Micha Wijesingha Ahchige: Plant Physiology First Author

Micha Wijesingha Ahchige, first author of “PANTOTHENATE KINASE4, LOSS OF GDU2, and TRANSPOSON PROTEIN1 affect the canalization of tomato fruit metabolism”

Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher (Data Steward from DataPlant at MPIMP)

Education:   B. Sc. (Biology) University of Cologne; M.Sc. (Agrobiotechnology) Justus-Liebig-University Gießen; Dr. rer. nat. (Molecular Plant Physiology) Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology

Non-scientific Interests: (vegan) cooking, cycling

Brief bio:

I started my studies in biology at the University of Cologne, where I became interested in plant metabolism and wrote my bachelor’s thesis in the lab of Prof. Flügge. Here I studied the effect of secondary metabolites on root-associated bacteria. I chose to do my master’s degree at the Justus-Liebig-University Gießen, in agrobiotechnology and wrote my master’s thesis in the phytopathology lab of Prof. Kogel, where I investigated the role of gene silencing in the defense against pathogens. Upon completion, I joined the International Max Planck Research School ‘Primary Metabolism and Plant Growth’ at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology in Potsdam. Here I did my Ph.D. studies in the lab of Prof. Fernie, where I studied the canalization of plant metabolism and yield, primarily in tomato. I am currently employed by DataPlant as a data steward and am still a guest researcher at the Fernie lab.