk) at the Department of Bi-ology, U. Copenhagen which is a biodiversity-, gene bank and cell culture facility for unicellular algae and related organisms. SCCAP includes ~800 strains (c. 250 genera and 450 species) with representatives from most algal divisions.

Genomics platformBGI-Europe, the European commercial branch of BGI-Shenzhen, will be housed in the Copenhagen Bio Science Park (COBIS) in 2011. BGI-Shenzhen has established a joint sequencing and bioinformatics platform, the Sino-Danish Genomics Centre, through collaboration with The National Sequencing Centre. The capacity for large-scale genomics and bioinformatics will be further developed via a collaboration agreement between U.Copenhagen and BGI-Europe to provide researchers at U. Copenhagen access to large-scale sequencing and advanced bioinfor-matics at a level comparable with the largest facilities in the world.

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The Botanical Garden and Museum There are obvious potential synergies between CPSC and The Botanical Garden and Museum. Of particular interest is direct access to diverse plant material in the Botanical Garden and Museum which currently contain~13.000 liv-ing species and 2.000.000 herbarium accessions.

The Hørsholm Arboretum (estb. 1936) – a collection of woody plant speciesThe Arboretum in Hørsholm is a living collection covering 2000 taxa of woody species representing a large number of commercial and evolutionary interesting genera such as Picea, Pinus, Betula Quercus, Populus, Rhododendron. Selections have been made globally. Functional genes can

be linked to phenotypic expressions, including interac-tions between hosts and pest/pathogens. Evolutionary hypotheses can be tested by using the high phylogenetic coverage for many families/genera. All trees are careful-ly documented and species/individual list easy available (http://en.sl.life.ku.dk/faciliteter/arboretet/planteliste.aspx).

Industrial applications and interaction with industryCPSC will provide space for an incubator in which re-searchers and industry can meet. The incubator should promote new interactions by providing high quality wet-lab space at market price supplemented with access to shared equipment and access to technology platforms. The incubator should also provide specialized or tailor made education and training for biotechnologists. An incubator structure will be important for potential spin-outs from CPSC.

CPSC will pursue research in improved agronomic traits, drought and pest resistance and crops designed for biorefinery and biofuel. This involves for instance identify-ing molecular markers, diagnostic tools etc important for plant breeders, agriculture and enzyme producers. It will also be important for CPSC to look beyond the borders of traditional agrobiotech to forge innovative liaisons with industry and thus make plant biotechnology valuable for society in new ways. CPSC will thus investigate the oppor-tunities offered by synthetic biology and bioengineering whereby individual components or whole pathways in plants are taken from their natural contexts and reassem-bled into new functional modules that perform specific tasks geared towards our goals. For example, we can de-velop light driven synthesis of desired complex chemical structures by coupling photosystems to power novel bio-synthetic machinery. In this way CPSC aims to tailor plants for specific purposes by optimizing the natural system to produce new chemical building blocks, or more biofuels or pharmaceuticals. CPSC should be a leading player tak-ing synthetic biology into higher plants.

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2011 April Vision paper submitted to the Rector of University of Copenhagen.

2011 June Reviews received from the international panel.

2011 August Site visit by review panel.

2011 August Visions and structure of CPSC published.

2011 August Hiring process of the Head of CPSC, scouting and initial contacts.

2011 August Plan for external funding for research and infrastructure.

2011 September Contacts to private foundations.

2012 Autumn Inauguration of CPSC. (The hiring process can easily take 12-18 months).

2015 Autumn Inaugurations of the new CPSC building(s).

Timeline

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Appendixes

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Plant science and plant related science at University of Copenhagen is located at three Faculties.

Appendix 1

Plant science at University of Copenhagen

Faculty Department Section Peak competencies Group leader(s)

LIFE Plant Biology • Molecular Plant Biology • Photosynthesis Poul Erik Jensen, and Biotechnology • Plant Biochemistry • Bioactive natural products Barbara Halkier, • Transport Biology • Cell walls Søren Bak, Birger • Glyco Biology • Plant pathology Lindberg Møller, • Short and long Michael Palmgren, • distance transport Alexander Schulz, William Willats, Peter Ulvskov, David Collinge

Agriculture and Ecology • Plant nutrition • Mineral uptake Søren Husted, • Molecular Plant Breeding • Molecular markers Jan K. Schjørring, • Plant Ecology • Defence mechanisms Søren K. Rasmussen, • Insect Pathogens • Plant-plant interactions Hans Thordal-Christensen, • Agro-ecology • Insect ecology Jacob Weiner, • Crop Science • Climate change and Jørgen Eilenberg, • Soil Fertility • biomass production John R. Porter, • Crop exploitation of resources Kristian Thorup- • Plant-soil interactions Kristensen, Lars S. Jensen

Forest & Landscape • Biomass science • Molecular characterization and Claus Felby, • & technology • functionality of biopolymers Erik Dahl Kjær, • Tree genetics and • Conversion of biopolymers Karsten R. Rasmussen • gene ecology • Genetics and breeding of • Molecular plant breeding • woody species • Tree nutrition

PHARMA Medicinal Chemistry • Natural Product Research • Discovery of novel pharmaco- Søren B. Christensen, • logically active compounds Jerzy W. Jaroszewski, • of natural origin Anna K. Jäger

SCIENCE Biology • Functional genomics • Innate immunity John Mundy, • Bioinformatics • Programmed cell death Morten Petersen, • RNA silencing Peter Brodersen

Natural History • Laboratory of Molecular • Biodiversity, Plant Systematics Ole Seberg, Museum of Denmark • Systematics • and Genomics Gitte Petersen, • Cell and Tissue Culture Ib Friis • Laboratory

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Department of Plant Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Life SciencesResearch areas within the Department for Plant Biology and Biotechnology include photosynthesis and abiotic stress, plant cell walls, bioactive compounds, and trans-port biology. The areas address fundamental questions of plant biology and together they offer future unique solutions to many current problems within plant yield, human nutrition, food, biofuel, resistance to pests and production of pharmaceuticals. A long term aim of the research is to develop virtual plant models that enable us to predict how modulation of individual pathways and control points would affect plant growth and develop-ment and thus predict how to develop plants with en-tirely new properties, particularly under conditions of a complex combination of environmental challenges. The research groups working in the areas are leading and in-ternationally recognized for their originality and scientific contributions.

1. Photosynthesis and synthetic biology (Poul Erik Jen-sen). Currently the group consist of 1 professor, 3 associ-ate professors, 2 technicians, 4 post-docs, 6 PhD-students. In photosynthesis and abiotic stress research we aim at understanding the function and regulation of light-driven energy generation in biological systems and how this can be exploited for production of chemical building blocks and biomass. In addition, identification of novel protec-tive mechanism under abiotic stress, studies of molecular mechanism in regulation of photoassimilate metabolism and regulation of gene expression needed for adapta-tion during phosphate starvation conditions are being ad-dressed. Major technologies include a unique collection of anti¬bodies towards chloroplast proteins, a genetic platform allowing the con¬struction of changed proteins or complete elimination of specific proteins in Arabidop-sis, moss and cyanobacteria, primary metabolite analysis and fluorescence spectroscopy. The international stand-ing of photosynthesis research at LIFE is recognised by our output of highly cited and high impact publications.

