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Plant Physiology Lab
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The lab studies how plants adapt to their environment.
AboutAbout the lab
Exploring how plants adapt to their environment through genetic engineering
The Plant Physiology Lab works closely with the Plant Diversity Genomics Lab to study the functions of plant cell organelles and the mechanisms of environmental adaptation using genetic engineering methods.
Using model plants such as Arabidopsis thaliana and rice, the lab searches for key factors involved in environmental factors such as CO2, temperature, humidity, and nitrogen nutrition, as well as in stress such as pathogen infection.
The lab also analyzes the functions of chloroplasts and the mechanisms of their formation.
Many aspects of the core functions of plant cells remain unexplained, and the lab aims to make discoveries that open the way to new research.
Key terms
- Organelle
- A structure inside a cell that carries out a specific function. The chloroplast is one example
- Stomata
- Pores in leaves responsible for plant gas exchange. They are involved in taking up the CO2 needed for photosynthesis and in regulating water transpiration
- Chloroplast
- An organelle specific to plant cells. In addition to carrying out photosynthesis, it senses environmental changes such as light, CO2, and temperature
- sORF
- A region, located in places such as between genes, that encodes a short amino acid sequence (short open reading frame)
ResearchResearch themes
The lab uses genetic engineering methods to search for factors that act when plants respond to environmental change and stress. Lecturer Kensuke Kusumi's researcher profile lists the control of stomata, responses to the nutrient environment, and chloroplast function as research topics.
*Illustrative imageStomatal control and the balance between CO2 and water
Stomata regulate the uptake of CO2 needed for photosynthesis and the loss of water through transpiration. The lab creates rice in which the genes of stomatal regulators are directly modified, and explores the degree of stomatal opening that allows both photosynthesis and drought tolerance even under high CO2.
*Illustrative imageRegulators of growth in response to the nutrient environment
Much remains unknown about how plants adjust growth and organ shape in response to changes in the nutrient environment. The lab focuses on sORFs located in places such as between genes, and searches for those involved in the balance of carbon and nitrogen in the plant body.
*Illustrative imageChloroplasts as environmental sensors
Chloroplasts sense environmental changes such as light, CO2, and temperature, and reflect them in organ formation and the regulation of homeostasis. By analyzing the causal gene isolated from a temperature-sensitive rice mutant, the lab examines the relationship between low-temperature tolerance at the seedling stage and chloroplast function.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Plant Physiology Lab consist of faculty, doctoral and undergraduate students, and administrative and laboratory support staff.As of 2026
- ProfessorJutaro Negi
- LecturerKensuke Kusumi
- Assistant ProfessorKeina Monda
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Lilium stoma L” Jon Houseman / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Stomatal control and the balance between CO2 and water: “Leaf epithelium, stomata and guard cells” Emilio Ermini / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Regulators of growth in response to the nutrient environment: “Anatomy roots Afrikaans text” Zkiller, Rasbak, JMK / CC0 (cropped)
- Chloroplasts as environmental sensors: “Chloroplast in leaf of Anemone sp TEM 12000x” and3k and caper437 / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (植物多様性ゲノム学研究室): “Japanese morning glory (Ipomoea nil), Chiba; September 2018 (05)” TANAKA Juuyoh (田中十洋) / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (進化遺伝学研究室): “Researcher beside Vials closed by cotton plugs and filled with Fruit fly larvae” Robert Cudmore from Marseille, France / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (分子遺伝学研究室): “Caenorhabditis elegans under a light microscope 02” Gannu03 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab
(動物発生学研究室): “Chicken-embryo-1week old” Ben Skála / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
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