Education

PhD, The Pennsylvania State University, USA, 2004

Current position

Associate professor, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Publications

1. Ramos-Martinez, E. M., Fimognari, L. and Sakuragi, Y. (2017). High-yield secretion of recombinant proteins from the microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Plant Biotechnol J 15(9): 1214-1224.
2. De Porcellinis, A., Frigaard, N. U. and Sakuragi, Y. (2017). Determination of the Glycogen Content in Cyanobacteria. J Vis Exp(125).
3. Rasmussen, R. E., Erstad, S. M., Ramos-Martinez, E. M., Fimognari, L., De Porcellinis, A. J. and Sakuragi, Y. (2016). An easy and efficient permeabilization protocol for in vivo enzyme activity assays in cyanobacteria. Microb Cell Fact 15(1): 186.
4. de Porcellinis, A. J., Klahn, S., Rosgaard, L., Kirsch, R., Gutekunst, K., Georg, J., Hess, W. R. and Sakuragi, Y. (2016). The Non-Coding RNA Ncr0700/PmgR1 is Required for Photomixotrophic Growth and the Regulation of Glycogen Accumulation in the Cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. Plant Cell Physiol 57(10): 2091-2103.
5. Gangl, D., Zedler, J. A., Rajakumar, P. D., Martinez, E. M., Riseley, A., Wlodarczyk, A., Purton, S., Sakuragi, Y., Howe, C. J., Jensen, P. E. and Robinson, C. (2015). Biotechnological exploitation of microalgae. J Exp Bot 66(22): 6975-6990.
6. Nafisi, M., Stranne, M., Fimognari, L., Atwell, S., Martens, H. J., Pedas, P. R., Hansen, S. F., Nawrath, C., Scheller, H. V., Kliebenstein, D. J. and Sakuragi, Y. (2015). Acetylation of cell wall is required for structural integrity of the leaf surface and exerts a global impact on plant stress responses. Front Plant Sci 6: 550.
7. Nafisi, M., Fimognari, L. and Sakuragi, Y. (2015). Interplays between the cell wall and phytohormones in interaction between plants and necrotrophic pathogens. Phytochemistry 112: 63-71.
8. Lund, C. H., Bromley, J. R., Stenbaek, A., Rasmussen, R. E., Scheller, H. V. and Sakuragi, Y. (2015). A reversible Renilla luciferase protein complementation assay for rapid identification of protein-protein interactions reveals the existence of an interaction network involved in xyloglucan biosynthesis in the plant Golgi apparatus. J Exp Bot 66(1): 85-97.
9. Nafisi, M., Stranne, M., Zhang, L., van Kan, J. A. and Sakuragi, Y. (2014). The endo-arabinanase BcAra1 is a novel host-specific virulence factor of the necrotic fungal phytopathogen Botrytis cinerea. Mol Plant Microbe Interact 27(8): 781-792.
10. Oikawa, A., Lund, C. H., Sakuragi, Y. and Scheller, H. V. (2013). Golgi-localized enzyme complexes for plant cell wall biosynthesis. Trends Plant Sci 18(1): 49-58.
11. Rosgaard, L., de Porcellinis, A. J., Jacobsen, J. H., Frigaard, N. U. and Sakuragi, Y. (2012). Bioengineering of carbon fixation, biofuels, and biochemicals in cyanobacteria and plants. J Biotechnol 162(1): 134-147.
12. Sogaard, C., Stenbaek, A., Bernard, S., Hadi, M., Driouich, A., Scheller, H. V. and Sakuragi, Y. (2012). GO-PROMTO illuminates protein membrane topologies of glycan biosynthetic enzymes in the Golgi apparatus of living tissues. PLoS One 7(2): e31324.
13. Harholt, J., Jensen, J. K., Verhertbruggen, Y., Sogaard, C., Bernard, S., Nafisi, M., Poulsen, C. P., Geshi, N., Sakuragi, Y., Driouich, A., Knox, J. P. and Scheller, H. V. (2012). ARAD proteins associated with pectic Arabinan biosynthesis form complexes when transiently overexpressed in planta. Planta 236(1): 115-128.
14. Rautengarten, C., Ebert, B., Ouellet, M., Nafisi, M., Baidoo, E. E., Benke, P., Stranne, M., Mukhopadhyay, A., Keasling, J. D., Sakuragi, Y. and Scheller, H. V. (2012). Arabidopsis Deficient in Cutin Ferulate encodes a transferase required for feruloylation of omega-hydroxy fatty acids in cutin polyester. Plant Physiol 158(2): 654-665.
15. Atmodjo, M. A., Sakuragi, Y., Zhu, X., Burrell, A. J., Mohanty, S. S., Atwood, J. A., 3rd, Orlando, R., Scheller, H. V. and Mohnen, D. (2011). Galacturonosyltransferase (GAUT)1 and GAUT7 are the core of a plant cell wall pectin biosynthetic homogalacturonan:galacturonosyltransferase complex. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 108(50): 20225-20230.
16. Jacobsen, J. H., Rosgaard, L., Sakuragi, Y. and Frigaard, N. U. (2011). One-step plasmid construction for generation of knock-out mutants in cyanobacteria: studies of glycogen metabolism in Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002. Photosynth Res 107(2): 215-221.