2. Glycobiology (William G.T. Willats, Peter Ulvskov, David Collinge). Current laboratory members consist of 3 pro-fessors, 4 associate professors, 7 post-docs and 6 PhD stu-dents. Plant cells are surrounded by walls made mostly of complex polysaccharides. Cell walls are crucial to plant life and also have numerous commercial applications includ-ing fibres, biofuel feedstocks, nutraceuticals, functional food ingredients and chemical building blocks. The cell wall glycome is one of the most important bio-resources in nature but advanced and highly specialised technology is required to exploit its riches. We have established state-of-the-art infrastructure for glycan extraction, separation and analysis, unique carbohydrate microarray technology using robotic spotters and arrays probed with panels of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and carbohydrate binding modules (CBMs). Plant cell walls played crucial roles in the colonization of land by plants and the subsequent radia-tion of embryophytes. We undertake research into the earliest origins of cell walls by studying the charophycean green algae – the ancestors of which gave rise to the land plant lineage.

3. Bioactive natural products (Birger Lindberg Møller, Barbara Ann Halkier, Søren Bak). Currently the group include 3 professors and 7 associate professors, 8 post-docs and 18 PhD students and 7 technicians. Bioactive natural products serves as deterrents against herbivores and pests, attractants of pollinators, protectants against ultra violet light, enabling plants to communicate with their environment and serving as metabolic buffers and sinks balancing primary metabolism. Many of these com-pounds are used by man as drugs, spices, flavours, fra-grances, colorants and nutraceuticals (for functional foods, dietary supplements and clinical nutrition appli-cations). Normally plants produce only small amounts of desirable bioactive products. The aim of the research on bioactive natural products is to elucidate the intricate functions of these compounds within the plant and pro-vide detailed knowledge of the regulatory mechanisms enabling plants to control and adapt the synthesis of these compounds in a flexible manner. Key steps in the

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pathways are catalyzed by cytochrome P450s (P450s) and glycosyltransferases (UGTs). P450s are by far the largest family of enzymes to support plant metabolism and UGTs the second largest. Bursts (“blossoms”) of gene duplica-tions in these families contributes to plant plasticity i.e. adaptation to environmental changes, ecological niches and speciation. Convergent evolution of identical path-ways in insects is another intensively studied area. Metab-olite profiling and bioimaging platforms and platforms for functional expression of P450s, UGTs and transport proteins are available. The international standing of the research on bioactive natural products at LIFE is docu-mented by our output of high impact and highly cited publications. Our international profile is underpinned by organizing abd participating in international meeting and by hosting several centres of excellence. Birger Lind-berg Møller is the director of the Villum research centre “Pro-Active Plants” and of the UNIK Center for Synthetic Biology. The latter incorporates research groups from the SCIENCE, HEALTH and LIFE faculties and from the Niels Bohr Institute. The section for “Plant Pathway Discovery” of the NNF Center for Bio-Sustainability is also hosted by the group. In 2011 we organize the third “Danish-Amer-ican Workshop on Synthetic Biology” in August in Berke-ley and with the most prominent researchers in synthetic biology in the US as participants. Our research has tight links to industry (Evolva. Evgen, and Bayer Crop Science).

4. Transport biology (Michael G. Palmgren and Alexander Schulz). The laboratory currently consists of 2 professors, 4 associate professors, 3 technicians, 5 post-docs, 14 PhD-students. Plant transport processes are essential for plant growth and cellular homeostasis. Plants have therefore evolved numerous proteins that facilitate the transport of minerals, sugars, secondary metabolites and other compounds through the limiting membranes of cells and organelles and between cells. Major research topics are structure and function of membrane pumps (P-type ATPases) that catalyze short-distance transmembrane transport of ions or organic molecules against their ther-modynamic gradients, and mechanisms of long-distance

transport of signals and solutes being facilitated by plas-modesmata connecting cells. This knowledge facilitates generation of plants with increased tolerance to abiotic (nutrient deficiency, draught, salinity) and biotic (bacte-ria and fungi) stresses required as a response to global climate change. Professor Alexander Schulz is leading the Copenhagen Centre for Advanced Bioimaging, which is integrated in the laboratory. The international standing of transport biology at UC-LIFE is recognized by its out-put of highly cited publica¬tions, its international profile underpinned by participating in and organizing confer-ences and its participation as the Copenhagen branch of the The Danish National Research Foundation centre Membrane Pumps in Cells and Disease: Pumpkin. In the recent mid-term evaluation by Professors Yvonne Jones (Oxford), Baruch Kanner (Hebrew University), Stephen White (UC Irvine) it was concluded: “The PUMPKIN Centre is among the very best structural biology centres in the world, and is without doubt the world leader in research on P-type ATPases. Its influence cannot be understated.”

Perspectives and challenges• Providing the foundation for developing the crop

plants of the future• Photosynthesis and its role in increased yield for plant

biomass• Identification of biomarkers and genes involved in abi-

otic stress in plants• Molecular coupling of photosystems to other enzymes

and devices in synthetic biology projects• Explore fundamental and applied aspects of cell wall

diver¬sity and evolution. • Development of unique glycoarray technology plat-

forms• Biobased route to production of desired complex chem-

icals based on synthetic biology approaches• Establish an advanced facility for phenotyping of in-

dividual plants among huge populations is a key to further discoveries and advancement of a research to-wards producing crop plants for the future.

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Recent high-lights• Pioneering work on the molecular under¬standing of

photosynthetic state-transitions• Coupling of light-driven electron generation by photo-

system I with reduction of cytochrome P450 enzymes to achieve light-mediated hydroxylations of specific (in press).

• Design and building molecular circuits integrating sin-gle photosystem I enzyme complexes with gold nano-wires.

• Our work on cell wall evolution contributes to our un-derstanding of one of the most important events in the history of life – ‘how did plants make the transition to land?’ This work has lead to a renewal of interest in this area in the cell wall field.

• Merged cell wall biology with social ecology and this has lead to new insights into leaf cutting ant symbiotic ecosystems.

• The development of oligosaccharide microarrays for multiplexed glycobiology assays.

• Identification of the genes encoding the entire path-

way for de novo synthesis of cyanogenic glucosides in insects is a textbook example of convergent evolution in biology.

• Identification of TILLING mutants in sorghum that do not synthesize toxic cyanogenic glucosides is a major step forward in safe use of this drought resistant plant as a forage crop.

• Identification of terpenoid cyclases mediating forma-tion of the five and seven membered ring system of the prostate cancer drug thapsigargin has been accom-plished.

• Identification of the first transporters involved in long distance transport of secondary metabolites, with ag-ricultural potential for transport engineering (patent application)

• Engineering of the glucosinolates into tobacco. • Establishment of a highly versatile technology platform

for production of plant pathways in yeast exemplified with the successful production of simple glucosinolates (6 genes pathway).

First name Last name H-I WoS Pubs Tot Cites Av Cit G / F

Poul Erik Jensen 23 52 1570 32,00 William Willats 25 60 1878 32,38 Peter Ulvskov 19 49 1056 21,55 David Collinge 27 71 3741 52,69 Birger Lindberg Møller 40 181 4310 23,92 Barbara Ann Halkier 36 82 3188 38,80 Søren Bak 23 52 1605 30,87 Michael Gjedde Palmgren 40 99 4811 48,60 Alexander Schulz 21 55 1762 32,63

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Department of Agriculture and Ecology, Faculty of Life Sciences.Plant science at Department of Agriculture and Ecology focuses on how plants interact with each other, with oth-er organisms (vertebrates, fungi) and with environmental factors including soils, nutrients, water and climate. The research levels span from molecules through organisms to populations and ecosystems. This is done in order to provide novel inter-disciplinary knowledge that will fa-cilitate development of future cropping systems in which synergetic interactions between genotypes, environment and management are optimized with the overall goal of securing a sustainable production of food, feed, bio-ener-gy and other bio-materials.

