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Watahiki Lab (Plant Morphology and Function Ib)
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The lab seeks to explain how plants form their shapes through the plant hormone auxin.
AboutAbout the lab
How plant hormones guide the shaping of plants.
The Watahiki Lab clarifies the role of plant hormones in the mechanisms by which plant organs, such as roots, are formed.
Plants are often thought of as the very image of immobile organisms, but when recorded footage is played at high speed, they can be seen producing new organs such as shoots and flowers one after another.
This shaping process is called morphogenesis, and the plant hormone auxin plays a central role in it.
Using Arabidopsis mutants and transgenic plants, the lab investigates the mechanisms of expression of auxin-responsive genes.
Key terms
- Auxin
- A plant hormone that is key to the shaping of plants. It triggers the formation of leaves, stems, and roots
- Morphogenesis
- The process by which a plant produces new organs such as shoots, flowers, and roots, and its form takes shape
- Transcription factor
- A protein that binds to DNA and changes which genes are read and how much
ResearchResearch themes
The lab studies how the plant hormone auxin guides the shaping of plants. By understanding and applying auxin responses, it aims to contribute to future agriculture and the preservation of the global environment.
*Illustrative imageAuxin and Morphogenesis
In morphogenesis, where plants produce organs such as shoots and flowers one after another, auxin plays a central role. Using Arabidopsis mutants and transgenic plants, the lab investigates how auxin-responsive genes are expressed.
*Illustrative imageMutants That Grow Straight
The auxin-insensitive mutants massugu1 and massugu2 grow their hypocotyls straight even when laid on their side. The causal genes turned out to be the transcription factor ARF7 and the auxin-inducible AUX/IAA19.
*Illustrative imageReorganization of the Auxin Response
It has become clear that the auxin response in plant tissues can be divided into a basal state and a steady state. The lab has named the switching between these two states "reorganization of the auxin response" and is elucidating its molecular mechanism.
MembersFaculty
- Associate ProfessorMasaaki Watahiki
VoicesStudent voices
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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 sl13” Stefan.lefnaer / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Auxin and Morphogenesis: “Aesculus hippocastanum ( )” Randi Hausken from Bærum, Norway / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Mutants That Grow Straight: “Auxin” William M. Gray / CC BY 2.5 (cropped)
- Reorganization of the Auxin Response: “Gravitropism tree” Mathieu Rodriguez / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Naramoto Lab): “Arabidopsis thaliana kz07” Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Quantitative Ecological Genetics Lab): “Arabidopsis halleri plant (02)” Andrea Moro / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Chiba Lab): “A thaliana” Safflle / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Hokkaido University Kelp Lab): “Laminaria (Split Kelp) ( )” Jerry Kirkhart from Los Osos, Calif. / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
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