Rob Martienssen
Professor & HHMI Investigator
William J. Matheson Professor
Cancer Center Member
Ph.D., Cambridge University, 1986
[email protected] | 516-367-8322
Chromosomes are covered with chemical modifications that help control gene expression. I study this secondary genetic code - the epigenome - and how it is guided by small mobile RNAs in plants and fission yeast. Our discoveries impact plant breeding and human health, and we use this and other genomic information to improve aquatic plants as a source of bioenergy.
Epigenetic mechanisms of gene regulation鈥攃hemical and conformational changes to DNA and the chromatin that bundles it鈥攈ave had an important impact on genome organization and inheritance and on cell fate. These mechanisms are conserved in eukaryotes and provide an additional layer of information superimposed on the genetic code. Robert Martienssen, a pioneer in the study of epigenetics, investigates mechanisms involved in gene regulation and stem cell fate in yeast and model plants including Arabidopsis and maize. He and his colleagues have shed light on a phenomenon called position-effect variegation, caused by inactivation of a gene positioned near densely packed chromosomal material called heterochromatin. They have discovered that small RNA molecules arising from repeating genetic sequences program that heterochromatin. Martienssen and colleagues have described a remarkable process by which 鈥渃ompanion cells鈥 to sperm in plant pollen grains provide them with instructions that protect sperm DNA from transposon damage. They found that some of these instructions, or epigenetic marks, could be inherited in the next generation. These marks, and the small RNA responsible that guide them, can sense the number of chromosomes inherited from pollen and may allow Arabidopsis, a flowering plant, to produce egg cells without meiosis, an important step toward a long-time goal of plant breeding: generating clonal offspring to perpetuate hybrid vigor. The lab has also shown that when RNA polymerase II has transcribed a stretch of DNA, the RNA interference mechanism causes the enzyme to release its hold on the DNA and fall away. This allows the replication fork to progress smoothly and the DNA strands to be copied; histone-modifying proteins, which follow right along, establish heterochromatin. Martienssen鈥檚 group also continues to work on problems related to the creation of plant-based biofuels. As part of a collaborative project to generate a high-quality full genome map of the oil palm plant, Martienssen and his colleagues identified a transposon whose modification controls the yield of oil palm trees. This discovery will increase yields and should lessen the environmental burden of oil palm production, which often threatens already endangered rainforest lands.
Martienssen named 2020 Royal Society winner
Rob Martienssen wins Martin Gibbs Medal for plant research
CSHL鈥檚 Rob Martienssen honored with prestigious Barbara McClintock Prize
Plant scientist Rob Martienssen receives prestigious appointment as HHMI-GBMF Investigator
鈥淏reakthrough of the Year鈥 for 2002
Meet the School of Biological Sciences Class of 2026
May 7, 2026
This year鈥檚 six Ph.D. recipients reflect on their time and experiences at CSHL.
Uplands Farm: Grounds for discovery
November 12, 2025
How a 12-acre research station is inspiring innovations needed to feed and fuel the world far into the future.
Dicer: Life鈥檚 ancient repair tool
October 28, 2025
In 2014, the Martienssen lab discovered that the Dicer protein helps protect the genome in humans and yeast. Now, they鈥檝e figured out how.
The food and fuel that farms itself
April 1, 2025
Duckweed can grow practically anywhere there鈥檚 sun and standing water. CSHL plant biologists identify the genes behind some of its most useful traits.
Corn鈥檚 ancient ancestors are calling
February 6, 2025
黑料吃瓜资源 Professors Thomas Gingeras and Rob Martienssen have launched a new genomic encyclopedia called MaizeCODE.
Big clues emerge in small RNA mystery
December 16, 2024
How does the body separate 鈥渟elf鈥 from 鈥渘onself?鈥 CSHL Professor Rob Martienssen uncovers fascinating new leads in plant pollen and mouse sperm.
Frog Pond
November 27, 2024
These hopping amphibians aren鈥檛 the only animals that call the pond home. It鈥檚 a living snapshot of our area鈥檚 diverse ecosystem.
At the Lab Season 1 Research Rewind: Genetics
October 22, 2024
It鈥檚 the code for all life on Earth. This week At the Lab, we鈥檙e hacking it with the help of 黑料吃瓜资源鈥檚 geneticists.
Plants have a backup plan
October 3, 2024
CSHL鈥檚 Rob Martienssen and his team discovered how plants like Arabidopsis continue to reproduce even when things go wrong in chromosome division.
At the Lab Episode 25: How maize became corn
September 24, 2024
黑料吃瓜资源 solves a plant biology mystery some 4,000 years in the making. The implications may go far beyond vegetables.