The core research groups are:1. Plant Nutrition (Søren Husted and Jan K. Schjørring). The group currently consists of 2 professors, 1 associate professor, 6 post docs, 8 Ph.D. students and 1 lab techni-cian. The research group focuses on the molecular-phys-iological basis for uptake, assimilation and functional properties of mineral elements in plants. The team runs a technology platform based on inductively coupled mass spectrometry for profiling of the elemental composition of plants and the bio-active elemental species. There are very strong young scientists in the group (Inge Skrumsag-er Møller, Pai Pedas, and Daniel Persson) who have pub-lished in top-3 Plant Science journals, have been awarded competitive Elite researcher grants (sapere aude) and have been selected for talent recruitment programs at UC-LIFE.

2. Molecular Plant Breeding (Søren K. Rasmussen and Hans Thordal-Christensen). The group consists of 1 pro-fessor, 1 head of programme, 1 associate professor, 3 assistant professors, 6 post docs and 6 Ph.D.-students. Through interdisciplinary research and development the group combines molecular markers, genome research and biotechnology with classical plant breeding of crop plants in order to meet the demands for yield, quality, dis-ease resistance and resource use efficiency under chang-

ing climate conditions. Fundamental research efforts un-ravel disease strategies of essential pathogens and the plant’s defence mechanisms against them. The group runs a molecular marker laboratory, map-based cloning, plant transformation and a gene bank of seed collections of crops plants and mutant populations. The research is commercialized through patent application and commer-cialisation of biotechnology in ornamentals.

3. Plant Ecology (Jacob Weiner). The group consists of 1 professor, 1 associate professor, 3 post docs, 5 Ph.D. stu-dents and 1.5 technicians. The group works on the appli-cation of ecological and evolutionary theory to improve weed suppression by crops, genetic variation in secondary chemicals in natural populations, and basic research in several areas of plant ecology, using field and glasshouse experiments, and developing theory. The group is highly cited and has LIFE’s only UC Program of Excellence.

4. Insect pathogens and biological control (Jørgen Eilen-berg). The group currently consists of 1 professor, 2 as-sociate professors, 4 PhD students and 1 lab technician. The research group focuses on fundamental and applied aspects of insect – microbe interactions. The fundamental studies include co-evolution of host and pathogen and interaction between several trophic levels. The applied aspects aim to implement biological control in a range of cropping systems, with emphasis on inoculation and conservation. Jørgen Eilenberg is leader of the theme ‘Disease and immunity’ within the centre of excellence ‘Centre for Social Evolution’.

5. Crop Science and Agro-ecology (Kristian Thorup-Kris-tensen and John R. Porter). The group consists of 2 profes-sors, 4 associate professors, 3 post docs, 8 Ph.D. students and 3 technicians. The group focuses on crop exploitation of soil resources through studies of root growth, plant and crop responses to water stress and spatial and tem-poral crop exploitation of soil resources. Adaptation of production methods to new or adverse environmental conditions such as temperature, drought or salt stress is

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investigated. Finally, the group works on effects and miti-gation of climate change via biomass production systems, ecosystem services in agricultural systems, remote sensing and the measurement of biological structure at different scales.

6. Soil Fertility (Lars S. Jensen) The group consists of 1 professor, 3 associate professors, 2 post docs and 7 Ph.D. students. The research in the group is focus on biological soil fertility and the dynamics of plant nutrients in tem-perate and tropical agro-ecosystems. A particular focus area has been the interaction between plant and soil in the root rhizosphere, as well as the role of the soil micro-bial biomass in determining nutrient availability. Projects on improved utilisation of agricultural and urban waste as fertilizer are closely integrated with the research on soil fertility.

Due to successful development of the Plant Nutri-tion area at LIFE, the group became very large and was in 2010 split in two research groups, entitled respectively Plant Nutrition and Soil Fertility. The two groups are co-localized in the Plant and Soil Science Section and are in essence still functioning as one group, reflecting the fact that soil-plant interactions constitute the core of the plant nutrition discipline in which UC-LIFE has a leading international position. It is of vital importance for disci-pline that the two groups remain integrated and launch new joint initiatives. Establishment of a Centre for Green

and Sustainable Fertilizer Technologies has already been initiated.

Perspectives and challenges• Create new genotypes with improved productivity, re-

source use, stress tolerance and quality by combining genetic resources, plant breeding and biotechnology

• Develop and implement functional interactions be-tween genotypes (plants, invertebrates and micro-or-ganisms), environment and management as a basis for more environmentally friendly and sustainable plant production

• Explore regional variations in genotype × environment × management interactions as a basis for identifying yield limiting factors in different parts of the globe.

• Develop experimentally testable theories in relation to the above functional interactions.

Recent high-lights• Plant aquaporins transport other substrates than water

(NH3, H2O2, As(OH)3)• Chlorophyll fluorescence can be used as tool for diag-

nosis of latent manganese deficiency in plants (innova-tion award and formation of spin-out company Nutri-Nostica).

• Cereal plants can efficiently suppress weeds if they are sown in specific density patterns

• Bio-technology can increase the content of bio-avail-

First name Last name H-I WoS Pubs Tot Cites Av Cit G / F

Jan Kofoed Schjørring 35 128 34109 27,06 Søren Husted 21 48 1195 24,90 Søren K. Rasmussen 23 62 1601 25,30 Hans Thordal-Christensen 22 44 2438 56,70 Jacob Weiner 36 78 4300 55,10 Jørgen Eilenberg 19 64 1048 16,38 John Porter 27 104 1960 18,85 Kristian Thorup-Christensen 16 49 578 11,80 Lars S. Jensen 18 70 1374 19,63

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able iron and zinc in rice seeds• Biotechnology can replace the use of plant growth reg-

ulation chemicals for production of ornamental plants• Genome expansion and gene loss in powdery mildew

fungi reveal tradeoffs in extreme parasitism• PhytoPhos – a novel method to measure plant-avail-

able phosphorus and micronutrients in soil (innovation award 2010)

• Considerable inter-specific differences in deep root de-velopment and nitrate leaching reduction among catch crops

• Novel strategies for biological control of pathological plant insects

Department of Biology, Faculty of ScienceFunctional genomics research group (John Mundy and Morten Petersen). The group includes 1 professor, 1 as-sociate professors, 1 technician, 6 post-docs, 4 PhD stu-dents. These numbers have been fairly stable for 10 years. The group is part of the Functional Genomics researcher group, which includes laboratories working with other model organisms. We focus on genes of innate immuni-ty required for defense responses and programmed cell death in plants and animals. For example, we use the ac-celerated cell death 11 mutant to identify genes required for death by reverse genetic and suppressor screens. The protein interaction networks of ACD11 and suppressors are determined by 2-hybrid and proteomics. Major tech-niques include suppressor screens, positional cloning, transcriptomics, and comparative genomics. One of the most respected researchers in plant immunity and Ara-bidopsis research in general, Professor Jeffrey Dangl (U. Chapel Hill), included our work on MAP kinases among the 50 most significant discoveries in plant immunity within the last 150 years. In addition, our more recent discoveries on autophagy were mentioned as an impor-tant breakthrough (Nishimura & Dangl (2010) Plant J. 61, 1053).

Perspectives & challengesWe aim to identify and analyze new genes involved in plant innate immunity. We have taken an unorthodox strategy to unravel fundamental mechanisms of immune regulation, because we use plant model systems to pre-dict and identify novel players in both animal and plant immunity which have not been identified by conventional strategies. Such genes are tools to understand resistance to pathogens. • Use of dominant negative mutant resistance (R) genes

to assign pathogen specificities and translate this sys-tem to wheat.

• Identify molecular links between autophagy and cell death in plants and animals.

• Identify molecular links between ACD11, LAZ5 and pathogen effectors.

