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afbeelding van Mark  Zwart

Dr. Mark Zwart

Researcher

Microbial Ecology


Research expertise
  • Genomics
  • bacteria
  • ecology and evolution
  • insect viruses
  • modeling
  • plant viruses

  • Page last updated: 02-02-2021

    • CV
    • Groepen
    • Wetenschappelijke publicaties
    • Populair-wetenschappelijke publicaties
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    My work focuses on the ecology and evolution of viruses and bacteria. I am particularly interested in the evolution of genome organization and its implications for adaptation, and the effects of size and structure of populations on adaptation and the repeatability of evolution. I work on a broad range of topics, ranging from understanding the exotic genome organization of some plant viruses (multipartite viruses), to how the community-context and spatial processes influence the evolution of antibiotic resistance in bacteria, to developing and testing simple models of bacterial and virus infection. I'm participating in the eco-evolutionary dynamics, disease ecology and microbiomes NIOO research themes.

     

    Short bio

    I've been fascinated by living organisms and scientific exploration for as long as I can remember. My interest in evolution was first sparked at an early age by exposure to Creationist materials, so Kent Hovind does get some credit for making an evolutionary biologist out of me. Later on I became particularly interested in viruses, and pounced on the opportunity to do a PhD on the evolution of baculoviruses infecting caterpillars. Afterwards I worked on the evolution of plant RNA viruses, trying to understand the evolution of their large-scale genome organization (genome size, gene order) by means of experimental evolution. More recently I've worked on an entirely different bug - an antibiotic resistance gene (TEM beta-lactamase) in Escherichia coli - and different questions - how repeatable and predictable is the evolution of antibiotic resistance? In 2017 I had the privilege of joining the Microbial Ecology Department at NIOO-KNAW as a tenure track researcher. I'm interested in whisky, korfbal, music (currently I am mastering the kazoo), the occasional spat of drawing, and did I mention modeling bacterial and viral infection?

     

     

    Work experience:

    2017-present: Tenure-track researcher in the Microbial Ecology Department, NIOO-KNAW.

    2014-2017: Postdoctoral researcher at Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Cologne & the Laboratory of Genetics, Wageningen University and Research

    2012-2014: Juan de la Cierva postdoctoral fellow at the Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP, CSIC-UPV), Valencia, Spain

    2010-2012: NWO Rubicon postdoctoral fellow at the Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP, CSIC-UPV), Valencia, Spain

    2008-2009: Postdoctoral researcher at the Quantitative Veterinary Epidemiology Group, Wageningen University and Research

     

    Education:

    PhD (2008): Infection biology and evolution of insect virueses, Laboratories of Virology and Genetics, Wageningen University and Research

    MSc (2003): Life Sciences, Utrecht University

    BSc (2001): Science, University College Utrecht

     

    Projects:

    NWO VIDI Innovational Research Incentives Scheme (2017-2022): On the evolution of genome segmentation in plant RNA viruses

    NWO/ZonMw Antimicrobial Resistance Program (2016-2020): Microbiome invasion and transmission of plasmid-mediated antimicrobial resistance (MITAR, Lead investigator: Dr. Egil Fischer.)

    John Templeton Foundation ´Big Questions´ Program (2012-2015) :Experimental evolution of genome architecture and complexity in an RNA virus (Lead investigator: Dr. Santiago F. Elena)

    Juan de la Cierva personal fellowship (2012-2014)

    NWO Rubicon personal fellowship (2010-2012)

     

    Formal supervision of PhD students:

    Bui Thi Minh Dieu (2010)

    Tran Thi Tuyet Hoa (2012)

    Anouk Willemsen (2016)

    Jesse Alderliesten (expected 2021)

    Marcelle Johnson (expected 2022)

    Dieke Boezen (expected 2023)

     

     

    Zwart group
    Microbes evolve rapidly, making it difficult to study their ecology without considering their evolution. At the same time, microbes interact with each other,...Read more

      2022

    • Ampt, E., van Ruijven, J., Zwart, M., Raaijmakers, J. M., Termorshuizen, A. J., & Mommer, L. (2022). Plant neighbours can make or break the disease transmission chain of a fungal root pathogen. New Phytologist, 233(3), 1303-1316. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17866
    • Alderliesten, J. B., Zwart, M. P., de Visser, J. A. G. M., Stegeman, A., & Fischer, E. A. J. (2022). Second compartment widens plasmid invasion conditions: Two-compartment pair-formation model of conjugation in the gut. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 533, [110937]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtbi.2021.110937
    • 2021

