Profile

Dr. Rehenuma Tabassum received Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and Master of Science in Crop Botany degrees from Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University and Sylhet Agricultural University, respectively. Later, she earned PhD from Kyoto University, Japan, in May 2020 under the prestigious Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho: MEXT) Scholarship. Her doctoral research focused on understanding the molecular mechanism and adaptive technology of white immature grains, particularly investigating plastid-type heat stress proteins in the conditional chalky grain mutant 'flo11-2'. She successfully cloned and characterized the cpHsp70-2 gene from the mutant and found that lowered function of the cpHsp70-2 protein is involved with the chalkiness of the mutant. Her study also examined how environmental and physiological factors influence chalkiness, especially under elevated temperature at different growth conditions. Dr. Tabassum’s research work has appeared in several top-tier journals (The Plant Journal, Plant Production Science, etc.) and international conference proceedings. As a JSPS Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2023-2025) at The University of Tokyo, Japan, she investigated the molecular factors that determine the size and shape of starch granules in rice endosperm. In addition to her research, Dr. Rehenuma actively contributes to the scientific community, serving as an academic editor of the journal 'BMC Plant Biology' and the 'Asian Journal of Advances in Agricultural Research'. She also serve as a peer reviewer for several high-impact journals, including Frontiers in Plant Science, Frontiers in Agronomy, Plants, Journal of Agriculture and Food Research, Agriculture, Agronomy, Scientia Horticulturae, Biology, Forests, Cogent Food & Agriculture, Heliyon, Genes, Horticulturae, International Journal of Plant Biology, International journal of molecular sciences, Asian Journal of Advances in Agricultural Research, etc. These roles allow her to stay at the forefront of advancements in plant science and agricultural research.