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Plant Molecular Physiology Lab
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The lab explores, at the molecular level, how plants survive heat and drought.
AboutAbout the lab
Understanding how plants survive environmental change
The Plant Molecular Physiology Lab studies the mechanisms by which plants respond to environmental change and survive.
While meteorological disasters such as droughts and heat waves cause serious damage to agriculture, plants have flexibly adapted to their environment and evolved the ability to endure it.
By clarifying this ability at the level of molecular mechanisms and exploring ways to put it to use, the lab aims to contribute to food supply and sustainable agriculture.
Using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and crops such as rice and tomato, the lab has recently focused especially on responses to high temperature.
Key terms
- Environmental stress
- Harsh environmental conditions for plant growth, such as drought, high temperature, and low temperature
- Transcription factor
- A protein that switches genes on and off. A single transcription factor can activate multiple genes together
- Model plant
- A plant that is easy to grow and whose genes are easy to study, so it is commonly used in research around the world. Arabidopsis is the leading example
NewsLab news
A review published in Plant Journal ranked among the journal's 10 most-cited articles of the year
A paper on tomato cultivation with coral has been accepted
A review on drought, heat, and their combined stress in plants has been published
ResearchResearch themes
The lab conducts basic research to clarify how genes function when plants survive environmental stresses such as drought and high temperature. It also develops methods to enhance stress tolerance by using the gene functions it has identified, and studies the tolerance mechanisms unique to each crop.
*Illustrative imageThe First Mechanisms for Sensing Stress
The lab investigates how plants sense stress and change the activity of their genes. It is working on how the DREB2 pathway, a transcription factor pathway that functions under both heat and drought, is activated.
*Illustrative imageEnhancing Stress Tolerance in Crops
In one case, a gene identified in Arabidopsis research was introduced into rice, making it more tolerant of high temperature. In tomato, the lab also investigates the relationship between differences in heat tolerance among varieties and how genes function.
*Illustrative imageMechanisms That Suppress Growth Under Stress
It has become clear that plants under stress suppress their own growth. The lab studies the regulation of growth, including how a transcription factor that promotes plant height in rice is suppressed under stress.
*Illustrative imageUsing Stress Responses to Change Crop Quality
Responses to stress can sometimes raise the value of a crop, as when tomatoes become sweeter if watering is reduced. Using the sugar content of fruit as a subject, the lab pursues research that makes use of stress responses.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Plant Molecular Physiology Lab consist of faculty, academic specialist staff, master's and undergraduate students, specially appointed agricultural support staff, and research students.As of 2025
- Associate ProfessorJunya MizoiPublications ↗
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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: “2017 Kennebec, SD No Till Corn” USDA NRCS South Dakota / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- The First Mechanisms for Sensing Stress: “Arabidopsis thal background” Reo On / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Enhancing Stress Tolerance in Crops: “Young rice seedlings in muddy rice field, Indonesia” Undeka 11 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Mechanisms That Suppress Growth Under Stress: “Rice Seedlings before Transplanting to the Rice Field” Nirajan pant / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Using Stress Responses to Change Crop Quality: “Several green unripe and red ripe tomatoes growing on the vine. (086c449c-117b-44f6-a7c4-e2acbf284092)” NPS / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Bioorganic Chemistry Lab): “Malcolmia littorea kz06” Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Bioregulation Science Lab): “3-day-old buckwheat sprouts” V.Boldychev / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Molecular Breeding Lab): “20241028-R9HMNF-CB-001 Leafy ground” usfs_Eastern_Region / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Plant Functional Engineering Lab): “Arabidopsis thaliana sl13” Stefan.lefnaer / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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