Prof. Dr. Ulrich Zimmermann

 
    

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Zimmermann, founder of the company ZIM Plant Technology GmbH and Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board. He mentors and advises all national and international ZIM-probe projects. He is also the coordinator of a R&D network project between ZIM Plant Technology GmbH and the University of Applied Science Eberswalde. The project is funded by the ZukunftsAgentur (Economic Development Board) Brandenburg.

From 1969 - 1984 Prof. Dr. Zimmermann was the head of the Membrane Research Group at the Research Center Jülich, Germany, and from 1984 - 2009 head of the Department of Biotechnology at the University of Würzburg, Germany. From July 2009 onwards he is a Seniorprofessor at the Biocenter of the University of Würzburg.


His main fields of research are

              
  • Electromanipulation of cells and organelles    
  • Immunoisolated transplantation of cells    
  • Turgor-mediated processes in algae and higher plants

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    Prof. Dr. Zimmermann is author of c. 500 publications and 120 patents.

     

    Inventions

    His most important inventions which are used worldwide in many laboratories are:

  • the electroporation and electrofusion techniques of cells (together with G. Pilwat)
  • the non-invasive cell electrorotation method (together with W.M. Arnold und V.L. Sukhorukov)
  • the immunoisolated cell transplantation on the basis of ultra-high viscosity alginates (together with H. Zimmermann)
  • the minimal-invasive probe for measuring plant cell turgor (together with H. Räde)
  • the minimal-invasive probe for measuring xylem pressure in plants (together with A. Balling)
  • the magnetic, non-invasive probe for measuring turgor in leafy plants (together with D. Zimmermann)

      Publications

      • Zimmermann U, Neil GA (1995) Electromanipulation of Cells, CRC Press, Boca Raton, New York, London, Tokyo.
      • Zimmermann H, Shirley SG, Zimmermann U (2007) Alginate-based encapsulation of cells: past, present, and future, Diabetes reports 7, 314-320.
      • Zimmermann U, Räde H, Steudle E (1969) Kontinuierliche Druckmessung in Pflanzenzellen. Naturwissenschaften 56, 634.
      • Balling A, Zimmermann U (1990) Comparative measurements of the xylem pressure of Nicotiana plants by means of the pressure bomb and pressure probe. Planta 182, 325-338.
      • Wegner LH, Zimmermann U (2002) Online measurements of K+ activity in the tensile water of the xylem conduit of higher plants. The Plant Journal 32, 409-417.
      • Zimmermann U, Schneider H, Wegner LH, Haase A (2004) Water ascent in tall trees: does evolution of land plants rely on a highly metastable state? New Phytologist (Tansley Review) 162, 575-615.
      • Zimmermann D, Westhoff M, Zimmermann G, Geßner P, Gessner A, Wegner LH, Rokitta M, Ache P, Schneider H, Vásquez JA, Kruck W, Shirley SG, Jakob P, Hedrich R, Bentrup F-W, Bamberg E, Zimmermann U (2007) Foliar water supply of tall trees: evidence for mucilage-facilitated moisture uptake from the atmosphere and the impact on pressure bomb measurements. Protoplasma 232, 11-34.
      • Westhoff M, Schneider H, Zimmermann D, Mimietz S, Stinzing A, Wegner LH, Kaiser W, Krohne G, Shirley SG, Jakob P, Bamberg E, Bentrup F-W, Zimmermann U (2008) The mechanisms of refilling of xylem conduits and bleeding of tall birch during spring. Plant Biology 10, 604-623.
      • Westhoff M, Zimmermann D, Zimmermann G, Geßner P, Wegner LH, Bentrup F-W, Zimmermann U (2009) Distribution and function of epistomatal mucilage plugs. Protoplasma 235, 101-105.
      • Zimmermann D, Reuss R, Westhoff M, Geßner P, Bauer W, Bamberg E, Bentrup F-W, Zimmermann U (2008) A novel, non-invasive, online monitoring, versatile and easy plant-based probe for measuring leaf water status. Journal of Experimental Botany 59, 3157-3167.
      • Westhoff M, Zimmermann D, Schneider H, Wegner LH, Geßner P, Jakob P, Bamberg E, Shirley SG, Bentrup F-W, Zimmermann U (2009) Evidence for discontinuous water columns in the xylem conduit of tall birch trees. Plant Biology 11, 307-327.
      • Westhoff M, Reuss R, Zimmermann D, Netzer Y, Gessner A, Geßner P, Zimmermann G, Wegner LH, Bamberg E, Schwartz A, Zimmermann U (2009). A non-invasive probe for online monitoring of turgor pressure changes under field conditions. Plant Biology 59, 701-712.
      • Zimmermann U, Rüger S, Shapira O, Westhoff M, Wegner LH, Reuss R, Geßner P, Zimmermann G, Israeli Y, Zhou A, Schwartz A, Bamberg E, Zimmermann D (2010) Effects of environmental parameters and irrigation on the turgor pressure of banana plants measured using the non-invasive, online monitoring leaf patch clamp pressure probe. Plant Biology 12, 424-436.

        phone: +49 (0) 33762 5150661

        email: info@zim-plant-technology.com