Recent high-lights • Evidence for autophagy in immunity-related cell death.

Analysis of the ACD11 human homolog FAPP2 indicates conserved mechanisms.

• Identification and analyses of a MAP kinase pathway from an innate immune receptor to a transcriptional target gene encoding an enzyme required for immu-nity.

• An acd11 suppressor screen identified an immune re-ceptor (resistance or R protein) and a histone methyl transferase that epigenetically regulates the R gene.

• Proof of concept that site-directed, dominant negative R gene mutants can be used to identify which patho-gens, and which pathogen effectors, the R gene recog-nizes (unpublished).

Bioinformatics researcher group (Peter Brodersen)The laboratory started on December 29 2010. The labora-tory is funded by a 5-year Hallas Møller Stipend from the Novo Nordisk Foundation. We will be starting two PhD students in 2011 (of >90 applicants received), and three post doc candidates are applying for mobility grants to join the laboratory after the summer break of 2011. We aim to reach a size of at least two post docs, three PhD

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students and 1-2 master students by 2012. The laboratory is part of the Bioinformatics researcher group, which in-cludes laboratories studying RNA biology using experi-mental and bioinformatic approaches.

ResearchOur research focuses on understanding mechanisms used by small RNAs to regulate gene expression at post tran-scriptional as well as transcriptional levels. We use the plant Arabidopsis thaliana for our studies. Our research programme includes sophisticated forward genetic screens assisted by next-generation sequencing for gene isolation, biochemical approaches and two-hybrid screens for characterization of key protein complexes involved in small RNA pathways, and deep sequencing for character-

First name Last name H-I WoS Pubs Tot Cites Av Cit G / F

John Mundy 40 90 6211 69,01 Morten Petersen 12 25 926 37,04 Peter Brodersen 11 17 1173 69,00

ization of small RNA populations in specific tissues and mutant backgrounds.

PerspectivesWe have previously shown that miRNAs in plants use mechanisms related to those demonstrated in animals. These mechanisms remain poorly understood in both kingdoms. We aim to use genetic approaches in Arabi-dopsis to identify the components required for these mechanisms to work. In addition, our current work indi-cates important associations of key components of the small RNA pathways with membrane compartments. We aim to identify the functional relevance of membrane re-cruitment as well the molecular mechanisms underlying membrane recruitment of the silencing machinery.

Other plant science environments at University of Copenhagen

Forest and Landscape, Faculty of Life Sciences Biomass science and technology (Claus Felby). The group consists of 1 professor, 3 associate professors, 3 post-docs, 7 PhD students. The focus of the group is on molecular characterisation and functionality of biopolymers using biochemistry and biophysics. Another focus is the enzy-matic biomass processing, as well as the interaction be-tween proteins and carbohydrates. There is a clear link from the group’s research to the biomass applications for fuels and chemicals, and the group collaborates closely with companies such as Dong, Inbicon and Novozymes. The group has a good microscopy and spectroscopy plat-

form which is being expanded with electron tomography. HTP robotic screening assays on biomass are also being established.

Tree genetics and genecology (Erik Dahl Kjær). The group consists of 1 professor, 5 associate professors, 9 PhD stu-dents. The group focuses on the role of genes, genetic population structures and genetic processes in ecosystem functions and adaptation to existing and future climate conditions. We combine molecular techniques, eco-phys-iology, large scale field testing and ecological modelling. An important part of the work focuses on direct applica-tions for tree breeding and genetic management in plan-tations and forests – in close co-operation with private and public actors – preparing for the challenges posed

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by global warming. The scope is international, including studies in Europe, Asia and Africa.

Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharma-ceutical SciencesThe mission of the Department of Medicinal Chemistry (Head of Department: Fredrik Björkling) is to advance pharmaceutical sciences by drug-related research and re-search-based teaching in topics including organic and me-dicinal chemistry, molecular pharmacology, natural prod-ucts research, pharmacognosy, and biostructural research. There are interdisciplinary, collaborative possibilities with CPSC. These include natural product chemistry with the aim to discover compounds with biological effects in dis-ease, further characterization of molecular interactions, and optimization of the substances for efficient disease intervention. It will also be possible to collaborate on bio-active materials identified in CPSC, which could be fur-ther studied in pharmaceutical applications. Practically, there is great potential in improved production methods in plants for pharmaceutically important natural products and precursors which can hardly be obtained by alterna-tive routes. In addition, studies in relation to synthetic biology in plants may inspire the use of similar method-ologies in disease intervention.

The Botanical Garden and Museum, Faculty of ScienceThe Botanical Garden and Museum (BGM) are part of the Natural History Museum of Denmark. BGM studies plant and biological systematics needed for basic ecological and evolutionary research, and for applied sciences such as environmental research, agriculture, horticulture, and pharmacognosy. BGM research is broad with an overarch-

ing research theme in phylogeny/evolution: i) hierarchi-cally, from genes to phyla; ii) temporally, from the earli-est life to the present, and iii) spatially, from the smallest inhabited spot to the whole globe. It also extends beyond its traditionally defined borders by involving studies of speciation, macroecology, and global change.

Examples of current research involve studies of glob-al genetic diversity of wild and cultivated species, at the infraspecific and population levels, coupled with investi-gations of morphological and physiological phenotypes. Studies of evolutionary mechanisms, e.g., polyploidy and transposable elements, and studies of mitochondria using 2nd generation sequencing, with emphasis on structure and recombination, gene structure, RNA editing, the oc-currence of processed paralogs, and evolution of variable substitution rates.. All research is inseparably linked to the Botanical Garden and Museum, and is intimately con-nected to the living (~13.000 species) and dead collections (~ 2.000.000 accessions).

There are collaborations among scientists from FARMA, LIFE, and SCIENCE. There is also extensive col-laboration with NSF-funded Tree of Life projects (US), and through the large-scale EU-infrastructure funds EDIT and SYNTHESYS with other Natural History Museums and university institutes across Europe and elsewhere (Japan, Malaysia, Canada, Russia, South Africa, and USA).

There are obvious potential synergies with individu-als at both the LIFE and FARMA faculties on traditional systematics, genome sequencing and bioinformatics, which could be integrated with other initiatives, e.g. at SCIENCE with the Danish Archaea Centre, the Centre for Geogenetics, and the Bioinformatics Centre.

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Appendix 2

Current infrastructure at University of Copenhagen

Center for Advanced Bioimaging (CAB) DenmarkThis centre will open in June 2011 with an instrument park offering highly improved resolution in six dimensions and additional unique features:

• 1st & 2nd Dimension Superresolution (3D SIM, STED and/or STORM)

• 3rd Dimension high resolution in z axis and at cell sur-faces (TIRF)

• 4th Dimension high resolution in time (Spinning disk fluorescence with EM-CCD)

• 5th Dimension high resolution for identification of chemical compounds, measuring interactions and me-tabolite levels (FRET, FLIM) or macro- and micronutri-ents in single cells (Laser ablation ICP-MS and laser dis-section microscope)

• 6th Dimension high statistical resolution (high content screening, high content analysis; HCS/HCA) robot micro-scope

• Deep penetration multiphoton excitation scanning mi-croscopes

The Center continues LIFE’s Bioimaging Center placed at the Department of Plant Biology and Biotechnology and offers access and training in methods including, in ad-dition to the above mentioned front edge instruments, CLSM, TEM, and ESEM, a biosafety level 2 cell culture lab and a histological lab for specimen preparation. The CAB received support from the National Research Infrastruc-ture Program and is linked to the European ESFRI project Euro-BioImaging.