    • Duxbury, S. J. N., Alderliesten, J. B., Zwart, M. P., Stegeman, A., Fischer, E. A. J., & de Visser, J. A. G. M. (2021). Chicken gut microbiome members limit the spread of an antimicrobial resistance plasmid in Escherichia coli. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 288(1962), [20212027]. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.2027
    • Sanjuán, R., Illingworth, C. J. R., Geoghegan, J. L., Iranzo, J., Zwart, M., Ciota, A. T., Moratorio, G., Gago-Zachert, S., Duffy, S., & Vijaykrishna, D. (2021). Five Challenges in the Field of Viral Diversity and Evolution. Frontiers in Virology, 1, 1-5. [684949]. https://doi.org/10.3389/fviro.2021.684949
    • Hasiów-Jaroszewska, B., Boezen, D., & Zwart, M. P. (2021). Metagenomic studies of viruses in weeds and wild plants: A powerful approach to characterise variable virus communities. Viruses, 13(10), [1939]. https://doi.org/10.3390/v13101939
    • Zwart, M. P., Blanc, S., Johnson, M., Manrubia, S., Michalakis, Y., & Sofonea, M. T. (2021). Unresolved advantages of multipartitism in spatially structured environments. Virus Evolution, 7(1), [veab004]. https://doi.org/10.1093/ve/veab004
    • 2020

    • Alderliesten, J. B., Duxbury, S. J. N., Zwart, M. P., de Visser, J. A. G. M., Stegeman, A., & Fischer, E. A. J. (2020). Effect of donor-recipient relatedness on the plasmid conjugation frequency: a meta-analysis. BMC Microbiology, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12866-020-01825-4
    • Zwart, M., & Elena, S. F. (2020). Modeling multipartite virus evolution: the genome formula facilitates rapid adaptation to heterogeneous environments. Virus Evolution, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.1093/ve/veaa022
    • 2019

    • Zwart, M., Ali, G., van Strien, E. A., Schijlen, E. G. W. M., van der Werf, W., Vlak, J. M., & Wang, M. (2019). Identification of loci associated with enhanced virulence in Spodoptera litura nucleopolyhedrovirus isolates using a deep sequencing approach. Viruses, 11(9), [872]. https://doi.org/10.3390/v11090872
    • Willemsen, A., & Zwart, M. P. (2019). On the stability of sequences inserted into viral genomes. Virus Evolution, 5(2), [vez045]. https://doi.org/10.1093/ve/vez045
    • 2018

    • Ibrahim, B., Arkhipova, K., Andeweg, A. C., Posada-Céspedes, S., Enault, F., Gruber, A., Koonin, E. V., Kupczok, A., Lemey, P., McHardy, A. C., McMahon, D. P., Pickett, B. E., Robertson, D. L., Scheuermann, R. H., Zhernakova, A., Zwart, M. P., Schönhuth, A., Dutilh, B. E., & Marz, M. (2018). Bioinformatics Meets Virology: The European Virus Bioinformatics Center's Second Annual Meeting. Viruses, 10(5), [256]. https://doi.org/10.3390/v10050256
    • Willemsen, A., Carrasco, J. L., Elena, S. F., & Zwart, M. (2018). Going, going, gone: predicting the fate of genomic insertions in plant RNA viruses. Heredity, 121, 499-509. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41437-018-0086-x
    • Gutiérrez, S., & Zwart, M. (2018). Population bottlenecks in multicomponent viruses: First forays into the uncharted territory of genome-formula drift. Current Opinion in Virology, 33(December), 184-190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coviro.2018.09.001
    • Ngo, T. T. N., Senior, A. M., Culina, A., Santos, E. S. A., Vlak, J. M., & Zwart, M. (2018). Quantitative analysis of the dose–response of white spot syndrome virus in shrimp. Journal of Fish Diseases, 41(11), 1733-1744. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfd.12877
    • Zwart, M., Schenk, M. F., Hwang, S., Koopmanschap, A. B., de Lange, N., van de Pol, L., Nga, T. T. T., Szendro, I. G., Krug, J., & de Visser, A. (2018). Unraveling the causes of adaptive benefits of synonymous mutations in TEM-1 β-lactamase. Heredity, 121, 406-421. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41437-018-0104-z

      2019

    • Zwart, M. (2019). Reader’s View: Stop ‘academic slavery’ in sandwich PhD programmes. https://resource.wur.nl/nl/show/Readers-View-Stop-academic-slavery-in-sandwich-PhD-programmes.htm

    Contact

    +31 (0)317 473 431

    Droevendaalsesteeg 10
    6708 PB Wageningen 
    +31 (0)317 47 34 00

    Postbus 50 
    6700 AB Wageningen

    M.Zwart@nioo.knaw.nl

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