Cathie Martin

Last updated

Cathie Martin
MBE FRS
Professor Cathie Martin.jpg
Cathie Martin in 2021
Born
Catherine Rosemary Martin

April 1955 (age 69)
Alma mater University of Cambridge (BA, PhD)
Known for Blue tomato
Awards
Scientific career
Fields Plant Biology [2]
Institutions University of East Anglia
John Innes Centre
Thesis Plant cell differentiation during seed germination  (1981)
Notable students Beverley Glover [3]
Website www.jic.ac.uk/people/cathie-martin OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Catherine Rosemary Martin (born April 1955) [4] is a Professor of Plant Sciences at the University of East Anglia (UEA) and project leader at the John Innes Centre, Norwich, co-ordinating research into the relationship between diet and health and how crops can be fortified to improve diets and address escalating chronic disease globally. [5] [6] [7] [8] [2] [9]

Contents

Education

Martin received a first class honours degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge. She then went on to obtain her PhD in Biochemistry in 1981, also from Cambridge. [10]

Research and career

Her research has included work on blood oranges [11] and high anthocyanin purple tomatoes. [12] [13] [14]

After a period as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Cambridge [15] [16] she moved to the John Innes Centre's department of genetics in 1983. She was the first to identify genes which regulated cell shape in plants. [15]

Since 2000, Cathie's research has focused on diet and health, researching how crops can be fortified to combat chronic disease across the world. This research has focused on plants which contain natural chemical compounds, which can be seen as 'natural medicines'. In 2022 Martin's laboratory produced genetically manipulated tomatoes containing high levels of a precursor to vitamin D. These were scheduled for field trials, and intended to improve dietary intake of vitamin D. [17] [18]

With Liam Dolan, Alison Mary Smith, George Coupland, Nicholas Harberd, Jonathan Jones, Robert Sablowski and Abigail Amey she is a co-author of the textbook Plant Biology. [19]

She was the editor-in-chief of The Plant Cell , as well as the first woman and first non-American to hold this post. [15] She holds seven patents and co-founded the University spin-off company Norfolk Plant Sciences with Jonathan Jones, to bring the benefits of plant biotechnology to Europe and the United States. [4] [15] Her former doctoral students include Beverley Glover. [3]

Awards and honours

Martin was appointed a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 Birthday Honours for "services to plant biotechnology" [20] [21] and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) most promising innovator 2014. [22] Cathie's research into Purple Tomatoes gained her and Eugenio Butelli BBSRC's most promising innovator award in 2014. She has also been recognised by:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge</span> Academic department of the University of Cambridge

The Department of Plant Sciences is a department of the University of Cambridge that conducts research and teaching in plant sciences. It was established in 1904, although the university has had a professor of botany since 1724.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Innes Centre</span> Independent centre for research in plant and microbial science

The John Innes Centre (JIC), located in Norwich, Norfolk, England, is an independent centre for research and training in plant and microbial science founded in 1910. It is a registered charity grant-aided by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the European Research Council (ERC) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and is a member of the Norwich Research Park. In 2017, the John Innes Centre was awarded a gold Athena SWAN Charter award.

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, is a non-departmental public body (NDPB), and is the largest UK public funder of non-medical bioscience. It predominantly funds scientific research institutes and university research departments in the UK.

Jonathan Dallas George Jones is a senior scientist at the Sainsbury Laboratory and a professor at the University of East Anglia using molecular and genetic approaches to study disease resistance in plants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sainsbury Laboratory</span> Plant research laboratory in Norwich, Norfolk, England

The Sainsbury Laboratory (TSL) is a research institute located at the Norwich Research Park in Norwich, Norfolk, England, that carries out fundamental biological research and technology development on aspects of plant disease, plant disease resistance and microbial symbiosis in plants. The Sainsbury Laboratory partners with the John Innes Centre on a Plant Health Institute Strategic Program (ISP) funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caroline Dean</span> British botanist

Dame Caroline Dean is a British plant scientist working at the John Innes Centre. She is focused on understanding the molecular controls used by plants to seasonally judge when to flower. She is specifically interested in vernalisation — the acceleration of flowering in plants by exposure to periods of prolonged cold. She has also been on the Life Sciences jury for the Infosys Prize from 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genetically modified tomato</span> Tomato with modified genes