Bioimaging facilities at Forest & LandscapeThe laboratory facilities at Forest & landscape include

dedicated start of the art AFM and TEM microscopy (TEM to be included in 2011). Both offers opportunity for 3D visualisation of complex biological systems and structures at nano-scale resolution. The AFM facilty allows for imag-ing at the molecular level of biological reactions in situ. Specially designed building facilities have been construct-ed for the bioimaging equipment.

Center for Advanced Metabolomics and Profiling (CAMP)The Department of Plant Biology and Biotechnology has set up a metabolomics platform enabling HTP analysis of complex plant extracts using GLC-MS2 or LC-MS2 technol-ogies including SPME. State-of-the-art Laser micro-dissec-tion technology instrumentation is used for metabolite profiling of single cell types or for transcriptome analysis of single cell types. NMR instrumentation is also available. The PHARMA Faculty has facilities for NMR-based metab-olomics including a 600 MHz NMR spectrometer. The fa-cility also includes hyphenation equipment for biomarker identification and natural product discovery by NMR and MS.

Centre for analysis of inorganic elements and their speciation in biological and environmental matri-ces (CHIME)At LIFE, inorganic atomic spectrometry based on LC-ICP-MS and ICP-OES is well established, and a laser ablation instrument with high spatial resolution (nm range) is being installed, hyphenated with ICP-MS, to image the multi-elemental composition of specific plant cell types. The laser ablation ICP-MS equipment was acquired in 2010 with funding from the national infrastructure grant.

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LIFE also operates Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IR-MS) for 15N, 13C and 18O analysis.

Glyco-array and assay technology platformI: Infrastructure for production of carbohydrate arrays is established at the Department of Plant Biology and Bio-technology. The arrays are used primarily for:-HTP screening of carbohydrate-binding ligands includ-ing antibodies, carbohydrate binding modules and other proteins-Mapping of glycan populations in complex systems, or across mutant populations etc. The platform currently consists of two microarray robots and associated equipment and can also be used for glyco-protein and protein arrays.

II: A platform for HTP robotic screening of biomass is built up at Forest & Landscape. The platform is used for screen-ing specific properties in plant and crop populations and consists of: - Automatized sampling, grinding and weighing- Micro scale pretreatment - Saccharification assays to identify low and high recalci-trance biomass The platform can be expanded to include HTP screening of biopolymer structures.

Climate chambers and Green House laboratories, Field laboratoriesResearch of the Physical Ecology group takes place in arc-tic and temperate ecosystem in which temperature, CO2, precipitation, nutrient availability, and UV-B is manipu-lated. The group is responsible for the longest running, well-replicated global change related field experiment in the world, in N. Sweden. Advanced equipment for chemi-cal and isotopic analyses is used.

The two long-term field sites, the CRUCIAL Urban Fer-tilizer Trial and the Long-term Nutrient Depletion Trial, are at the experimental farms in Tåstrup. This facility is

increasingly used by groups across UC faculties.LIFE runs growth chamber facilities with controlled

nutrient supply and climatic conditions, including atmo-spheric CO2. Special equipment for gas exchange mea-surements has been constructed. Forest field experiments have been established for more than 100 years and fol-lowed with measurements. The current number of field experiments exceeds 350 plots. These include species and provenance trials, intensive ecosystem measurements etc. These field experiments may be a source for new investi-gations within CPSC.

National Sequencing Centre The National Sequencing Centre is funded as a Research infrastructure by the Danish Agency for Science Technol-ogy and Innovation to a consortium led by Eske Willer-slev, Roger Garrett, Søren Sørensen, Gitte Petersen and Ole Seberg and will be housed at the National History Museum of Denmark. I in March 2011 it will include two Roche Genome Sequencers FLX and two Illumina Genome Analyzers II, and have access to ABI Sanger sequencing machines. It will also have the necessary staff for daily operations, and will be available to the Danish research community subject to payment of expenses.

Center for applied bioinformaticsThe Center for Applied Bioinformatics is a virtual center initiated in 2004 as environment for application and re-search in bioinformatics at LIFE to help teach bioinfor-matics at all levels, and to help with coordinating and sharing of technological infrastructure. The Center con-sists of members from all departments at the faculty with an interest in bioinformatics research.

The Center seeks to undertake research in bioinfor-matics and to integrate bioinformatics in the research for LIFE’s core areas: Plants, animals, food sciences and mi-crobiology.

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Biocluster The National History Museum of Denmark has a share in Biocluster, the computing facility of the Bioinformatics researcher group at the Dept. of Biology at SCIENCE. It consists of ~200 Machines (quad core 64 bit 2.4 GHz pro-cessors with 8 MB RAM.

The National DNA and Tissue BankThe National Tissue Bank is funded as a Research infra-structure by the Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation to a consortium led by Eske Willerslev, Roger Garrett, Søren Sørensen, Gitte Petersen and Ole Seberg, and will be housed at the National History Mu-seum of Denmark. When fully operational it will have five cryo-vats for storing ~350.000 samples in liquid nitrogen vapour at -152o C. Storage of samples is in principle free, subject to acceptance of the samples by the museum, and

ultimately the samples become the property of the mu-seum.

Gene banks (Algae)The Scandinavian Culture Collection of Algae and Proto-zoa (http://www.sccap.dk/) at the Department of Biology is a biodiversity, gene bank and cell culture facility for unicellular algae and related groups of organisms. SC-CAP comprises about 800 strains (c. 250 genera and 450 species) with representatives from most algal divisions. Nearly 650 are available to the public. The Collection contains, in particular, marine nanoplankton flagellates, benthic marine brown and green algae, and a growing number of dinoflagellates. Strains and growth media are commercially available via the homepage. SCCAP is a TAF facility (taxonomic access facility) under the European Union program Synthesys.

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Appendix 3

CV for key persons in the 6 research areas within CPSC

Jan K. Schjørring Department of Agriculture and Ecology, UC-LIFE 34

William Willats Department of Plant Biology and Biotechnology, UC-LIFE 35

Michael Palmgren Department of Plant Biology and Biotechnology, UC-LIFE 36

Birger Lindberg Møller Department of Plant Biology and Biotechnology, UC-LIFE 37

Barbara Halkier Department of Plant Biology and Biotechnology, UC-LIFE 38

Jacob Weiner Department of Agriculture and Ecology, UC-LIFE 39

John Mundy Department of Biology, UC-SCIENCE 40

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Professor Jan K. Schjoerring PLACE OF WORKPlant and Soil Science Laboratory, Department of Agriculture and Ecology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, DK-1871 Frederiksberg C, Denmark; Tel.: +4535333495; e-mail: jks@life.ku.dk; http://www.researcherid.com/rid/A-5387-2009.

EDUCATION/TRAININGINSTITUTION AND LOCATION DEGREE YEAR(s) FIELD OF STUDYThe Royal Vet. And Agric. Univ., Cph. (KVL) D.Sc. 1998 University of Lund, Sweden & KVL Ph.D. 1985 Plant PhysiologyThe Royal Vet. And Agric. Univ., Cph. (KVL) M.Sc. 1980 Agronomy

POSITIONS AND EMPLOYMENTProfessor of Plant Nutrition 2006- University of CopenhagenHead of Plant and Soil Science Section 2004- University of CopenhagenResearch Council Professor 2005-2000 Royal Vet. & Agric. Univ. (KVL)Visiting professor 1996-1995 Univ. British ColumbiaAssociate professor 1988-1999 Royal Vet. & Agric. Univ.Assistant professor 1985-1988 Technical Univ. DenmarkRecipient of Ph.D. Fellowship 1982-1984 Univ. Lund & KVLResearch Assistant 1980-1981 Royal. Vet. And Agric. Univ.

