Plant Pathology: Study of Battles between Pathogens and Plants
Pathogens cause various diseases in plants, which leads to severely reduced crop production. Although agricultural technologies are now well developed, approximately 10% to 15% of food crops are lost because of diseases caused by pathogens. However, it is also true that plants are not always killed by pathogens because they have developed various defense mechanisms against pathogen agents. Thus, there have been endless heroic battles between plants and pathogens from ancient times to today. In our group, various analyses, such as molecular biological and cell biological approaches, are being used to study pathogen-plant interactions, especially the interactions of plants with plant pathogenic fungi, bacteria, and viruses. Our challenge is to reveal the mysteries of these plant-pathogen interactions and develop new technologies for crop protection based on the new knowledge obtained. We are globally recruiting new members who have a strong interest in the battles between plants and pathogens and want to solve these mysteries.
