[Control of Field-Grown Plants Phenomena] Creation of next-generation fundamental technologies for the control of biological phenomena in field-grown plants

※ Affiliations and titles are as of the end of the research activity.

Strategic Objects

Establishment of environmentally-adaptive-plant design systems for stable food supply in the age of climate change

Research Supervisor

photo:Kiyotaka Okada

Kiyotaka Okada (Advisor, Ryukoku Extension Center, Ryukoku University)

Outline

This area promotes research on the creation of next-generation fundamental technologies for designing, from the molecular level on up, of plants adaptable to environmental changes in the field and therefore capable of stable growth. Specifically, the relationship between phenotypes and the action of plant gene(s) would be analyzed quantitatively in both temporal and spatial terms, in order to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the physiological systems of plants adaptable to their environments. In addition, models of environmental response mechanisms would be constructed and biomarkers and the like would be identified in order to build the foundation for new plant production technologies. Technologies for the introduction of new genetic modifications would also be developed to enable the artificial design of complex genes/genotypes relating to environmental responses, with the aim of applying them in a diverse array of plants.

From the standpoint of quantitative analysis of plant environmental response mechanisms, rather than response mechanisms in single plant genes, the primary emphasis of research in this area will be on determining complex response mechanisms by means of multifactorial or quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis. In addition, to meet the needs of analysis of, and model construction from, various types of large-scale data and the need of verification of the model constructed, we welcome the participation of individual researchers from a diverse array of fields, not only plant science but also information science, engineering and so on. In order to maximize achievements for the realization of the strategic objective, management of this research area will also be coordinated with the CREST research area “Creation of fundamental technologies contribute to the elucidation and application for the robustness in plants against environmental changes” and the PRESTO (Sakigake) research area “Innovational technical basis for cultivation in cooperation with information science”.

Research Area Advisors

・Sachiko Isobe
Laboratory Head, Department of Frontier Research, Kazusa DNA Research Institute

・Seiichi Uchida
Professor, Graduate School and Faculty of Information Science and Electrical Engineering, Kyushu University

・Tetsuji Kakutani
Professor, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo/National Institute of Genetics, Research Organization of Information and Systems

・Hiroshi Kudoh
Professor, Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University

・Ken Shirasu
Group Director, Center for Sustainable Resource Science, RIKEN

・Seiichi Toki
Head, Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization

・Keiko U. Torii
Professor, University of Texas at Austin / Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

・Hiroyuki Fukuoka
Deputy General Manager, Plant Breeding & Experiment Station, Takii & Company, Ltd.

・Hiroo Fukuda
Executive Vice President, The University of Tokyo

・Kentaro Yano
Professor, School of Agriculture, Meiji University

・Masahiro Yano
General Coordinator, Research Center for Agricultural Information Technology, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization

※Affiliations and titles are as of March 31, 2021.

Year Started : 2015

Study for the flexiblization of sex expression depending on environmental factors in Diospyros genus

Research Director:
Takashi Akagi(Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University)

Elucidating biological networks of plant-microbiota superorganism

Research Director:
Yasunori Ichihashi(Team Leader, BioResource Research Center, RIKEN)

Molecular design for rice tolerant to soil water fluctuation stress conditions through understanding of epigenetic regulation

Research Director:
Yoshiaki Inukai(Professor, International Cooperation Center for Agricultural Education, Nagoya University)

An optimization of energy metabolic system in plant thruough cooperative modifications to nuclear and organelle genomes

Research Director:
Takayuki Ohnishi(Associate Professor, Faculty of Agriculture, Utsunomiya University)

Crop design for drought stress tolerance by applying chemical genetic approach

Research Director:
Masanori Okamoto(Assistant Professor, Center for Bioscience Research and Education, Utsunomiya University)

Establishment of a plant genome editing method without using recombinant DNAs

Research Director:
Shigeo S. Sugano(Assistant Professor, Ritsumeikan Global Innovation Research Organization, Ritsumeikan University)

Development of the core technology that allows quantitative evaluation of solute movement in a living plant.

