DATE2026.05.08 #Awards & Prizes

Professor Tetsuya Higashiyama received the Medal with Purple Ribbon in Spring 2026

Professor Tetsuya Higashiyama

Professor Tetsuya Higashiyama of the Department of Biological Sciences has been awarded the Medal with Purple Ribbon for his many years of distinguished service to research, education, and development in the field of plant science. We extend our heartfelt congratulations.

Professor Higashiyama has led the field of plant reproduction research for many years as a world leader in the field, and has made outstanding achievements in botany, including the visualization of the entire fertilization process and the identification of key molecules in fertilization.

One of the features of sexual reproduction in angiosperms is multiple fertilization. The starting point of Professor Higashiyama's research was the development of an in vitro duplicate fertilization system that allows the entire process from pollen tube elongation to duplicate fertilization to be observed in a living state, based on the advantages of the plant material, the torenia. By combining this in vitro duplicate fertilization system with laser manipulation techniques and molecular biological analysis, Professor Higashiyama identified a peptide molecule named "LURE" as a pollen tube attractant. Using LURE as a clue, he has also identified a group of important signaling factors that regulate pollen tube reception. He has also developed a live imaging platform using Arabidopsis thaliana, and has discovered and visualized many unknown reproductive processes, contributing to the establishment of a new research field of live imaging of plant reproduction. In addition, he has also been conducting research that approaches the origin of plant species by showing that species selectivity in pollen tube induction defines interspecific barriers and that breaking down these barriers may lead to the birth of new species.

For these outstanding achievements, he has received the Botanical Society of Japan Award Special Prize (Technology), the Hirase Prize of the Botanical Society of Japan, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Award, the Gold Medal Award, the Kihara Memorial Foundation Science Award, the Inoue Science Award, the Chunichi Culture Award, the Botanical Society of Japan Science Award, the Asahi Prize, the Japanese Society for Plant Morphology Award, and the Midorino Science Award.

In recent years, he has been engaged in research on the diversity of plant reproduction and its evolution, using materials such as the screw flower, which does not undergo double fertilization, and the cycad, which is fertilized by a sperm. We would like to congratulate him on receiving this award and wish him continued success in his future endeavors.

(Responsibility: Professor Misato Otani, Department of Biological Sciences)