A genetically modified tomato, or transgenic tomato, is a tomato that has had its genes modified, using genetic engineering. The first trial genetically modified food was a tomato engineered to have a longer shelf life, which was on the market briefly beginning on May 21, 1994. The first direct consumption tomato was approved in Japan in 2021. Primary work is focused on developing tomatoes with new traits like increased resistance to pests or environmental stresses. Other projects aim to enrich tomatoes with substances that may offer health benefits or be more nutritious. As well as aiming to produce novel crops, scientists produce genetically modified tomatoes to understand the function of genes naturally present in tomatoes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue tomato</span> Various tomato cultivars

Blue tomatoes, also called purple tomatoes, are tomatoes that have been bred to produce high levels of anthocyanins, a class of pigments responsible for the blue and purple colours of many fruits, including blueberries, blackberries and chokeberries. Anthocyanins may provide protection for the plant against insects, diseases, and ultraviolet radiation. Some of these tomatoes have been commercialized under the names "Indigo Rose" and "SunBlack".

George Michael Coupland FRS is a Scottish plant scientist, and Research Scientist and Director of the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research.

Nicholas Paul Harberd is Sibthorpian Professor of Plant Science and former head of the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Oxford, and Fellow of St John's College, Oxford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norwich Research Park</span> Research orientated business community in Norwich, England

Norwich Research Park (NRP) is a science research park located to the southwest of Norwich in East Anglia close to the A11 and the A47 roads. Set in a 568-acre (230-hectare) area of parkland, it is one of five Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) funded research campuses and has one of Europe's largest concentrations of researchers in the fields of agriculture, genomics, health and the environment. It is the only site in the United Kingdom with three BBSRC funded research institutes and the focus of the community is on creating and supporting new companies and jobs based on bioscience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liam Dolan</span>

Liam Dolan is a Senior Group Leader at the Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology (GMI) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the Sherardian Professor of Botany in the Department of Biology at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Rutherford</span>

Alfred William Rutherford is Professor and Chair in Biochemistry of Solar energy in the Department of Life sciences at Imperial College London.

The Germplasm Resources Unit is part of the John Innes Centre. Located in the Norwich Research Park, Norwich, England, is a germplasm conservation unit and National Capability supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. This unit houses a number of internationally recognised reference- and working-collections for wheat, oats, barley and peas, which serves UK and non-UK based academic, industrial and non-industrial groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alison Mary Smith</span> British biologist (born 1954)

Alison Mary Smith is a British biologist. She is Strategic Programme Leader at the John Innes Centre in Norwich and an Honorary Professor at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne Ridley</span> Professor of Cell Biology

Anne Jacqueline Ridley is a British biologist who is professor of Cell Biology and Head of School for Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of Bristol. She was previously a professor at King's College London.

Rosemary Carpenter is a British plant geneticist known for her work on members of the genus Antirrhinum, commonly known as a snapdragon, for which she and Enrico Coen were awarded the 2004 Darwin Medal by the Royal Society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne Osbourn</span> Professor of biology

Anne Elisabeth Osbourn is a professor of biology and group leader at the John Innes Centre, where she investigates plant natural product biosynthesis. She discovered that in the plant genome, the genes involved with biosynthesis organise in clusters. She is also a popular science communicator, poet and is the founder of the Science, Art and Writing (SAW) Initiative. She was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2022.

Kathryn Rachel Ayscough is a professor of molecular cell biology and head of the department of biomedical science at the University of Sheffield. She was awarded the 2002 Society for Experimental Biology President's Medal. Her research investigates the role of the actin cytoskeleton in membrane trafficking and cell organisation.

Diane Gail Owen Saunders is a British biologist and group leader at the John Innes Centre and an Honorary Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of East Anglia. Her research investigates plant pathogens that pose a threat to agriculture. She was awarded the Rosalind Franklin Award by the Royal Society in 2022.