KEY RESEARCH TOPICS and CURRENT RESEARCH GRANTSNutrient acquisition and utilization by higher plants and the functions of mineral elements in plant metabolism, plant environment interac-tions, plant productivity and stress tolerance.2010 Coordinator DSF Molecular strategies in nutrient use efficiency of cereals. Share: 5.5 mill. DKK2010 Co-applicant DFFE Genetically modified cereals adapted to increased atmospheric CO2: 4 mill.DK2009 Main applicant FTP Foliar nitrogen fertilization of wheat crops. Share: 5 mill. DKK2009 Co-applicant DSF Biotechnology for Bio-fuel Crops. Share: 1.5 mill. DKK2008 Co-applicant DSF Improved Quality and Disease Resistance in Cereal Crops Share: 2.5 mill. DKK2007 Co-applicant DFFE project Cisgenetic barley and wheat for animal feed. Share: 2.5 mill. DKK2007 Co-applicant EU-FP6 NitroEurope: The nitrogen cycle. Share: 1.5 mill. DKK2007 Co-applicant EU-FP6: Metabolomics for Plants, Health and Outreach. Share: 2.5 mill. DKK2006 Co-applicant EU-FP6 PHIME: Plant and metals. Share: 3.0 mill. DKK

ADDITIONAL RESEARCH QUALIFICATIONSEditor of the journal Physiologia Plantarum; associate editor of the journal Frontiers in Plant NutritionMember of the International Plant Nutrition CouncilLeader of the UC-LIFE elite research area Plant Biosystems

PUBLICATIONS (5 selected publications 2009-2011)128 articles cited 3410 times, h-index: 35, 9 book chapters, 69 other publications and 1 patent.• Husted S, Persson DP, Laursen KH, Hansen TH, Pedas P, Schiller M, Hegelund JN and Schjoerring JK (2011) The role of atomic spectrometry in

plant science. – J. Anal. Atom. Spectrom. 26, 52-79.• Lombi E, Smith E, Hansen TH, Paterson D, de Jonge MD, Howard DL, Persson DP, Husted S, Ryan C and Schjoerring JK (2010) Megapixel

imaging of (micro)nutrients in mature barley grains. – J. Exp. Bot. 62, 273-282.• Lee S, Jeon US, Lee SJ, Kim YK, Persson DP, Husted S, Schjoerring JK, Kakei Y, Masuda H, Nishizawa NK and An G (2009) Iron fortification of

rice seeds through activation of the nicotianamine synthase gene. – Proc. Natl. Acad, Sci. USA 106, 22014-22019.• Persson DP, Hansen TH, Laursen KH, Schjoerring JK and Husted S (2009) Simultaneous iron, zinc, sulphur and phosphorus speciation analysis

of barley grain tissues using SEC-ICP-MS and IP-ICP-MS. – Metallomics 1, 418-426.• Hansen TH, Laursen KH, Persson DP, Pedas P, Husted S and Schjoerring JK (2009) Micro-scaled high-throughput digestion of plant tissue

samples for multi-elemental analysis. – Plant Methods 5, no. 12 (11 p.).

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Professor William G.T. WillatsPLACE OF WORKDepartment of Plant Biology and biotechnology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, 1871 Frederiksberg Denmark. Tel.: +45 35333324 email: willats@life.ku.dk http://www.plbio.life.ku.dk/English/Sections/plglyc/Research/Willats.aspx

EDUCATION/TRAININGINSTITUTION AND LOCATION DEGREE YEAR(s) FIELD OF STUDYUniversity of Leeds PhD 1994 Plant nematologyUniversity of Portsmouth BSc 1990 Biology

POSITIONS AND EMPLOYMENTProfessor MSO, Faculty of Life Sciences 2009- U. Copenhagen, DKAssociate Professor, Faculty of Science 2003-2009 U. Copenhagen, DKSenior Research Fellow (Grade II) 2000-2003 U. Leeds, UK

KEY RESEARCH TOPICS and CURRENT RESEARCH GRANTS2011 Main applicant DSF project GlycAcT’ share: 6,283,5582011 Main applicant FTP project Anti-cancer glycans, share: 5,630,000 DKK2011 Co-applicant EU FP7 ‘WallTraC’, share: 2,800,0002010 Co-applicant EU FP7 ‘LEANGREENFOOD,’ share: 800,0002010 Co-applicant DSF Bio4Bio biofuel project; 2,597,2102008 Main applicant Hoejteknologifonden project bio-prospecting algae, share: ~2,000,000 DKK2008 Co applicant VKR Center for Proactive Plants, share: ~1,900,000 DKK2007 Co applicant FNU Regulation of plant cell wall biosynthesis, share: 799,779 DKK2007 Main applicant FTP project , GlycoChips, share: 700,176 DKK2006 Co applicant DFFE project Improved crops for biofuel, share: 773,760 DKK2005 Co applicant Pathogen Combat EU FP6, Integrated Project, share: 1,725,837 DKK2004 The interactions between pectin and proteins, Danisco, share 18,000 DKK

PUBLICATIONS (5 selected publications 2005-2011)60 articles cited 1,878 times, h-index: 25 (WoS Jan 2011). 7 other publications.• Popper ZA, Gurvan M, Hervé C, Domozych D, Willats WGT, Tuohy MG, Kloareg B and Stengel DB (2011) Evolution and Diversity of Plant Cell

Walls: From Algae to Flowering Plants. Annual Review of Plant Biology, in press• Sørensen I, Domozych D and Willats WGT (2010) How have plant cell walls evolved? Plant Physiology 153(2), 366-372.• Øbro J, Sørensen I, Derkx P, Madsen CT, Drews M, Willer M, Mikkelsen JD and Willats WGT (2008) High-throughput screening of Erwinia

chrysanthemi pectin methylesterase variants using carbohydrate microarrays. Proteomics, 9(7), 1861-1868.• Bernal AJ, Yoo C-M, Mutwil M, Jensen JK, Hou G, Blaukopf C, Sørensen I, Blancaflor EB, Scheller HV and Willats WGT (2008) Functional

Analysis of the Cellulose Synthase Like Genes ATCSLD1, ATCSLD2 and ATCSLD4 In Tip Growing Arabidopsis Cells. Plant Physiology, 148(3), 1238-1253.

• Jensen JK, Sørensen SO, Harholt J, Geshi N, Sakuragi Y, Møller I, Zandleven J, Bernal AJ, Jensen NB, Sørensen C, Pauly M, Beldman G, Willats WGT and Scheller HV (2008) Identification of a xylogalacturonan xylosyltransferase involved in pectin biosynthesis in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell, 20(5), 1289-1302.

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Professor Michael G. PalmgrenPLACE OF WORKDepartment of Plant Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, 1871 Frederiksberg C, Denmark. Tel.: +45 3533 2592 palmgren@life.ku.dk. http://www.traplabs.dk/

EDUCATION/TRAININGINSTITUTION AND LOCATION DEGREE YEAR(s) FIELD OF STUDYRoyal Veterinary and Agricult Univ, DK D.Sc. 2003 University of Lund, Sweden Ph.D. 1990 Plant biochemistryUniversity of Copenhagen, Denmark M.Sc. 1987 Molecular biology

POSITIONS AND EMPLOYMENTChairman, Danish Natural Science Research Council 2009- U. Copenhagen Head of Department, Dept Plant Biol and Biotechnol 2004-05 U. CopenhagenProfessor, Dept Plant Biology and Biotechnol 1998- U. Copenhagen (prev. RVAU)Associate Professor 1995-97 U. CopenhagenAssistant Professor 1993-95 RVAUEMBO Long Term Postdoctoral Fellow 1990-92 EMBL (Heidelberg)/U.Cph.

