Plant Science
Plant Pathology
Introduction
Brief introduction
We study plant-pathogen interactions at the molecular level to control plant diseases.
In nature, plants are continuously attacked by various pathogens including fungi, bacteria and viruses. Infection of such pathogens often bring severe yield losses in crop fields. To protect crops from pathogen infections, it is important to investigate plant-pathogen interactions at the molecular level and to develop useful methods to control plant diseases based on the findings. We apply molecular biology techniques to study the following aspects in plant-pathogen interactions, especially focusing on cucumber mosaic virus, one of the most destructive plant pathogens in the world:
1) plant immune system against viral pathogens,
2) signal transduction pathway conferring resistance to the pathogens,
3) infection strategies of pathogens,
4) evolution mechanisms of pathogens.

Keywords
Viruses, resistance genes, superorganism, mathematical modeling