William F. Martin
Encyclopedia
William Martin is an American botanist, currently Head of the Institut für Botanik III, Heinrich Heine
-Universität, Düsseldorf
.
Born in Bethesda, Maryland
, Martin was educated at Richland College
, Dallas, Texas, and Texas A&M University
. After working as a carpenter
in Dallas, Martin moved to Hannover, Germany, and obtained his university Diploma from Technische Universität Hannover in 1985. Martin's PhD is from Max-Planck-Institut für Züchtungsforschung, Cologne, where he did postdoctoral research, followed by further postdoctoral work at Institut für Genetik, Technische Universität Braunschweig, where he obtained his Habilitation
in 1992. In 1999, Martin became full (C4) professor at Universitaet Düsseldorf.
Martin is a distinguished and sometimes controversial contributor to the field of molecular evolution
. He is know particularly for his work on the evolution of the Calvin cycle
and plastids including chloroplasts, and, more generally, for contributions to understanding the origin and evolution of eukaryotic cells. Martin is co-author, with Miklos Mueller of Rockefeller University
, of the 1998 paper The Hydrogen hypothesis
for the first eukaryote
. A wealth of subsequent research papers include contributions, independently and with Michael J. Russell of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, to understanding the geochemical origins of cells and their biochemical pathways.
Heinrich Heine
Christian Johann Heinrich Heine was one of the most significant German poets of the 19th century. He was also a journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder by composers such as Robert Schumann...
-Universität, Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
.
Born in Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda is a census designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House , which in turn took its name from Jerusalem's Pool of Bethesda...
, Martin was educated at Richland College
Richland College
Richland College is a community college that is part of the Dallas County Community College District and is located near the Lake Highlands area of Dallas, Texas near the border with Richardson and Garland. The school was founded in 1972 and is the largest school in the DCCCD, featuring nearly...
, Dallas, Texas, and Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
. After working as a carpenter
Carpenter
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
in Dallas, Martin moved to Hannover, Germany, and obtained his university Diploma from Technische Universität Hannover in 1985. Martin's PhD is from Max-Planck-Institut für Züchtungsforschung, Cologne, where he did postdoctoral research, followed by further postdoctoral work at Institut für Genetik, Technische Universität Braunschweig, where he obtained his Habilitation
Habilitation
Habilitation is the highest academic qualification a scholar can achieve by his or her own pursuit in several European and Asian countries. Earned after obtaining a research doctorate, such as a PhD, habilitation requires the candidate to write a professorial thesis based on independent...
in 1992. In 1999, Martin became full (C4) professor at Universitaet Düsseldorf.
Martin is a distinguished and sometimes controversial contributor to the field of molecular evolution
Molecular evolution
Molecular evolution is in part a process of evolution at the scale of DNA, RNA, and proteins. Molecular evolution emerged as a scientific field in the 1960s as researchers from molecular biology, evolutionary biology and population genetics sought to understand recent discoveries on the structure...
. He is know particularly for his work on the evolution of the Calvin cycle
Calvin cycle
The Calvin cycle or Calvin–Benson-Bassham cycle or reductive pentose phosphate cycle or C3 cycle or CBB cycle is a series of biochemical redox reactions that take place in the stroma of chloroplasts in photosynthetic organisms...
and plastids including chloroplasts, and, more generally, for contributions to understanding the origin and evolution of eukaryotic cells. Martin is co-author, with Miklos Mueller of Rockefeller University
Rockefeller University
The Rockefeller University is a private university offering postgraduate and postdoctoral education. It has a strong concentration in the biological sciences. It is also known for producing numerous Nobel laureates...
, of the 1998 paper The Hydrogen hypothesis
Hydrogen hypothesis
The hydrogen hypothesis is a model proposed by William F. Martin and Miklós Müller in 1998 that describes a possible way in which the mitochondrion arose as an endosymbiont within a prokaryote , giving rise to a symbiotic association of two cells from which the first eukaryotic cell could have...
for the first eukaryote
Eukaryote
A eukaryote is an organism whose cells contain complex structures enclosed within membranes. Eukaryotes may more formally be referred to as the taxon Eukarya or Eukaryota. The defining membrane-bound structure that sets eukaryotic cells apart from prokaryotic cells is the nucleus, or nuclear...
. A wealth of subsequent research papers include contributions, independently and with Michael J. Russell of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, to understanding the geochemical origins of cells and their biochemical pathways.
Awards
- 1990: Heinz Maier-Leibnitz-PreisHeinz Maier-Leibnitz-PreisThe Heinz Maier-Leibnitz-Preis , in honor and memory of the German physicist Heinz Maier-Leibnitz, is funded by the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung , and it is awarded by a selection committee appointed by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the BMBF...
of the Deutsche ForschungsgemeinschaftDeutsche ForschungsgemeinschaftThe Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft is an important German research funding organization and the largest such organization in Europe.-Function:... - 1997: Technology Transfer Prize, Industrie und Handelskammer Braunschweig
- 1998: Miescher-Ishida Prize of the International Society of Endocytobiology
Honours
- 2000-2007 Foreign Associate, CIAR Programme in Evolutionary Biology
- 2001- Faculty 1000 Member for Plant Genomes and Evolution
- 2006- Elected Fellow, American Academy for Microbiology
- 2006-2009 Julius von Haast Fellow of the New Zealand Ministry for Research, Science and Technology
- 2008 Elected Member of the Nordrhein-Westfälische Akademie der Wissenschaften
Selected publications
- Martin W, Mueller M: The hydrogen hypothesis for the first eukaryote. Nature 392:37-41 (1998).
- Martin W, Stoebe B, Goremykin V, Hansmann S, Hasegawa M, Kowallik KV: Gene transfer to the nucleus and the evolution of chloroplasts. Nature 393:162-165 (1998).
- Race HL, Herrmann RG, Martin W: Why have organelles retained genomes? Trends in Genetics 15:364-370 (1999).
- Martin W, Rujan T, Richly E, Hansen A, Cornelsen S, Lins T, Leister D, Stoebe B, Hasegawa M, Penny D: Evolutionary analysis of Arabidopsis, cyanobacterial, and chloroplast genomes reveals plastid phylogeny and thousands of cyanobacterial genes in the nucleus. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99: 12246–12251 (2002).
- Martin W, Russell MJ: On the origins of cells: An hypothesis for the evolutionary transitions from abiotic geochemistry to chemoautotrophic prokaryotes, and from prokaryotes to nucleated cells. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond. B 358:59–85 (2003)