Unraveling forests from the perspective of microorganisms
Forest ecosystems are home to not only plants and animals, but also invisible microorganisms (fungi and bacteria).
Among them, fungi play various roles, including mycorrhizal fungi that provide nutrients necessary for plant growth, endophytic fungi that live in healthy plant tissues, pathogenic fungi that cause diseases in plants, and saprophytic fungi that decompose fallen leaves and dead woods.
Fungal communities vary greatly depending on the environment, and even a single species can become an endophytic fungus or a pathogen depending on the environmental conditions.
We believe that understanding how fungal species composition and function will change in response to future climate change, and how their interactions with trees will be affected, is an important issue for maintaining healthy forest ecosystems.
My research focuses primarily on pathogenic fungi. My work addresses the following topics: 1) classification, transmission, and reproduction of pathogenic fungi; 2) The influence of environmental factors on the assembly of pathogenic fungal communities, and the subsequent effects on plant growth; and 3) exploring the host specificity of pathogenic fungi.
Our research methodology combines mycology (taxonomy), molecular biology (population genetics, metabarcoding analysis), and plant pathology, and we have achieved results such as population genetic studies of pathogenic fungi and description of new fungal genera and species.
Educational approach
Study nature, not books
I am in charge of ‟Basic Forest Science Practicum I” and ‟Forest Biological Science Experiments” for third-year undergraduate students.
The content is mostly basic, such as observing tree leaves and tissues, fungi, and pests, but I also try to convey the joy of getting a closer look at trees and microorganisms that people have only glanced at casually before.
In our lab (Lab. of Forest Botany), students work on their undergraduate, Master's, and doctoral theses based on topics that align with their own interests.
Research is different from high school and university lectures in that it is an adventure into the unknown, with no answers.
It is important not only to study theoretically, but also to observe the research subject carefully and engage in hands-on work.
I would like to support students in exploring their research topics in depth through fieldwork, experiments, and discussions with the lab members.
Vision for industry-academia collaboration
Looking at microorganisms on a global scale and making use of them
We believe there is potential for collaboration in the following two studies.
1) Predicting the response of trees and microorganisms to climate change: In recent years, analysis using metadata has been actively conducted.
In order to predict the response of trees and microorganisms in forests to climate change, various ecosystem data such as temperature, precipitation, and terrain as well as the data obtained from controlled laboratory conditions are necessary.
We hope to collaborate with those who are skilled in data analyzing in order to improve prediction accuracy.
2) We are also working on rain control by microorganisms.
This aims to artificially controll rainfall by using ice-nucleating substances produced by microorganisms which promote the formation of ice crystals.
We have discovered several previously unknown fungal species with relatively high ice nucleation activity, and we plan to continue our exploration and develop applicable materials.
