Göttinger Graduiertenzentrum für Neurowissenschaften, Biophysik und Molekulare Biowissenschaften

Prof. Dr. Salma Balazadeh

Professor of Molecular Stress Physiology of Plants


  • Since April 2025: Full Professor, Department of Molecular Stress Physiology of Plants, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany
  • 2019–2025: Associate Professor, Molecular Plant Stress Biology, Institute of Biology, Faculty of Science, Leiden University, The Netherlands
  • 2016–2022: Research Group Leader, Stress Control Networks, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology (MPI-MP), Potsdam, Germany
  • 2016: Habilitation in Molecular Plant Physiology, University of Potsdam, Faculty of Science, Potsdam, Germany
  • 2010–2016: Group leader of cooperative Research Group “Gene Regulatory Networks” MPI-MP, Potsdam, Germany
  • 2008–2010: Research Associate, Department of Molecular Biology, University of Potsdam, Germany
  • 2004–2008: Molecular Plant Biology, University of Potsdam, Germany
  • 2001–2004: Master of Science in Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Tehran, Iran
  • 1997–2001: Bachelor of Science in Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Tehran, Iran




Major Research Interests

Our research focuses on how plants (including crops) cope with environmental stresses, particularly heat and drought, and how interactions with beneficial microbes change plant behavior under stress, using molecular, physiological, and genomic approaches.


Homepage Department/Research Group
https://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/prof.+dr.+salma+balazadeh/313395.html


Selected Recent Publications


  • Staacke, T., Mueller Roeber. B., Balazadeh S. (2025) Stress resilience in plants: the complex interplay between heat stress memory and resetting. New Phytol. 245(6):2402–2421.
  • Rankenberg, T., van Veen, H., Sedaghatmehr, M., Liao, CY., Devaiah, MB., Stouten, EA., Balazadeh S. and Sasidharan, R. Differential leaf flooding resilience in Arabidopsis thaliana is controlled by ethylene signaling-activated and age-dependent phosphorylation of ORESARA1. Plant Commun., 19:100848. 2024. doi: 10.1016/j.xplc.2024.100848.
  • Sedaghatmehr, M., Balazadeh S. (2024) Autophagy: A Key Player in the Recovery of Plants from Heat Stress J. Exp. Bot., 75(8):2246-2255.
  • Thonglim, A., Bortolami, G., Delzon, S., Larter, M., Offringa, R., Keurentjes, J.J.B., Smets, E., Balazadeh S. and Lens, F. Drought response in Arabidopsis displays synergistic coordination between stems and leaves. J. Exp. Bot., 74 (3), 1004-1021. 2023. doi: 10.1093/jxb/erac446.
  • Dong, S., Tarkowska, D., Sedaghatmehr, M., Welsch, M., Gupta, S., Mueller-Roeber, B. and Balazadeh S. The HB40–JUB1 transcription regulatory network controls gibberellin homeostasis in Arabidopsis. Mol. Plant, 15: 1-18. 2022. doi: 10.1016/j.molp.2021.10.007.
  • Sedaghatmehr, M., Thirumalaikumar, V.P., Kamranfar, I., Schulz, K., Mueller-Roeber, B., Sampathkumar, A., and Balazadeh S. (2021). Autophagy complements metalloprotease FtsH6 in degrading plastid heat shock protein HSP21 during heat stress recovery. J. Exp. Bot., 29:erab304.
  • Thirumalaikumar, V.P., Gorka, M., Schulz, K., Masclaux-Daubresse, C., Sampathkumar, A., Skirycz, A., Vierstra, R.D. and Balazadeh S. Selective autophagy regulates heat stress memory by NBR1-mediated targeting of HSP90 and ROF1 in Arabidopsis. Autophagy, 24: 1-16. 2020. doi: 10.1080/15548627.2020.1820778.
  • Durian, G., Sedaghatmehr, M., Matallana-Ramirez, L.P., Schilling, S., Schaepe, S., Guerra, T., Herde, M., Witte, C.-P., Mueller-Roeber, B., Schulze, W.X., Balazadeh S., and Romeis, T. (2020) Calcium-dependent protein kinase CPK1 controls cell death by in vivo phosphorylation of senescence master regulator ORE1. Plant Cell, 32: 1610-1625.