L.H.W. van der Plas
Papers
1
Total Citations
311
H-Index
1
About
L.H.W. van der Plas is a leading figure in seed physiology and plant biology, best known for pioneering high-throughput methods to quantify and analyze germination. Their most cited work, the development of the Germinator software package (2009, 311 citations), revolutionized seed research by enabling automated scoring and curve fitting of Arabidopsis germination data. This tool replaced labor-intensive manual counting, allowing researchers to capture subtle temporal dynamics in germination behavior with unprecedented accuracy and scale. Van der Plas’s contributions have been instrumental in advancing our understanding of seed dormancy, vigor, and environmental responses—critical areas for both basic plant science and agricultural seed quality improvement. By providing the community with robust, open-source analytical tools, their work has facilitated numerous studies linking genetic, hormonal, and environmental factors to germination phenotypes. The enduring impact of this software is reflected in its continued citation over a decade later, underscoring van der Plas’s role in modernizing seed physiology research and enabling high-throughput phenotyping that drives discovery in plant development and crop science.
Research Focus
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Top Papers
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