References

  1. 1 2 Anon (2011). "Cathie R. Martin, John Innes Centre, Norwich, UK, EMBO". people.embo.org. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  2. 1 2 Cathie Martin publications indexed by Google Scholar OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  3. 1 2 Glover, Beverley Jane (1996). Cellular differentiation in plants (PhD thesis). University of East Anglia. OCLC   53660442. EThOS   uk.bl.ethos.497578.
  4. 1 2 Anon (2016). "Catherine Rosemary MARTIN". London: Companies House. Archived from the original on 10 June 2016.
  5. ↑ "Cathie Martin: Metabolic biology". Norwich: John Innes Centre. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016.
  6. ↑ Christian Dubos; Ralf Stracke; Erich Grotewold; Bernd Weisshaar; Cathie Martin; Loïc Lepiniec (30 July 2010). "MYB transcription factors in Arabidopsis". Trends in Plant Science . 15 (10): 573–581. doi:10.1016/J.TPLANTS.2010.06.005. ISSN   1360-1385. PMID   20674465. Wikidata   Q37776860.
  7. ↑ Yang Zhang; Eugenio Butelli; Saleh Alseekh; et al. (26 October 2015). "Multi-level engineering facilitates the production of phenylpropanoid compounds in tomato". Nature Communications . 6: 8635. Bibcode:2015NatCo...6.8635Z. doi:10.1038/NCOMMS9635. ISSN   2041-1723. PMC   4639801 . PMID   26497596. Wikidata   Q36265985.
  8. ↑ Cathie Martin publications from Europe PubMed Central
  9. ↑ Sponge, Creative. "Prof Cathie Martin - John Innes Centre". Jic.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  10. ↑ Martin, Catherine Rosemary (1981). Plant cell differentiation during seed germination. cam.ac.uk (PhD thesis). University of Cambridge. OCLC   557040208. EThOS   uk.bl.ethos.277433.
  11. ↑ "Scientists create new orange superjuice to help beat heart disease". independent.co.uk. The Independent. 13 March 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  12. ↑ Eugenio Butelli; Lucilla Titta; Marco Giorgio; et al. (26 October 2008). "Enrichment of tomato fruit with health-promoting anthocyanins by expression of select transcription factors". Nature Biotechnology . 26 (11): 1301–1308. doi:10.1038/NBT.1506. ISSN   1087-0156. PMID   18953354. Wikidata   Q34866413.
  13. ↑ H Jin; E Cominelli; P Bailey; et al. (1 November 2000). "Transcriptional repression by AtMYB4 controls production of UV-protecting sunscreens in Arabidopsis". The EMBO Journal . 19 (22): 6150–6161. doi:10.1093/EMBOJ/19.22.6150. ISSN   0261-4189. PMC   305818 . PMID   11080161. Wikidata   Q33925419.
  14. ↑ "Genetically-modified purple tomatoes heading for shops". bbc.co.uk. BBC News. 24 January 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  15. 1 2 3 4 "Cathie Martin Profile" (PDF). Brussels: European Parliament. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 January 2015.
  16. ↑ Cathie Martin publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
  17. ↑ Ledford, Heidi (2022). "Gene-edited tomatoes could provide new source of vitamin D". Nature. doi:10.1038/d41586-022-01443-2. PMID   35606436. S2CID   249015294 . Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  18. ↑ Geddes, Linda (23 May 2022). "Scientists create tomatoes genetically edited to bolster vitamin D levels". theguardian.com. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  19. ↑ Smith, Alison Mary; Coupand, George; Dolan, Liam; Harberd, Nicholas; Jones, Jonathan; Martin, Cathie; Sablowski, Robert; Amey, Abigail (2009). Plant Biology . Garland Science. ISBN   978-0815340256.
  20. 1 2 "No. 60534". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 June 2013. p. 20.
  21. ↑ "Life Sciences Index » Nutrition Integrates 2014 Speaker – Cathie Martin". Archived from the original on 19 January 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  22. 1 2 Anon (2014). "Innovators 2014 part three – Cathie Martin and Eugenio Butelli's purple tomatoes". bbsrc.ac.uk. BBSRC. Archived from the original on 2 February 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  23. ↑ "Society for Experimental Biology President's Medallists" (PDF). sebiology.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  24. ↑ "Fellows – AAAS MemberCentral". aaas.org. Archived from the original on 19 January 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  25. ↑ "Prof Cathie Martin made an MBE – John Innes Centre". jic.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 4 August 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  26. ↑ Kronfeld, Shoshana (28 March 2017). "Announcing the 2017 ASPB Award Winners". Plant Science Today. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  27. ↑ Anon (2018). "Catherine Martin". royalsociety.org. London: Royal Society . Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  28. ↑ "Rank Prize for Nutrition awarded to Professor Cathie Martin". John Innes Centre. 28 September 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
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