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Horticultural Science Lab
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The lab studies the diversity of horticultural crops such as fruit trees, vegetables, and floricultural crops, and how these crops respond to their environments.
AboutAbout the lab
Exploring the diversity hidden in horticultural crops
The Horticultural Science Lab conducts research to uncover the appeal of horticultural crops such as fruit trees, vegetables, and floricultural crops.
Through continuous breeding and improvement, horticultural crops have given rise to cultivars with a wide range of colors, shapes, and functional properties.
Growers have also devised ways to control cultivation environments and extend growing seasons, and as a result these crops show a complex diversity and environmental responsiveness not seen in model plants.
The lab investigates properties unique to horticultural crops, from genome analysis to cultivar identification and the development of breeding methods.
Key terms
- Horticultural crops
- Plants that are cultivated and used, such as vegetables, fruit trees, floricultural crops, ornamental trees, root and tuber crops, mushrooms, and medicinal plants
- DNA markers
- Differences in DNA sequences used as landmarks to distinguish cultivars or individuals
- Phenomics
- Research that acquires and analyzes large amounts of plant trait values, such as shape and size, as digital information
NewsLab news
Guidance session for the Schedule B graduate school entrance exam of the Department of Agricultural and Environmental Biology held (10/17)
Paper on lotus flowering published in Plant and Cell Physiology
Paper on Portulaca umbraticola published in Plant and Cell Physiology
Book on the sweet potato genome, with the lab's Professor among its editors, now available
ResearchResearch themes
Horticultural crops include a wide variety of plant species, such as vegetables, fruit trees, floricultural crops, ornamental trees, root and tuber crops, mushrooms, and medicinal plants. The lab pursues research to understand the complex diversity and environmental responsiveness of horticultural crops, ranging from genome sequence analysis to cultivar identification and the development of breeding methods.
*Illustrative imageGenome analysis of horticultural crops
Using the latest technologies, the lab performs de novo whole-genome assembly and genome structure analysis on horticultural crops whose structures are complex and whose analysis has lagged behind, such as the autohexaploid sweet potato and medicinal plants with large genomes whose chromosome structures are unknown.
*Illustrative imageDNA markers for identifying cultivars
Crops propagated vegetatively, such as fruit trees and chrysanthemums, are prone to illegal outflow of cultivars, which poses a problem for the protection of plant variety rights. The lab is developing DNA markers to identify illegally cultivated cultivars and to support quality control of seeds and seedlings.
*Illustrative imageBreeding using genome information
Breeding methods for horticultural crops differ depending on the mode of reproduction, the part of the plant that is used, and the number of years needed to produce the next generation. Focusing on strawberry, which has high-level polyploidy and a complex mode of inheritance, the lab is developing breeding methods suited to both vegetatively propagated and seed-propagated types.
*Illustrative imagePredicting growth with digital data
Phenomics, which acquires plant trait values on a large scale, brings an unprecedented amount of data to plant research. Building on the data acquisition technologies the lab has developed so far, the lab is preparing to begin research on predicting growth using large-scale digital data.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Horticultural Science Lab include faculty, project researchers, project technical staff, administrative and technical assistants, specific support staff for agricultural sciences, and doctoral and master's students.As of 2025
- ProfessorSachiko IsobePublications ↗
- Associate ProfessorHiguchi YoheiPublications ↗
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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: “Chrysanthemum flowers, specifically a variety known for its bi-color blooms with striped pink and white petals” Shagil Muzhappilangad / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Genome analysis of horticultural crops: “Ipomoea batatas (Sweet Potato) Flower” Earth100 / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- DNA markers for identifying cultivars: “Yellow chrysanthemum cultivar ZH 14” Love Krittaya / Public domain (cropped)
- Breeding using genome information: “Strawberry plants growing on a farm in spring” Shixart1985 / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Predicting growth with digital data: “Dülmen, Versuchsfeld” Dietmar Rabich / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Yamori Lab): “Chemistry of green - Flickr - Robert Couse-Baker” Robert Couse-Baker from Sacramento, California / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Plant Breeding Lab): “Fukuoka-Tsuzura Rice Terrace in an Early Summer-xl” うきは
市 / CC BY 4.0 (cropped) - Related lab (Plant Resource Genomics Lab): “Mahangu (pearl millet) field flourishing in the perfect climate in the rural north of Namibia” Shikoha Tautiko / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Plant Medical Science Lab): “Tomaten 1-Stemphylium vesicarium-Monika Götz, JKI” Dr. Monika Götz, Institut für Pflanzenschutz in Gartenbau und urbanem Grün am Julius Kühn-Institut in Braunschweig. / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
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