Rate My Professor Wim Van den Ende

Through his studies on 'sweet immunity,' Van den Ende has demonstrated how fructan oligosaccharides prime crops such as chicory, lettuce, tomato, rocket, and wheat for enhanced resistance to fungal infections via apoplastic sugar dynamics and ethylene-dependent mechanisms. His investigations also cover sugar signaling, reactive oxygen species modulation, autophagy, and environmental influences like light and CO2 on stomatal function and metabolism. With over 200 publications and more than 14,500 citations, key works include the book The Book of Fructans (2023), 'Fructan oligosaccharide priming associates with apoplastic sugar dynamics and improved resistance against Botrytis cinerea in chicory' (2022), 'Sweet Immunity Aspects during Levan Oligosaccharide-Mediated Priming in Rocket against Botrytis cinerea' (2022), and 'Fructans of the Salty World' (2018). He teaches courses on plant development, metabolic regulation, functional plant biology, and biomolecular interactions, and is a member of the KU Leuven Plant Institute, contributing to projects on crop protection and sustainable agriculture.