World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
Ken Shirasu

Ken Shirasu

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Plant Science and Agronomy
Japan
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Plant Science and Agronomy

D-Index
91
Citations
33765
World Ranking
261
National Ranking
8

Molecular Biology

D-Index
89
Citations
33018
World Ranking
750
National Ranking
54

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Plant Science and Agronomy in Japan Leader Award

Overview

Ken Shirasu is affiliated with the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science in Japan. Their research primarily contributes to the fields of Agricultural and Biological Sciences as well as Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology. Within these broad fields, their work focuses on subfields including Plant Science, Molecular Biology, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Cell Biology, and Immunology.

Their research portfolio encompasses a variety of key topics such as:

  • Plant-Microbe Interactions and Immunity
  • Plant Parasitism and Resistance
  • Legume Nitrogen Fixing Symbiosis
  • Plant Molecular Biology Research
  • Plant and animal studies
  • Plant Pathogens and Fungal Diseases
  • Plant Pathogenic Bacteria Studies

Shirasu's recent papers demonstrate contributions across leading journals and cover a range of subjects related to plant biology and interactions. Selected recent publications include:

  • Cell-cell adhesion in plant grafting is facilitated by β-1,4-glucanases, 2020, Science
  • Quinone perception in plants via leucine-rich-repeat receptor-like kinases, 2020, Nature
  • Multi-omics analysis on an agroecosystem reveals the significant role of organic nitrogen to increase agricultural crop yield, 2020, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
  • Evolutionary trajectory of pattern recognition receptors in plants, 2024, Nature Communications
  • Orobanchaceae parasite-host interactions, 2020, New Phytologist

The scientist collaborates frequently with peers including Arisa Shibata, Sachiko Masuda, Yasunori Ichihashi, Pamela Gan, and Nobuaki Ishihama, indicating an active engagement in team-based research efforts.

Ken Shirasu's work is regularly published in prominent venues with multiple contributions to bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), Nature Communications, New Phytologist, Microbes and Environments, and Science, reflecting a range of dissemination channels within plant and molecular biology research.

Best Publications

  • Inhibition of shoot branching by new terpenoid plant hormones

    Mikihisa Umehara;Atsushi Hanada;Satoko Yoshida;Kohki Akiyama

  • CERK1, a LysM receptor kinase, is essential for chitin elicitor signaling in Arabidopsis

    Ayako Miya;Premkumar Albert;Premkumar Albert;Tomonori Shinya;Yoshitake Desaki

  • The main auxin biosynthesis pathway in Arabidopsis.

    Kiyoshi Mashiguchi;Keita Tanaka;Tatsuya Sakai;Satoko Sugawara

  • Lifestyle transitions in plant pathogenic Colletotrichum fungi deciphered by genome and transcriptome analyses

    Richard J. O'Connell;Michael R. Thon;Stéphane Hacquard;Stefan G. Amyotte

  • Direct regulation of the NADPH oxidase RBOHD by the PRR-associated kinase BIK1 during plant immunity.

    Yasuhiro Kadota;Jan Sklenar;Paul Derbyshire;Lena Stransfeld

  • The RAR1 interactor SGT1, an essential component of R gene-triggered disease resistance

    Cristina Azevedo;Ari Sadanandom;Katsumi Kitagawa;Andreas Freialdenhoven

  • Salicylic acid potentiates an agonist-dependent gain control that amplifies pathogen signals in the activation of defense mechanisms.

    K Shirasu;H Nakajima;V K Rajasekhar;R A Dixon

  • Autophagy negatively regulates cell death by controlling NPR1-dependent salicylic acid signaling during senescence and the innate immune response in Arabidopsis.

    Kohki Yoshimoto;Yusuke Jikumaru;Yuji Kamiya;Miyako Kusano

  • HSP90 interacts with RAR1 and SGT1 and is essential for RPS2-mediated disease resistance in Arabidopsis

    Akira Takahashi;Catarina Casais;Kazuya Ichimura;Ken Shirasu

  • Regulation of the NADPH Oxidase RBOHD During Plant Immunity

    Yasuhiro Kadota;Ken Shirasu;Cyril Zipfel

  • Ubiquitin ligase-associated protein SGT1 is required for host and nonhost disease resistance in plants.

    Jack R. Peart;Rui Lu;Ari Sadanandom;Isabelle Malcuit

  • Cytosolic HSP90 associates with and modulates the Arabidopsis RPM1 disease resistance protein

    David A. Hubert;Pablo Tornero;Pablo Tornero;Youssef Belkhadir;Priti Krishna

  • RRS1 and RPS4 provide a dual Resistance-gene system against fungal and bacterial pathogens.

    Mari Narusaka;Ken Shirasu;Yoshiteru Noutoshi;Yasuyuki Kubo

  • Large-scale phosphorylation mapping reveals the extent of tyrosine phosphorylation in Arabidopsis

    Naoyuki Sugiyama;Hirofumi Nakagami;Keiichi Mochida;Arsalan Daudi

  • The HSP90-SGT1 Chaperone Complex for NLR Immune Sensors

    Ken Shirasu

  • A novel class of eukaryotic zinc-binding proteins is required for disease resistance signaling in barley and development in C. elegans.

    Ken Shirasu;Thomas Lahaye;Man Wah Tan;Fasong Zhou

  • Large-Scale Comparative Phosphoproteomics Identifies Conserved Phosphorylation Sites in Plants

    Hirofumi Nakagami;Naoyuki Sugiyama;Keiichi Mochida;Arsalan Daudi

  • Comparative genomic and transcriptomic analyses reveal the hemibiotrophic stage shift of Colletotrichum fungi

    Pamela Gan;Kyoko Ikeda;Hiroki Irieda;Mari Narusaka

  • A contiguous 66-kb barley DNA sequence provides evidence for reversible genome expansion.

    Ken Shirasu;Alan H. Schulman;Thomas Lahaye;Paul Schulze-Lefert

  • The Haustorium, a Specialized Invasive Organ in Parasitic Plants

    Satoko Yoshida;Songkui Cui;Yasunori Ichihashi;Ken Shirasu

  • MEKK1 Is Required for MPK4 Activation and Regulates Tissue-specific and Temperature-dependent Cell Death in Arabidopsis

    Kazuya Ichimura;Catarina Casais;Scott C. Peck;Kazuo Shinozaki

Frequent Co-Authors

Satoko Yoshida
Satoko Yoshida Nara Institute of Science and Technology
Yoshihiro Narusaka
Yoshihiro Narusaka Institute for Biological Sciences
Yasuhiro Kadota
Yasuhiro Kadota RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science
Yoshitaka Takano
Yoshitaka Takano Kyoto University
Paul Schulze-Lefert
Paul Schulze-Lefert Max Planck Society
Mari Narusaka
Mari Narusaka National Institute for Basic Biology
Jonathan D. G. Jones
Jonathan D. G. Jones University of East Anglia
Yuji Kamiya
Yuji Kamiya RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science
Clarence I. Kado
Clarence I. Kado University of California, Davis
Ari Sadanandom
Ari Sadanandom Durham University

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