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New Functional Plant Development Lab
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The lab uses biotechnology to create plants and crops with new functions.
AboutAbout the lab
Creating plants with new functions
The New Functional Plant Development Lab uses biotechnology to create plants and crops with new functions.
Its goals include edible vaccines, hairy roots for cleaning up the environment, crops that grow even in soils where plants grow poorly, and crops suited to low-input agriculture.
To develop such plants, the lab also conducts basic research to uncover how plants absorb nutrients.
Key terms
- Hairy roots
- Plant roots that branch out into fine, hair-like growths and multiply. They can be cultured to produce useful substances.
- Low-input agriculture
- Farming that reduces inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides as much as possible.
- Gene introduction
- A technique in which genes from other organisms are incorporated into a plant to give it new traits.
ResearchResearch themes
The lab uses biotechnology to create plants with new functions that can contribute broadly to society. Its work covers plants that produce useful substances, crops that can grow even in soils where it is difficult to take up metal elements essential as nutrients, and crops rich in iron and zinc.
*Illustrative imageHow plants take up minerals
The lab investigates the pathways by which plants such as rice absorb iron and zinc from the soil and transport them to leaves and seeds, as well as the molecules and genes involved. Using the genes it identifies, the lab develops crops such as those tolerant of iron deficiency.
*Illustrative imageRice and sweet potatoes rich in iron and zinc
This research aims to solve iron and zinc deficiencies, which are a major problem mainly in developing countries. Genes are introduced into rice and sweet potatoes so that they take up more iron and zinc and accumulate it in the rice grains and sweet potato tubers.
*Illustrative imageCrops that accumulate less cadmium
The lab works on creating crops that accumulate less cadmium, a toxic heavy metal that causes itai-itai disease, so that they are safer to eat.
*Illustrative image"Edible vaccines" produced in crops
In collaboration with the Global Animal Resource Science Lab, the lab is working to create "edible vaccines": crops that produce and accumulate antigen proteins that are important for acquiring immunity.
MembersFaculty
The members of the New Functional Plant Development Lab consist of faculty, researchers, students in the doctoral, master's, and undergraduate programs (including a course in International Agricultural Development taught in English), and administrative assistants.As of 2026
- Associate ProfessorHiromi NakanishiPublications ↗
- Associate ProfessorYasuhiro IshimaruPublications ↗
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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: “Culture in vitro” Seb951 (English Wikipedia) / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- How plants take up minerals: “Nahaufnahme von Reissetzlingen vor der Aussaat” Myrmux / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Rice and sweet potatoes rich in iron and zinc: “Sweet potatoes - out - DSCF7307” Vmenkov / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Crops that accumulate less cadmium: “Kataribhog - কাটারিভোগ - Paddy - DSC00617” ROCKY / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- "Edible vaccines" produced in crops: “Roots or leaves?” FlorianaAug / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (国際植物資源科学研究室
（加藤研究室） ): “Rice fields bohol philippines 2017” Øyvind Holmstad / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped) - Related lab (国際植物材料科学研究室): “Langkon Sabah Kilang-Kelapa-Sawit-Langkon-04” CEphoto, Uwe Aranas / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (国際植物資源科学研究室
（宮沢研究室） ): “Organic-vegetable-cultivation” Hajhouse / Public domain (cropped) - Related lab (国際水産開発学研究室): “DFC 2234 Colorful fishing boats bob in a calm harbor under a cloudy sky their flags and tarps fluttering in the breeze” PattayaPatrol / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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