KEY RESEARCH TOPICS and CURRENT RESEARCH GRANTSStructure, function and physiology of membrane pumps 2010 Coordinator of Strategic Research Foundation consortium FungalFight2009 Co-applicant, UNIK Synthetic Biology, University of Copenhagen2007 Head of University of Copenhagen branch, Danish National Research Foundation project “Centre for Membrane pumps in cells and disease” (PUMPKIN)2007 Coordinator of FTP consortium Phosphoproteomics 2006 Pillar Leader in EU FP6 Integrated Project PHIMES

ADDITIONAL RESARCH QUALIFICATION2009 Elected member of Akademiet for Tekniske Videnskaber2008 Elected member of “Faculty of 1000”2005 Recipient of the Knud Sand Honorary Residence2000 Elected member of Danish Royal Society of Science and Letter

PUBLICATIONS (5 selected publications 2005-2011)101 articles cited 4923 times, h-index: 40 (WoS Apr 2011). 1 patent application.• Palmgren MG & Nissen P (2011) P-type pumps. Annu Rev Biophys 40:243–66.• Morth JP, Pedersen BP, Buch-Pedersen MJ, Andersen JP, Vilsen B, Palmgren MG & Nissen P (2011) A structural overview of the plasma mem-

brane Na+,K+-ATPase and H+-ATPase ion pumps. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 12:60-70. • Ekberg K, Pedersen BP, Sørensen DM, Nielsen AK, Veierskov B, Nissen P, Palmgren MG & Buch-Pedersen MJ (2010) Structural identification

of cation binding pockets in the plasma membrane proton pump. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 107:21400-214053.• Baekgaard L, Mikkelsen MD, Sørensen DM, Hegelund JN, Persson DP, Mills RF, Yang Z, Husted S, Andersen JP, Buch-Pedersen MJ, Schjoer-

ring JK, Williams LE & Palmgren MG (2010) A combined zinc/cadmium sensor and zinc/cadmium export regulator in a heavy metal pump. J. Biol. Chem. 285:31243-31252

• Sørensen DM, Buch-Pedersen MJ & Palmgren MG (2010) Structural divergence between the two subgroups of P5 ATPases. Biochim. Bio-phys. Acta 1797:846-55.

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Professor Birger Lindberg MøllerPLACE OF WORKDepartment of Plant Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, DK-1971 Frederiks-berg C, Copenhagen, Denmark. Tel.: +45 3533 3352 blm@life.ku.dk

EDUCATION/TRAININGINSTITUTION AND LOCATION DEGREE YEAR(s) FIELD OF STUDYFaculty of Natural Sciences, U. of Copenhagen D.Sc. 1984 Plant Biology Faculty of Life Sciences, U. of Copenhagen Ph.D. 1975 BiochemistryUniversity of Copenhagen MSc. 1972 Biology and Chemistry

POSITIONS AND EMPLOYMENTHead of “Plant Pathway Discovery” in the NNF Center for BioSustainability 2011- UC-LIFE, Copenhagen Director of UNIK Center for Synthetic Biology 2010- UC-LIFE, CopenhagenDirector of VKR Research Centre Pro-Active Plants 2008- UC-LIFE, Copenhagen Professor 1990- UC-LIFE, CopenhagenResearch Professor 1984-1990 UC-LIFE, CopenhagenSenior Research Scientist and Niels Bohr Fellow 1977-1983 Carlsberg Lab. CopenhagenFulbright-Hays Act Fellow 1975-1977 Univ. of California, Davis

KEY RESEARCH TOPICS and CURRENT RESEARCH GRANTSBiosynthesis and function of cyanogenic glucosides, terpenoids and other bio-active natural products in higher plants and their role in plant communication and defence against herbivores and pests. Villum research center “Pro-Active Plants (25 mio DKK (own share 1.6 mio DKK)); UNIK Center for Synthetic Biology (120 mioDKK (own share 18 mioDKK)); FTP major grant 12.7 mio DKK; NNF “Plant Pathway Discovery (700 mioDKK, share >50 mioDKK)

ADDITIONAL RESEARCH QUALIFICATIONRESEARCH AWARDS1985 Hans Gram Medal, the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters1988 Pedersholm Legat1991 “Fabrikant Ulrik Brinch og hustru Marie Brinchs Legat” Technical University of Denmark 1994 Carlsberg Research Prize Award1994 ”Director Ib Henriksens Research Prize”2003 Societas Physiologia Plantarum Scandinavica “Popularization Prize”2004 The Academy of Future Research, ”The Future Prize”, 20042007 Villum Kann Rasmussen Research Price (2.5 mil DKK). The largest Danish research award.

PUBLICATIONS (5 selected publications 2007-2011).281 publications. H-index: 40; Citations: 4310• Jensen K, Jensen PE and Møller BL (2011) Light-driven cytochrome P450 hydroxylations. ACS Chemical Biology - in press • Bjerg-Jensen N, Zagrobelny M, Hjernø K, Olsen CE, Houghton-Larsen J, Borch J, Møller BL and Bak S (2011) Convergent evolution in biosyn-

thesis of cyanogenic defence compounds in plants and insects. Nature Communications - in press• Møller BL (2010) Functional diversifications of cyanogenic glucosides. Current Opinion in Plant Biology 13:337-346• Møller BL (2010) Functioning dependent metabolons. Science 330:1328-1329 • Damager I, Engelsen SB, Blennow A, Møller BL and Motawia MS (2010) First principles insight into the a-glucan structures of starch: their

synthesis, conformation and hydration. Chemical Reviews 110:2049-2080

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Professor Barbara Ann HalkierPLACE OF WORKDepartment of Plant Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, DK-1971 Frederiks-berg C, Copenhagen, Denmark. Tel.: +45 35333342 bah@life.ku.dk

EDUCATION/TRAININGINSTITUTION AND LOCATION DEGREE YEAR(s) FIELD OF STUDYFaculty of Natural Sciences, U of Copenhagen D.Sc. 1996 Plant Biology Faculty of Life Sciences, U. of Copenhagen Ph.D. 1988 Plant BiochemistryUniversity of Copenhagen M.Sc. 1985 Biology and Chemistry

POSITIONS AND EMPLOYMENTProfessor mso, Faculty of Life Sciences 2009- U. CopenhagenAssoc. Prof., Dep. Plant Biology and Biotechnology 1992-2009 U. CopenhagenAssis. Prof. Dep. Plant Biology and Biotechnology 1988-1991 U. CopenhagenPostdoctoral fellw, The Salk Institute 1990-1992 San Diego, California

KEY RESEARCH TOPICS and CURRENT RESEARCH GRANTSSynthesis, regulation, transport and engineering of plant secondary metabolites, with special focus on glucosinolates 2011-2014 DSF (11.4 mill kr) Natural products and cancer-prevention (coordinator, share: 7.2 mill kr)2011-2013 FNU (5.2 mill kr) Protein inteactomics2011-2013 FTP (5.7 mill kr) Transport engineering to enhance nutritional value 2009-2011 DANIDA (PhD stipend, 1.7 mill. kr) Development of disease resistant potato2009-2011 EU Smart Cell, Collaborative project (2½ year postdoc, 238.000 euro)2009-2011 EU Marie Curie IEF fellowship (two year postdoc, 200.222 euro)

ADDITIONAL RESEARCH QUALIFICATION2008 Danisco Food prize award2010 LIFE’s Communication Prize (together with other plant scientists)

