Miyuki T. Nakata: Plant Physiology First Author

Miyuki T. Nakata, co-first author of “Pulvinar Slits: Cellulose-deficient and De-Methyl-Esterified Pectin-Rich Structures in a Legume Motor Cell”

Current Position:
Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Japan

Education:
Ph.D., Department of Botany, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Japan

Non-scientific interests:
Walking and train watching with my son, Python programming

Brief bio:
My research career began in 2005 as an undergraduate student in the laboratory of Professor Kiyotaka Okada at Kyoto University, Japan. I was interested in the diversity of plant morphology, especially leaves and flowers, and was very impressed by the elegant way in which genes control the morphogenesis of plant organs. Therefore, I studied the molecular mechanisms controlling early leaf development using Arabidopsis thaliana at Kyoto University and National Institute for Basic Biology, Japan, and lateral root development at Rikkyo University, Japan. As a postdoctoral researcher at National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan, I investigated the role of the plant cell wall and its regulatory genes by combining molecular genetics and image informatics. In my current position, I’m focusing on the deformation of mature plant organs and broadening the scope of my research from Arabidopsis thaliana to all land plants. My research aims to elucidate how plants determine and control organ shape in the context of development and evolution by integrating multiple analyses, including 2D/3D imaging, image informatics, mechanics, anatomy, bioinformatics and molecular genetics.