17. Manabe, Y., Nafisi, M., Verhertbruggen, Y., Orfila, C., Gille, S., Rautengarten, C., Cherk, C., Marcus, S. E., Somerville, S., Pauly, M., Knox, J. P., Sakuragi, Y. and Scheller, H. V. (2011). Loss-of-function mutation of REDUCED WALL ACETYLATION2 in Arabidopsis leads to reduced cell wall acetylation and increased resistance to Botrytis cinerea. Plant Physiol 155(3): 1068-1078.
18. Jensen, J. K., Sorensen, S. O., Harholt, J., Geshi, N., Sakuragi, Y., Moller, I., Zandleven, J., Bernal, A. J., Jensen, N. B., Sorensen, C., Pauly, M., Beldman, G., Willats, W. G. and Scheller, H. V. (2008). Identification of a xylogalacturonan xylosyltransferase involved in pectin biosynthesis in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell 20(5): 1289-1302.
19. Vainonen, J. P., Sakuragi, Y., Stael, S., Tikkanen, M., Allahverdiyeva, Y., Paakkarinen, V., Aro, E., Suorsa, M., Scheller, H. V., Vener, A. V. and Aro, E. M. (2008). Light regulation of CaS, a novel phosphoprotein in the thylakoid membrane of Arabidopsis thaliana. FEBS J 275(8): 1767-1777.
20. Sakuragi, Y. and Kolter, R. (2007). Quorum-sensing regulation of the biofilm matrix genes (pel) of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. J Bacteriol 189(14): 5383-5386.
21. Sakuragi, Y., Maeda, H., Dellapenna, D. and Bryant, D. A. (2006). alpha-Tocopherol plays a role in photosynthesis and macronutrient homeostasis of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 that is independent of its antioxidant function. Plant Physiol 141(2): 508-521.
22. Maeda, H., Sakuragi, Y., Bryant, D. A. and Dellapenna, D. (2005). Tocopherols protect Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803 from lipid peroxidation. Plant Physiol 138(3): 1422-1435.
23. Mimuro, M., Tsuchiya, T., Inoue, H., Sakuragi, Y., Itoh, Y., Gotoh, T., Miyashita, H., Bryant, D. A. and Kobayashi, M. (2005). The secondary electron acceptor of photosystem I in Gloeobacter violaceus PCC 7421 is menaquinone-4 that is synthesized by a unique but unknown pathway. FEBS Lett 579(17): 3493-3496.
24. Sakuragi, Y., Zybailov, B., Shen, G., Bryant, D. A., Golbeck, J. H., Diner, B. A., Karygina, I., Pushkar, Y. and Stehlik, D. (2005). Recruitment of a foreign quinone into the A1 site of photosystem I. Characterization of a menB rubA double deletion mutant in Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 devoid of FX, FA, and FB and containing plastoquinone or exchanged 9,10-anthraquinone. J Biol Chem 280(13): 12371-12381.
25. Cheng, Z., Sattler, S., Maeda, H., Sakuragi, Y., Bryant, D. A. and DellaPenna, D. (2003). Highly divergent methyltransferases catalyze a conserved reaction in tocopherol and plastoquinone synthesis in cyanobacteria and photosynthetic eukaryotes. Plant Cell 15(10): 2343-2356.
26. Sakuragi, Y., Zybailov, B., Shen, G., Jones, A. D., Chitnis, P. R., van der Est, A., Bittl, R., Zech, S., Stehlik, D., Golbeck, J. H. and Bryant, D. A. (2002). Insertional inactivation of the menG gene, encoding 2-phytyl-1,4-naphthoquinone methyltransferase of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, results in the incorporation of 2-phytyl-1,4-naphthoquinone into the A(1) site and alteration of the equilibrium constant between A(1) and F(X) in photosystem I. Biochemistry 41(1): 394-405.
27. Sakuragi, Y., Frigaard, N. U., Shimada, K. and Matsuura, K. (1999). Association of bacteriochlorophyll a with the CsmA protein in chlorosomes of the photosynthetic green filamentous bacterium Chloroflexus aurantiacus. Biophys Biochem Act 1413: 172-180.
28. van Walree, C. A., Sakuragi, Y., Steensgaard, D. B., Bösinger, C. S., Frigaard, N. U., Cox, R. P., Holzwarth, A. R. and Miller, M. (1999). Effect of alkaline treatment on bacteriochlorophyll a, quinones and energy transfer in chlorosomes from Chlorobium tepidum and Chlorobium phaeobacteroides. Photochem Photobiol 69: 322-328.
29. Corson, G. E., Nagashima, K. V. P., Matsuura, K., Sakuragi, Y., Wettasinghe, R., Qin, H., Allen, R. and Knaff, D. B. (1999). Gene encoding light-harvesting and reaction center proteins from Chromatium vinosum. Photosynth Res 59: 39-52.
30. Nagashima, K. V. P., Sakuragi, Y., Shimada, K. and Matsuura, K. (1998). Comparative analysis of the primary structure of the reaction center-bound cytochrome subunit in purple bacteria. Photosynth Res 55: 349-355.