Research Director:
Keitaro Tanoi(Professor, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo)

Development of multiple testing procedure to detect combinatorial effects from field transcriptome data

Research Director:
Aika Terada(Aika Terada(PRESTO was withdrawn on 31st March 2018)

Visualizing plant hormone perception

Research Director:
Shinya Hagihara(Team Leader, Center for Sustainable Resource Science, RIKEN)

Development of pollen tube-mediated genome modification technology

Research Director:
Yoko Mizuta(PRESTO Researcher, Japan Science and Technology Agency)

Molecular genetic analysis for light-induced transgenerational epigenetic inheritance and acquired traits ; basic mechanism of a model plant and its application to crops

Research Director:
Nobutoshi Yamaguchi(Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Nara Institute of Science and Technology)

Building a new system for designing crop cultivars that are robust against climate change and evolution of pathogens.

Research Director:
Kentaro Yoshida(Associate Professor, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University)

Year Started : 2016

The creation of the molecular design optimizing the attenuation of photosynthetic capacity during leaf senescence

Research Director:
Masanori Izumi(Research Scientist, Center for Sustainable Resource Science, RIKEN)

Plant growth promoting functions under iron-deficiency mediated by the Arabidopsis thaliana bacterial root microbiota

Research Director:
Haruhiko Inoue(Principal Researcher, Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization)

Establishment of non-destructive imaging system of element dynamics in plants toward its understanding in field.

Research Director:
Takehiro Kamiya(Associate Professor, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo)

Functional analyses of enviromentally responsive biomarkers by rough regulation of phytohormone activity

Research Director:
Yousuke Takaoka(Lecturer, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University)

Comprehensive study on the genetic determination of the leaf photosynthetic activity in rice under the non-steady state light conditions

Research Director:
Yu Tanaka(Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University)

Ecology and bioinformatics for finding “core microbes”: Design of robust plant microbiomes

Research Director:
Hirokazu Toju(Associate Professor, Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University)

Mechanisms and applications of plant growth promoting effect by root-inhabiting microorganisms

Research Director:
Kei Hiruma(Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Nara Institute of Science and Technology)

Molecular analysis of the interspecies-barriers towards extension of breeding programs

Research Director:
Sota Fujii(Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo)

Use of gene-based phenotype prediction models for simulation-based breeding

Research Director:
Eiji Yamamoto(Researcher, Department of Frontier Research, Kazusa DNA Research Institute)

A shuttle vector system delivering effector genes enhancing the frequency of gene targeting

Research Director:
Ayako Nishizawa-Yokoi(Principal Researcher, Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization)

Year Started : 2017

Understanding of epigenetic mechanisms in plant immune system and it’s application for improving adaptation to environment

Research Director:
Soichi Inagaki (Associate Professor, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo)

A search for root-shoot interaction using a xylem sap peptidomics/ proteomics approach

Research Director:
Satoru Okamoto (Assistant Professor, Faculty of Agriculture, Niigata University)

Development of an RNA-breeding system using photoperiod-sensitivity in rice

Research Director:
Reina Komiya (Science and Technology Associate, Science and Technology Group, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST))

Large-scale omics approach towards biocontrol of pest insects by mixed planting

Research Director:
Yasuhiro Sato (PRESTO Researcher, Japan Science and Technology Agency)

Investigation of environmental and plant signals that induce sex reversal in plant parasitic nematodes

Research Director:
Ryoji Shinya (Senior Assistant Professor, School of Agriculture, Meiji University)

Disentangling plant-pathogen-environment networks for designing disease resistance that withstands climate change

Research Director:
Akira Mine (Associate Professor, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University)

Integrated omics analysis on the molecular networks regulating fruit sweeteness in the agricultural field

Research Director:
Ryoichi Yano (Principal Researcher, Advanced Analysis Center, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization / Assistant Professor, Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba)

Analysis of molecular basis for root plasticity responsible for plant adaptation to climate change

Research Director:
Takaki Yamauchi (Associate Professor, Bioscience and Biotechnology Center, Nagoya University)

Elucidation of molecular mechanisms by which sugar uptake competition shapes plant-microbe interactions

Research Director:
Kohji Yamada (Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Bioscience and Bioindustry, Tokushima University)

Development of techniques to optimize symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi through regulation of strigolactone production and exudation

Research Director:
Kaori Yoneyama (Senior Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Agriculture, Ehime University)