Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine

I conduct research on plant physiology in topics closely related to Hokkaido and Obihiro, such as the cultivation of potatoes, which are a major crop of the Tokachi region, and the freezing tolerance of plants that grow in cold environments like that of Hokkaido. I place particular focus on the cold resistance of trees in cold regions and have presented new knowledge, such as the existence of a component that accelerates the supercooling of water in xylem parenchymatous cells, which can maintain water in cells in liquid form without freezing even at temperatures as low as -30°C. In recent years, I've been studying the cold resistance of grapes for wine making (the grapes' production has been increasing in Tokachi). It is generally said that the winter buds of grapes are the most susceptible to frost damage. Although supercooling occurs in winter buds at sub-zero temperatures, its mechanism remains largely unknown. I hope to contribute to regional crop cultivation through basic research.

• Freezing adaptation mechanisms of wine grapes
• Freezing-deacclimation mechanisms of boreal trees
• Comparative proteomic analysis of frost-susceptible cultivated and frost-tolerant wild potatoes