Prakitchai Chotewutmontri: Plant Physiology First Author

Prakitchai Chotewutmontri, first author of “Ribosome profiling elucidates differential gene expression in bundle sheath and mesophyll cells in maize”

Current Position: Research Associate, Institute of Molecular Biology, University of Oregon.

Education: Ph.D. Life Sciences (Genome Science and Technology), University of Tennessee. M.S. Computational Biology, New Jersey Institute of Technology. M.S. Genetics (Biochemistry) and B.S. Biology (Genetics), Kasetsart University, Thailand.

Non-scientific Interests: Traveling and hiking with his dog, baking and gardening

Brief bio: Prakitchai goes by his nickname Non. He grew up in a small town in Thailand where he developed a keen interest in nature. Non’s passion for scientific research began with an elementary school experiment: iodine detection of starch in a variegated leaf. He joined the Department of Genetics at Kasetsart University applying DNA marker and genetic analysis to studying plant traits and bacterial antibiotic biosynthesis. During this period, bioinformatic tools became an essential part of his research. Non later moved to the USA and earned an M.S degree in Computational Biology. He joined Dr. Barry Bruce’s laboratory for a Ph.D. program studying functional domains of the chloroplast transit peptide where the integration of bioinformatics and bench work continued to foster his research. Non is currently doing postdoctoral research in the lab of Dr. Alice Barkan where he is exploring translational regulation in plants with an emphasis on chloroplast translation using a next generation sequencing approach.