PUBLICATIONS (5 selected publications 2005-2011).82 publications, 3188 citations, 12 patent (application), 2 other papers, h-index = 36.• Pfalz M, Mikkelsen MD, Bednarek P, Olsen CE, Halkier BA and Kroymann J (2011) Metabolic Engineering in Nicotiana benthamiana Re-

veals Key Players in Arabidopsis Indole Glucosinolate Modification. Plant Cell (in press). • Burow M, Halkier BA and Kliebenstein D (2010) Regulatory networks of glucosinolates shape Arabidopis thaliana fitness. Current Opinion

in Plant Biology, 13, 348-353.• Sønderby IE, Geu-Flores F and Halkier BA (2010) Biosynthesis of glucosinolates - gene discovery and beyond. Trends in Plant Science, 15,

283-90.• Geu-Flores F, Nielsen MT, Nafisi M, Møldrup ME, Olsen CE, Motawia MS and Halkier BA (2009) Engineering the production of benzylgluco-

sinolate identifies an uncharacterized biosynthetic enzyme. Nature Chemical Biology, 5, 575-577.• Sønderby IE, Burow M, Rowe HC, Kliebenstein DJ and Halkier BA (2010) A complex interplay of three R2R3 MYB transcription factors deter-

mines the profile of aliphatic glucosinolates in Arabidopsis. Plant Physiology, 153. 348-363.

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Professor Jacob WeinerPLACE OF WORKBotany Group, Department of Agriculture and Ecology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 21, DK-1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark; Tel.: +4535332822; e-mail: jw@life.ku.dk; http://www.jacobweiner.dk.

EDUCATION/TRAININGINSTITUTION AND LOCATION DEGREE YEAR(s) FIELD OF STUDYUniversity of Oregon Ph.D. 1978 BiologyUniversity of Michigan, USA M.Sc. 1974 BotanyAntioch College,USA B.A. 1970

POSITIONS AND EMPLOYMENTProfessor 1998- University of CopenhagenAssociate Professor 1998-1996 University of CopenhagenProfessor 1992-1996 Swarthmore College, USAChairman 1992-1990 Swarthmore College, USAAssociate professor 1992-1984 Swarthmore College, USABullard Fellow 1995-1994 Harvard University, USAVisiting scientist 1993-1992 Swarthmore College, USA

KEY RESEARCH TOPICS and CURRENT RESEARCH GRANTSPlant competition at the individual and population levels. Plant growth and resource allocation. Individual variation within plant popula-tions. Application of ecological and evolutionary knowledge to plant production systems. Relationship between ecological and environmen-tal sciences.2008-2013 University of Copenhagen, Program of Excellence, “Evolutionary Agroecology: Developing High Density, Communal Crop Plants for Weed Suppression and Increased Sustainability” 2007-2008 U.S. National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, Sabbatical Fellowship.2007-2009 Danish Environmental Protection Agency, “Increasing the Suppression of Weeds by Cereal Crops Through Increased Crop Spatial Uniformity and Density”.2005-2009 Danish Natural Science Research Council, “The Allometry of Reproductive Allocation in Annual Plants”.2001-2004 Danish Agricultural Research Council, “Population Density, Spatial Structure and Weed Suppression by Cereal Crops”.

ADDITIONAL RESEARCH QUALIFICATIONS2002- ISI Highly Cited Researcher (www.ISIhighlycited.com).

PUBLICATIONS (5 selected publications 2004-2011)78 publications in international peer-reviewed journals (11 single author, 20 first author), 9 book chapters/invited papers (6 single author), 2 conference proceedings, 2 book reviews, 4 popular articles.Over 4300 citations in international journals; h-Index = 36• Weiner J and Freckleton R (2010) Constant final yield. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 41, 173-192.• Weiner J, Andersen SB, Wille WK-M, Griepentrog H-W and Olsen JM (2010) Evolutionary Agroecology - the potential for cooperative, high

density, weed suppressing cereals. Evolutionary Applications 3, 473-475.• Weiner J, Campbell LG, Pino J and Echarte L (2009) The allometry of reproduction within plant populations. Journal of Ecology 97, 1220-

1233.• Weiner J, Rosenmeier L, Massoni ES, Vera JN, Hernández Plaza E and Sebastià MT (2009) Is reproductive allocation in Senecio vulgaris plas-

tic? Botany 87, 475-481. • Wyszomirski T and Weiner J (2009) Variation in local density results in a positive correlation between plant neighbor sizes. American Natu-

ralist 173, 705-708.

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Professor John MundyPLACE OF WORKDepartment of Plant Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Ole Maaloes Vej 5, DK-2200 Copenhagen, Denmark. Tel.: +45 28754278 mundy@bio.ku.dk. http://www.bio.ku.dk/mundy/

EDUCATION/TRAININGINSTITUTION AND LOCATION DEGREE YEAR FIELD OF STUDYMolecular Biology Institute, U. Copenhagen Ph.D. 1985 Molecular Biology Columbia University, N.Y. M.A. 1975 Science EducationSUNY College of Forestry, Syracuse, N.Y. B.S. 1973 Forestry, Botany

POSITIONS AND EMPLOYMENTVice-Dean for Research, Faculty of Science 2006-11 U. Copenhagen Vice-Head, Institute of Molecular Biology 2000-03 U. CopenhagenProfessor, Dept. of Biology 1995- U. CopenhagenProject Leader 1990-94 Carlsberg Research CenterPost doc 1985-89 Rockefeller U.

KEY RESEARCH TOPICS and CURRENT RESEARCH GRANTSSignaling in plant and human innate immunity, comparative genomics of plant stress responses. 2010 Main applicant DSF project ‘Natural resistance in GMOs’. Share: DKK 10.800.000.2010 Co-applicant FNU grant. Share: DKK 1.530.000.2010 Co-applicant King Saud U. Carnivory Consortium. Share: DKK 1.340.0002008 Coordinator of ERA-PG ‘Multi-stress’ Consortium. Share: DKK 2.236.0002007 Main applicant FTP grant ‘Defense & Death’. Share: DKK 1.985.0002007 Co-applicant GF Center ‘Comparative Genomics’. Share: DKK 3,500.0002005 Coordinator EU FP6 ‘TransDeath’ Consortium. Share: 2.232.000

ADDITIONAL RSEARCH QUALIFICATIONHighly cited researcher in plant & animal sciences (isihighlycited.com)Member of Danish Royal Society of Science and Letters

PUBLICATIONS (5 selected publications 2005-2011).90 articles cited 6211 times, h-index: 40 (WoS Jan 2011). 13 other publications.• Palma K, Thorgrimsen S, Malinovsky FG, Fiil BK, Nielsen HB, Brodersen P, Hofius D, Petersen M & Mundy J (2010) Autoimmunity in Arabi-

dopsis acd11 is mediated by epigenetic regulation of an immune receptor. PLOS Pathogens 6, e1001137.• Rodriguez MCS, Edsgaard D, Hussain SS, Alquezar D, Rasmussen M, Gilbert T, Nielsen HB, Bartels D & Mundy J (2010) Transcriptomes of the

desiccation-tolerant resurrection plant Craterostigma plantagineum. Plant Journal 63, 212–228.• Rodriguez M, Petersen M & Mundy J (2010) Plant MAP Kinase Cascades. Annu Rev Plant Biol. 61, 621-49.• Fiil BK, Petersen K, Petersen M, Mundy J (2009) Gene regulation by MAP kinase cascades. Curr Op Plant Biol. 12, 615-21.• Hofius D,Schultz-Larsen T, Joensen J, Tsitsigiannis DI, Petersen NHT, Mattsson O, Jørgensen LB, Jones JDG, Mundy J & Petersen M (2009)

Autophagic Components Contribute to Hypersensitive Cell Death in Arabidopsis. Cell 137, 773-83.

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