Outline of our achievements
Laboratory of Genome Biotechnology
About our research
Purpose of our research
Plants synthesize starch from carbon dioxide and water by using solar energy, from which they are capable of producing various materials. We not only utilize plants’ body as foods and woods but also their secondary metabolites as industrial materials such as medicine, rubber, etc. Through simultaneous analysis of plant constituents and their genes, we intend to clarify the mechanism by which plants produce various materials and to establish methods for controlling their production.
Feature of our research
The characteristic aspect of our research is to understand the entire components and genes of a plant as a whole instead of being confined to their individuals. We have a variety of mass spectrometers to analyze various plant constituents. By exploiting the genomic information of Arabidopsis thaliana, Lotus japonicus, tomato, etc., we can simulate and correspond the analytical pattern of the entire constituents and the expression pattern of genes to identify various genes responsible for their production.
Expected fields of application
The current global human population exceeds 6.5 billion. However, on the basis of the energy consumption level of Japan in which the energy conservation is very much advanced amongst developed countries, the actual sustainable global population would only be some1.8 billion. Moreover, a large proportion of energy is used for agricultural production. To solve the problems of resource, energy, food, environment, as well as war resulted from the confrontation between the rich and the poor, through which a scenario of mankind’s extinction may be viewed, it is necessary to promote science and technology for the maximal use of plants’ power to convert the solar energy. In addition, a variety of plants’ secondary metabolites are utilized for medicine and industrial materials. Thus, our research will contribute to the improvement of plant productivity deeply related to our healthy and wealthy life.
Our research projects
- Investigation of Arabidopsis thaliana to improve plants’ productivity
- Studies on Lotus japonicus
- Studies to improve the quality of tomato fruits
- Studies to enhance crops’ material productivity
We investigate genes responsible for plants’ productivity by using Arabidopsis thaliana that is best suited for such studies. We predict and select metabolism-related genes by analyzing the expression pattern of all genes, and then activate them in cultured A. thaliana cells. Afterwards, changes in the cellular constituents are measured by using mass spectrometer, and compared with the changes in the expression pattern of all genes in the cells to identify the genes that play important roles in respective metabolic pathways. Currently, we focus on the genes for cellulose metabolism important for paper production, those for isoprenoid metabolism that are keys to rubber production, those for amino acid metabolism important for food production, and so on.
Because Arabidopsis thaliana possesses a relatively small number of genes, we have initiated studies on Lotus japonicus to investigate more diverse metabolic abilities of plants. L. japonicus is a legume plant known for its ability to fix nitrogen by bacterial symbionts in the root nodules. Currently, we prepare materials necessary to perform analyses with L. japonicus similar to those with A. thaliana.
Tomato possesses various physiologically active substances such as Naringenincalcon known to lessen hay fever. To develop new tomatoes with high productivity of such substances, we analyze its cellular components and gene expression.
More than one gene must function to produce a single cellular component. By introducing two or more genes into a cell simultaneously and analyzing multiple substances, we are developing methods to improve the productivity of various crops by collaborating with other research institutions.