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Plant Functional Engineering Lab
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The lab explores how plants sense nutrients and synthesize substances.
AboutAbout the lab
Plant material production, studied from the molecular level
The Plant Functional Engineering Lab studies, at the molecular level, how plants' ability to produce organic compounds from inorganic substances is regulated.
Through photosynthesis, plants make sugars from carbon dioxide, and through nitrogen assimilation, they make amino acids and proteins from nitrogen in the soil.
The lab also investigates the genes involved in these processes, with the aim of developing highly productive crops.
Using the model plants Arabidopsis thaliana and rice, the lab combines molecular biology and molecular genetics experiments with computational analysis.
Key terms
- Nitrogen assimilation
- The process by which plants incorporate nitrogen, such as nitrate absorbed from the soil, into organic compounds such as amino acids
- Transcription factor
- A protein that regulates genes by switching their activity on or off
- Genome editing
- A technology for rewriting or disrupting the sequence of a targeted gene exactly as intended
NewsLab news
Lab visits available at the graduate school admissions briefing and Open Lab
An undergraduate student was selected for the Dean of the Faculty Award in the Life Chemistry and Engineering Course
A master's student was selected for the Dean of the Graduate School Award in the Department of Biotechnology
A master's student received an Excellent Presentation Award at the Global Innovation Workshop
Paper on a transcription factor that transmits the nitrogen deficiency signal from leaves to roots published in Nature Plants
ResearchResearch themes
Aiming to elucidate the mechanisms that control plants' capacity for material production, the lab studies in particular the roles of transcription factors and signal transduction factors involved in regulating photosynthesis and nitrogen assimilation. It also works on responses to deficiencies of phosphorus and potassium, which are key components of fertilizer, and on developing crops that use nutrients efficiently.
*Illustrative imageHow Nitrate Signals Are Transmitted
Nitrate ions are a nitrogen source for plants and also act as a signal that regulates growth. The lab has identified the NLP transcription factors that relay this signal and has shown that they also function as nitrate sensors.
*Illustrative imageResponse to Nitrogen Deficiency and Enhancing Nitrogen Assimilation
In rice, the lab identified the transcription factor HHO3, which is important for the response to nitrogen deficiency, and showed that disrupting this gene by genome editing improves growth and yield under low-nitrogen conditions.
*Illustrative imageHow Plants Respond to Phosphorus Deficiency
The lab studies the response mechanisms that plants activate when phosphorus is lacking. It has shown that the systems for taking up nitrogen and phosphorus are linked, and that red-light receptors affect this response.
*Illustrative imageHow Plants Respond to Potassium Deficiency
Potassium deficiency causes effects such as suppressed leaf growth. Using differences in response among Arabidopsis accessions, the lab is searching for factors that control the response to potassium deficiency.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Plant Functional Engineering Lab consist of faculty, postdoctoral researchers, master's and undergraduate students, and academic specialists.As of 2026
- ProfessorShuichi YanagisawaPublications ↗
- Associate ProfessorYasuhito SakurabaPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorDaiki ShinozakiPublications ↗
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RelatedLabs similar to Plant Functional Engineering Lab
Plant Nutrition and Fertilizer LabFaculty of Agriculture, Major in Biological Chemistry and BiotechnologyPlant response mechanisms to nutrients and toxic substances
Radiation Plant Physiology LabFaculty of Agriculture, Major in Biological Chemistry and BiotechnologyNon-destructive, real-time visualization of inorganic substa…
Bioorganic Chemistry LabFaculty of Agriculture, Major in Biological Chemistry and BiotechnologyReproduction in flowers and plants
Plant Molecular Physiology LabFaculty of Agriculture, Major in Biological Chemistry and BiotechnologyPlant responses to environmental stressThe information on this page is compiled by the LabLog team from the lab's public information and interviews. For corrections or removal requests, please contact LabLog, not the lab.
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: “Arabidopsis thaliana sl13” Stefan.lefnaer / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- How Nitrate Signals Are Transmitted: “Arabidopsis seedlings growth in vitro” Alena Kravchenko / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Response to Nitrogen Deficiency and Enhancing Nitrogen Assimilation: “Green rice sheaves planted in a paddy field with long shadows at golden hour in Don Det Laos” Basile Morin / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- How Plants Respond to Phosphorus Deficiency: “Niedobór fosforu, objawy” Agronom / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- How Plants Respond to Potassium Deficiency: “K-deficient soyabean Cedara” Alandmanson / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Plant Nutrition and Fertilizer Lab): “Roots of a hydroponically-grown plant” Banana patrol / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Radiation Plant Physiology Lab): “Soybean Plants in the Field ( )” United Soybean Board / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Bioorganic Chemistry Lab): “Malcolmia littorea kz06” Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Plant Molecular Physiology Lab): “2017 Kennebec, SD No Till Corn” USDA NRCS South Dakota / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
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