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Nihal Öztolan Erol

PhD in Plant Genetics

Education

PhD, Wageningen University & Research, 2009-2013

MSc ,Molecular Biology, Genetics and Bioengineering, Sabancı University, 2007-2009

BSE, Molecular Biology, Genetics and Bioengineering, Sabancı University, 2002-2007

Work Experience

Principal Researcher, Sabancı University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center, 2021-Present

Lecturer, Doğayı Düzenlemek: Tarım Devriminden CRISPR’a, Sabancı University Summer High School, 2021-2024

Lecturer, Bitki Biyoteknolojisi, Sabancı University Summer High School, 2021-2025

Lecturer, Natural Sciences 201, Discovering Life, July-August 2020

Post-Doc Researcher, Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, 2019-2021

Post-Doc Researcher, Sabancı University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center, 2016-2018

Biotech Breeder, Enza Zaden, Enkhuizen Netherlands, 2014-2016

Research Interests

  • Plant genetic mutations
  • Genetic improvement of plants under abiotic stress
  • Genetic editing in plants using CRISPR/Cas9
  • Gene delivery into plant tissues via nanoparticles
  • Design of agriculturally applicable, biocompatible, and sustainable nanoparticles
  • Hydroponic farming
  • Digital phenotyping

Last 5 Publications

Tsugawa, H., Nakabayashi, R., Mori, T., Yamada, Y., Takahashi, M., Rai, A., Sugiyama, R., Yamamoto, H., Nakaya, T., Yamazaki, M., Kooke, R., Bac-Molenaar, J. A., Oztolan-Erol, N., Keurentjes, J. J. B., Arita, M., & Saito, K. (2019). A cheminformatics approach to characterize metabolomes in stable-isotope-labeled organisms. Nature methods, 16(4), 295–298. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-019-0358-2

Helmstetter, A. J., Öztolan-Erol, N., Lucas, S. J., & Buggs, R. J. A. (2020). Genetic diversity and domestication of hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) in Turkey. Plants, People, Planet, 2(4), 326–339. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10078

Öztolan-Erol, N., Helmstetter, A. J., İnan, A., Buggs, R. J. A., & Lucas, S. J. (2021). Unraveling Genetic Diversity Amongst European Hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) Varieties in Turkey. Frontiers in Plant Sciences, 12, 661274. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.661274

Öztolan-Erol, N. (2024). Soybean improvement and the role of gene editing. In A. Ricroch, D. Eriksson, D. Miladinović, J. Sweet, K. Van Laere, & E. Woźniak-Gientka (Eds.), A Roadmap for Plant Genome Editing (pp. 271–289). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-46150-7_17

Şener, G., Başaran, R., Çobandede, Z., Çakmak, M., Lucas, S., & Öztolan-Erol, N. (2025). Comparative analysis of selenium nanoparticles and polyethyleneimine-functionalised carbon nanotubes for DNA delivery in Arabidopsis thaliana. Annals of Applied Biology, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1111/aab.70047

Memberships

AAB Association of Applied Biologists