Division of Plant Sciences

Plant-Microbe Interactions Research Unit

　Most plant diseases are caused by fungi, bacteria and viruses. These pathogens interact with plants in complex manners. For example, some microbes invade plant tissues by recognizing specific surface structures of plants and multiply using specific plant factors. On the other hand, plants resist microbes by eliciting resistance responses to which some microbes further develop counter-defense mechanisms. Our research unit aims to understand how microbes and plants interact with each other, and to establish sustainable strategies to protect crops from pathogen infection.

Rice plants infected with the rice blast fungus We have revealed how the rice blast fungus evades the host innate immune recognition response.

Tomato plants inoculated with a virus TMGMV We have revealed the mechanism by which a TMGMV mutant became infectious to a non-host plant, tomato.