Recognizing Plant Physiology author Masaru Nakayasu

Masaru Nakayasu, first author of Tomato roots secrete tomatine to modulate the bacterial assemblage of the rhizosphere

Current Position: Specially appointed assistant professor, Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University, Japan

Education: BA, MS, and Ph.D., Kobe University, Japan

Non-scientific Interests: reading novels and essays, listening to the radio, watching TV

Brief bio: I studied biosynthesis of plant specialized metabolites using techniques of molecular biology and biochemistry under the supervision of Assoc. Prof. Masaharu Mizutani at Kobe University, Japan for eight years from 2010. My doctoral thesis work is characterization of steroidal saponin biosynthesis in Solanum and Dioscorea plants and I received a Ph.D. in 2016. In 2018, I joined the group of Assoc. Prof. Akifumi Sugiyama, Kyoto University, Japan, as a postdoctoral fellow. My current work is investigation of plant-microbe interactions and modulation of microbiota mediated by plant metabolites in rhizosphere.