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Genome Biochemistry Lab
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The lab develops technology to produce fuel from biomass using the power of microbes and enzymes.
AboutAbout the lab
Searching genome data for enzymes that break down biomass
The Genome Biochemistry Lab studies how to use microbes and enzymes to break down plant and other biomass and produce biofuels, with the aim of advancing and developing biofuel production technology.
Based on genome information, the lab investigates the functions of microbes and enzymes, for example by searching for new biomass-degrading microbes among those living in symbiosis with insects that feed on forest trees.
The lab also works on reassembling the chromatin structure of chromosomes in test tubes.
The lab collaborates with researchers overseas, including at the University of Wisconsin, and encourages students to develop strong English communication skills.
Key terms
- Biomass
- Resources derived from living organisms, such as wood, grass, and seaweed. When broken down into sugars and other compounds, they can become raw materials for fuels and chemical products.
- Metagenomic analysis
- A method of reading the DNA of many microbes in an environment all together to find out which microbes and genes are present.
- Chromatin
- A folded structure inside the cell nucleus in which DNA is wrapped around proteins called histones.
NewsLab news
Paper with a doctoral student as first author accepted
International co-authored paper with the University of Wisconsin accepted
Paper by doctoral students and others accepted
Master's student receives Excellent Master's Thesis Presentation Award
Paper by doctoral students and others accepted
ResearchResearch themes
Since its founding, the lab has pursued the advancement and development of biofuel production technology through three research themes. Since fiscal 2016, it has also been running a new project to reassemble, in test tubes, the huge molecules found inside the nucleus of eukaryotic cells.
*Illustrative imageFinding biomass-degrading microbes among insect symbionts
Through metagenomic analysis of the microbial communities living in symbiosis with insects that feed on forest trees, the lab discovers new microbes that break down biomass. It also uses the genome information obtained to analyze the functions and structures of proteins.
*Illustrative imageCreating new microbes with genome editing
The lab is clarifying how microbes that degrade plant and marine biomass switch their gene activity depending on the sugars present (carbohydrate-responsive transcriptional regulators), and is using genome editing technology to create new microbes.
*Illustrative imageComprehensive functional characterization and design of enzymes
For targeted groups of carbohydrate-degrading enzymes, the lab uses molecular phylogenetic trees as a guide to comprehensively produce the proteins and determine their functions. It also uses protein engineering methods to design enzymes with new functions.
*Illustrative imageReconstituting chromatin in test tubes
The lab has established a technique for reassembling in test tubes the chromatin structures that make up human and fly chromosomes, by producing the proteins together. It is also reconstituting chromatin from yeast and plants (Arabidopsis thaliana), aiming to identify new factors that act on chromatin.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Genome Biochemistry Lab consist of faculty members and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- Associate ProfessorTaichi Takasuka
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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: “Sirex noctilio emerging” Paula Klasmer, Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria, Argentina / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Finding biomass-degrading microbes among insect symbionts: “Sirex noctilio female 3 small” Sirex_noctilio_female_3.jpg: David R. Lance, USDA APHIS PPQ, United States derivative work: Toter Alter Mann (talk) / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Creating new microbes with genome editing: “Streptomyces hygroscopicus” Snuupo / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Comprehensive functional characterization and design of enzymes: “PDB 1rq5 EBI” Jawahar Swaminathan and MSD staff at the European Bioinformatics Institute / Public domain (cropped)
- Reconstituting chromatin in test tubes: “Chromatin and histones” Darryl Leja, NHGRI / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Molecular Biology Lab): “Arabidopsis thal twice background” Reo On / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Ecological Chemical Biology Lab): “Колонии плесневых грибов на питательной среде” Andrei Trigubovich / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Molecular Enzymology Lab): “Potato amyloplast granules observed at 200 magnification under a polarized microscope with interference plate inserted. Massimo Brizzi 2021” Massimo Brizzi / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Gene Regulation Lab): “Sugar beet field ( )” Gilles San Martin from Namur, Belgium / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
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