[Saturday, June 25, 2022] Okayama University International Alumni Association (OUIAA) – Indonesia Branch held the first “Alumni Webinar Series” program. This event invited two fresh graduates of the Faculty of Agriculture, Okayama University, namely Aprilia Nur Fitrianti, PhD as a speaker and Stephany Angelia Tumewu, PhD as a moderator.

In this webinar, the speaker introduced her Plant Pathology laboratory in Okayama University. In her presentation entitled “Endogenous suppressor in Arabidopsis thaliana plays a role in the trade-off between growth and defense”, Aprilia Nur Fitrianti explained the basic principles of attack by infectious microbes (pathogen) on plants. She said that many studies on pathogens have been carried out, but the mechanism of how plants respond to these attacks is still rare. Therefore, she was interested in investigating this mechanism by using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. This research is a valuable breakthrough in the field of interaction between plants and microbes. In addition, these findings also open new perspectives on the mechanisms of immunity in plants.

This event was attended virtually by more than 30 people, including students and alumni of the Okayama University from Indonesia, scientists and teachers from many campus/school in Indonesia. One of the audience expressing her feeling after participating this event. She was very interested and enjoyed in the presentation. “This webinar is an important event for alumni to disseminate their knowledge. Also, it is hoped that this event will become a bridge that strengthens good relations between Indonesia and Japan,” said the director of OUIAA – Indonesia Branch, Syaefudin Suminto, in his welcoming remarks.