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Genetics Lab (Ohtani Lab)
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The lab decodes at the molecular level the mechanisms by which plants sense their environment and remodel their cells.
AboutAbout the lab
Into the molecular mechanisms of how plants respond to their environment
The Genetics Lab (Ohtani Lab) studies, at the molecular level, how plants perceive environmental conditions and how they respond to them.
Plants are thought to integrate the whole organism by flexibly regulating cell proliferation and differentiation.
Aiming to understand these mechanisms as a system, the lab focuses on RNA metabolism and the cell wall.
The lab works with materials at various scales, from molecules to whole organisms, and carries out analyses centered on molecular biology and plant physiology.
Key terms
- Totipotency
- The property by which a single cell can leave its differentiated state and, through division and redifferentiation, become any type of cell
- pre-mRNA splicing
- The process of cutting out unneeded portions of RNA transcribed from a gene and joining the remaining parts back together
- Secondary cell wall
- A thick wall that plant cells build on the inside after they finish growing. It is the basis of wood
NewsLab news
Recruiting master's and doctoral students for admission in the 2027 academic year
Paper on joint research with Saitama University published in Plant Physiology
A doctoral student received the PCP Poster Award at the Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Plant Physiologists
Paper published in Plant Biotechnology
Paper on joint research with the Nara Institute of Science and Technology published in Plant and Cell Physiology
ResearchResearch themes
The lab aims to clarify, at the molecular level, how plants perceive and respond to environmental conditions and how they integrate the whole organism through flexible regulation of cell proliferation and differentiation. The goal is to understand biological functions as a system.
*Illustrative imageTotipotency of plant cells
Totipotency, the ability of a single cell to become any cell type, manifests as organ regeneration in tissue culture. The lab has shown that defects in RNA metabolism, such as pre-mRNA splicing, cause failure of organ regeneration, and is now investigating the mechanisms that determine the state of cell division and differentiation.
*Illustrative imageEnvironmental response and biopolymers
Plants, which cannot move, maintain homeostasis by responding to environmental changes such as temperature, light, and nutrients. Focusing on two biopolymers, RNA and the cell wall, the lab is clarifying the roles that the regulation of their metabolism plays in environmental responses.
*Illustrative imageBiosynthesis of woody biomass
Woody biomass consists of the polymers contained in lignified secondary cell walls. The lab has identified the transcriptional regulatory network for secondary cell wall biosynthesis that is conserved across land plants, and is now advancing understanding through omics analysis and exploring its evolutionary origin.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Genetics Lab (Ohtani Lab) consist of faculty, Project Researchers, Academic Specialists, technical assistants, administrative assistants, doctoral and master's students, exchange students, and short-term visiting students.As of 2026
- ProfessorMisato OhtaniPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorToshihiro AraePublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorTakaaki YonekuraPublications ↗
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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: “Arabidopsis thaliana kz07” Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Totipotency of plant cells: “Aseptic in vitro cultivated plantlets of cucumber regenerated from shoot apical meristem explants on half-strength Murashige-Scoog medium supplemented with cytokinin 6-Benzylaminopurine in concentration 1 mg l” Yuliya Krasylenko / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Environmental response and biopolymers: “Müürlooga (Arabidopsis thaliana) lehekarv (trihhoom) 311 0804” Heiti Paves / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Biosynthesis of woody biomass: “Logs in Birchanger Wood - geograph.org.uk - 1228240” Derek Harper / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Human Genome Diversity Lab): “Japan (MODIS )” Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Genome Anthropology Lab): “Jomon period human skull with forked tooth ablation, excavated from the Ikawazu Shell Mound” Saigen Jiro / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Developmental Evolution Lab): “Leaf venation of Dorstenia” SebastianBlumeArt / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Plant Physiology Lab): “Marchantia polymorpha - Common Liverwort 03” Jasper Shide / CC0 (cropped)
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