Rate My Professor Munenori Kitagawa

Kitagawa's research focuses on elucidating the mechanisms of cell-to-cell interactions during plant development and regeneration to develop novel technologies for improving crop productivity. His current projects investigate plant grafting compatibility, addressing how rootstock and scion cells communicate to recognize self or non-self and establish vascular and non-vascular connections, using forward and reverse genetic approaches. He also studies cell-to-cell transport of mRNAs via plasmodesmata in shoot meristems, identifying factors such as the Arabidopsis Ribosomal RNA-Processing Protein 44A (AtRRP44A) that promote selective transport of KNOX homeobox mRNAs essential for stem cell maintenance. Key publications include "An RNA exosome subunit mediates cell-to-cell trafficking of a homeobox mRNA via plasmodesmata" (Science, 2022), "Trafficking and localization of KNOTTED1 related mRNAs in shoot meristems" (Communicative & Integrative Biology, 2022), "Control of Meristem Size" (Annual Review of Plant Biology, 2019), "An Aminoacyl tRNA Synthetase, OKI1, Is Required for Proper Shoot Meristem Size in Arabidopsis" (Plant and Cell Physiology, 2019), "Abscisic Acid Acts as a Regulator of Molecular Trafficking through Plasmodesmata in the Moss Physcomitrella patens" (Plant and Cell Physiology, 2019), and "SHOOT MERISTEMLESS trafficking controls axillary meristem formation, meristem size and organ boundaries in Arabidopsis" (The Plant Journal, 2017). Awards include the Journal of Plant Research Best Paper Award in September 2014 for his work on quantitative imaging of plasmodesmatal transport in moss protonemata and selection of his OKI1 paper as a research highlight in Plant and Cell Physiology in April 2019. He also received the Encouragement Award from the Japanese Society of Plant Physiologists in September 2022 for research on protein and mRNA intercellular transport via plasmodesmata.