He is now a Professor and founding Director of the Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (IBGE) of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University (BSMRAU) in Bangladesh.
As the eldest son, he assisted his parents in agricultural activities to support the family during his primary and secondary education years.
(Ag) degrees from Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), securing First Position in the First Class on both occasions based on merit.
He furthered his studies in Japan as a Japanese government scholar, completing his MS (1999) and PhD (2002) degrees at Hokkaido University with distinction under the guidance of Professor Satoshi Tahara, specializing in chemical ecology and natural products chemistry.
He was honored with the Commonwealth Academic Staff Fellowship (March to May 2013) to collaborate with Prof. Michele L. Clarke at the University of Nottingham, UK.
His achievements include being awarded the prestigious US Fulbright Visiting Fellowship (September 2017 to June 2018), during which he worked on developing a molecular tool for diagnosing anthracnose diseases in asymptomatic strawberry plants alongside Prof. Daniel Panaccione and Professor Mahfuzur Rahman at West Virginia University.
Dr Tofazzal assumed the role of Visiting Professor at the Institute of Plant Protection of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in China from 2021 to 2023.
Additionally, he played a pivotal role in establishing the Asian Wheat Blast Research Center at Kobe University with Prof. Yukio Tosa while serving as a Visiting Professor from 2023 to 2024.
His MS and PhD theses focused on understanding the cell biology of flagellar motility, taxis, viability, and differentiation of zoospores of oomycete phytopathogens, particularly their interactions with host and non-host plant secondary metabolites.
He successfully elucidated the mechanisms underlying damping-off disease control in spinach and sugar beet through the action of Lysobacter sp.
During this fellowship, he investigated signaling systems between root and rhizoplane microorganisms, including oomycetes, and explored their potential agricultural applications at the laboratory of Hokkaido University.
As the founding teacher, he significantly contributed to the establishment of School of Agriculture and Rural Development at Bangladesh Open University.
His research book titled "Information and Communication Technology in Education" published by Paragon Enterprises Ltd. in Bangla language has been well accepted by readers and elites.
He co-edited a book Effectively Implementing Information Communication Technology in Higher Education in the Asia-Pacific Region with Jim Peterson, Okhwa Lee, and Matthew Piscioneri.
[3] His research interests are concentrated in understanding the underlying molecular mechanism of asexual sporulation in peronosporomycetes and signal transduction pathways of chemotaxis and differentiation of zoospores.
His team developed a point-of-care diagnostic method for rapid detection of wheat blast fungus in collaboration with researchers in China, USA and KSA using genome-specific primers and CRISPR-Cas12a technology.
Over the years, Prof. Tofazzal discovered a large number (>50) of novel bioactive secondary metabolites from marine and terrestrial organisms, and elucidated the mode of actions of some of these natural products on fungi and oomycete phytopathogens.
Plant probiotic bacteria Bacillus and Paraburkholderia improve growth, yield and content of antioxidants in strawberry fruit.
Application of CRISPR/Cas9 Genome Editing Technology for the Improvement of Crops Cultivated in Tropical Climates: Recent Progress, Prospects, and Challenges.
Haque E, Taniguchi H, Hassan MM, Bhowmik P, Karim MR, Smiech M, Zhao K, Rahman M and Islam T (2018) Front.
Bo Jiang, Cuiling Li, Omer Dag, Hideki Abe, Toshiaki Takei, Tsubasa Imai, Md.
Molecular Identification of Multiple Antibiotic Resistant Fish Pathogenic Enterococcus faecalis and their Control by Medicinal Herbs.
M. Tofazzal Islam, Daniel Croll, Pierre Gladieux, Darren M. Soanes, Antoine Persoons, Pallab Bhattacharjee, Md.
Mahbubur Rahman, M. Golam Mahboob, Nicola Cook, Moin U. Salam, Musrat Zahan Surovy, Vanessa Bueno Sancho, João Leodato Nunes Maciel, Antonio NhaniJúnior, Vanina Lilián Castroagudín, Juliana T. de Assis Reges, Paulo Cezar Ceresini, Sebastien Ravel, Ronny Kellner, Elisabeth Fournier, Didier Tharreau, Marc-Henri Lebrun, Bruce A. McDonald, Timothy Stitt, Daniel Swan, Nicholas J. Talbot, Diane G. O. Saunders, Joe Win and Sophien Kamoun.
Dynamic rearrangement of F-actin organization triggered by host-specific plant signal is linked to morphogenesis of Aphanomyces cochlioides zoospores.
Disruption of ultrastructure and cytoskeletal network is involved with biocontrol of damping-off pathogen Aphanomyces cochlioides by Lysobacter sp.
Host-specific plant signal and G-protein activator, mastoparan, triggers differentiation of zoospores of the phytopathogenic oomycete Aphanomyces cochlioides.
Zoosporicidal activity of polyflavonoid tannin identified in Lannea coromandelica stem bark against phytopathogenic oomycete Aphanomyces cochlioides.