All Publications
23 Jul 2025 | Nature Communications | 16(1):6790
Cahn, Jonathan; Regulski, Michael; Lynn, Jason; Ernst, Evan; de Santis Alves, Cristiane; Ramakrishnan, Srividya; Chougule, Kapeel; Wei, Sharon; Lu, Zhenyuan; Xu, Xiaosa; Ramu, Umamaheswari; Drenkow, Jorg; Danyko, Cassidy; Kramer, Melissa; Seetharam, Arun; Hufford, Matthew; McCombie, W; Ware, Doreen; Jackson, David; Schatz, Michael; Gingeras, Thomas; Martienssen, Robert;
28 Mar 2025 | Current Biology
Ernst, Evan; Abramson, Bradley; Acosta, Kenneth; Hoang, Phuong; Mateo-Elizalde, Cristian; Schubert, Veit; Pasaribu, Buntora; Albert, Patrice; Hartwick, Nolan; Colt, Kelly; Aylward, Anthony; Ramu, Umamaheswari; Birchler, James; Schubert, Ingo; Lam, Eric; Michael, Todd; Martienssen, Robert;
30 Dec 2024 | Nature Communications | 15(1):10854
Cahn, Jonathan; Regulski, Michael; Lynn, Jason; Ernst, Evan; de Santis Alves, Cristiane; Ramakrishnan, Srividya; Chougule, Kapeel; Wei, Sharon; Lu, Zhenyuan; Xu, Xiaosa; Ramu, Umamaheswari; Drenkow, Jorg; Kramer, Melissa; Seetharam, Arun; Hufford, Matthew; McCombie, W; Ware, Doreen; Jackson, David; Schatz, Michael; Gingeras, Thomas; Martienssen, Robert;
30 Oct 2024 | Nature Communications | 15(1):9384
Kim, Hyun-Soo; Roche, Benjamin; Bhattacharjee, Sonali; Todeschini, Leila; Chang, An-Yun; Hammell, Christopher; Verdel, André; Martienssen, Robert;
6 Sep 2024 | Nature Structural & Molecular Biology
Herridge, Rowan; Dolata, Jakub; Migliori, Valentina; de Santis Alves, Cristiane; Borges, Filipe; Schorn, Andrea; van Ex, Frédéric; Lin, Ann; Bajczyk, Mateusz; Parent, Jean-Sebastien; Leonardi, Tommaso; Hendrick, Alan; Kouzarides, Tony; Martienssen, Robert;
2 Sep 2024 | Nature Plants
Shimada, Atsushi; Cahn, Jonathan; Ernst, Evan; Lynn, Jason; Grimanelli, Daniel; Henderson, Ian; Kakutani, Tetsuji; Martienssen, Robert;
30 Aug 2024 | International Journal of Biological Macromolecules | :135150
de Oliveira, Beatriz; Shiburah, Mark; Assis, Luiz; Fontes, Veronica; Bisetegn, Habtye; de Oliveira Passos, Arthur; de Oliveira, Leilane; de Santis Alves, Cristiane; Ernst, Evan; Martienssen, Rob; Gallo-Francisco, Pedro; Giorgio, Selma; Batista, Marcos; de Nazaré Correia Soeiro, Maria; Menna-Barreto, Rubem; Aoki, Juliana; Coelho, Adriano; Cano, Maria;
7 Aug 2024 | Nature
Berube, Benjamin; Ernst, Evan; Cahn, Jonathan; Roche, Benjamin; de Santis Alves, Cristiane; Lynn, Jason; Scheben, Armin; Grimanelli, Daniel; Siepel, Adam; Ross-Ibarra, Jeffrey; Kermicle, Jerry; Martienssen, Robert;
23 Feb 2024 | bioRxiv
Cahn, Jonathan; Regulski, Michael; Lynn, Jason; Ernst, Evan; Alves, Cristiane; Ramakrishnan, Srividya; Chougule, Kapeel; Wei, Sharon; Lu, Zhenyuan; Xu, Xiaosa; Drenkow, Jorg; Kramer, Melissa; Seetharam, Arun; Hufford, Matthew; McCombie, Richard; Ware, Doreen; Jackson, David; Schatz, Michael; Gingeras, Thomas; Martienssen, Robert;
3 Oct 2023 | BMC Plant Biology | 23(1):458
Shi, Hai; Ernst, Evan; Heinzel, Nicolas; McCorkle, Sean; Rolletschek, Hardy; Borisjuk, Ljudmilla; Ortleb, Stefan; Martienssen, Robert; Shanklin, John; Schwender, Jorg;