Masakazu Iwai　（Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley）

Study of plant photoadaptation mechanisms by using live cell imaging techniques

　Under natural fluctuations in light quality and quantity, a number of chloroplast thylakoid membrane proteins functions in concert to maintain efficient photosynthesis and to avoid photodamage. However, due to the lack of direct evidence for the spatiotemporal dynamics of these proteins inside live plant cells, we do not yet understand how plants adapt changes in light environment. In this study, by using live cell imaging techniques, we visualize the protein behavior inside chloroplasts to reveal the molecular details of plant photoadaptation mechanisms.

Publication

Masakazu Iwai, Makio Yokono, Akihiko Nakano, Visualizing structural dynamics of thylakoid membranes, Scientific Reports, published online 20 January, 2014, doi: 10.1038/srep03768

Masakazu Iwai, Chan-Gi Pack, Yoshiko Takenaka, Yasushi Sako, Akihiko Nakano, Photosystem II antenna phosphorylation-dependent protein diffusion determined by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, Scientific Reports, published online October 3, 2013, doi: 10.1038/srep02833