Recognizing Plant Physiology authors: MD Asraful Jahan

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MD Asraful Jahan, first author of Glyceollin Transcription Factor GmMYB29A2 Regulates Soybean Resistance to Phytophthora sojae

Current Position: Associate Professor, Department of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet-3114, Bangladesh

Education: PhD in Genetics and Developmental Biology, Plant and Soil Sciences Division, Davis College of Agriculture Natural Resources and Design, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia-26506, USA.  M.Phil. in Biological Sciences, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh, M.Sc. in Genetics and Breeding, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh, B.Sc. in Genetics and Breeding, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh.

Non-scientific Interests: Volunteer Social Services, playing Badminton, swimming, cycling, travelling

Brief Bio: When I was a high school student, I was fascinated by some science features on GMO and it created a great inspiration to study in the field of DNA Sciences. To fulfill my dream, I got admitted to the Department of Genetics and Breeding (Now, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology) of the University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh. After completing my undergraduate and graduate studies with outstanding academic performances, I joined as a faculty in the Department of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, Bangladesh. Then I took study leave and joined the Kovinich Lab at West Virginia University, USA for PhD and worked on the genetic regulation of the elicitation of glyceollin biosynthesis in soybean. We aimed to understand the effect of abiotic and biotic stresses on glyceollin biosynthesis. We found GmNAC42-1 is a regulator of glyceollin conserved in Soybean and Arabidopsis and it is the first identified conserved component for phytoalexin GRNs in plants. The transcription factor (TF) GmNAC42-1 was essential for full activation of glyceollin biosynthesis but was not sufficient to activate all of the biosynthetic genes involved. Here, we showed that GmMYB29A2, an R2R3-type MYB TF is also essential for the full activation of glyceollin biosynthesis and important for providing resistance against race 1 P. sojae.