Koichi Sugimoto: Plant Physiology First Author

Koichi Sugimoto, first author of “Flavonoid Deficiency Disrupts Redox Homeostasis and Terpenoid Biosynthesis in Glandular Trichomes of Tomato”

Current Position: Assistant Professor at University of Tsukuba

Education: Ph.D. in Life Sciences at Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences

Non-scientific Interests: Cooking and eating, growing indoor plants

Brief bio: My research interest is how plant specialized metabolites work on plant-animal interactions. After doctoral thesis in lipid metabolism of microalgae, I switched my research area to chemical ecology of lipid derived volatile compounds in the context of plant-plant interactions under the supervision of Prof. Kenji Matsui at Yamaguchi University and Prof. Junji Takabayashi at Kyoto University. During that period, I found that volatile compounds derived from herbivore infested plants were absorbed in the surrounding uninfested plants and converted into the defensive glycoside against the forthcoming herbivores. After the first post-doc period, I moved to Prof. Gregg Howe’s lab at Michigan State University and worked on the metabolic regulation of defensive volatiles in tomato glandular trichomes.

Currently, I joined University of Tsukuba as Assistant Professor for tomato bioresource (https://tomatoma.nbrp.jp/) and explore the resources involved in the plant-herbivore interactions such as trichome formation and defensive metabolisms, via the two year training in Yamaguchi University as Research Assistant Professor.